The Art of People Business – Technology in the Workplace (Part 2)

Welcome back to the Technology series for those of you who visited me last week. And, for those who are tuning into the technology discussions for the first time, I’m thrilled you’re here and would love for you to check out last week’s blog post, entitled The Art of People Business – Technology in the Workplace. Your visit back there will give you more  context as to where we’re headed with this post and the one to follow.

By continuing to unpack how technology has affected the workplace, I can’t help but dive into the obvious effect of technology replacing the human factor. Simply stated, automation (robots, machines, artificial intelligence (AI), electronics, software, computer-generated processes, etc.) is steadily taking over the role that human beings once fulfilled in many industries all over the world.

In my lifetime, it’s been amazing to see how many technological advancements have come down the pike. And it’s even more unbelievable to hear and read about the projects waiting for the most opportune time to make their highly anticipated arrivals. (For some people, the arrival of certain advancements are more of a dreaded event.)

Now, I’m all for progress and doing things better for the better. And if the technology hits on both those cylinders, then I’m good with it. But “doing things better for the better” is somewhat subjective, don’t you think? Depending on who you ask at any given point in time, there will always be the yayers and the naysayers.

Furthermore, I can’t help but to wonder how this physical world of ours can possibly keep up with the staggering amount of technological possibilities that are soon to hit the horizon. And as more and more of the human element is moved out of workplace duties that were once solely in the hands of people, what will our world look like 1 year, 5 years, or 10 or more years from now?

Are you dreading the rise of the machines or looking forward to it? Ready or not, it appears that our world is drawing closer and closer to that side of the spectrum. Only time will tell what’s in store, but we should all be mindful of the role technology plays in the work that will be taken from or left to humans.

The lines are blurred though. There are obvious pros and cons to having technology do some of the work that humans used to do. And while technological advancements can be a truly life-changing thing for the positive, there will always be some negative consequences to technology that highlight the fact that change (in processes affecting people) doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It can hurt the people around it.

Today’s discussion is particularly challenging, so I’ve decided to put some of the work on you. Instead of giving my personal opinion on how technology has been really good or really bad for human labor (and I can be pretty opinionated about things I’m passionate about), I’m going to give you some scenarios to consider.

I want you to read these scenarios that have resulted in less human involvement in the output of work and ask yourself:

Did/Has this technology change result/resulted in good outcomes for people (overall) or result/resulted in bad outcomes for people (overall)?

We all have differing opinions, depending on the type of change; but one thing remains constant. As I stated before and will reiterate again, change will come whether we’re ready for it or not. The overarching question is . . . how will you respond?

Here come the scenarios (just to name a few or fourteen):

1. Automated voice recorded systems can put you in touch with the correct person or department instead of you speaking directly with a live operator when you call a business for assistance.
2. You can complete college coursework, through online class offerings, without ever stepping foot on a college campus and looking at an instructor face-to-face.
3. Drones can perform covert operations that only military air and ground troops could perform.
4. Some assembly line and manufacturing processes, requiring repetitive, easy-to-replicate functions, can be accomplished exclusively by robotic equipment instead of by factory workers.
5. Store-bought DVDs, cable tv, on-demand television services such as pay-per-view, and streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ have cut down on the business that full-service theaters provide.
6. The above changes to visual entertainment also decreased the need for video rental stores and, therefore, decreased the need for video rental associates.
7. Self-service pumps at the gas station did away with the full service gas stations.
8. ATMs provide an alternative to going through the drive-thru window or going to the teller’s counter at banks.
9. Online banking with such features as auto bill pay and direct deposit also reduce the need to interact with actual tellers.
10. Online news articles and subscriptions have changed the way in which news is distributed. Gone are the days where people could only get newspaper content from physical newspapers. Physical newspaper delivery services like paper routes have dwindled substantially.
11. Self-check-out at grocery stores has decreased the need for cashiers.
12. Online self-publishing options have empowered writers to do more of their own work in getting their books published. And being more self-sufficient has led to less of a need for traditional publishing services.
13. More and more vending machines are popping up, distributing items that you might see at a convenience store or providing services such as making keys, which were once reserved for cashiers at a store or service providers.
14. E-books have reduced the output for book printing services.

I’ve just touched the tip of the iceberg with my small list of very impactful examples of technology replacing the human factor, but I’ll stop here so I can insert some of my own thought processes on such changes.

Okay, I know I said I’d refrain from giving my personal opinion on the matter; but realistically,  I have to say a thing or two while I’m here.

I’m of the belief that there are some areas of life that only the human touch can do justice to, no matter what nifty technology is rolled out to replace it.

Areas such as:

• Teachers working with young students, in general, as well as those students who have unique learning needs and require educationally-tailored curriculum and personal nurturing to thrive academically.
• Healthcare providers displaying a calming, concerned, and empathetic bedside manner to patients who are going through life-changing physical and mental challenges.
• Content creators, whose authentic skill sets and whose unique gifts to the world, could never be matched by artificial intelligence programming.

However, I’m quite aware that there are some significant efficiencies created when moving to automated systems. And I have to admit that, if the technology allows me more options to perform tasks in a self-sufficient manner, then I’ll utilize it in a hot minute.

There’s been many-a-time that it’s been more convenient to go through the self-check-out line than to wait for the next available cashier, especially if I just had a handful of items to purchase. Or, going to the ATM to withdraw or deposit money has saved me soooooooooo much time when my transaction was just a simple, “no-frills required”, “no help needed” type of transaction. And if all I need is some gas in my car, then there’s no need to wait on full service assistance with tire and oil check to boot. I can easily go to the self-service pump and handle my business.

On the other hand, not everyone is like me in this sense. There are some individuals who aren’t as concerned with getting in and getting out. Maybe they relish the social interaction they receive by being waited on by a helpful customer service associate.

So, I’m looking at a happy medium here. We can’t take the human element out of everything and call our society-at-large doing what’s best for mankind. We have to always leave options for people to choose what works best for them.

Then, there’s the obvious elephant in the room, when having conversations about technology replacing humans. There’s the fact that labor costs for employers are cut way down, when you don’t have as many employees but can still get the work done as if you have the maximum amount of employees to do the job.

In this instance, either you require a skeleton crew of workers to do all the work meant for a full-sized staff, or you bring in automation to help replace the work that the human factor was doing. And automation can save time on processes that are easy to replicate. Machines will usually do the work consistently every time and will probably do it faster as well.

When you have machines to do the work, you don’t incur expenses for training as well as wages/salaries or benefits, such as medical/dental/vision/life insurance, worker’s comp for employees hurt on the job, paid leave for sick and personal use, FMLA for medical procedures or medical conditions for the employee or employee’s covered family member, and short-term or long-term disability when employees are unable to work regular work schedules due to medical conditions.

Employers also save time and money in staff having to manage employee relations issues such as misconduct, tardiness, failing to meet job duties, use of illegal substances, insubordination to management, discriminatory acts, harassment, theft, falsifying information, and negligence in safety and regulatory measures.

From a business standpoint (cost savings as the bottom line), there’s definitely an advantage to using technology to perform functions if it leads to better ways of doing things, where “working, smarter, not harder” is the mantra. However, automation must steer clear of creating shortcuts that cut quality. If quality is affected just to save dollars, that’s not a good thing. And if people are losing their jobs all the time, that’s a problematic situation as well.

The displacement of people because of job loss has a snowball effect in a community on so many levels.

• Financial pressures on individuals can lead to relationship strain on the family unit.
• Purchasing power in the community dwindles, because individuals have no money or are trying to save what money they do have. So, less money is being put back into the community.
• People are forced to find new trades and professions in areas they have no expertise or real interest in or incur costs to go back to school or receive skills training.
• Less and less of a human touch leads to a lack of a customer service focus.
• Crime can increase due to out-of-work individuals’ lack of access to monetary means.

As you can see, today’s topic is not so clear-cut. There are reasons for and against technology replacing humans. And honestly, I don’t know the best way to end this discussion other than ending it.

We, as human beings, will just have to ride this technology wave and try to have a plan B, C, and D in place, because technology isn’t going anywhere. We must either become specialized and skilled enough to be irreplaceable or be prepared to be replaced and move on to workplace settings that still require the human touch.