How to Increase Employee Engagement through Modern ITSM

 

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Introduction:

Employee engagement is on the rise. With the low unemployment rate fueling a candidate-driven job market, Telecommunications sector companies must ensure that their organisation is focused on making employees feel heard and valued.

To keep engagement climbing and communication processes streamlined, organisations should take a more in-depth look into the daily encountered technological discomfort points of employees. Productivity flourishes when IT issues are addressed quickly and efficiently, and when employees experience quick IT issue resolution, they feel heard and supported. Here are some ways that IT leaders can prioritise solutions that help employee needs (Cox, M. 2021).

 Employee engagement is crucial for organisations looking to increase productivity, profitability, and retention rates. Research shows that employees who are engaged, are more likely to be productive and loyal to their company. However, traditional approaches to employee engagement are no longer enough to keep employees motivated and satisfied. To address this issue, organisations are turning to modern ITSM solutions that provide employees a more engaging and personalised experience for employees.

Operational efficiency impacts the bottom line of every organization. When employees are faced with IT issues, the most common way to a resolution is to march into the IT office and find help. Most businesses do not have the proper systems in place to make this experience efficient for the employee or the IT department. Legacy solutions only create costly friction that slows the employee experience when the employee should be spending time on high-value business priorities that enable you to gain an edge over your competition.

What is ITSM:

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Source: https://technology.berkeley.edu/ITSM

Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) is a framework that organisations use to manage IT services and processes. ITSM includes processes such as incident management, change management, problem management, and service request management. ITSM solutions provide a structured approach to managing IT services and help organisations improve their IT operations (Cox, M. 2021).

Streamline Outdated Processes with ITSM:

An infrastructure of support begins with a strong ITSM. In practice, modern workplace technology, like request processes, supports high levels of employee engagement. Leaders must locate wherein the process employees experience additional discomfort points, and then work to find sustainable and scalable solutions (Cox, M. 2021).

How can ITSM increase employee engagement?

Employees will gain real-time visibility into the status of requests or tasks. With ITSM, organisations stay focused on centralising and formalising workflows and creating user-friendly employee experiences that move their business priorities forward.

Self-service portals:

Self-service portals allow employees to access IT services and resources without having to go through the IT department. With self-service portals, employees can submit requests, track progress, and get updates on their requests. This reduces the workload on IT staff and allows them to focus on more complex issues.

Self-service portals also provide employees with a more convenient and personalized experience. They can access the services they need quickly and easily, without having to wait for IT to respond. This increases employee satisfaction and engagement.

Service Request Status:

Regardless of how critical the issue may be, employees feel a sense of urgency when submitting service requests and want reassurance that technicians are aware of their problems. Modern IT systems support a communication infrastructure between ticket submission and resolution. Then, during these wait periods, employees aren’t worrying about their IT problem or trying to fix it themselves, allowing them to be productive even before the solution arrives.

For example, with an employee service portal, service providers can better engage employees from submission to solution. Modern systems offer proactive and transparent status updates, setting clear expectations for employees upfront for how long their service request or ticket will take to complete. In addition to service level agreements, the system allows employees to track the progress of the application in real-time, similar to tracking a package in the mail. With visibility into their request’s status and alerts surrounding its completion, employees feel confident that their issue is being handled promptly (Cox, M. 2021).

Single Platform Solutions:

Employee requests can be spread across not only different support teams but also their various portals, along with inboxes and phone calls. This immediately leads to confusion around whom to contact, with frustration and broken communication between teams. Phone lines are busy, email inboxes fill up, and information can get lost in the shuffle. IT leaders can help the organisation solve these different processes by encouraging the use of a single service platform optimised to handle a wide variety of requests. Research shows that organisations that apply service management best practices across the company see an increase in both employee satisfaction and employee productivity (Cox, M. 2021).

A single platform increases ease of use, but it encourages collaboration and communication enterprise-wide. Free from red tape surrounding different departments, solutions are streamlined across the company. A streamlined IT communication infrastructure assures employees that leadership is equipped to address and support their needs, regardless of what department the requirement comes from (Cox, M. 2021).

Automated Low-Level Solutions:

Automation is a key feature of modern ITSM solutions. Automation can help organizations reduce manual tasks, speed up processes, and improve service delivery. Automation can also help organizations provide faster responses to employee requests.

Common discomfort points are often low-level, non-critical issues, like resetting passwords, retrieving documents, and managing access. Adding chatbots into internal service offerings can help ensure that these everyday non-complex issues are solved quickly and efficiently.

A chatbot is an AI-powered natural language software that has the power to engage and communicate with employees, responding to queries instantly with a suggested solution or a few clarifying questions. Chatbots can either directly provide a text solution or point the requester to a knowledge base of answers. These knowledge libraries can be a valuable first step to encourage self-service and potentially prevent specific requests or tickets from even being submitted.

This technology is an incredible asset for service delivery teams, as it frees up technicians to focus on more critical tasks and more significant picture projects. It also facilitates a more efficient and effective service experience for employees so that they can get the support and resources they need, quickly, to get back to their jobs (Cox, M. 2021).

For example, organizations can use automation to route requests to the right department, assign tasks to the appropriate person, and escalate issues to the right level of support. Automation can help reduce the time it takes to resolve issues, which improves employee satisfaction and engagement.

 Clear Communication Creates Engaged Employees:

Clear communication around support issues, builds both loyalty and productivity. Leaders who struggle with retention and engagement should consider upgrading their service management strategy to include a modern, AI-powered system. Once everyday discomfort points are solved, the employee experience improves. When more significant issues do escalate, they can be readily addressed and alleviated, leading to happier employees and lower turnover (Cox, M. 2021).

Collaboration:

Collaboration is essential for organizations looking to improve employee engagement. Modern ITSM solutions provide collaboration tools that allow employees to work together on projects and share information. Collaboration tools can help employees work more efficiently, reduce communication barriers, and increase engagement.

For example, organizations can use collaboration tools to create project teams, share documents, and hold virtual meetings. Collaboration tools can help employees stay connected, even if they are working remotely.

Analytics:

Analytics is a critical component of modern ITSM solutions. Analytics can help organizations understand employee behavior and preferences, which can help them tailor services and support to meet their needs. Analytics can also help organizations identify trends and patterns in employee requests, which can help them improve service delivery.

For example, organizations can use analytics to identify the most common types of requests, the time it takes to resolve issues, and the satisfaction levels of employees. This information can help organizations make data-driven decisions and improve employee engagement.

Source: https://youtu.be/RLimA5eqvoA

Conclusion:

Modern ITSM solutions can play a significant role in increasing employee engagement. Self-service portals, automation, collaboration, and analytics are just a few of the ways that ITSM can help organizations provide a more engaging and personalized experience for employees. By adopting modern ITSM solutions, organizations can improve productivity, profitability, and employee retention rates.

Reference List:

Cox, M. (2021) How to Increase Employee Engagement through Modern ITSM

Updated December 16 2021 Spiceworks [online] Available from:  https://www.spiceworks.com/hr/engagement-retention/articles/how-to-increase-employee-engagement-through-modern-itsm/ [Accessed 12 April 2023].