The real-world consequences of outdated technology and inefficient administration have been revealed by Webexpenses’ latest research.
Involving a global survey of more than 5,000 office workers, the study looked at the challenges faced by office-based employees during a typical working day.
It revealed that more than a quarter (26%) of employees’ time is currently being spent on outdated processes and unnecessary administrative tasks.
The biggest time wasters were found to be:
- Managing irrelevant emails
- Attending unnecessary meetings
- Handling employee expenses
- Arranging business travel/accommodation
Two-thirds (66%) of US-based workers said they would be more productive if they had better tools and 60%wanted their employer to invest more on time-saving technologies.
Misfiring expense process
Expense management is one of the areas where an outdated manual process and a paper-based approach are still typical – using written forms, paper receipts and Excel spreadsheets.
The average time it’s taking to create an expense report using these methods is 24 minutes. It’s a task that can be completed in a matter of minutes with cloud-based management and an automated process.
US workers are taking the most time to manage their expenses, an average of 40 minutes. The shortest average times (17 minutes) were in New Zealand workplaces.
More than a third (38%) of employees said their company still uses manual processes and 40%described the workplace technology available to them as being ‘woefully outdated’.
Frustrating and inefficient
Adam Reynolds, CEO of Webexpenses said:
“What’s remarkable about these survey results is the level of frustration and annoyance that’s clearly being experienced by employees.
“People are used to the simplicity and efficiency of digital solutions in their personal lives and that clashes with workplaces where they’re having to shuffle and process mounds of paper.
“Our businesses are rapidly becoming one of the few remaining places where these kinds of outdated and ineffective forms of management are still tolerated.”
Webexpenses’ suite of cloud-based solutions are designed to streamline and improve business administration by removing the need for traditional paper-based and manual processes.
Along with the flagship expense management software, Webexpenses now features a range of powerful cloud-based tools to handle business travel, invoicing and payments.
If you’re interested in seeing the system for yourself, book a free demo or get in touch.
