While most everyone in the modern workplace agrees that digital tools are a key to improving efficiency and reducing costs, these tools can’t help organizations toward those goals if they don’t get used. Expense reporting systems can be especially challenging, since they involve employees and their money. However, there are steps that managers can take to improve employee adoption that in turn unlocks organizational benefits.

Obstacles to employee adoption of new technologies are all too familiar. Most organizations have a certain number of people who lack interest and experience with the latest technologies. Some employees resent most any change and are all too happy to share that resentment with colleagues. The drag these kinds of employees create on organizational progress will persist as long as management allows it to continue. Combating it can start with these three simple strategies that should improve the pace of change.

1. Show employees how the change benefits them.

Successful organizations embrace, encourage and even celebrate change. Too much change, though, can leave employees feeling off balance or left behind. Changing a company’s expense reporting system is about making things better for the company, of course. But it’s important to point out how employees will be helped. Will they get faster payments, easier record keeping or mobile-device flexibility? If so, tell them.

2. Encourage adoption with valuable rewards.

Not everything in the workplace that is of value arrives by direct deposit. Make change more palatable by rewarding those who embrace it. Most managers know what their direct reports value. Is it leaving work early on Friday or a special parking spot? Give people something they find valuable for doing something you find valuable.

3. Smoothly incorporate the change into the routine.

Follow these first two suggestions and fail on the third and you will face an even steeper climb to adoption. So make it clear not just how your new expense reporting system is to be used, but when. Suggest where it might fit into the workday of your typical employee. Of course there will be exceptions, but don’t let them prevent you from setting expectations.

Expense reporting with SureExpense and SureMileage

Expense reporting systems serve organizations and employees. Managers want a straightforward, multi-level approval process and seamless integration with their existing accounting and payroll systems. Employees want a simple and quick way to enter and track their expenses.

With SureExpense, employees can upload and store receipts from wherever they are. The system works seamlessly with all major accounting and payroll systems. Reporting and analytics can be customized and exported in various formats, such as Excel. SureExpense is equipped to handle any Travel & Expense management needs. And it is integrated with SureMileage, which takes the guesswork out of mileage expenses with its new approach to mileage tracking.

With SureMileage, employees report their starting point and destination and the system calculates the driving distance between them. So, rather than verifying the miles that were driven, it calculates the expenses to be reimbursed. It’s a change, yes, but presented correctly, it’s one that helps everyone.