Boring work is hurting productivity

Boring, repetitive and slow tasks are weighing down Britain’s workforce and stopping real company development despite many tasks having an automated alternative. Tasks like data entry, processing and analysis could be costing businesses around 19 working days a year per employee according to a new study by SnapLogic.

The damage done to office productivity leaves an effect on workers who end up feeling disconnected and worn out. A quarter of employees believe that avoiding automation gives competitors the opportunity to take the lead, and 61% find themselves constantly delayed through old fashioned programmes and methods. With a massive 90% of staff admitting they feel burdened by boring busywork, SnapLogic is urging companies to make the jump to automation to collect all the data in one place and avoid ‘disconnected’ or ‘siloed’ data.

“We continue to see the problem of siloed data causing workers to spend far too much time on rote, repetitive tasks, which is crippling organizational productivity,” said Gaurav Dhillon, founder and CEO of SnapLogic. “This is particularly problematic in larger companies like those included in this research, where there are likely more systems, more departments, and bigger projects than in smaller enterprises.”

Nearly two thirds of those in companies with more than 500 employees believe productivity is hampered through poor communication and data mistakes between departments, with around half of workers worried that weak collaboration with other sectors is leaving data unclear and open to interpretation. As it data can end up being left out or missing entirely through bad integration, specialists are calling for changes to end up saving time and leaving the talent to work on what they’re good at.

“As the productivity costs of disconnected data become more apparent to businesses, we’re beginning to see a shift in attitudes towards the need for smarter, faster integration of data,” continued Dhillon. “With modern organizations now relying on multiple applications to drive the business forward, it’s more important than ever that disconnected data be resigned to the past.

“Having highly-skilled employees spending large chunks of time on boring automatable tasks, rather than on value-add activities is not only a waste of time and money but has a negative impact on morale, as employees become bored and frustrated with repetition of efforts.”

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