Survey reveals massive savings available by clamping down on e-mail overload
1 min read
An East Lothian company, Seton Notes, has revealed startling figures from its survey work on e-mail overload and its cost to employers, which may be as high as 12.5% (or an eighth) of the wage bill. But it also reveals there are simple steps to solving the problem.
Director Sally Turnham has been working for some years in efficiency consultancy and turned to the e-mail issue after finding the majority of users whilst delighted with the immediacy of the medium were frustrated by the demands it placed on their time. Sally Turnham points out “Good Managers know the value of communication, so we were enthusiastic early adopters of e-mail.”
“Now we curse our clogged up in-boxes and dream of the days when we could actually communicate. On average e-mail users spend 25% of their time dealing with e-mails. We have uncovered that 50% of that time is wasted. If we can eliminate that waste then for an employee earning £24,000 per annum, there’s a £3,000 yearly saving up for grabs.”
“Too much information is a drain on individuals and on company costs. Better communication is achievable and desirable.”
Over the last year and a half Seton Notes have worked with businesses with significant e-mail usage to discover how to make it work well. Says Turnham: “It’s not rocket science, but nor is it revolutionary to point out that anyone can be better at a new skill or discipline if they have proper training.
“Without that they’re at the mercy of whatever bad habits their environment has developed. We offer cultural change to deal with simple issues such as eliminating internal spam and getting everyone committed to disciplines that save time and money. All this for the investment of only three hours time.”
