A recent research of 1246 employees in the UK and commissioned by ABBYY - a global provider of content IQ solutions - has found that only 35 per cent of workers use mobiles for administrative tasks, despite 43 per cent wishing to use them for this purpose.
Most workers - 91 per cent - still prefer to use a laptop or desktop and 28 percent still want to use pen and paper for admin tasks, as 46 percent of employees admit to finding that simpler to use. Desktop is still the most popular in the UK workplace, regardless of today’s remote working climate. Almost half of workers - 48 percent - use a desktop or laptop because it is easier and 41 percent because it is quicker.
In particular, millennials are eager to use mobiles for admin with 55 per cent wishing to, but only 43 per cent actually doing so. Older generation - GenX - was also found to be open to using mobiles for admin as 41 per cent would like to do so, but only 35 per cent were using them currently.
The survey demonstrated that some employees were finding the latest technologies, such as mobile, too difficult to use and showed that - while many believe we live and work in a smarter, digital-first era - technology still is not being used to its full potential.
Automation is lagging behind. Previous ABBYY research showed that in an average week, 39 per cent of workers spend 1-2 days a week on maintaining databases and 18 percent of millennials spend 2 days inputting data. Two thirds - 63 percent - of UK workers want to delegate these tasks to robots and without this option, 15 per cent try to avoid doing tasks they dislike. This results in some tasks being completely overlooked.
Bruce Orcutt - Senior Vice President of Product at ABBYY - stated:
“It’s very surprising to see that mobile and automation still aren’t being used to their full advantage, especially when we have these capabilities at our fingertips. Businesses and software developers must continue to work to make mobile interfaces more user friendly, and boost their convenience, ease and speed. However, the onus is also on businesses to harness mobile solutions and evolve the way their staff work.”
He added:
“As we prepare for the workforce of the future, based on a culture of convenience driven by mobile, organisations must champion smarter working practices, and educate staff on how to make the most of these platforms to drive productivity – and improve employee experience in the process.”
Bruce Orcutt continued:
“Working with companies offering specialist mobile platforms centred around user technology is crucial. This will enable workers, young and old, to harness technology to make their everyday administrative tasks easier, simpler and more convenient.........”
