Most organizations are going through some type of digital transformation. The benefits are primarily for productivity gains in order to stay competitive. But what do employees and prospective employees think about their company’s efforts? We decided to ask.
In a survey of 100 employed U.S. people aged 18-44, we asked about their attitudes on paper usage, paper and digital processes and how much these efforts mattered to them when considering a job change.
Fifty-seven percent said that the printing done in their office has a negative impact on the environment yet sixty percent said their company had no policies on how printing can be done (seventy percent had no policies on scan processes). Fifty-two percent felt their company had too many paper-based processes. Fifty-four percent are using cloud storage at work, either company-owned or their own personal accounts.
As companies move to automated scan workflows and deploy print management to save on paper waste, employee communication about these processes should be part of employee training. For example, in the survey, fifty-two percent who use scan to email thought it was a productive use of their time. (Note that the survey did not present alternatives to scan to email).
While companies know scan to email is indeed unproductive compared to automated workflows and that
scan to email can be damaging for a business as well, employees are using the only method available to them. For example, scan to email is insecure and non-compliant, doesn't enforce consistency in file naming and scan parameters, produces an image file only (no text searching for easy retrieval) and its a misuse of email when attachments take up expensive storage space. For these and many more reasons, automated scan workflows are desirable.
Although this is a small sample size, it is clear that a company’s policies – or lack thereof – can have a negative impact on how employees feel about their company’s digital reputation. Make no mistake, those early in their career life want flexible work hours and mobile/remote work opportunities most when they are searching for new job opportunities, but once employed, the majority (52%) seek more digital processes.
To learn more, download
the survey report.
