How technology can give employees more autonomy

CWJobs’ Confidence Index 2022 recently revealed that the top driver for workers in the UK tech industry is the technology being produced. Companies can leverage this sentiment by taking advantage of the latest tools and software to provide workers with more autonomy and greater strategic judgement in their roles.

Employees that have autonomy feel more valued, and are more likely to remain loyal to a company in the long-term. Likewise, autonomy keeps everyone accountable, which enhances individual performance and leads to greater productivity.

Let’s take a closer look at how technology can give workers more autonomy:

Workplace management software

Post-COVID, flexible working remains a top priority for UK workers. Workplace management software gives employees control over many of the processes and activities that typically need to be organised and approved by third parties.

For example, some management software enables workers to easily communicate with IT departments, resolving technical issues quickly. Other systems enable workers to book office facilities, manage their own annual leave, and handle other common HR practices.

In reducing bureaucracy, employees become more productive and can focus on their individual performance. For example, Buurtzorg, the Netherlands’ largest provider of home health care, has its own IT platform called BuurtzorgWeb, where teams of nurses manage their own technical needs.

Teams within the platform have no assigned leader, they make decisions by consensus, and they have complete control over recruitment. Since introducing the employee-led platform in 2006, the company has reported higher client and employee satisfaction, and experienced 67% lower costs than its competitors.

A similar model was trialled in the NHS in 2019, which saw improved patient experience, improved continuity of care, and longer appointment times. The model also provided important learning and development points on collaborative working across the UK health care system.

Blockchain technology

In recent years, we’ve seen an increasing number of companies move away from a centralised approach to employee management. With the emergence of blockchain technology, companies are decentralising their processes and allowing their employees to self-govern interactions that previously had to go through specialist departments.

Blockchain can be used to handle the organisation of daily business activities such as task allocation, information exchange, and reward distribution. In having the technology handle the processes rather than a human, managers can focus on the more strategic areas of the business.

For example, healthcare company BurstIQ is using blockchain to manage and share healthcare data securely with its providers and partners. The company also uses blockchain in combination with artificial intelligence (AI) to provide doctors with accurate data that enables them to make better decisions about patient treatments.

On-demand video conferencing

According to workspace company Booqed, the time spent in meetings has risen by 10% every year since 2000, with 47% of workers complaining that meetings are the biggest time-waster at work.

Not only do scheduled meetings take up valuable employee time, having a rigid agenda and structure can stifle creativity and innovation. When issues need to be resolved quickly, scheduled meetings can often feel like overkill, with single issues being discussed at length, without any action being taken.

With integrated, on-demand video conferencing, employees are able to call time-limited, impromptu meetings to discuss a specific issue at hand. Having instant access to a hive mind means issues can be resolved quickly, in a more collaborative way.

For example, CWJobs’ video interviewing software enables employees to set up meetings in minutes, work across any device, and conduct live video calls. The software can also be used to help companies onboard new staff remotely.

SaaS-based project management software

When several people are involved in a project, communication is key. Traditional methods of managing projects through spreadsheets on internal networks are inefficient and can be counterproductive.

SaaS-based project management software that runs on the cloud gives team members ownership over a project and enables them to access all data and information from a single platform autonomously.

Project management software also drives collaboration by giving everyone access to the same information at the same time. Users can see information being updated in real-time, so everyone is kept up to speed.

How technology can enhance recruitment

According to CWJobs’ Confidence Index 2022, 41% of companies plan to make better use of recruitment technology, with 32% experimenting with new recruitment channels, and 29% turning to low-code technology platforms, AI tools, or robotics to plug short-term talent gaps.

According to a recent survey from CIPD, the top benefits of using recruitment technology are increased accessibility, improved candidate experience, and speed. Automated tools can now source candidates, administer assessments, schedule interviews and provide candidates with regular updates on the status of their applications.

For example, retail consulting firm, RetailCo streamlined its recruitment process in just five weeks by using an AI-powered chatbot. Having a conversational AI tool ask candidates five carefully-designed questions, reduced the company’s time to recruit by half, while reporting 89% candidate satisfaction and a 99% question completion rate.

Chatbot tools such as Mya can help increase applications by 50% by providing jobseekers with an interactive experience that guides them to the right opportunities in the most efficient way possible

Likewise, smart tools, such as Equality Boost, enables recruiters to pinpoint when, where and how to reach talent by demographic, location and interest. Through display advertising, companies can attract both passive and active candidates, monitor campaign performance and measures its success over time.

Similarly, instant candidate recommendation tools can suggest highly relevant and active candidates based on their skills and match to a role.

The Gender Bias Decoder from Totaljobs is also a useful tool to use at the very start of a recruitment campaign. It helps recruiters identify gendered words in job descriptions and emails, allowing adjustments to be made to ensure that gender-neutral language is used in communications with candidates.