In this competitive market for talent, it’s not just about recruiting. It’s also about retaining the employees that we’ve hired, trained, and developed, and helping them perform at the highest levels possible. A big part of this is creating a great culture and employee experience for them. The tech we choose to leverage in our workplaces is growing in importance, not just in terms of communication, but in making our office, team, and workplace environments places where employees are happy, excited and supported. We are talking about all these things today.
Episode 159: How Tech Adoption Drives Employee Experience with Bhushan Sethi (@bhushansethi1)
Today, I’m joined by Bhushan Sethi. Bhushan is the Joint Global & US Financial Services Practice Leader, People & Organization at PricewaterhouseCooper. He has extensive experience in HR technology and is passionate about the future of work.
What Does the Employee Experience Have to do with Technology?
Sethi talks us through what the employee experience is about. He says it’s about making people’s lives better. It’s also about helping employees be more productive, and understanding what’s going on with them inside and outside the workplace on a whole host of topics from policies to design of the fiscal workplace, as well as the the tools and the technologies they use.
PwC’s research recently uncovered a huge disparity in how technology helps make the employee experience better when it comes to the perceptions of the C-Suite versus the employee. Sethi says that 88 percent of the C Suite said yes, technology makes our work and lives better, while only 48 percent of staff agree. He say that’s a huge disconnect that organizations are going to have to address, especially as the adoption rate of AI and other technologies grows in popularity.
The Great Tech Adoption Divide: Employee vs. C-Suite
Sethi’s examples really demonstrate that the disconnect is glaring. It’s not just adopting AI technology in the workplace that is challenging; the larger issue is communicating the why, how, and what behind business decisions. PwC’s research really shines a spotlight on this issue.
Sethi says we are really talking about two different experiences here, with one being the executive experience and the other being the employee experience. Both experiences are important. Both experiences need to be able to work, live, and collaborate with each other in order for a business to be successful. This is more than a generational issue. All types of communication as well as adoption, whether it’s technology or other workplace programs, need to have the buy-in, understanding, adoption, and acceptance of all employees regardless of their level within the organization.
[bctt tweet=”In our survey, 75% of people said they know of systems that can help enhance their productivity, yet more evidence about engaging employees in designing their own future is going to be incredibly important. – Bhushan Sethi, PwC” via=”no”]
Whatever HR technology you are looking at, whether it’s employee-centric, recruiting-focused, or behind-the-scenes, change management and user experience should be an important consideration for you and your executive leaders. You should also really think about the employee experience and how employees use and perceive these tools and technologies. This means spending additional time on helping employees down their adoption path through communication, training, and engagement. In fact, I recently spent a few days in New York talking with employees about this in a series of focus groups. PwC has great research resources at PWC.com/techatwork that are at our disposal, and that we should take advantage of.
Connect with Bhushan Sethi.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Our Status With Tech at Work: It’s Complicated ~PwC Report
Tech at Work ~Resources from PwC
How Technology Has Changed Workplace Communication
What’s More Important? A Change in Technology or Mindset?
Future of Work: Virtual Reality and Accessible Workplace Technology
Four Ways to Use Technology in the Workplace to Motivate Employees
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*A special thank you to my production team at Total Picture Radio.
