A mere 28% of knowledge workers feel they have a healthy relationship with their jobs. This disconnect doesn't just affect workforce satisfaction—it also directly impacts bottom-line results. Forward-thinking organizations recognize that cultivating an environment where people thrive isn't simply about employee happiness; it's a strategic imperative that drives innovation, retention and sustainable growth.
This discontent stems partly from profound changes to the way we work. Many employees who had just figured out how to balance work and home life in a hybrid model are now being ordered back to the office five days a week. These policies have sapped motivation and increased turnover.
Just as important for CIOs is the impact of a broken digital experience, which is hurting employees regardless of whether they are hybrid, in-office, or remote. Employees are constantly being asked to install software updates and reboot machines. They switch between an ever-expanding menu of apps and services that slow their computers and get in the way of their work.
Into this volatile mix, CIOs are now being asked to layer on AI tools, adding yet more complexity. If the existing digital crisis isn’t solved first, employees will feel even more overwhelmed and IT desks already running on fumes will reach breaking point.
In fact, there is an answer to this. CIOs can use the power of AI to vastly improve the workplace experience and provide a more personalized, fulfilling experience. AI can also streamline and automate the IT service desk, giving IT teams the time to innovate and add value instead of reacting to a constant firehose of requests.
The complexity crisis
To understand how abysmal the workplace tech experience has become, contrast it with our personal lives. Outside of work, smartphones update in the background and connect effortlessly to devices like TVs and car entertainment systems. Apps like Uber and DoorDash have made life so convenient that we take them utterly for granted.
The workplace experience is much, much clunkier. No wonder that two-thirds of employees say they experience friction when using digital technologies at work, and only half say they feel fully supported by their IT service desk.
Unless CIOs minimize this complexity and resolve problems proactively, employee experience, productivity and engagement will continue to suffer. Younger workers who expect more from technology will quit, and those who stay will perform well below their peak.
The path to employee wellbeing
For employees to perform at their best, technology must disappear into the background instead of getting in their way. The answer is to make IT smarter by leveraging the power of data and AI-driven automation.
A large employee base generates millions of data points across applications and devices. An AI-powered management platform can analyze these data points to identify patterns and trends, anticipate problems and autonomously resolve them for IT.
For example, which devices are experiencing the most memory overutilization across your fleet? Which applications are underutilized and wasting license fees? Which firmware version is causing the blue screen of death? Which applications are most prone to crashing?
Insights like these allow IT to anticipate and fix problems before they arise, allowing employees to focus on their work instead of pausing every 30 minutes to deal with a new alert. Imagine a world where employees can log on to their devices in the morning and discover that all essential updates have been installed overnight, no action required.
AI tools can make work itself more personalized and rewarding. AI can automate routine tasks like data entry, report generation and scheduling, freeing up time for valuable work that people actually enjoy. AI chatbots can save time by answering questions about HR policies and IT needs. And AI-powered learning tools can analyze an individual’s skills and knowledge gaps to create personalized training programs.
A lifeline to the future for IT
None of this can happen when IT departments are struggling to secure and manage the existing landscape of devices and software, even as they are asked to implement the biggest breakthrough in enterprise technology since the cloud.
AI-powered management tools put CIOs and IT leaders back in control, allowing them to provide the type of experience that their increasingly young and digitally savvy workforce demands.
CIOs are on the hook to make AI successful for their organizations, and it won’t happen if they don’t fix the employee experience first. By embracing AI tools to streamline the IT services they deliver, CIOs can bring instant relief to beleaguered IT teams and provide employees with a tech experience that makes them eager to come to work in the morning.
