User experience: The gift that keeps on giving

Giving employees a positive user experience is good for business. Learn how to boost productivity and job satisfaction, while also helping improving security and reducing support calls.

Eric Chong, Enterprise Client Technical Sales Specialist, Intel Corporation

If employees’ PCs aren’t working right, that frustration can bubble over and have a serious impact on a business. 

Research is showing that investing in devices that improve an employee’s experience can have a very positive ripple effect on customers and businesses, but it’s important to pinpoint exactly what is causing employees to feel their devices are letting them down.

Device Dissatisfaction

Employee satisfaction with their technology has a significant impact on a user experience, and that experience can impact other parts of the business including productivity, engagement, customer interactions and even retention.

It would be nice to think we (as IT experts) have all the answers and we know what employees want – but, unfortunately, that’s not the case. Forrester’s research has identified a disconnect between IT and employees’ priorities. Despite what we think is important, employees have these items on the top of their priority list:

  • Hardware and software that works seamlessly together.
  • Easy access to the information they need.
  • A device that works consistently.

Features Employees Really Want

Power Up Performance: A hybrid workplace has increased the demands we’re putting on our PCs, and we need faster processors to keep pace. We’re not just working on documents, we’re working on documents, with colleagues while video conferencing.

Keep connected: The amount of time spend on video calls or online collaboration has increased significantly. Give employees a seamless collaboration experience by supporting the latest Wi-Fi standards. Intel® Wi-Fi 6/6E (Gig+) offers faster speeds, stronger connectivity, and powerful performance.  

Get Immersed:  More time in front of the screens, and increased video conferencing in a hybrid world means we need to pay attention to the visuals to reduce fatigue and keep people engaged. Intel® Iris® Xe graphics deliver stunning creation and graphics capabilities.

Be Stable: Employees want their PCs to work when they need them and support wants to reduce the number of emergency calls to get devices back up and running. The Intel vPro platform is designed to deliver a reliable, stable foundation.

The Features IT Needs

You don’t have to sacrifice ease of support, security or remote management to invest in technology that delivers a positive user experience.

Laptops built on the Intel vPro platform include:

  • Remote Management made easier. The Intel vPro platform lets IT, ISVs and Vars to remotely repair and help protect networked PCs—even those outside the corporate firewall or those that can’t boot.
  • Security that goes beyond the software. Intel vPro platform includes multi-layer security features including Intel® Hardware Shield help increase protection without impacting productivity.

If you’re looking for more advanced training to boost your skills in a range of technologies including the Intel vPro platform, the Intel Partner Alliance and Intel Partner University have dedicated training paths and specialized educational programs to help you hone your skills.

Invest in the Bottom Line

Making the argument to invest in new PCs can be a challenge with businesses focussed on cashflow, reducing expenses and ROI … but there’s a strong ROI argument. Forrester has found a 5% increase in employee satisfaction leads to 3% increase in bottom line revenue.

Also, investment in new PCs can:

  • Increase customer satisfaction (69%)
  • Boost revenue (62%)
  • Improve employee retention (55%)

Many organizations have bought into the need to invest in employee experience and resulting productivity. They’re reporting they plan to increase in their investment in employee experience from 15% to 22% of the overall IT budget in the next two years.

Engaged Employees Are Productive Employees

Employees want to do good work, and to do their best work they need up-to-date technology. Every time a PC takes too long to perform a task, needs support or needs to be plugged in because the battery drains too quickly, employees aren’t able to focus on their work or their customers and performance suffers.

Forrester says a new PC “allows employees to choose the environment in which they feel most engaged and productive, boosting the overall performance of the company and lessening the risk of lost talent.”

What’s on your shopping list? Consider giving your employees the gift of a performance PC – it’s a gift that keeps on giving with increased job satisfaction, happier customers, a boost to revenue and fewer support headaches.

 1 Based on IEEE 802.11ax specification legacy 5 GHz vs. new 6GHz Wi-Fi spectrum. With more large channels in 6 GHz, technology advantages of Wi-Fi 6E networks enable higher maximum theoretical PC client speeds vs. 5 GHz Wi-Fi 5. For more information visit www.Intel.com/PerformanceIndex > Connectivity > Wireless.

Intel does not control or audit third-party data.  You should consult other sources to evaluate accuracy.

Performance varies by use, configuration and other factors. Learn more at www.Intel.com/PerformanceIndex.  No product or component can be absolutely secure. Your costs and results may vary. Intel technologies may require enabled hardware, software or service activation. © Intel Corporation.  Intel, the Intel logo, and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries.  Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.