A new report from managed IT services business Managed 24/7, showed that the average British employee in the legal sector who uses IT and has wasted any time, wastes 24.74 minutes per day due to IT issues. On average those working with IT have had 0.85 days of IT training in the last year but in the legal sector this drops to an average of 0.58 days.
UK facing productivity crisis
It is widely accepted that the UK is facing a productivity crisis and this report outlines, for the first time, how much of this loss is caused by poor IT systems and support. The report has identified that IT failure could cost UK PLC £35 billion per year if the average amount of time lost was applied to all full-time workers, the equivalent of the entire population of Birmingham and Milton Keynes not working all year. This equates to an average UK loss per year per employee of £1,499, based on an average hourly rate of £12.92 and the loss of 116 hours a year according to provsional results from the ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2016.
Top tech issues
The top four issues experienced by IT users in GB's legal sector last year were slow running systems/equipment (77 per cent); failures in connection (65 per cent); outdated kit or software (31 per cent) and lack of training meaning that you experience problems using IT/ IT software correctly (25 per cent)
Damaging ability to do a good job
In addition to the underlying costs in term of productivity and the bottom line, the report also found that amongst employees who use IT at work one third (32 per cent) believed that their workplace IT systems are damaging their ability to do a good job, a rate which rises to 37 per cent for firms with more than 500 employees. Then, 44 per cent believed that IT problems directly cost their business time and money and, interestingly, 40 per cent felt that they had better IT systems at home than at work.
Damaging client relationships
The findings are potentially damaging to client relationships with almost a quarter, 24 per cent, of those who have experienced IT issues highlighting that they have caused customers to complain, a proportion that rises to 30 per cent in firms with 500 or more employees.
Outdated and poorly managed IT systems
John Pepper, CEO and founder of Managed 24/7, said: ‘The UK is facing a productivity crisis. The UK currently ranks seventh in the G7 and 17th in the G20 for productivity per person, and fixing our outdated and poorly managed IT systems and support should play a significant role in closing this gap, especially in the UK legal sector.’
German workers more productive
He added: ‘It takes a German worker four days to produce what his or her UK counterpart does in five and this crisis is resulting in the UK lagging well behind other developed nations. In light of recent outages such as at British Airways and the NHS, it is time for the UK to address our IT issues to ensure we aren’t left behind by our more technically adept neighbours.’
Not enough support
When issues do occur, more than a third (34 per cent) of all IT users do not feel that they receive sufficient IT support. This is more marked for very large organisations (500 or more employee firms where 36 per cent of staff feeling dissatisfied). Large companies (those with more than 500 employees) also have the worst record for resolving IT issues, with 15 per cent of respondents finding it typically takes more than a day for issues to be resolved. Staff are therefore inclined to attempt to fix issues on their own, with 27 per cent of respondents saying they are most likely to sort IT issues themselves, with men more likely to sort out their own issues (34 per cent), than women (20 per cent).
Study information
Figures used in the report are mainly from YouGov Plc and the total sample size was 2,015 private sector employees (under senior management). Fieldwork was undertaken between 14th and 21st March 2017 and the figures have been weighted and are representative of GB businesses by size.
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
