The ADP Research Institute recently published the Evolution of Work study with an alarming trend emerging. This global report of over 2,400 employees and employers across 13 countries highlighted that a staggering half (45%) of employees believe that improvements in technology and automation will replace people for repetitive work.[i]
In reality, we shouldn’t be scared of automation entering the workplace, despite the speed with which technology has advanced in the last decade. If we pause to look back to the major technology shifts that have occurred in the last half a century, whilst also terrifyingly huge, they have allowed for people to engage with their work far more successfully. By realising this, we can embrace the new wave of technology with confidence.
Reducing human error
Automation will only help increase accuracy in the workplace as roles that require physical and mental concentration have less likelihood of human error. Human engagement will still be required to scrutinise the results of the automated service, but it can offer the guarantee of a consistent and quality service.
It’s quite astonishing to think back just over thirty years, to when business financial accounts were not completed using spreadsheets and formulas, but instead just a calculator and pen and paper. In light of this, the future really doesn’t seem too far off; drones delivering meals in restaurants, robots updating employee records and a computer diagnosing patients in hospitals.
Increasing business productivity
Similarly, we should embrace the increased effectiveness it will enable. People will be able to automate repetitive and time-consuming roles to focus on more detailed and skills-based work. Kronos recently discovered that UK businesses waste £60 billion a year on admin, as employees are burdened with frustrating manual work.[ii] Our employees have told us that it is often frustrating to have to wait for basic tasks to be carried out by others before a process can advance. Automation would help to reduce this latency which would in turn create a better employee experience.
Thinking back to a more recent example, in your average office not too long ago, employees used to have to repeatedly scan anything they wanted copies of – before printers and scanners were advanced enough to duplicate copies. How bizarre does this concept feel now? It’s likely we will also look back at mundane tasks we currently encounter on a daily basis in disbelief.
A more human HR
HR has an important role to play in the rise of automation. On a fundamental level, a number of our roles are likely to become more automated. As we say a goodbye to endless data inputting and recording, I personally welcome the prospect of spending more time on the hands-on and human aspect of human resources.
In times of automation, this hands-on aspect will be all the more necessary. People are generally nervous around potential big changes, particularly any change that they could see as threatening their own role. HR has a responsibility to ensure the workforce feel at ease with their evolving workplace. Employees need reassuring, with regular learning and development opportunities, that they are not about to be replaced; McKinsey have estimated that only 5% of occupations can be entirely automated using current technology.[iii]
So whenever you find yourself nervous of the impending changes that automation may bring, just remember; it wasn’t so long ago that 100% of your mail was delivered in the post. And when you realise just how distant this feels now, remind yourself that the evolving workplace offers more opportunity than it does risk, so long as the workforce evolves alongside it.
