It's easy to get caught up in painting a negative picture of technology’s potential impact on our future. But regardless of these fears, technology is not necessarily a job-killing machine. It is the catalyst to solving some of the biggest troubles facing our workforce today.

 

Start thinking about how much time we spend each workday on administrative tasks. Studies published over the past various years have continuously shown anywhere between 10% and 40% of our time at the office is lost to tasks outside of our core job functions: paperwork, scheduling meetings, responding to emails, etc. Imagine what you could do with those 10 extra hours each week. What can technology do to change this?

 

The end result, a lot. Some employers are moving to digital tools to automate many day-to-day operations. When technology takes the tedium out of everyday tasks, more time is available for employees and managers to collaborate, think creatively and align employee roles and interests with company goals. Employees are able to spend more time engaging with work that inspires and interests them, which then heightens productivity and overall employee happiness.

 

Technology can make it simpler and easier to connect as well — a pretty important benefit when many of us work remotely. Video conferences and meetings still allow for face-to-face conversations and can foster the all-important manager-employee relationship and other team interactions. Incorporating the tools at our disposal into the office environment will do the work of facilitating connections, leaving employees space in their schedules to focus on what actually matters. This “built into the daily routine” style of engagement offers more opportunities for human connection and development.

 

Technology transforms how we work and can be a huge benefit. It is incumbent on all of us to evolve and update our skills to match this advance.  With the right preparation for this challenge, we are able to not only avoid much of the disruption, but actually use technology to get back to building relationships and strengthening the human connection that’s so important in positive workplace environments.

 

With any luck, we can get some assistance from willing employees. As research from PricewaterhouseCoopers makes clear, a little over half of all employees now express a preference for either fully digital solutions or a mix of digital and face-to-face solutions when it comes to HR and professional development functions like ongoing performance feedback, real-time job training and receiving and providing regular coaching and development.

 

These tools ought to be implemented correctly, with great attention given to employee input and concerns, but it is motivating that the appetite for effectively integrated technological support is already here. By using new instruments to support employees’ needs, we are creating more time to focus on the good stuff: meaningful work around creativity, collaboration, motivation, communication and engagement. Putting employees first in this way is crucial for creating a more human workplace.

 

This shift can’t come fast enough. It's true that employees are any company’s most precious asset, and yet we have lots of evidence to suggest that most firms are failing to live up to that message. The workplace of the future will certainly look very different than it does today, likely in many ways we can’t predict. But the most successful businesses will be those that use technology as a tool to ensure they remain focused on what matters most: their people.

 

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