It’s a fact that most people resist change. Whether it’s learning to adopt new technology, or adhering to a new bylaw, people tend to avoid moving out of their comfort zone without a push.
It’s the same with your employees. When attempting to try to introduce automated workflows into an organization, most employees will resist the change. When questioning employees about why they resist moving from current processes into systems built to improve productivity and workplace efficiency, some of the answers were interesting.
The most common answer from employees resisting automated workflows was that they were scared to learn new technology, with the fear of failing a primary motivator of resistance.
The second most common answer from employees resisting the shift to automated workflows was that they felt the change was interfering with their current workflow, reducing their productivity.
A small number of employees quit, or are ready to leave, due to resistance to switching to workflow automation.
Through initiating interviews with senior and front-line managers, we identified a few lessons that might prove valuable to any organization implementing a digital transformation.
Build a Culture of Acceptance to Change
Organizations need to create a culture where people come to work to learn and innovate, as much as they have to master repetitive workplace tasks. This culture shift entails management utilizing new strategies to motivate and encourage employees to adapt to the process of change.
Organizational change requires execution that empowers employees to adapt efficiently to new methodologies of working.
Collaboration is Key
Research shows that employees responsible for service delivery appreciate leaders and tech professionals listening to their opinions when going through periods of change.
The experience of the team working together to adopt the new workflows strengthens communications between team members while boosting collaboration with other departments in the organization.
Getting feedback from employees is vital concerning ensuring any new automated workflows or technologies are easy to use. When employees find workflows user-friendly and manageable, it leads to better rates of employee engagement.
Setting up a dialogue between the IT department and users of new systems helps designers and managers identify and resolve issues to enhance the employee experience.
Show Employees the Benefits
Many employees resist change due to a lack of understanding of what automation of workflows offers the workplace.
Employees that have a resistance to implementing automation generally have something they don’t understand about the new system, resulting in a bottleneck they can’t get past.
Training provides employees with the opportunity to overcome these challenges associated with the change to how work gets done. After breaking through their problems with automated or cloud-based systems, most employees find that the system is easy to use, and their resistance fades away.
Focus on the Mission
Companies that successfully implement digital workplace solutions find that the new system brings the entire organization together.
By executing your digital transformation with the employee experience in mind, managers and business leaders have a better chance of the system adding value to the employee experience, instead of failing.
