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2023 was the year ChatGPT and AI took the workplace by storm. Beyond that, it forced employers to look at their balance of technological tools that help current employees do their jobs better while seeking ways to invest in technology to reduce their overall costs.
Finding that balance between saving money with technology while rewarding your most important asset, the humans on your team, has always been a challenge. As such, we’ve got a guide to the most important workplace technologies your business should consider implementing in 2024.
Employee Engagement Platform
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Employee engagement is one crucial cornerstone of retention. Having a robust employee engagement platform can help you derive insights as to what your workforce needs to thrive in your business environment. The key is to act upon the insights you receive from your employees. But the right employee engagement platform is a good starting point. It will allow you to easily see feedback from your employees, sometimes anonymously, to help you keep them engaged and happy.
Business Learning Platform
Your employees need the right training tools to succeed when they’re onboarded, but also the correct platform to help move their career forward at your company. A business learning platform or a learning management software (LMS) suite covers both of these needs. You can tailor the best LMS platform to your specific needs for training, certifications, courses, and more. You can track employee success and seek opportunities to improve your internal learning courses based on how each individual employee moves through various learning modules. It’s a system that gets better over time.
AI and Machine Learning
AI made big news in 2023. More and more software suites help companies to automate repetitive tasks when handled by smart systems. This gives your employees more time to focus on bringing their creative and collaborative ideas to life.
By deploying AI-powered tools, your enterprise can automate processes, boost efficiency, and elevate productivity. For instance, customer service chatbots can handle routine inquiries, allowing your human resources to tackle more complex customer issues. You can do the same with inventory management and procurement, accounting, and more. Consider a full-spectrum data analytics platform that parses data from every system in your company to derive insights you never thought possible. An AI-based system could even predict possible outcomes for the next 30 days based on your current output.
Machine learning tools sift through massive amounts of data to identify patterns and predict future trends. This gives your business the unique ability to stay ahead, make data-driven decisions, and gain a competitive edge. Machine learning is particularly helpful in companies that engage in repetitive tasks to achieve similar results, such as manufacturing. Imagine a system that can alert you to an insight that improves your processes and your output.
What does this mean for your company? Reduced operational costs, smarter decision-making, and a happier, more focused workforce.
Virtual and Augmented Reality for Training and Collaboration
We’re already used to virtual meetings through our video conferencing equipment and working from home. But have you considered virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) for collaborating on complex projects? These systems are ideal for manufacturers and engineers who collaborate with remote teams on visual-based projects. From building homes and designing the next high-speed rail to building jet engines and creating new products from scratch, VR and AR represent systems where technology meets imagination. These two revolutionary technologies are breaking out of their gaming mold and are poised to become powerful tools in the business world.
But VR and AR go beyond bringing ideas to life in a physical sense. VR provides an immersive training environment, offering a risk-free zone for your employees to learn and master new skills. Whether it's dealing with hazardous substances or perfecting a sales pitch, VR can simulate real-world scenarios without the real-world consequences. This makes it an invaluable tool for improving your team's knowledge and performance. When you connect VR to your LMS, you can measure the outcomes of the virtual reality training to make tweaks.
Simultaneously, AR is paving the way for a new level of team collaboration, especially for remote workers. Imagine your team scattered across different locations yet able to share the same interactive virtual space, exchanging ideas, manipulating virtual data, and working together as if they were in the same room. AR makes this possible, thereby fostering better team cohesion, promoting creativity, and streamlining project completion.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things (IoT) allows you to collect data from devices connected to your network. You can derive insights from inventory, letting you know when you're running low on supplies before you even realize it, to reduce your costs.
Other sensors can measure temperature, air pressure, and other physical parameters to gauge how your HVAC system should run. Smart devices can provide insights into your company's energy consumption patterns, helping you pinpoint where energy is being wasted. By rectifying these issues, you can significantly reduce your business's environmental impact and also save a considerable amount on energy costs.
On manufacturing lines, IoT devices can sense defects in products and even equipment so you can insights into how best to optimize your processes, maintenance, and outputs. Your engineering teams can make adjustments based on the data they collect.
Big Data Analytics for Better Decision-Making
Big data analytics, as we mentioned earlier, finds mountains of seemingly disparate data points to give you valuable business insights. This exciting technology gives companies the power to delve into vast datasets, uncovering hidden correlations, discerning unnoticed patterns, and illuminating obscured insights. And the best part? These findings lead to informed and strategic decision-making.
Consider this: Imagine where your analytics suite sees something in your marketing platform that correlates to your financial platform that you never would have thought of. You can drive maximum engagement, which products are hitting the sweet spot for profitability and pricing, or which customer segments are proving to be the most lucrative.
This system can turn into a compass, guiding you to make decisions that not only steer you away from potential pitfalls but also navigate your company toward success. Big data analytics helps you understand your present business landscape. They work in tandem to provide a comprehensive picture of your business's trajectory.
Use Robust Cybersecurity to Protect Data
Cybersecurity threats continue to get more sophisticated thanks to AI tools used by cybercriminals. The best way to combat those attacks is with cybersecurity suites that use AI.
Consider investing in robust cybersecurity measures to fortify your defenses. You’ll need business-level firewalls, encryption, and antivirus software. But you’ll also need cybersecurity awareness training for your employees. By doing so, you're not just protecting your data and IT infrastructure; you're securing your business's future. In 2023, the average data breach cost companies $4.45 million, according to IBM. Think about this stark statistic: 60% of small businesses close within six months of being hacked, notes Cybercrime Magazine.
But there's a key point we need to remember: Cybersecurity isn't something to be tacked on as an afterthought. Far from it. It should be interwoven into the very fabric of your business strategy. After all, what good are all the innovative technologies and processes if they are susceptible to cyber threats?
The Great Game of Business and Open-Book Management
Technology can actually help you with open-book management principles, leading to better employee engagement and retention. Talk to us about how we can help you become a company with a holistic strategy that grows sales by having a better workplace environment. The journey is well worth it.
