Organizational Leaders Can't Avoid Conversations About Automation Forever

This post was prepared in collaboration with Theresa Welbourne, president and CEO of eePulse.

We live in a world of perpetually upgraded work. Each day, work becomes a little more automated, employee and worker rewards become a little more immediate and job-related learning becomes a little more virtual.

But in order for businesses to stay at the forefront of innovation and for workers to have enough time to gain the skills necessary to use new technology, organizational leaders and managers must be willing to share what they know about emerging automation tools and their potential impact on the business. That involves open discussions about new tools that come on their radar, an exchange of case studies and other means of information gathering and dispersion.

But just how likely are leaders and workers to share what they know about work automation? Together with Theresa Welbourne, President and CEO of eePulse, we posed this question to 200 business leaders in a recent eePulse Survey.

Our research revealed some polarizing results: We found that both leaders and employees were more willing to discuss the potential impact of automation technologies if they believe that this impact would drive positive change, such as certain tasks being simplified. However, if they feared that the impact would be negative—workers might lose their jobs, for example—they were less likely to have open conversations about it.

Below is an overview of our findings:

For both employers and employees to fully benefit from automation, transparent discussions about the potential impact of new automation technologies must occur well before implementation is on the horizon. The caveat, however, is that while our survey revealed that optimism is a critical factor in leaders' willingness to be transparent, they are seldom optimistic about automation.

A 2017 survey of 4,135 U.S. adults by the Pew Research Center found:

If the average leader or worker sees automation as a threat, our survey suggests she won't be willing to share her knowledge about work automation. Yet, this transparency is fundamental to anticipating work evolution early enough to give workers and organizations time to adapt to automation through reskilling, relocation, collaborative work redesign or other means.

A negative outlook on automation is no excuse to avoid productive conversations about its impact. Automation is coming, regardless of whether or not leaders and employees discuss it, so rather than hiding from it, they should prepare for the changes it'll bring. And after all, having successful discussions about work automation comes down to how you frame the conversation.

To have a productive discussion about automation, leaders should consult established frameworks that'll help guide their understanding of work automation. The goal of the frameworks is to identify ways to optimize (rather than avoid) human-automation combinations that are not only more efficient, but also generate higher returns on improved performance. And, with more knowledge, leaders are also more likely to gain the level of psychological safety needed to discuss automation openly.

Photo: Creative Commons

Question: Would you and your employees share knowledge about potential work automation if it had these effects ...

(% who agree or strongly agree)

YOU would share knowledge

YOUR EMPLOYEES would share knowledge

Employees Must Learn New Skills

98%

69%

Makes Work More Productive

91%

66%

Employees Would Get Pay Increases

90%

87%

Makes Work More Reliable

89%

72%

Makes Work Safer

87%

72%

Employees Would be Transferred to Other Work

86%

37%

Positively Affect My Employment and Career

71%

55%

Employees Would be Laid Off

58%

6%

Source: eePulse and Center for Effective Organizations, 2018. All rights reserved