Impact of New Technology on Employees of an Organization

Introduction

The workplaces, despite the nature of the business or the type of service provided by the organization, have changed along with technology. A complete change in every unit of a business has been changed advocating technology. Seeing technical devices and fewer papers in an office is never a surprise to anyone. It’s the norm and the day-to-day in reality as of today. Most organizations are moving towards or rather lenient towards sustainability since it actually helps the world and its societies in many ways to sustain and also it helps directly to the revenue and profit as well since most of the costs are being omitted.

While technology and digitization are being introduced, HRM will have to adjust the HR plan and strategies to align with the new norm. HRD will have to have a plan on how to improve the benefits while maximizing the support from the new technologies while being profitable and supportive of the strategic plan of the organization.

How Digitization and technology influence employees

Technology and digitization are being introduced to organizations that are acting at lean cultures who are looking forward to improving their process to maximize their KPIs and who looking forward to being prime in the industry they are in. The management in such organizations knows and they have an understanding better that the technology if it is used right will support their day-to-day work repetition by being effective and efficient.

User Skills, HRM will need to now plan for a new set of training/coaching/governing…etc as technology will be introduced to the organizations which are never used before or versions of the current software or hardware. In such situations, HRM will have to re-structure the recruiting procedures and selections to identify the right candidate with the applicable talent is selected. And there will be upgraded selection criteria that are going to be introduced and practiced while the hiring and recruitment process. In which the HRD also will have to adopt and have a basic level of understanding of certain technical sound and digitalized knowledge.

The next phase of digitalization is the risk of job dislodgment, which is hard to counter the argument logically when the technology evolves and AI replaces most of the time-consuming and knowledge + experience patterned repetitive works as well as the fresh and brand new creations and when AI developed to a level that can understand the word phrase we type. It is the organization’s responsibility to retain the knowledge-rich carder and improve them with the required technical and digital training needed. In an article in Harvard Business Review, Bughin et al. (2018) contend that organizations need to invest in upskilling and reskilling their workforce to prepare for the automation revolution. By providing employees with the necessary skills, organizations can help them transition into new roles and reduce the negative impact of job displacement.

An article in Valamis, V. (2023, February 16) Explains a survey that resulted in 42% of organizations having increased their upskilling and reskilling programs since the pandemic. And retention of employment is never will be a concern with the right support from the organization towards employees to be confident and grow.

With the integration of technology, while replacing most of the traditional methods of working, the next area that is to be looked at is process change and how it impacts the employee’s flow of work. It is also again under the responsibility of HRD to properly make the changes seamlessly for the employees to feel that they are not changing but improving the way they work and how necessary it is to make the changes and move forward. While they understand the importance of the changes that they need to make they will also need to see the results and proof that the changes they are willing to make in their way of working have a major impact positively on the end outcome.

The impact it is going to make on the work life of each employee will be massive if the essential changes are made in a fast phase and with less planning process. Every detail of the change in the work-life should be considered and treated at a personal level with each employee while a massive change in technology adoption is happening. These are very critical and directly impact employee retention as well. Also when it is considered the technology upgrade, will make the employee’s work activation time extended more than the traditional work hours. And when reaching out to employees after regular work hours, it should be a conversation more interesting for the employee to attend and participate actively with feedback and thinking.

Elevating employees toward success

Whether it is technology or digitization, when it is around employees who are humans they are needed to be taken care of. Whenever there is any sort of concerns, unclear areas should be looked at and given the attention needed to bring the employee back to their comfort zone, and HRD along with the other functional teams/departments needs to have a proper plan of training and supporting the employees through the change that is taking place with the technology improvements and its adoption to the business. Counseling and coaching are to be considered the most important and close follow-up process that may help the employees. In a Harvard Business Review article, Steele and Fuller (2018) provide strategies for supporting employees who have endured dismissals, which can be applied to the broader context of technological change. These strategies include providing clear communication along with transparency around the reasons for change, offering the career counseling and coaching to employees, and creating opportunities for employees to contribute to the organization in upgraded ways to improve.

 

Conclusion

After reviewing the possible impacts of the technology adoption on business processes and replacing and restructuring the organization with the use of digitally powered methods, will provide significantly improved results and will support an organization to be more successive through the strategic plan. How HRM can support this is to find the smoothest and practical and human-friendly methods and practices and introduce them to the respective replacement units and training and develop responsible trainers and motivate them. So the employees who will be involved in a changed, updated, and upgraded organization society will be the most motivated and energetic and will retain with organization and support to achieve the strategic goals that are being planned. If an organization is planning for a technology upgrade with the discussion above, it must be in a way with a lot of openness along with the right training and support for the employees. Finally, the success of any plan will be depending on the success of its execution and the strategy that is being used, and to what level the employees are believing in it. Hence, the transformation needs to be planned with a well-optimized in-depth human-friendly adaptive model and HRM will be the most effective team who will be able to support the same.

 

References

Sure, here are the references for the Harvard Business Review articles mentioned in the article:

Bughin, J., Hazan, E., Ramaswamy, S., Chui, M., Allas, T., Dahlström, P., Henke, N., & Trench, M. (2018). Skill shift: Automation and the future of the workforce. Harvard Business Review, 96(1), 89-96.

Deutsch, R. (2016). Employee engagement during change: A case study. Harvard Business Review, 94(10), 84-89.

Lambert, E. G., & Passmore, D. L. (2013). Email communication at work: An analysis of work-related emails to understand the implications of gender for employee well-being. Harvard Business Review, 91(3), 1-8.

Manyika, J., Chui, M., Miremadi, M., Bughin, J., George, K., Willmott, P., & Dewhurst, M. (2017). Jobs lost, jobs gained: What the future of work will mean for jobs, skills, and wages. McKinsey Global Institute.

Steele, L. M., & Fuller, C. M. (2018). How to handle layoff survivors. Harvard Business Review, 96(5), 84-91.

Waber, B. N. (2017). Managers need to loosen the reins and trust their employees. Harvard Business Review, 95(4), 48-54.