In the first of this two-part blog series, we explored three of seven digital friction challenges that impact frontline service teams’ task efficiency, and why they matter. In this second blog, we cover the remaining four digital friction challenges affecting the productivity of workers, including everyone from customer service representatives to professional services teams, and what can be done to prevent them.
4) Inadequate training on digital tools
Insufficient training leaves employees struggling to utilize digital tools effectively. And all-too-often, training programs are not tailored to the specific needs of frontline service teams. For instance, a customer service representative handling billing enquiries who isn’t trained in how to effectively use the billing system might resort to inefficient workarounds, resulting in reduced productivity – or even mistakes.
These gaps in skills or understanding often only become apparent when they start to negatively impact outcomes. Moreover, the lack of confidence in using digital tools results in reluctance to adopt new technologies, perpetuating the cycle of inefficiency. In short, without adequate training, employees are likely to continue using tools inefficiently – further disrupting operations and leading to more significant issues down the line.
5) Resistance to change
Frontline teams may resist adopting new technologies for several reasons. This could stem from fear of the unknown, or because they prefer familiar technology, or the benefits of new processes have not been properly explained to them. This resistance slows the implementation of digital technology designed to improve efficiency and productivity. For example, a financial services company could deploy a new application to create an optimized workflow enabling frontline teams to fill out more customer insurance claims in an hour. But if the advantages of the new application and workflow are not clearly communicated, teams might be hesitant to use it and stick to the “old” ways.
Not only does this hurt the return on investment into new technologies, but it causes further digital friction. When teams are using different and often incompatible applications and workflows, it creates bottlenecks that lead to delays in processing, reviews and approvals – and negatively impacts customer or service user experience.
6) Lack of visibility into how work gets done
Assessing the performance of frontline service teams is crucial for identifying areas of improvement. But disjointed systems and tech stack instability make it difficult to gain data on how teams work. Each employee in a frontline service team might perform a task in a different way, but without insight into how they work and what digital friction they face, it’s impossible to standardize processes to establish best practices and optimize teams’ performance.
Without a clear understanding of where inefficiencies lie, implementing effective strategies for improvement is a non-starter. Businesses are also affected by limited visibility into user engagement to identify who isn’t using the technology available, further hindering efforts to ensure widespread adoption and scaling.
7) Reduced employee satisfaction
Finally, digital friction significantly affects employee morale and motivation. Across the board, the data on how poor digital employee experiences (DEX) and high rates of digital friction impact individuals has worsened. Indeed, our recent survey of 2,000 knowledge workers found 43% report reduced job satisfaction due to poor DEX, up from 38% in 2021, and 29% say it has made them consider leaving their job, compared to 18% in 2021.
Reduced job satisfaction leads to higher turnover rates, which in turn affects the continuity and quality of service delivery, not to mention increases the costs associated with recruiting and training new employees. Importantly, for frontline service teams, the frustration caused by digital friction leads to decreased productivity, increases the risk of errors, and results in a lack of engagement in their interactions with customers.
DEX to the rescue
Fortunately, sophisticated digital employee experience (DEX) analytics exist that assess click-by-click employee journeys and interaction data across all endpoints – so companies can successfully overcome the seven digital friction challenges that we’ve covered in these two blogs. Drawing on intelligence from a DEX management platform, IT and employee experience teams gain the ability to quickly measure, assess and optimize digital efficiency and productivity. Sophisticated DEX solutions allow businesses to understand and analyze employee journeys and interaction data at scale, irrespective of work setting, to eliminate inefficient processes and application workflows to improve productivity. This boosts productivity, whilst leading to better service quality and a more engaged workforce. As technology continues to evolve, staying ahead of digital friction is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge and ensuring the success of frontline service teams.
Find out how Acumen from Scalable Software can help your team and request a demo here.