Why IT Happiness?

IT end user satisfaction – or often called IT Happiness – research is a relatively new field—but it borrows much of its methodology from customer satisfaction surveys. Unlocking insights about how companies keep their customers happy, loyal, and even influential has been the focus of many studies. For example, Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company found that “increasing customer retention rates by five percent increases profits by 25 percent to 95 percent.” Studies like these are underway here at Yorizon as well.  

In further breaking down customer satisfaction, organizations must consider the customer’s perception (an experience determined partly by reason and partly by emotion, which leads to repeat purchases and recommendations to others) as well as the organization’s brand image and how that affects customers’ experience with the brand or the product.  

When it comes to IT organizations, the methods are quite similar. You may even recognize the names of these processes: “IT user satisfaction,” “Digital Employee Experience (DEX)” and “Voice of The Customer” programs.  

IT Happiness considers the following: 

  • Which IT products, projects, and services fit which internal customer?  
  • Who is actually the customer: the IT end user, the CEO, or the department heads?  
  • Who actually pays for IT?  
  • What are customer requirements or user expectations?  
  • What does IT stand for, and do employees see it that way?
  • How has IT positioned itself? 

IT end users are the capital of your organization.  

External customer satisfaction begins with internal IT end user satisfaction. Employees have a daily experience with IT, and this constant engagement not only creates a certain image of the IT department but of their entire organization. When IT is not up to par for end users, it can influence employees to look for employment elsewhere. Likewise, because IT plays such a critical role in virtually all employees’ processes, IT that doesn’t work well eventually reduces customer satisfaction and loyalty—affecting the bottom line and even the value of the organization.  

IT that is not running well further creates a strain on IT Happiness and IT costs.   

The nature of IT is iterative; it builds upon itself through solutions, upgrades, and responses to problems. Organizations that have continuous problems with IT require more time and money to fix problems that ultimately prevent employees from doing their jobs. As a result, IT end users who experience technostress (frustrations brought on by technological issues) simply cannot perform in their role the way their organization needs. Their productivity and quality of work decrease, and their satisfaction with the organization can decrease as well, which can create even more problems with employee retention and recruiting.   

When organizations strategically invest in IT, they thrive.  

A snapshot of Gartner’s top-10 business drivers includes growth, profit contribution, innovation, and improving business processes—and IT affects every single one. End user satisfaction contributes to an organization’s success from top to bottom, and the organizations who recognize IT’s far-reaching impact are the ones who thrive. It’s therefore extremely important to continuously measure IT end user satisfaction. Members of senior management should prioritize IT happiness this way and communicate it back to strategic customers and partners.  

In short, how end users value an organization’s IT is extremely important, especially when important issues can quickly contribute to overall improvements. In a broader perspective, Gartner found in a recent survey of Board Directors that “digital business is now embedded in all business growth strategies.” This response was nearly unanimous: 89 percent of respondents drew the same conclusion, and yet only 35 percent of them report “that they have achieved or are on track to achieving digital transformation goals.”  

We can gather here that there’s a great need for prioritizing digital (in the grand sense of the word and all it encapsulates), but there hasn’t been as much progress to date. It’s in line with the digital transformation that organizations and companies have needed to adapt to in current times. Meeting digital needs, which includes prioritizing IT, is now a crucial aspect of everyday business.  

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