Want to motivate your employees?

There may be no more exciting moment for a business owner or executive than to see your employees fully engaged in their jobs, creatively and enthusiastically looking for ways to be more efficient.

This is true success in the business world.

But what happens when you are unable to give your employees access to the tools they need to capitalize on the latest technology?

That’s a sucker punch that could stagger any company.

Yet, many workers say that’s what’s going on at their jobs. The proliferation of laptops, smart phones, and tablets as business tools has given workers unrelenting power to achieve more. But they say they are being held back by the inability of their employers to provide adequate connectivity for their needs.

A survey conducted for technology giants Cisco Systems and British-based BT Group finds that some workers are frustrated over their lack of access to the technology they need, and there are signs it is damaging productivity. Because of the portability of technology, workers are demanding ways to work wherever they find themselves.

The survey of 2,200 information technology managers reports that 41 percent of workers say they lack the wireless coverage they need at least 10 percent of their workday, which can account for more than one month of lost productivity per year per worker.

Eighteen percent of workers say they are hampered by lack of access at least 25 percent of the time. Some say they have paid out of pocket to use portable wifi technology.

This clearly is not acceptable. Technology has provided us tools to achieve gains in performance and productivity, but unless companies can provide appropriate tools, any gain will be mitigated.

BT also says an employer can’t provide free-reign through broadband access, but it can study the needs of employees and figure a way to match their needs. Employees today expect to have wireless access wherever they are. This may pose a problem for some businesses, but it also opens the door to better productivity.

Increased access also means surging usage, but again there is a benefit for business. Companies will need to learn how to manage and ride this wave.

Companies worldwide are spending billions of dollars trying to figure out how to motivate their workers and how to increase productivity. Companies are willing to spend exhaustively on studies that might achieve this end.

But now they are stumbling when it comes to technology breakthrough and reshaping the way we do business and work. This is a two-way street that must run each way. After all, it’s for the good of the company as well as the workers.

We can’t afford to squander the promise of technology. It’s here, and it’s time to use it or lose it.