Automation at work - Why employees are key

Automation is changing our world of work but many of the proposed benefits can only be realised if organisational structures evolve.?

New technologies from factory floor tracking to customer service bots have been widely adopted, driven by the promises of a 24/7 workforce at lower costs, leaving employees to do more complex tasks.

However, successful adoption of automated technology is dependent on employee up-skilling to help companies realise these benefits.

Consequently, if employees perceive automation as a ‘threat’, then successful adoption can be compromised, organisational trust can decline, employees disengage, production levels falter and perceptions of psychological safety plummet.

To avoid this misstep, companies need to understand employee attitudes toward automation, ideally using a behavioural science lens before adoption to minimise perceptions of threat.

Attitudes towards automation

UK employees are generally positive about automation in the workplace with ? being open to digital work transformation. Positive attitudes are more commonly found with greater seniority, technological competence and educational achievement.

However, a significant percentage perceive a threat of replacement by automation technology- these employees tend to be older,? poorer and in job roles that are more volatile.

Unsurprisingly, when employees perceive automation technology as competition and difficult to use, they are more likely to appraise adoption as a threat, leading to lower career satisfaction and organisational commitment.

The consequences of threat appraisal such as higher voluntary turnover, reduced work motivation and declining productivity, can be particularly harmful to organisations. Such consequences can also negatively impact the perceived organisational culture and employee branding as well as attracting potential talent.

While the provision of organisational support helps employees perceive automation as less threatening, recent surveys have shown significant gaps between organisational provision of learning/development opportunities and employee demand - just 13 % rated the learning/development opportunities provided by their organisation as very effective in relation to any automation initiatives (City & Guilds Group survey, 2019). This massive gap can create a myriad of psychological problems both at an employee level and an organisational culture point of view.

What does this mean for organisations?

It is crucial to understand how your employees feel about automation and the opportunities to re-skill before adoption of new technology. Traditional approaches such as employee surveys or in-house interviews are problematic as employees are likely to answer in ways that will best satisfy their employers.

While the research suggests demographic factors can help identify employees that are more likely to have negative perceptions around automation, these assumptions can be misleading and shouldn’t be used to build an adoption strategy.

Rather, testing employees' non-conscious associations of automation in the workplace can allow organisations to prepare for technological adoption before issues arise. Non-conscious testing provides greater insight on the true feelings of employees towards automation, putting organisations in a better place to use behavioural science to help in the transition.

Alternatively, organisations can try to understand the core psychological drivers (archetypes) of their employees, creating a road map for how to best introduce automation. For instance, employees with a high need for control may be more engaged in the adoption process if they feel a sense of agency, were provided with lots of detail and the reasons behind the change. On the other hand, highlighting the cutting edge nature of automated technology may appeal more to employees with a high need to adventure.

What we do…

We use our expertise and tools in psychology and behavioural science to help many organisations (The BBC, Sony Music, LV, Diesel etc) work through change. If you’d like help on how you can better understand your employees from a psychological perspective, get in touch with an IB Business Psychologist at [email protected]?