In the year of the four-day week trial, employees are wasting up to a day a week dealing with admin and poor tech.
Over one-third (35%) of UK employees are spending more than six hours a week on unnecessary admin, and two-fifths (21%) are spending over a day.
Losing nearly a day per week of productive employee time could be costing businesses up to £4.6bn in salaries alone, according to new analysis by Applaud, the UK’s leading employee experience platform.
Admin burdens are significant
The growing admin burden is also leading to significant employee discontent, with over a third (40%) saying they are frustrated by it.
According to employees, a significant amount of the admin comes from HR-related systems, with over a third (34%) saying these platforms cause them headaches. Over half (53%) rate their employers’ HR systems as average or below average.
How can technology help?
Slick, well-functioning technology has grown in importance hugely for employees in recent years, with over half (57%) saying that having good technology is now a key factor in their choice of employer.
Two-fifths (39%) said they would actually turn down a new role if they found the employer had a poor technology setup.
Ivan Harding, CEO and Co-Founder of Applaud comments:
“Technology is meant to make people’s working lives easier, but something’s gone wrong along the way. To find that employees are effectively wasting a day a week on unnecessary admin is staggering. Many are talking about the potential benefits of a four-day week, and it seems a large chunk of the UK’s employees are already doing that in terms of productive time.
“It’s clear that implementing technology can have huge benefits to businesses. But technology can be a huge double-edged sword if it isn’t fit for purpose or the implementation and change process isn’t managed well. Businesses have a big challenge, but also a big opportunity here to step back and find out what is really supporting employees and what is holding them back. Tackling this admin overload should be a big priority particularly in these difficult financial times.”
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.