What If Better Tech Reduced the Impact of Sick Leave?
Welcome to this month’s tech news. Here you will find:
Enjoy the read, and remember to give us a call if you have any IT concerns – we’re here to help!
Can Better Tech Reduce the Impact of Sick Leave?
Sick leave is an unavoidable part of running any business.
A key person being away for even a day or two can slow progress, delay decisions, and push deadlines back. Longer absences can put entire projects on pause.
What many organisations don’t realise is that while you can’t prevent illness, you can reduce the productivity impact it creates — and one of the most effective ways is by upgrading the technology your team relies on every day.
Modern, reliable systems don’t just help people work faster. They reduce stress, cut down on frustration, and give employees more flexibility when they’re unwell or easing back into work. In short, better tech builds a more resilient workforce.
How Tech Upgrades Help Your Team Stay Productive
Here are the key ways improved technology can reduce the disruption caused by sick leave:
Eliminating Daily Friction 🛠️
- Outdated tools, slow systems and clunky processes quietly drain hours across the year.
- Reducing these small frustrations frees up significant time — especially when teams are already stretched.
Improving Connectivity and System Reliability ⚡
- Faster, more stable networks and systems mean fewer crashes and delays.
- Research shows that improving connectivity can help employees regain the equivalent of several working days annually.
Reducing Stress Linked to Poor Tech 😣
- A large proportion of sick leave globally is related to stress and mental health.
- Many employees report that unreliable tech increases their stress levels, especially during time‑critical work.
- Modern tools remove emotional strain by simply doing what they’re supposed to do — work.
Enabling Better Flexibility and Remote Work 🌐
- Cloud-based systems allow employees to stay connected and productive from anywhere.
- When people can work effectively even when not feeling 100%, they avoid rushing back before they’re ready.
- AI-powered tools help automate repetitive tasks, reducing cognitive load and improving focus.
Strengthening Skills Through Better Training 🎓
- As businesses adopt new tools, employees want training and clear guidance.
- When people understand their tech, confidence rises and errors fall.
- Better training ensures your investment delivers its full value.
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The Bottom Line?
You can’t eliminate sick leave — but you can build an environment where its impact doesn’t derail your operations. By investing in modern, reliable technology and supporting your team with the right training, you strengthen productivity, reduce stress, and build long-term resilience.
Ready to make an investment that supports both wellbeing and performance? Get in touch!
What’s new to Microsoft?
Microsoft is expanding Copilot in Windows 11
Soon you’ll see an “Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot” option in the Home tab.
It will let you send a file directly to Copilot for a quick summary or insight without leaving Explorer. Behind the scenes it uses the ChatGPT engine to process the file, likely via Microsoft’s cloud. Windows 11 is also testing a new universal AI writing assistant that can proofread or rewrite text in different tones, though this feature will be exclusive to Copilot+ PCs for now.
Did you know?
…Microsoft doesn’t always get it right?
Microsoft’s worst-selling product ever was a special version of its OS/2 operating system made for a hardware upgrade card hardly anyone owned.
OS/2 for Mach 20 reportedly sold just 11 copies. And most of them were returned. In the late 1980s, Microsoft tried to extend the life of ageing PCs with “Mach” expansion cards that added faster processors. But businesses were already moving toward buying new machines instead of retrofitting old ones. Releasing an operating system that only worked on this niche hardware sealed its fate.
Tech Facts:
- The world of .com began on 1st January 1985. That’s when the Domain Name System (DNS), the technology that lets us type friendly website names instead of long strings of numbers, was first created. The very first domain set up was nordu.net, used to host one of the earliest root servers. But the first domain ever registered was symbolics.com, added a couple of months later, on 15th March.
- A couple in Essex recently took part in an unusual energy trial. Instead of using a normal gas boiler, they heated their home with a mini data centre in their garden shed. The small server hub gives off enough heat while running to warm the house, turning computing power into cosy winter energy. A very geeky and surprisingly efficient way to stay warm.
- In 2014, security researchers uncovered a botnet that had hacked all kinds of smart devices, including a refrigerator, and used them to send over 750,000 spam emails. Yes, even kitchen appliances can become hackers’ tools if they’re connected to the internet without proper security. Proof that smart home doesn’t always mean safe home.
Q & A
Q: Why are we getting so many phishing emails?
A: Scammers constantly change tactics. Try updating your filters to catch more of these emails.
Q: Why does my new computer keep slowing down?
A: Usually something running in the background is eating up resources. A tidy-up or update often fixes it.
Q: How much downtime is normal?
A: Very little. Regular outages, even short ones, usually point to ageing equipment or misconfigured systems.
Time for a Tech Quiz!
- What is meant by hardware in a computer system?
- What does application refer to in a computing context?
- What is computer literacy?
- What does booting a computer mean?
- Which of the following is not a programming language: Python, HTML, Microsoft Word?
See answers below
Until next time,
The GZD team
Quiz answers:
1. Physical components of a computer (e.g., monitor, keyboard, hard drive).
2. Software designed to perform a specific task.
3. The ability to use computers efficiently and safely.
4. Starting up the computer and loading the operating system 5. Microsoft Word.
