Future of work: the human-machine interface

January 2024  |  FEATURE | LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT

Financier Worldwide Magazine

January 2024 Issue

Conceptualising what the workplace of tomorrow will look like is a regular pastime among futurists. Such projections are continually reframed by rapidly advancing technologies and turbocharged by the pandemic-driven digital transformation of working practices in recent years.

Happening at pace across the globe, the International Data Group’s (IDG’s) 2023 ‘Digital Business study’ shows 89 percent of organisations have already adopted a digital-first business strategy or are planning to do so. These strategies are underpinned by investment in new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data and analytics, and the cloud.

Further evidence of the rapidity of global digital change is provided by Infosys in its ‘Drive Change from Within: Gear Your Workplace for More’ report, which reveals most organisations believe digital transformation will have more impact on workplace transformation than physical and cultural elements. Another report, by Forrester Consulting, states that up to 93 percent of companies believe innovative technologies are key to achieving their digital transformation goals.

In financial terms, the outlay that typically accompanies digital transformation technologies is certainly significant. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), global spending in this area reached $1.8 trillion at the end of 2022 and is projected to grow to $2.8 trillion by 2025. The World Economic Forum, for its part, forecasts that the combined value – to society and industry – of digital transformation across industries could be greater than $100 trillion by the end of 2026.

That said, many players, including the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), are in no doubt that spending of this magnitude on extant and emerging technologies has the potential to influence an organisation’s workforce in both positive and negative ways.

In its ‘Workplace Technology: the Employee Experience’ report, the CIPD notes a rise in alternative employment models with more reliance on contingent workers, driven by digital platforms and technology-enabled remote working. Job roles are becoming more complex and interesting, with greater learning opportunities and increased autonomy for individuals.

As a result, suggests the CIPD, organisations must shift from the traditional model of focusing on redundancies and job automation, to reskilling, redeployment and job reinvention. And although technology is providing workers with more flexible ways of working, this can come with lower levels of job security and higher stress due to the blurring of work and home life.

“Running an organisation has become increasingly complex,” concurs Liam McNeill, group vice president of EMEA at UKG. “The workforce is more diverse than ever, compliance requirements continue to be a moving target, and both customer and employee experience expectations grow each day. Organisations must invest in initiatives that help employees do their jobs well, communicate freely, have control over their work schedules and serve customers without barriers.”

Agreeing with these sentiments but also sounding a note of caution is Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay, professor of economics at the University of Birmingham. “Change initiatives can be challenging as people are used to a certain way of doing things and fear the unknown,” he contends. “This is especially true when the pace at which technology is evolving is dizzying.

“It is no wonder that some workers find the rapid adoption of technology challenging and there is a genuine worry that there are limits to upskilling,” he continues. “This can cause a natural resistance and organisations need to adopt initiatives that are sustainable for the long run health of the organisation.”

Organisations around the world are now realising the power of transformative technologies to blend people, processes and technology. But they need to ensure that technology – often a key driver of disruption – does not usurp the workplace. The human experience must remain at the heart of digital transformation.

Blurring the interface

Organisations primarily invest in new technologies to increase their business performance through improved quality and cost savings. But at the same time, the impact of this investment on working lives must also be considered, particularly as technology usage continues to escalate in the modern workplace.

In particular, many are wary of the potential for rapid advancements in workplace technology to blur the interface between humans and technology. Specifically, this concerns the extent to which the human dimension is being supplanted by supposed technological servants.

“Digital transformation is having a huge impact on the workplace, giving organisations the tools to optimise collaborative processes in ways that were not possible before,” observes Mr Bandyopadhyay. “But such transformation also risks an unhappy and anti-human workplace, negatively impacting performance and employee experience.”

Testifying to this contention is the CIPD report, which reveals that: (i) 32 percent of employees report a change in their use of one or more technologies in the last 12 months; (ii) of those employees reporting a change in their technology use, 50 percent feel that they now need more skills and knowledge to carry out their role; (iii) 40 percent of employees feel that their tasks at work have become more complex; and (iv) 80 to 93 percent of employees do not think that increased technology has improved business performance.

According to the CIPD, with advancements in technology being developed at an increasingly rapid pace and introduced into workplaces, organisations must prepare their workforces for future change to ensure long-term success. Rather than simply ‘leading with the latest technology’, the CIPD suggests organisations partner to design new strategies that achieve optimal balance between people and technology that meets the needs of the organisation and its workforce.

“We define digital transformation as a deliberate approach to leveraging modern solutions to solve business problems and enhance the employee experience,” says Mr McNeill. “It has been a hot topic for a number of years now, in many places becoming a necessity as the world of work has changed.

“However, striking a balance between the digital and human touch is a delicate task,” he continues. “Organisations need to ensure they are introducing technology that serves a purpose for their teams and supports them in performing their roles. At the same time, technology has capabilities that exceed those of people, adding efficiency and new insights that would be near impossible without it. Organisations should look to leverage it where they can, to support their people and day to day operations.”

Building a human-centred culture

To balance the competing needs of humans and technology in the workplace, organisations need to build a human-centred culture that is empowered, but not overwhelmed, by technology. This can ultimately lead to higher levels of employee engagement, commitment and productivity.

To that end, the CIPD report makes the following recommendations to help organisations make the best use of workplace technologies while also supporting business and employee outcomes.

First, play a strategic role in designing and delivering workplace change involving technology. It is important that employees are not left out of the design and implementation stage of new workplace technology, even when technological change is likely to lead to changes in the nature and types of jobs, organisation structure, skill levels, performance and learning requirements.

Second, prioritise employees’ voice. An organisation’s leadership should act as a powerful internal advocate for the workforce in decisions about investment in new technology. Leaders can bring in-depth understanding of the human aspects of technology use and can positively influence the success of any change by highlighting to other senior leaders the views and challenges raised by employees.

Third, foster trust. Organisations should design change management and communications strategies to help people transition and understand the impact of technology on their day to day working lives. Line managers also need to be trained to actively listen to individuals’ needs and concerns. Open and transparent communication is particularly important with regard to the use of workplace monitoring, to maintain trust.

Fourth, boost training and development. Design future-focused learning solutions and support the workforce through training as they transition to using new technologies. Especially with increasing complexity of tasks as a result of changing technology use, employees need training to develop new skills and knowledge.

Lastly, develop a holistic approach to health and wellbeing that makes good use of technology. It is advisable to empower employees to have more control over their tasks and working hours through flexible work practices. Consider how digital wellbeing can be enhanced through managing expectations around being ‘visible’ online, encouraging breaks from screen time, providing informal spaces for team members to check in with one another, and avoiding virtual meeting fatigue.

“It is also essential that any new technology that is introduced will have tangible benefits to a business,” adds Mr McNeill. “Change is tough, but crucially, it will only work if an organisation has both leadership buy-in and employee buy-in, so they must communicate in advance of transformation, throughout transformation and for a period afterwards too.

“Organisations also need to tailor that message to who they are speaking with – for example the benefits of a specific implementation may be different for a manager and an employee,” he continues. “Leaders should help champion the change they want to see in their organisation. If employees see leadership not emulating the change they are being asked to make, then true change will not happen.”

The perfect balance

As technologies evolve and their implementation in the workplace gathers pace, the human-machine narrative will likely persist. At the same time, technological disruption also presents organisations with an important opportunity: to humanise technology and achieve the perfect balance between technology and human interaction.

“Employers need to think of how technology can be complementary to human ingenuity and encourage employees to discover how technology is enabling them to become more productive,” says Mr Bandyopadhyay. “That will lead to employees seeing technology as an enabler, rather than as a competitor – a tool that they can engage with to enhance their productivity.”

For Mr McNeill, the key to achieving a perfect balance is to implement solutions that support both people and operations. “There will always be the need for people to interpret data and insights to make important and difficult decisions, taking into account the needs of humans,” he concludes. “And technology will always have its use in supporting businesses to empower, engage and boost productivity.”

© Financier Worldwide

BY

Fraser Tennant