Our Evolving Relationship with Technology
Technology helps people connect, learn, get work done and reimagines daily lives. Yet as reliance on technology increases, we become more sensitive to its performance highs and lows. As the pressure to perform increases, businesses who understand the impact tech has on people are at an advantage. Not only can they offer a better experience, they can help employees become more efficient and effective.
Dell uses research to understand customers’ needs and to drive innovations as those needs change. That’s why the company embarked on their first neuroscience “Brain on Tech” study earlier this year. Dell’s objective was to explore the intertwining relationship people have with technology and how it affects the ability to work. They wanted to know the impact of technology performance on overall well-being.
Together with Emotiv, the global leader in portable brain sensing technologies and consumer neuroscience, participants’ brain activity was monitored in real time (via EEG scanning headsets) while they worked and interacted with technology. This allowed Dell to go beyond traditional surveys, providing rich scientific results.
At first glance the results of the study confirmed that experiences with high functioning and reliable technology and non-responsive or failing technology directly impact productivity and how employees feel. However, the extent of this correlation was significant.
Using Technology to Supercharge Productivity and Efficiency
In the new era, PCs are often the only physical connection an employee has to a company. This device is not only just for work, but also the gateway to engage with company culture and connect with customers and co-workers. Additionally, for many employees, IT is no longer a cubicle over to help with system crashes or computer lockouts.
What does that mean for business owners, IT experts, HR leaders and employees?
The Brain on Tech research revealed that it is more important than ever to provide employees with solid, functioning technology. From day one, a great experience with a work PC is vital and ensures optimum productivity. For example:
- Employees can achieve an astounding 37 percent more in a workday when using technology that is not only newer but supported with the correct software and services.
- For every hour worked, good tech can save employees 23 minutes per hour or fifteen hours in a 40-hour work week. (How is that for a benefit to the bottom line!)
- A bad technology experience impedes employee performance by more than 30 percent on average, regardless of a user’s perceived computer literacy.
- There are generational impacts. Younger Millennials and Gen Zers (those surveyed under the age of 26), were most impacted by a bad tech experience, performing twice as poorly as older participants in the study.
Delivering the Best Technology Experiences Impact How Employees Feel
Challenging technology can make today’s new work-life dynamic more stressful. Dell’s research showed that well-functioning technology can positively impact feelings and relieve stress for employees, creating both emotional benefits as well a lasting impact on retention. For example:
- Receiving different technology that is enabled with the power and tools end-users need to be successful after dealing with technology that is flawed by common IT issues was equally as exciting as watching videos of puppies.
- The study measured excitement once participants received and used new, better functioning computers. The change of equipment induced more excitement than receiving a monetary reward upon completion of the experiment.
- How study participants rebounded from the stress of a bad tech experience became an important piece of data, as it demonstrated the effect stress has over an extended period, such as a 9 AM to 5 PM workday. The results show that those experiencing these high stress moments take three times longer to relax and recover even when listening to relaxing music, compared to those experiencing less stressful moments in the workday.
- Timely technology refreshes can also benefit stress levels. Employees that have bad technology experiences during their workday feel twice as stressed, which is almost 30% more stressful than being asked to sing a song in public.
Keeping employees productive and happy is a top priority for companies today as they try to combat burnout. Businesses have the power to address this with great technology experiences. For example, making sure employees have the right technology set-up, including software and peripherals, or have the opportunity to customise their set-up to best fit their needs. Solutions and services like PC as a Service (PCaaS) can also be leveraged to help modernise the employee experience with subscription-based pricing and no upfront investment. Delivery of easily manageable and secure technology directly to the employee with minimal set-up required and encourage workday flexibility. Additional suggestions can be found here.
In the “Work from Anywhere” world, people, productivity, health and well-being matter, the best investment any business can make to reduce stress and improve productivity is to provide reliable, seamless technology experiences to reduce friction and help employees achieve their work goals.
The Experiment Methodology
In early 2020, Dell and Emotiv developed a custom experiment to measure the reactions of users of various ages and computer literacy levels as they completed cognitively challenging tasks under time using both good and bad PC technology. Emotiv’s EPOC+ wireless Brainwear headsets were used to collect participants’ brain data in a work environment.
Levels of stress, focus, excitement and frustration were assessed in real-time leveraging Emotiv’s proprietary machine learning algorithms. Emotiv researchers studied adult users who were representative of a modern workforce, including mixed gender, ages, computer literacy and familiarity with computerized workplaces. Participants in a work environment were required to complete cognitively challenging tasks under time pressure with the prospect of a reward tied to the level of completion of the tasks.
Two conditions were tested in a block design using similar task loads. In the “Bad Computer” experimental condition, users were provided with an unreliable laptop with planted bugs, while during condition “Good Computer,” users were provided with high-performing computers and screens which streamlined the user experience.
Emotiv also recorded brain activity during various baseline, rest and recovery control conditions and provided happy and stressful videos in order to benchmark responses against known experiences and to measure recovery times.