Employers often forget to source employee input as they adopt new tech

Dive Brief:

While healthcare executives are investing heavily in new technologies to improve work efficiency, they may be forgetting to source employee input, according to a survey by Eagle Hill Consulting. Of the 675 healthcare industry employees surveyed, 13% of respondents were "completely unaware" of technology changes in their companies.
Almost half of employees surveyed said their healthcare employer introduced a new technology in the past two years, but only 29% said their companies invest in "the right technologies" to help them do their jobs. Less than half of employees surveyed felt they had the "right level of support" to understand and best use the implemented tech.
"It's imperative that companies know how a technology solution will change and augment current work and how it will impact skills and competencies from a training and hiring perspective," Melissa Jezior, Eagle Hill Consulting president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Technology has been deployed at warp speed. But understanding, engaging and upskilling the workforce lags."

Dive Insight:

COVID-19 has prompted companies across sectors to make sudden, swift technological changes to accommodate the "new normal" — the sudden push to have everyone work remotely. Recruiters have keenly felt this change, though as businesses exit the initial rush, some have settled into a tech rhythm that may persist, experts told HR Dive.

Even so, employees generally remain wary of new technology, even tools purported to help them do their jobs.

While over three-quarters of workers surveyed in a study from MindEdge/Skye Learning released in February said that AI made their jobs easier, over half still said that artificial intelligence technologies "are bad for American workers."

Continuous learning regarding such technologies will be required to keep employees engaged and confident in their jobs, even as automation sweeps certain job functions, according to experts from MindEdge/Skye Learning.

Employers may need to improve their communication infrastructure overall. Workers, generally, feel underutilized and uninformed at work, according to a February survey from Starmind.

More than 60% of employees reported difficulties in finding information they need to do their jobs, leaving workers to spend 26 days a year on average searching for information and expertise. Ironically, AI is considered a top tool that can assist in this matter, but employers may need to be wary in how they communicate about new tech in the workplace to stave off employee fears.