Business News

82 Percent of Employees Say Outdated Working Practices Are Holding Them Back, According to New Ricoh Study

Thursday 15. November 2012 - New research published today by Ricoh Europe reveals that European businesses are finding it a challenge to keep up with the pace of technology-led change.

A significant 82 percent of employees in European businesses feel the way they work is out of date and prevents them from being as effective and efficient as they could be. This will have an impact on their ability to grow revenue and profits and support their client needs in the future.
The report, part three of the Ricoh Document Governance Index 2012 conducted on behalf of Ricoh by Coleman Parkes Research, reveals what employees really think are the best ways of meeting the challenges of an increasingly global, mobile and collaborative workplace.
According to respondents, the answer goes beyond adopting new technologies and collaboration tools. Just one per cent of employees favoured collaboration tools, and four per cent said more investment in the latest technology, was the way to most positively impact the processes they work with. Instead, employees recommend more regular reviews of the way they work and higher level executive sponsorship to champion any improvements to the business critical document processes underpinning operations such as finance, HR and procurement.
The research also reveals a notable gap between board-level perception and the reality experienced by employees in the workplace. More than 90 per cent of C-level/Directors surveyed said employee feedback is gathered regularly and training provided when new hardware or software is introduced, with far fewer employees agreeing: just 77 per cent agreed their feedback is gathered before and after a new technology roll-out, and only 76 per cent said they receive training.
“At the heart of any organisation is its people, and employees are clearly calling on senior management to get a stronger grasp on the document processes that support their day-to-day roles. Business leaders will be familiar with the need for a process of change management when they introduce a new way of working, but it seems in many businesses across Europe, this process simply is not taking place. The result is employees feel excluded from decisions that impact the way they work, and businesses risk new investments not delivering their full potential,” said Carsten Bruhn, Executive Vice President, Ricoh Europe.
“The opportunity for businesses is to listen more closely to their employees, consult with them every step of the way, and maximise their knowledge and experience. As the people working with document processes every day, they’re a valuable resource that should be front and centre of any document process improvements. “