“Technology brings opportunities for efficiencies and cost management, but it also brings the opportunity to make working lives more productive and fulfilling”.
Carol Stubbings
The world has fundamentally changed over the past 18 months due to some of the challenges highlighted by the pandemic. The global lockdown has had an enormous impact on mental well-being and how many people accustomed to office-based roles have had to adjust to working remotely.
As a whole, the internet, together with cloud-based software (specifically software you run that’s not on your premises, also referred to as Software as a Service application), has undoubtedly been the silent hero that has allowed staff to focus on completing routine work tasks and achieving their performance targets whilst working from home.
More than that, it has allowed employees to choose their ideal working environment, improving their productivity levels and work-life balance. A recent study conducted by Stanford showed that working from home increased productivity levels by 13%. Employees working from home experienced improved job satisfaction, and turnover levels declined. The study also found that these employees took fewer sick days and found it easier to concentrate.
However, one of the major concerns organisations have when their employees work from home is their information security. With the enhanced security measures technology has offered, these teams can rest assured that this information is securely held within these platforms.
Software as a Service (“SaaS”) Applications
SaaS-based products came about from the need for cost-efficient computing that could be hosted centrally and rolled out rapidly. These SaaS products are usually run via a web browser and hosted in the cloud, enabling companies to roll out new features and upgrades faster than would have been possible before and manage increased scalability.
The most relevant SaaS products in the workplace include Customer Relationship Management (“CRM”) applications, Key Performance Indicator (“KPI”) management applications and, of course, incentive plan management software. Whether these workplace SaaS products are used to increase sales, manage client data, incentivise staff or streamline tasks, they have one common thread – they improve productivity and performance, thereby creating a sense of empowerment.
One of the many benefits of cloud-based software is the increased collaboration among targeted groups of people, such as company employees. Cloud-based collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams have enabled employees to work anywhere while maintaining good working relationships. Using these tools, employees can communicate and share information easily, as well as track projects. Not only did a recent study by Forbes Insight shows that 87% of leaders say that cloud-based software is a breakthrough for collaboration, but 93% of leaders also agree that this software stimulates innovation.
The levels of comfort these platforms have offered organisations have helped them to feel confident that their employees can work from home while maintaining increased collaboration, data security, and integrity.
Incentive Plan Management SaaS Products
Before the advent of incentive plan technology, plan administrators spent hours on time-consuming, arduous tasks. This included issuing new award letters manually, juggling complex vesting calculations and applying these to outstanding awards, making phone calls to arrange trades and payments and emails getting lost in the internet abyss. Accounting teams spent month-ends completing complicated, disorganised Excel spreadsheets, which resulted in human error and frustrations when figures didn’t tie up due to one cell being incorrect.
Back then, one could not imagine that technology would eventually step in to automate these processes and free up hours, days and weeks for administrators, rewards managers, and accounting teams.
Incentive plan technology offers plan administrators, rewards and accounting teams the tools to house all plan-related information centrally, ensuring that there is one true, accurate source of this information. It has improved the tasks managed by all stakeholders in the incentive plan lifecycle, from administrators to accountants and enhanced employee engagement, leading to increased productivity and achievement of the targets set out in the incentive plans.
Conclusion
Technology is making our lives easier. Research by McKinsey shows that productivity growth at a macroeconomic level could increase by 0.8 to 1.4% annually through automation. Tasks that used to be monotonous can now be done faster using automated processes, freeing up time to do things that truly matter.
Technology has allowed employees to focus on tasks that machines cannot replicate, emphasising problem-solving, strategic thinking, and creativity. Aptly, Dada Vaswani said, “True success, true happiness lies in freedom and fulfillment.”
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ShareForce’s Software as a Service for Managing Incentive Plans
ShareForce provides a SaaS for managing incentive plans in the cloud, whether cash (phantom) or equity-settled, long-term or short-term. Our platform is scalable and gracefully handles batch information and processes while maintaining availability and performance and is constantly updated in line with regulations and global standards that affect incentive plans
ShareForce uses cloud technology to enable various departments within a company to manage their share and incentive plan requirements using a single source of data, thereby improving efficiencies, reducing errors, and simplifying the complexities of an otherwise very complex process. An outdated siloed process is now replaced with a gamified and collaborative approach to managing incentive plans.
The security of your information is our highest priority. We have ensured the highest standard of data security by using robust technical and operational security measures compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements so that you can have peace of mind knowing that your data is stored using international best practice mechanisms.
To view a demo of the ShareForce Incentive Plan management tool, fill in the form below or visit www.shareforce.net/contact
