Change Management: How To Stop Fearing Automation and Embrace Technological Innovation

Change Management: How To Stop Fearing Automation and Embrace Technological Innovation

One of the double-edged swords of the pandemic has been accelerated automation and digitization across all industries. While the rapid adoption of digital tools is a boon for business leaders looking to streamline and mechanize tasks that are often tedious or replete with human error, this drive — coming on the heels of many other dramatic shifts in day-to-day workplace operations — can cause not only significant anxiety but even resistance on the part of employees, who may feel that their roles, livelihoods and necessity to the company are being threatened.

It's important for managers to convey to these wary employees that they are not obsolete — just the opposite. More than ever, there is an increased need for the types of skills that cannot be automated. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum's 2020 Future of Jobs report, skills rooted in complex thinking, innovation and problem solving are forecast to be "top employer needs" by 2025.