Why are employees still drowning in administrative work despite years of digital transformation, new software platforms, and constant promises that technology will make work easier?
In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I explore that question with Jason Spry from Ricoh Europe. What begins as a discussion about a new Ricoh research report quickly turns into a much broader conversation about how modern workplaces actually operate day to day. The findings are striking. Employees across Europe are losing an average of 15 hours every week to routine administrative tasks. That is time spent searching for documents, reentering data across systems, preparing reports manually, and navigating layers of disconnected tools.
For many organizations, this creates a strange contradiction. Leadership teams often believe that new platforms and software will simplify workflows, yet many employees feel the opposite. The tools designed to make work easier sometimes create additional layers of complexity. Jason shares his perspective from nearly three decades in document processing and outsourcing, explaining how years of digital initiatives have often resulted in systems stacked on top of one another rather than genuinely simplified workflows. The result is a fragmented experience where finding the latest version of a document or locating the right information for a meeting can consume far more time than it should.
We also discuss the hidden risks behind these inefficiencies. When documents are scattered across systems or poorly managed, the consequences go beyond frustration. Ricoh's research shows that many organizations have experienced compliance breaches or near misses because important documents were missing, misfiled, or simply impossible to locate at the right moment. Jason explains why governance, visibility, and consistent document management are becoming increasingly important in a world where decisions rely on accurate information.
Another theme that runs throughout this conversation is the idea of marginal gains. Small inefficiencies like searching for files, reentering data, or preparing documents for meetings might seem trivial in isolation. Yet when they happen hundreds of times across a workforce, they add up to a serious productivity drain. Jason compares it to the concept of improving performance by one percent at a time. Removing even a few of these micro frustrations can transform how people experience their workday.
Naturally, we also talk about automation and AI. But Jason offers a refreshing perspective here as well. Rather than starting with the technology, he argues that organizations should begin by identifying the real pain points employees face. That often means speaking directly with the people doing the work and asking what frustrates them most. Once those challenges are clear, automation and intelligent document management tools can start delivering results quickly, sometimes within weeks rather than years.
By the end of the conversation, it becomes clear that solving the admin overload problem does not always require massive transformation projects. Often the answer lies in simplifying processes, connecting systems more intelligently, and removing the small friction points that slow everyone down.
So I am curious. How much time do you think your organization loses to administrative work each week, and what simple changes could give employees that time back?
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[00:00:04] Welcome back to the Tech Talks Daily Podcast. Now, have you ever had one of those mornings where the tech feels like it's fighting you rather than helping you? Well, this is something we'll cover in our conversation today because I want to talk about the everyday friction that quietly steals our time and indeed the time from entire teams. Because today I'm going to be joined by Jason. He's a process automation commercial director at Ricoh Europe.
[00:00:33] And Jason and I are going to dig into the new Ricoh Europe research that shows office workers all the way across Europe and beyond are still losing an average of 15 hours a week, just down to routine admin. And that is nearly two working days disappearing into tasks like re-entering data, hunting for files, documents, emails that are scattered across shared drives and subfolders.
[00:01:02] And then we have manually updating reports. But there is so much tech out there now that promised to remove all this friction. So today I want to talk about where we're at, how we got here, the risk side of stories like this. And with decision makers linking mismanaged documents to data or compliance breaches and near misses, I think there's a lot more to this story than meets the eye.
[00:01:27] And my guest today, he will bring it all back to human experience and talk about how automation is not just about buying another shiny tool or shoehorning AI into everything. It's actually about listening to frontline teams, finding the real pain behind the pain and fixing the small breakdowns that compound into morale issues, retention challenges and governance gaps. But enough scene setting for me. He's a great one, this one of an incredibly cool guy.
[00:01:56] So let me introduce you to Jason right now. So a massive thank you for joining me on the podcast today. Can you tell everyone listening a little about who you are and what you do? Yeah, Jason Spry. So I am a process automation commercial director at Ricoh Europe. I'm leading the automation in the Mera region. And that requires overseeing regional strategy, commercial performance.
[00:02:26] What I really love, though, is the customer and the partners. So delivering the automation through our customers, with our customers and through our partners. And that's really focused on streamlining workflows, reduced manual effort and help organizations to manage their processes, really. So, yeah. Well, it's a pleasure to have you join me. I spoke with Nathan from Ricoh last year and he was talking about their very cool office in Birmingham, which was where Duran Duran first played, I believe. That's right.
[00:02:56] But this time around, it was your latest Ricoh Europe research that caught my attention because that shows employees are losing an average of 15 hours a week doing routine admin. So why does this problem persist despite years of digital transformation initiatives and more tools than we've ever had in our lives? I suspect we're both men of similar ages and we've seen so many tools come and go. But why is this problem persisting? Thanks, Bumi.
[00:03:25] I mean, before I joined Ricoh, I was spending 28 years in the outsourcing business and around document processing. So there's been a lot of movement. I think customers and our customers are really focused on digital journey, but that's broken down into lots of different areas. So the bit that's missed is actually the employees and the daily tasks that they're doing, the simple things. So, you know, there's a lot of transformation going on, which is great.
[00:03:54] But if I take it to a kind of real life, you think as ourselves, Neil, around the kind of same age is, you know, you want to have a look at a slick process for an approval process. Or you want to try and find a document or you want to understand what the latest version of that is. And also, there's a lot of customers that have gone through, a lot of companies have gone through transformation in terms of legacy platforms.
[00:04:21] So as you're saying, there's, and that's great, but sometimes there's a layering problem. So you actually have more tools, more systems. And that in itself means that you can sometimes struggle to have a single view of the employee, of the customer. And that's a real, that's a real challenge. So I would probably use the word simplification is probably the key point.
[00:04:44] And I'm glad you use that word because there's a huge stat in that report that suggests that there's a big disconnect here with 61% of decision makers believing that new tools will simplify workflows. While only 18% of the employees feel that their employer truly cares about their admin burden. So where is that communication and execution gap coming from? I think it's discussion.
[00:05:09] I think it's actually having a discussion with the frontline people and actually understanding actually what they do on a daily basis and trying to break that down. So we're trying to sometimes fix the big problems, which is great. And that needs to be done. But equally, we need to make sure that we're having the right conversations and listening to the frustrations that people have that impact on them.
[00:05:34] Yeah, it's quite ironic because actually the leaders themselves will be facing the same challenges. You know, if you think about trying to find, yeah, maybe an approval process through an email or trying to find emails or trying to find documents, etc. We have the same challenges, but we're sometimes not focused in that particular area.
[00:05:58] When we're talking about documents, your data also highlights a real risk there with 62% of decision makers reporting a data or compliance breach or near miss is actually linked to mismanaged documents. So how closely tied are admin inefficiencies to governance failures, do you think? It's a massive challenge. It's a massive challenge because you can have serious mistakes on it.
[00:06:24] If you can't find a document and, you know, you need that in order to make an informed decision, that's a real challenge. You know, you can people store stuff in different places or, again, the latest version. When you're making decisions, that can make a big impact on the outcome of what you're doing.
[00:06:43] And I think strong governance is an absolutely integral part of trying to make sure that you're looking at the best approach and that you're confident with, A, the decision. And B, you know, so if you're looking at something where perhaps there's been an issue, you want to make sure you've got the right informed discussion and decision that you can have.
[00:07:06] And with over a quarter of employees saying they spend most of their day on admin rather than that value-driven work, it shows that something's got to change here. But what impact do you see this having on morale, retention and long-term business performance? Because it feels like there's almost an opportunity here if you take this the right way. Massively. I mean, who likes doing mundane tasks? You go to work and say, love your job. You know, and you want to go in and you want to do the best that you can.
[00:07:35] And you want to be challenged. Most people don't want to be doing that stuff. And that becomes frustrating. And as you say, the statistics are, you know, with 90% of people saying it would use creative work. Well, it would do if you're spending a lot of time on doing the admin stuff. So I think those mundane tasks over time impacts lots of things. And, you know, if you look at a very straightforward, like imagine onboarding.
[00:08:02] Imagine you're coming into a new business and that you've got to go through all of that onboarding process and all of that piece. So I think that it's really important that we try and make sure that we think about the retention of our staff, that the employees feel that they're doing a great job. And that we try and take out as much as we can, especially as technology has moved forward greatly.
[00:08:26] And if we drill down on exactly what some of those mundane tasks are, daily frustrations are everything from re-entering information, searching across systems, manually updating reports. Many of these things seem to be very small and in isolation. So how do these micro inefficiencies compound to a strategic risk? Because I think you look into any kind of sport, there's a big focus on marginal gains, improving that 1%.
[00:08:55] And this feels very similar. It's exactly the same. It is about marginal gains. It's that one degree shift that you need to have in terms of making those differences and trying to address those. So, you know, re-entering data because you've got two systems, for example, is a classic example where it's just frustration. And you're sitting there going, why am I doing it? Or, you know, I've got to prepare for a meeting, but I can't find the right documents in order to present for that.
[00:09:23] So over time, it provides that. And whilst, you know, whilst there are definitely improvements that are made, a lot of people don't see that in the real day-to-day life that they're doing at their workplace. And nearly half of decision makers, as we said earlier, they believe automation tools could have the biggest impact. Yet, despite that, the action appears quite slow.
[00:09:46] So I've got to ask, what is it that's stopping organizations from implementing straightforward automation, particularly in an area like document management, which has always been a nightmare in enterprises of all sizes for as long as I can remember? I mean, so you've got leaders, they see the opportunity. Yeah, everybody wants to try and fix this without a doubt. But with 44% of the saying automation would be the biggest impact, it's the actions that really matter. And it's actually what you're doing then to drive that down.
[00:10:15] So sometimes that can be due to a siloed system. So it might be that you're working in one particular area, but don't understand the knock-on effect to another area as well. So I think having clear ownership and understanding the process from one side to the other can really help. And document management is actually a really quick fix. You know, this is an established area that there's lots of tools out there that can really help you. And I always look at documents as data.
[00:10:44] You're extracting information. A document is taking data out of that and using that data to the best that you can. And that's kind of what you need to think of it as. And as I say, we all find that it doesn't matter what level you're at. But the pain point is really when you're on that front line because you feel that even more so. And I think we've done a great job today at highlighting the problem here. And I suspect we've got people listening around the world nodding in agreement.
[00:11:14] So much of what we're talking about will resonate with them. But looking more at the solution side of things, from your experience at Ricoh Europe, what does effective process automation look like when it's done well? And how quickly can businesses expect to see those measurable results? And one of the reasons I say that, I know every tech project now is under close scrutiny for the ROI, the measurable value after a few lengthy or failed projects that have failed to get out of pilot phase.
[00:11:43] So let's bust a few misconceptions. How quickly can they get up and running and see those measurable results? That's a good question. So, yeah, done well, automation removes repetitive tasks really quickly. You know, there are things straight away that you can have. So there are tools out there. There are solutions that are out there where you can almost have that immediately. And the training is really easy in a lot of this stuff as well. The important part for it is making sure you're addressing the pain point.
[00:12:12] So making sure you're addressing the pain point. And as long as you get to that, then you can absolutely make quick improvements. And governance is a key factor to that. So making sure that you've got the right governance in place so you can find things consistently and accurately. And then that makes all the difference. So the straight answer is you can get results very quickly. This isn't like a transformation where it needs to be two years. You can be making a real big difference in days and weeks for sure.
[00:12:42] So if we have people listening here looking for a valuable takeaway, if you're advising one of those leadership teams that could be listening, what are the practical first steps that they should take to reduce admin overload and strengthen compliance and start giving employees back that time to focus on meaningful value creating work? It would be great to try and deliver a solution of sorts here and something to take away.
[00:13:08] Because I think it can feel incredibly overwhelming knowing you need to take action, but investing the time and money, et cetera, to making it happen. So what would you advise? Absolutely. So the first thing I'd advise is that look at the top three. So you've got to speak to your staff. That's the number one. But you've got to ask them, what are the three top three things that you spend your time on during the day? And don't take that answer. The first answer they give you is that, right, that's what I need to do.
[00:13:36] So if we put this into context, let's imagine that most people will say their top three could be meetings. You've got to drill down and almost use the five why analogy, right? So you've got to say, but why? And they may sit there and say, because the prep time of me going into that meeting is that I can't find the information I want. Or I remember there being a document somewhere where I need to have that in order to present through. So you've got to get to the kind of the lower pain point, the real pain point of the challenge.
[00:14:06] So I would say, look at the top three things. Speak to people and say, where do you spend your time in the day? And then really focus on that and trying to then deliver what the outcome is. What do they want and how can we kind of get there? And I think there's, I listened to a couple of your podcasts before now, and there's a familiar theme through a lot of them.
[00:14:28] But no matter whether you look at this from an AI perspective, et cetera, focus on the pain point and make sure that you address the pain point and that you understand that people want to look at stuff that is mundane to them. So, you know, even asking the question, what do you find mundane in your job and work on that? So that's what I would strongly recommend that looks like, that what good looks like.
[00:14:53] And I'm curious from a Rico Europe point of view and inside your organization, you've probably been on a journey of your own too. Do you eat your own dog food here? Have you been on anything you can shout about the kind of journey that you guys have been on too? Yeah. So it's a real, it's an exciting time, right? So I'm loving all of this at the moment because you've got the ability where, say, for example, for our own storage, we've done some acquisitions in the last few years.
[00:15:22] So we've got DocuAir, which is really good around document management. We've got Axe & Ivy that's really good at complex workflows and processes and also that orchestration. So having a single view, the ability to not have to go into loads of different systems. So we've been using it ourselves. So if you look at our approval process, for example, on invoices that come in. So simple now. I can see who's approved it. There's a level. It's a nice one click. I can do it on the go.
[00:15:52] I can do it on the move. It's great. If you look at AI, there's an education around AI. So we've got AI forums where we're actively trying to get staff to understand what's available. And we're around kind of agentic AI and agents. We've built over 300 agents to do those mundane tasks. And this is people within the business.
[00:16:16] So if they can understand that, they can understand more the pain point of the customers as well and typically what they're going through as well. So it's a great journey at the moment. It's an exciting time. But, yeah, again, you have to lead with the pain point and not with I want AI or I want this or machine learning. You have to focus on actually the small bit. So, yeah, it's happening everywhere. And we are definitely part of that journey. And it's not perfect, but it's getting better.
[00:16:46] Absolutely love that. And Excelli, you must have the ear of so many different businesses and business leaders around the world. And the kind of conversations that you're having with people, are there any trends in the kind of things that they're struggling with, that they're asking for help with? And are they coming to you and saying, can we do the pain point first? Or are they just saying, hey, we want AI and agentic AI because everyone else is doing it. Then you have to rein them in. What kind of conversations are you having now? Are there any big themes? It's pretty similar in a lot of places.
[00:17:13] So, people think they know what the pain point is, but you have to scratch the surface underneath that. So, you almost want to find out what the outcome they're looking to do. And you have to then – so, return of investment, that is all really important. Absolutely is. You want to get an outcome. But the forefront of it is actually understanding kind of why are they doing it and what their goals are overall. And I think that the trend that I'm seeing is actually layering.
[00:17:44] Layering of tools and layering of, you know, as I say, free acquisitions, et cetera, where you've got multiple different places you're trying to extract information from. And it's moved on document management. So, you know, in historically, structured documents is what you wanted. That was where you could extract the information out really easy. But you don't have that world anymore.
[00:18:09] You know, unstructured documents, trying to find something on a page, whether that's an email, whether that's a web form, you've got to be more flexible around it. So, I guess that they don't always – customers don't always understand what's available out there. But if you start with the pain point and you work through that and then you find the right solution. I always get nervous when people come out and say, right, I just want AI for anything. And it's like, well, that's not the answer.
[00:18:38] The answer is what you're trying to do and what's the right solution. Because there's lots of things that are out there that can help. So, yeah, trend is always pain point. And then is that really the pain point, Neil? Is that really what you think it is? And we can help – and other organisations as well can help with that. So much of what you just said will resonate again. I think we've all lost an email or a document that we filed away on a rainy Wednesday afternoon 18 months ago.
[00:19:07] It's a nightmare. You can lose an entire day just trying to find that stuff. Absolutely. So thank you so much for talking about this. I will add a link to the research that we've referenced today. But anywhere else you'd like me to point to everyone listening? So the Ricoh Europe website. So www.ricoh-europe.com. And we're also on social media as well, LinkedIn X and Instagram, for example. Awesome.
[00:19:35] And we covered so much there from workers right across Europe still losing an average of 15 hours a week to routine admin tasks. And 62% of decision makers saying that organisation has experienced or narrowly avoided data or compliance breaches just due to mismanaged or missing documents. But there is a solution there. It doesn't have to be this way. We can do things differently. So I will add links to everything, including your own LinkedIn. I would urge anybody listening to connect with you as well.
[00:20:05] But more than anything, just thank you for sharing your insights today. Neil, it's been great. I've really enjoyed it. Thank you very much. So I think if this conversation hit close to home, you're not alone. Most of us have lost an hour or a whole afternoon looking for a document that we save somewhere or re-entering the same details into systems that really should never have been disconnected in the first place.
[00:20:29] And then when you zoom out from everything, you start to see how small those daily frustrations quickly turn into bigger business problems. Problems that slow decisions create higher risks and leave people feeling like their best energy is just being spent on admin instead of work that they really care about. And one of the things that really stuck with me having spoken with Jason there is his message that you need to start by asking employees.
[00:20:58] Ask them, where does your time really go? And then keep digging into that until you find the root cause. And only then can you understand that there are improvements that you can make quite quickly in days, weeks, not months or years. And I think the big bugbear seems to be around document management and repeatable workflows. That's something I've seen in my own career. And I know from the emails I get from everyone listening, it's something that often frustrates you too.
[00:21:28] And beyond that, it's also a reminder, I think, that governance and productivity are actually linked. You might not have thought they were, but I think listening to Jason today, they clearly are. So when information is consistent now and searchable and current, teams move faster and compliance gets easier. Almost like a penny drop moment, isn't it? It sounds so simple, but it can feel much more difficult.
[00:21:54] So I will add links to the Ricoh Europe research that we've referenced today. And you can also connect with Jason and his team. And if you're leading a team right now, what is that one admin task that you would remove tomorrow if you could? If you could improve your 1% in your organisation and capture those marginal gains, what is that one admin task that you could remove tomorrow? And then finally, what is stopping you from fixing it this week? If that's your homework, let me know as well.
[00:22:24] Please share it with me, techtalksnetwork.com. We can keep this conversation going. But I'm afraid I'm out of time today. So I'll return again tomorrow with another guest. But thank you for listening today as always. And I'll be back in your podcast feed tomorrow. Speak with you then. Bye for now. Bye for now. Bye for now. Bye for now.