4 Ways Permitting Technology Can Improve Employee Experience

The Great Resignation is driving a fundamental shift in the workplace. Employers are scrambling to retain employees who’ve cited low pay and inflexible working conditions as top reasons for quitting. 

While many employees are unhappy, the upshot is that more workplaces are adopting better workforce management strategies to retain them. The shift in employee sentiments ultimately poses an opportunity for employers. Forward-looking leaders can set the stage for long-term retention and improved workplace cultures. 

In the government sector, the adoption of technology that improves worker productivity and wellbeing plays a major role in improving the employee experience. This is certainly the case in government permitting offices that still rely on paper-based or legacy systems, where delays and frustration are commonplace. Without technology to connect and improve work streams, the process of approving a permit - including reviewing plans, ensuring code compliance, and conducting inspections - can take weeks or even months, and cause serious frustration for staff doing their best to keep up with mounting backlogs.

Technology's Role in Employee Retention

It’s no secret that technology can improve efficiency, reduce operational costs, and maximize revenue. However, the impact of technology on employee experience is just as significant.

Consider this: 

• According to a recent Adobe Workfront report, as many as a third of workers who recently quit cited workplace technology as a barrier. 
• The problem is likely even more pervasive in the public sector, where technology is adopted slowly and workforce management lags far behind the private sector. 
• Customer-facing employees are also at increased risk for resignation: the average call center turnover rate is at least twice as high as other departments. 

In government permitting offices that lack adequate technology infrastructure, customer-facing staff field higher volumes of requests and complaints due to long wait times—all while navigating mountains of paperwork. It’s a recipe for employee burnout. But with the right technology that’s highly-configurable and cloud-based, staff can make changes without relying on IT, and work from anywhere, so they’re more likely to feel empowered in their role and stick around. Fortunately burnout and high turnover can easily be avoided - all it takes is an investment in technology that makes everyday tasks more efficient.

How Permit Software Helps Retain Staff

Effective government permitting software can act as a bridge between employers, employees, residents, and businesses. Specifically, it limits staff turnover in the following ways:

1. Empowering productivity. Workplace technology should make people’s lives easier. With the right permit software, employees can avoid workarounds and redundancies. As employees grow comfortable with the software, they can customize it to further enhance productivity across the team.
2. Providing flexibility. A cloud-based government permitting solution empowers employees to work remotely and more flexibly. Employees need only laptops and an internet connection to review applications and upload files. They will likely spend less time on the phone, too: Permit applicants are less apt to call permit offices if they can easily look up the status of their application or ask questions on their smartphone or computer. 
3. Improving employee engagement. Instead of sorting through shared server files or file cabinets, cloud-based software makes it easy for everyone involved on a project to communicate and collaborate. Each person can search for information and respond to questions in the same place, ensuring that vital information is never overlooked.
4. Reducing or eliminating frustration. Data entry and redundancy across forms can increase the chances of errors, but it is also tedious for staff. Nonexistent or outdated technology wastes time and creates administrative headaches and opportunities to duplicate works. Streamlining the process through strong tech allows staff to feel less overwhelmed and focus more on technical reviews and customer service.

How to Get Started with Government Permitting Software

Finding and implementing a government permitting solution does take time and effort (though we’ve made it easier by consolidating all you need to know in this guide). However, the expenditure is significantly less than the wasted time and effort associated with unhappy employees—especially when you factor in department morale, productivity, and the financial costs associated with high turnover.

Increasingly, employees flock to workplaces that prioritize productivity and flexibility over antiquated systems and policies. By addressing administrative burdens and job satisfaction proactively through investment in sound technology, governments set the stage for success today and years into the future.

Curious to learn more? Download our comprehensive Permit Software Buyers Guide meant to make selecting a permitting solution easy.