As the 21st century has progressed, the business world has come to embrace tech with open arms. Companies of all sizes have recognized the value that tech can bring to the table. From offering valuable insights to streamlining productivity to outright eliminating the need for humans to do mundane tasks, tech is reshaping how modern businesses operate.
One problem that this new use of tech has created, though, is an overabundance of options. It’s difficult for leaders — especially in smaller businesses — to recognize what kinds of tech they should focus on.
With that in mind, here is a list of some of the best types of tech that business leaders should prioritize when trying to help their businesses run smoothly.
1. Benefits Tech
It’s easy for a business to get bogged down dealing with nitty-gritty details. Your company exists to provide a specific set of products or services to your customers. The last thing you want to do is spend all of your time addressing back-end details while your customers wait.
That’s where tech can be a game-changer. A good example of this comes from tech apps that focus on streamlining benefits management.
There are many third-party applications that can empower your employees to take control of their benefits. Healthcare apps can help employees understand and utilize every aspect of their health-related benefits. Small business 401k software can even give employees in a startup impressive access to check and manage retirement accounts via an online portal.
Whatever benefits you offer, there’s a good chance that technology can make managing those benefits easier.
2. Payroll Tech
Another back-end activity that can suck away time and energy is payroll. The effort that goes into paying your employees in full and on time can be exhausting.
The good news is that payroll is another area that a plethora of cutting-edge technology has addressed in recent years. Even small businesses can access affordable, easy-to-use payroll processing software that can make paying employees quick and easy.
Additionally, employees should pay attention to how they manage their paychecks because paystubs play an important role. The check stub maker show how much money you have made, and when that money will be coming out of your paychecks in the form of taxes or other deductions.
3. Other HR Tech
Of course, there’s more to back-end duties than just payroll and benefits. There are numerous HR responsibilities that can take up time — even if they don’t directly impact your customers. The more of this activity that you can outsource to technology the better.
The onboarding and training aspects of business are another area that is ripe for farming out to automation and applications. There are multiple ways that you can do this.
For instance, many HR software providers offer automated onboarding tasks. These consist of things like resources, documents, and requested signatures for a new hire. You can send these to a new member of your team for them to fill out at their convenience, removing the need for your HR manager to oversee much of the process.
4. Communication Tech
Communication is arguably the best area that tech has covered. There’s no end to the number of tech tools that help keep teams together. The concept of using communication tech in business is one that has to make a list like this.
However, rather than listing specific types of communication tech suggestions, it’s worth taking a slightly different approach. Chances are your business already uses a wide variety of communication tools to keep in touch. Texting, emails, video chats, phone calls, instant messaging — there are countless ways that teams communicate.
If you want to use communication tech to help your business run more smoothly, though, you need to standardize your tech choices. Don’t just let your team communicate in whatever medium seems best at the moment. Instead, select specific channels and tools that your team should use for different occasions. That way everyone can see notifications and respond to messages in a quick and efficient manner.
5. Collaboration Tech
While communication is common, there are still many companies that haven’t tapped into the power of collaboration tech, as well. While similar to communication, collaboration tools aren’t just focused on keeping your team in touch. They also facilitate your team’s collective efforts as you work together.
Collaboration tools have become essential as the world has drifted toward a more remote workplace standard. As teams work together from afar, it’s important to have collaboration software in place. This can help each team member upload their work, take notes, set deadlines, and otherwise keep everyone’s output in a centralized, cloud-based place.
Even if your business still works in the same space, having collaboration tools in place is important. It gives your operation resiliency in the event of an unforeseen challenge. If a pandemic shuts you down or an employee calls in sick, you can still connect online via your collaboration platform.
6. Education Tech
Finally, we have education tech. Continual learning and professional development are critical aspects of modern careers. As the world continues to evolve at breakneck speed, it has become the duty of an employer to help their employees keep up with the changes.
One of the best ways to do this is by utilizing the power of educational tech. From videos to online courses to live video conferences, there are many ways to use technology to help your employees learn.
The best part about education tech is that you can use technology to help your employees learn about …technology. As tech itself continues to develop, you can keep ahead of the curve by using the very tech being created to educate your team.
There are many ways that tech can impact a business, no matter what its size. Some of these influences can take place behind the scenes. You can streamline and automate back-end elements like benefits management, payroll, and onboarding. This removes much of the time and effort that is traditionally invested in these responsibilities.
Other tech elements, like communication and collaboration, can keep your team operating at peak efficiency. Still others, like education tech, can help your team members maintain a cutting-edge in your business, your industry, and each person’s individual career.
While there is a near-infinite number of technological options available, it’s important to find the ones that can truly make a difference for your business. HR, teamwork, and continuing education are three critical aspects for most businesses. Use tech to enhance these areas and help your company run more smoothly this year.