There’s no disputing the fact that technology is changing the way we live our lives – and run our businesses. When used in the right way, technology can provide significant boosts for businesses, aiding growth and reducing total costs across the business.
But, what about the employees? Does technology always benefit them, and do all of these benefits come without drawbacks? And if there are drawbacks, how can they be mitigated?
How can new technology affect employees?
Two of the biggest ways that technology is used to boost business growth is by enabling workers to do their jobs more efficiently or conveniently, and automating tasks previously done by humans. Improvements in artificial intelligence, robotics technology and digital infrastructure are resulting in higher productivity, by a smaller workforce. And to top it off, there is no longer any need for the remaining employees to physically be in the same location.
All of these factors may, or may not, simultaneously impact your business. Regardless, it’s important for any business to be aware of the potential negative repercussions of new technologies.
Mitigating negative repercussions
At a personal level, an obvious issue with using technology to replace humans is that people are often made redundant. Long term unemployment may follow if their skill sets are no longer required in the job market or if there is an oversupply of those skills.
I once shared an article on LinkedIn that stated that 20 million jobs will be lost to robotic technology by 2030, which is a staggering figure. While this presents real challenges for employees holding those disappearing roles, reducing headcount and speeding processes up beyond what is physically possible for humans is often a key motivator for introducing technology in the first place.
The article suggests that other jobs will be created that will replace those that are lost through this process. It will, therefore, be worth employers investing in retraining for their employees – even if the potential new position isn’t within the same organisation.
But there’s a more disturbing side-effect of the increased use of technology. Psychologists believe that, as the amount of human interaction decreases, people are becoming less empathic towards each other.
This increase in dehumanisation, as it is commonly referred to, can be remedied by encouraging interaction and building staff morale. Ironically that can be done through the use of the right technology, for example, collaboration software that offers open lines of communication. If you’d like expert help with successfully sourcing and implementing new technology in your business, get in touch today.
