Digital

Addressing the digital adoption challenge

By Hartmut Hahn, CEO, Userlane

As companies continue on the path to digital transformation, they will realise that getting hold of new software was the simple step. The real challenge comes with getting employees to understand, accept and maximise the value of software applications in order to make the company more productive and create a better working experience for all.

This process is called “digital adoption” and, even though “digital transformation” gets most of the spotlight, you can’t have one without the other.

Unfortunately, many firms’ attempts to improve digital adoption have fallen flat. This is an issue because poor digital adoption has a negative impact on all aspects of a business.

Employees lose time to repeated software issues, and IT teams are flooded with software support requests. As a result, business leaders face spiraling costs and many struggle to fulfil their digital transformation ambitions. In fact, according to our new ‘State of Digital Adoption’ report, a quarter (24%) of business leaders say that less than half of all their software investments actually achieve their objectives.

So, how can businesses address the digital adoption challenge? Here are five practical tips.

1. TREAT DIGITAL ADOPTION AS AN EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE ISSUE

An employee’s interactions with technology affects their overall employee experience, regardless of their role, age or other factors.

Our research reveals that most (88%) employees are happier and more productive when they can use software without frustration. This is especially important given the rapid digitalization of work: 70% of employees said that their use of software has increased over the past two years.

What happens when businesses fail to address this frustration?

Well, one in three (35%) employees lose at least one hour a week trying to fix software issues themselves, and when that doesn’t work, around 44% will just stop the task at hand and move on to something else. Even more worrying is the fact that around one in ten (8%) would actually leave their current job over repeated software frustration.

2. REDUCE SOFTWARE TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (TCO)

The average employee only uses about 40% of the features available in software applications. This shows that digital adoption isn’t just about getting employees to accept and use software, but to use it properly in order to maximise its value to the business.

Poor digital adoption raises the total cost of ownership (TCO) on software. For example, when employees don’t use a product correctly, more errors occur, process quality goes down, and more money will be spent on retraining. On top of that, if employees don’t maximise the available features, the business misses out on potential productivity gains.

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Addressing the digital adoption challenge

These issues can lead to what we call “tech turnover”: when organisations replace a piece of software with a different product because it isn’t providing the expected value. This can be costly, time-consuming and disruptive. Business leaders typically blame problems with the product itself, but the reality is that poor digital adoption is often responsible.

3. USE A BLEND OF TRAINING SOLUTIONS

Our research shows a lack of agreement around best practice for software training and improving employee adoption. This makes sense, since everyone learns differently. In order to provide the best employee experience possible, use a blend of solutions.

However, business should prioritise solutions which are personalized, practical and, ultimately, costeffective. The average mid-to-largesized business in the UK currently spends, on average, £2,086.55 per year per employee on software training. There is still a place for traditional methods like one-toones (47%) and classroom-based training (37%), but they aren’t necessarily the most efficient or scalable.

Another option that is quickly gaining in popularity is using a Digital Adoption Platform (38%). This type of platform provides users with interactive, practical guides embedded in the software itself, offering contextual, realtime learning and giving business leaders the opportunity to capture data on how products are used.

4. MAKE DIGITAL ADOPTION A COMPANY-WIDE PRIORITY

For digital adoption to be a success, organisations need leadership, cooperation and buy-in. It can’t be the sole responsibility of one team or department. It should be a company-wide strategy integrated into the culture. Still, our research indicates that more than half (53%) of business leaders think that the IT team should be mainly responsible for successful digital adoption. This is far more than the percentage who feel that employees themselves (26%) or HR teams (18%) are most responsible.

The IT team should ensure that software is always available and working correctly, but it should not be held solely responsible for its proper use. This misconception can lead to support ticket backlogs for the IT desk to deal with. In fact, four in ten (38%) business leaders reported that IT costs have increased due to poor digital adoption.

It simply doesn’t work to rely solely on one department to achieve digital adoption. Instead HR, IT and other department leaders must work together with employees to develop an approach that everyone can buy into.

5. CONSIDER DIGITAL ADOPTION TO BE AS IMPORTANT AS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

There can be no digital transformation without digital adoption. Businesses invest a great deal of resources into technology and are always talking about the potential gains in efficiency it can bring. But if this technology is difficult to use or not maximized, it can actually make processes less efficient.

By enabling digital transformation – and by making the employee experience better – strong digital adoption also helps future-proof a business, equipping it with the optimised digital processes, engaged and skilled workers, and continuous learning culture it needs to thrive.