Technology has become so embedded in everyday life that most people barely think about it when it works well. We unlock our phones in seconds, move between apps almost instantly and expect digital services to respond when we need them.
Those expectations do not disappear when people arrive at work.
Yet for many employees, workplace technology remains a regular source of frustration. When a system is slow or difficult to use, relatively simple tasks can take longer than they should and concentration is easily broken.
Individually, these issues may seem minor. However, over time, repeated disruption can begin to influence how employees feel about their work and eventually, their employer.
According to TeamViewer research, 47% of workers say digital friction leaves them frustrated and less satisfied with their jobs. More concerning still, 28% have considered leaving their company altogether because of IT dysfunction.
For organisations this matters at a time when competition for skilled talent remains high. Recent CIPD research found that 52% of UK employers have seen competition for well-qualified talent increase over the past year, while 44% say talent has become more difficult to retain. Workplace technology therefore deserves a much more prominent place in the employee experience conversation.
Expectations around workplace technology have changed
Enterprise technology often has to meet much more complex requirements around security and governance, but employees still expect the tools they rely on every day to help them work efficiently.
The difference is most noticeable when technology gets in the way. Something as simple as having to wait for an application to respond can interrupt the flow of a task, while recurring issues can mean employees begin their working day already anticipating the systems that might cause problems.
This is becoming more important as the digital workplace is now part of how employees assess their working environment. Technology may once have been seen largely as infrastructure sitting behind the employee experience. Today, it is the employee experience for a significant part of the working day.
TeamViewer research reflects that shift. Almost six in ten employees said a strong technology setup was important when considering a new job opportunity. For employers, that means the quality of the digital environment can contribute to the impression people form of an organisation before they have even joined it.
Once they are in the role, those expectations continue. Employees notice whether the tools they have been given make their work easier, and they also notice when recurring problems are allowed to persist. That is where a technology issue can start becoming a people issue.
When frustration becomes a retention issue
People rarely leave an organisation because of one technical problem. Decisions about whether to stay in a role are shaped by many things, including career opportunities, management, working culture and how valued somebody feels. Digital friction sits within that wider picture.
When employees regularly lose time to systems that are difficult to use or unreliable, the frustration is not necessarily limited to the technology itself. They may start to question why a known problem has not been fixed or whether enough is being invested in the tools they need.
That can influence the way employees perceive their organisation. A recurring issue that appears relatively minor from a leadership perspective may feel very different to somebody encountering it several times a week.
TeamViewer research found that 69% of employees believe digital friction has contributed to employee turnover within their organisation. Poor workplace technology may not be the deciding factor on its own, but it can add to the wider frustrations that shape whether an employee wants to stay.
There is also a broader question of whether employees feel enabled to do good work. If too much attention is being diverted towards troubleshooting technology or finding ways around systems that are not working effectively, that sense of progress becomes harder to maintain.
Over time, those unresolved problems can shape an employee’s wider perception of their workplace. Businesses therefore need to look at digital friction as part of the wider employee experience, particularly when the same issues persist over time.
Improving technology should be part of the employee experience
Improving the digital employee experience starts with understanding where technology is getting in the way of people’s work.
That means looking beyond whether a system is technically operational. An application can be available without providing a particularly good experience. IT teams need visibility into how technology is performing in practice and where recurring problems are affecting employees most frequently.
Employee behaviour can provide useful clues. If people start using personal devices or alternative apps to get around slow or unreliable workplace systems, it may indicate that the tools available to them are not supporting the way they need to work.
The response will not always require a major technology replacement. In some cases, the biggest improvement may come from resolving an issue that has been recurring for months. Elsewhere, a process might need simplifying or employees may need better support when something goes wrong.
It is also important to understand where problems are appearing repeatedly rather than dealing with every incident in isolation. If the same issue keeps returning across multiple employees or devices, resolving the underlying cause can prevent the frustration from becoming part of normal working life.
There is a role for employee feedback here too. Technology decisions are often made with functionality and cost in mind, but understanding how people actually use those systems provides another valuable perspective. Employees are often well placed to identify where processes have become cumbersome or where a tool is adding unnecessary steps to everyday work.
This will become more important as organisations introduce AI and other new technologies into their operations. Employees are being asked to adapt to new tools and ways of working at considerable speed. A reliable underlying digital environment gives them a much stronger foundation for doing that.
If the existing technology experience is already difficult, continually adding new tools risks making the workplace feel more complex. When the fundamentals work well, employees are better able to focus on the value new technology can bring rather than the effort required to use it.
Workplace technology is more than an IT priority
Businesses already spend significant time thinking about the factors that influence employee satisfaction and retention. Workplace technology should be part of the same conversation.
Good technology alone will not persuade someone to remain in a role that is no longer right for them. But when the digital environment consistently helps people do their jobs well, it removes one source of avoidable frustration and gives employees a better experience of their working day.
For technology leaders, that makes improving digital experience about more than IT performance. Understanding where employees are struggling and acting before those problems become accepted as normal can support productivity while also helping create a workplace where people feel better equipped to do their best work.