Dan Schawbel, Future Workplace

Konica Minolta recently sponsored the webinar, Transformational Tech: Building Your Workplace of the Future. Dan Schawbel, partner and research director at Future Workplace, an executive development firm dedicated to rethinking and re-imagining the workplace, was the main presenter. Schawbel offered insights that office equipment dealers and managed service providers might apply to the way they market and sell their offerings. Here are some of the key points, most of which come from a survey of HR professionals:

HR is now a key influencer of technology decisions. Thirty-nine percent of HR professionals said that they are very or extremely influential over tech decisions, and nearly a third said they expected to gain more influence. That’s because HR realizes that technology makes a difference to employees and job candidates, particularly younger ones, who want a productive work environment. Takeaway: It might help to target HR in your sales and marketing process.
Retention is the number one priority for HR in 2017, followed by training/development and productivity savings. Twenty-two percent of employees plan to change jobs in 2017, while 60 percent of businesses report that they cannot find skilled candidates. Takeaway: Talk about how your solutions can improve productivity and employee satisfaction. “We think office technology can be something that engages [employees] in a new way and makes them want to stay longer at the company,” said Schawbel.
Most HR professionals believe their company is behind in smart office technology. Only 25 percent believe they are ahead of other organizations. Takeaway: Ask questions about where your customers and prospects feel they are in comparison to their competitors.
Proper employee training is the number one requirement for implementation of new office technology, but a quarter of the companies surveyed said that the training was inadequate. Takeaway: Make sure to address any training concerns in your proposals.
More productivity (41 percent) and better collaboration (21 percent) are the top two outcomes HR wants to see from new technology investments. Takeaway: These are important data points for office equipment dealers and MSPs, since their solutions are often sold with the promise of more productivity and collaboration. Make sure to fully outline what the customer can expect in these areas.
When asked what new technology has been incorporated into their office spaces, 68 percent said video conferencing, followed by conference room booking software (41 percent), internet of things (33 percent) and custom mobile apps (29 percent). Takeaway: This data is food for thought for dealers and MSPs looking to add to their offerings.