Organisations constantly undergo technological change, however not all organisations manage this change well. In fact, there is a legitimate resistance to technological change: Technophobia. This is not surprising, considering 70% of all change initiatives fail.
In this time of rapid technological change, organisations are forced to adopt new technologies and change the way they interact with clients. This presents significant implications for organisations if change is not managed effectively, particularly for transitioning employees, the direction of resources, customers and other stakeholders. Implications include loss of productivity, employee motivation, organisational performance and economic growth.
Technological change is a particular concern for IT professionals when evaluating software partners, as software updates are not considering user accessibility, described as end-user experience (EUX), which has impacts on long-term satisfaction. In a recent study on organisational change management, it was found that there is a severe misalignment between the way IT leaders talk about change management and the strategies in place to execute these initiatives.
“While technology leaders may understand the importance of change management, they continue to struggle to put effective change management strategies into practice [when changing software], and are ultimately missing out on better ROI from their software purchase.”
Creating an effective EUX is important in ensuring user uptake and adoption of any new technology, and can lead to lower levels of resistance to a new technology, higher levels of audience motivation to adopt, and can assist in the end user’s mastery of the technology. This can lead to higher levels of engagement with the technology, resulting in effective utilisation, high levels of productivity, and in essence, ensuring the technology delivers on its intention. This will not only motivate the end user to continue to use the technology, but ensures there is a sound return on investment in terms of the proposed benefits of implementing the technology. Further, EUX can assist in the retention of staff through higher levels of engagement and satisfaction brought about by the high levels of EUX.
When implementing a project that will enact significant change, it is recommended that IT organisations measure user experience. This is achieved through measuring completion rates, task times, first clicks, or a using a system usability scale. EUX metrics are important as it measures ease of use and task completion, evaluates customer support performance, flags areas of poor user experience and indicates areas of improvement.
When measuring user experience, TMS recommends organisations to consider the following three components:
1. Effectiveness (being able to complete a task)
2. Efficiency (the amount of effort required to complete the task)
3. Satisfaction (the degree to which the user was happy with his/her experience while performing the task)
The employer’s and employee’s perspective may differ regarding what it takes to implement technology and business change, as well as the establishment of a workplace culture that supports such a shift in operations and behaviours.
TMS works with organisations to define, design and ensure the EUX using an integration of all behavioural, physical and technical requirements in the delivery of a new technology to ensure that all perspectives of relevant stakeholders are considered.
If your organisation is looking for effective change management solutions, please contact TMS consulting on solutions@tmsconsulting.com.au
