How do you manage employees amid significant technological change?

As technological achievements continue to rock the world of work, it is important that employees don’t get lost in the transformation.

The technological advancements of the last 10 years have greatly impacted how the average person engages with the working environment. From onboarding and training, all the way through to the fundamentals of the job and even offboarding, innovations like AI, cloud computing and 5G infrastructure have transformed employment at its very core. 

But with tech steadily becoming more integrated in the workforce, managing the changes that come with this integration and measuring the impact can be tricky. Eptura, a company that provides software solutions for workplaces, recently released its 2024 Work Index, which suggests that leaders may be finding the implementation of change management programmes to be difficult. According to Eptura, this report combines proprietary data from Eptura’s worktech platform with more than 16.3m users with independent research across 200 professionals at organisations with more than 1,000 employees.

It’s not people or technology, it’s both 

Meg Swanson, the chief marketing officer of Eptura, says that the results of the report show that “the most important element in encouraging the adoption of new technology is managing change and proving its impact”.

She notes that the adoption of technology within the workplace is about more than staying on top of trends. 

“It’s also very much about fostering the performance of your buildings, physical assets and your people. The enterprises we work with are seeing the most value when leaders make sure that employees are aware of what the work environment and technology has to offer in terms of their comfort, priorities and wellbeing,” she said.

She encourages employers to utilise data and look out for patterns to investigate employee needs and gain an understanding of how people are using tools, resources and spaces. 

To avoid disrupting the flow of work, she says companies should adopt a strategic, planned out, phased approach when introducing new technologies. “This involves training and supporting employees throughout the transition to ensure everyone is comfortable and proficient with new systems,” says Swanson.  

She suggests employers can maintain and even improve workplace wellbeing during technological transitions by making use of “integrated workplace solutions that connect seamlessly into the environment, enhance connectivity and encourage collaboration”.

Recognise the opportunity

Swanson finds that advancements in technology, such as AI and automation, can “embolden” leaders that prioritise workspace management and assets, to “shape their spaces around the workers that use them”. She notes employees have an expectation of usability and simplicity when they go to work and creative technologies can make that a reality.

“The downside comes into play when companies don’t integrate technology across the buildings within an organisation, which turns getting insights into a manual task. Organisations win when they consolidate or integrate complex tech stacks that are preventing them from getting a clear picture of their operations.”

When companies amass connected systems that can meet the requirements of multiple teams, she says they will start to notice an increase in operational efficiency, enhanced analytics and improved connectivity. 

For Swanson, this is a “prime opportunity for employers to find and implement the right technology”, work with their employees to better understand what is needed and discover how people plan to engage, collaborate and interact with the working environment.

When implemented correctly, tech solutions have the potential to give employers critical insight into workplace design and resource allocation. For example, the Eptura survey indicates that (of the organisations surveyed) Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are the most popular days of the week for in-office work in a hybrid work arrangement. 

“But that might not be the case for every organisation,” says Swanson. “If, for instance, an employer finds Thursday and Friday are their most popular days, they can plan for collaborative events or meetings on these days to maximise interaction and productivity.”

What does the future hold?  

“Now is the time for leaders to align their vision and strategy with the problems they’re trying to solve and invest in technologies that can get their organisation where they want to go,” says Swanson.

The Eptura study indicates that, of the responding organisations, the top three technologies that C-suite personnel want to incorporate into their existing frameworks across the next 12 months are data analytics, integrated workplace applications and collaboration software.

“Interestingly, respondents prioritised the same three capabilities across employee experience, buildings and facilities, and asset management. It shows us that the C-suite is unified in looking for data and analytics to better understand their spaces, how their teams use them, and integrating software across their buildings to get a single unified view,” says Swanson.

Ultimately, if employers want to introduce technology that excites and motivates, rather than disturbs or disrupts, then they need to establish a clear path forward. 

“The best way for the facilities or employee experience teams to drive change within their organisations is to set out a vision for what their workplaces will look like multiple years in the future,” concludes Swanson.

Find out how emerging tech trends are transforming tomorrow with our new podcast, Future Human: The Series. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.