New technologies can impact organizations and their work cultures in many ways. They can save money and time. They can help gather intelligence about client’s demographics and their specific wants and needs. New technologies can streamline and simplify repetitive processes. New technologies can also help reach and serve clients around the world in new ways and ultimately deliver faster results. But, in busy environments, the introduction of new technologies can seem like an added workload to employees. A new technology can also accidentally squash the principles of a workplace culture, which in turn could result in frustration and confusion for everyone in the workplace.
Tips on adding new technologies
To get the best return on investment, and to ensure that current work cultures aren’t negatively affected by new technologies, organizations would be wise to do the following:
- Only take on new technologies that truly benefit employees and their clients directly or indirectly
- Make sure the new technology is easy to learn and use
- Have managers and leaders learn it first in order to better support others on their team
- Only add new technologies one at a time – not all at once
- Give employees incentives to learn new technologies
Address the effects on employees
New technologies that change business practices and expectations affect employees psychologically. They put a lot of responsibility and pressure on employees to adapt – and quickly! The best workplace cultures offer employees the support they need to strengthen their flexibility. As noted in a Gallup.com article called, What does agility mean for business leaders, written by Ghassan Khoury and Maria Semykoz, businesses “need to consider how their organizational culture, values and mindset encourage employees to act in ways that support agility.”
Plus, in another article written by Ghassan Khoury and Marco Nink on Gallup.com called, What is the real future of work? They state that “Digital technology has fundamentally altered the tools employees use, where they work, how they collaborate and how they are organized.” Also, “Leaders need to know more about how employees will respond to the demands of emerging business realities — and how corporate strategies should adapt accordingly.”
Keep your organization human-centred, no matter what
While new technologies can push businesses into the future, they can never replace the value of an organization’s employees. So no matter what the advances, organizations will experience more success if they listen to and prioritize employees’ needs and support a workplace culture that puts workers at the centre, no matter what changes around them.
As stated in a brief report on Deloitte.com written by Jennifer Buchanan, Beth Kelley and Alicia Hatch called, Digital workplace and culture How digital technologies are changing the workforce and how enterprises can adapt and evolve, “Organizations that will succeed in this new digital work environment are those that can be open to innovation and adopting new digital methods, while also curating those digital experiences for their employees, including creating distinct lines between work and non-work, and making the workplace overall more human-centered rather than technology-centered.”
“It is the job of the organization to create and support a singular vision that everyone is working towards, whether that is in an office or online. A supportive digital culture allows team members to feel connected and included even if they are spread out across the globe.”
Technology is like a fast moving train that isn’t going to stop. But if employees feel secondary to technology, it’s up to organizations to ensure that they are not treated that way because as noted in an article called, Three Ways Technology Is Transforming Company Culture And Employee Engagement, written by Brent Gleeson on Forbes.com, “The human brain is the best computer. More importantly, the more complex machines become, the more often they break down. When they break down, only humans can fix them.”
