3 Rules for Maintaining the Human Touch in the Digital Transformation

Last Updated: December 16, 2021

Workfront’s SVP of People and Culture, Laura Butler talks about the importance of a People-first approach in the HR technology adoption.

As a human resources leader, you’ve seen that the communications landscape is vastly different than it was 20 years ago, and these changes — think automation, social messaging, and remote work — are all drastically changing how you do your job.

However, the more we communicate digitally, the easier it is to lose the human element that’s so vital to the work HR professionals do. How do you successfully maintain the human touch to make your organization stand out and maintain its competitive edge? It starts with understanding how communication has changed over the past 20 years.

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The Shift to Digital Communication

It’s easy to forget that not too long ago smartphones (and even cell phones, for that matter) were unheard of and making a phone call meant using a landline and hoping to catch someone in their office.

Emailing from anywhere, sending a quick IM while commuting, and being able to video chat while out of office just weren’t a possibility. In fact, in 2000 — just 20 years ago — the number of people with cell phones outnumbered the people without themOpens a new window for the first time ever. Now, 95% of Americans own a cell phoneOpens a new window and 77% have a smartphone.

Smartphones themselves have changed a lot in the last few years and we now send and receive five times as many text messagesOpens a new window as we do phone calls each day. We spend an average of 26 minutes a day texting and only six minutes a day making calls.

The rise in smartphone use has also contributed to the rise in emailing, which is also taking over when it comes to workplace communicationsOpens a new window :

  • Workers spend only 40% of their day on primary tasks because email and wasteful meetings get in the way.
  • Employees say that 16% of their workweek is taken up by emails.
  • More than half, 55%, say that excessive emails get in the way of work.
     

While smartphones have brought new opportunities to enterprises and employees, using digital communications in place of face-to-face conversations has its drawbacks too.

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How Technology Can Diminish the Human Touch

Digital communications have made it possible for people to work more efficiently, increased employment opportunities, and allowed employees to transcend time and distance to collaborate across the world.

Unfortunately, with these benefits comes the risk of diminishing the human touch that organizations desperately need to maintain employee morale, attract talent, safeguard privacy, and retain employees.

.A few of the digital communications issues that diminish the human touch include:

  • Distracting notifications.
  • Increased room for misinterpretation.
  • Making employees feel isolated and unfulfilled in their work.
  • Increased risk of workplace contention as people say things digitally they wouldn’t say in person.
  • Lack of privacy in communications with clients, colleagues, and managers.
  • Virtual barriers that inhibit relationship building.
  • Information overload leading to overwhelmed employees who miss important information.

 

This list represents a host of issues that if not addressed, could lead to major problems for your organization. But as the HR leader you have an opportunity to take the lead and embrace technology without letting it overshadow the human element that will ensure your employees and business thrive.

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3 New Communication Rules for a People-First Approach

In this new world of digital communications, businesses need to adopt a few new rules if they are going to maintain the human touch. Here are three ways HR can take the lead in using technology while still putting people first.

1. Use Communication Automation to Make Room for Human Interaction
 

When the idea of automation was new, people worried “the robots would take over.” That obviously hasn’t happened and in fact, the opposite is true. Due to what’s called “job polarization,” technology has taken over mundane tasks that could be automated, making room for more high-value jobs that require human creativity, cognitive skills, and reasoning.

The biggest example of this is in the banking industry. With the invention of ATMs, we haven’t lost tellers as some feared, but these jobs developed into positions that are high-value and require human skills, like consulting with customers or selling products.

As digital communications make it easier to send quick messages, update project statuses, and even send automated responses and notifications, workers’ time is freed up to interact where it counts — on a human level. Collaboration, brainstorming, customer service, and employee relations are all areas that can be enhanced as more time is available for human-first interactions.

2. Use Digital Tools to Increase the Flow and Efficiency of Communication
 

You can maintain the human touch at your business by making digital tools work for you, not in place of you. Approaching digital communications as a support system, rather than the only system of communications, will keep it in check so that you can put people first.

Here are a few powerful ways HR can encourage the use of digital communications to enhance communications without doing away with face-to-face conversations:

  • Use video calls to enable employees around the world to collaborate.
  • Leverage feedback tools in a work management platform to allow managers to leave feedback when they have time, then encourage a one-on-one meeting to follow up.
  • Get approvals digitally to leave managers’ schedules open for interacting with workers.
  • Hold live webinars with video and chat features to provide trainings to more people at once while still being able to communicate one-on-one with attendees.
  • Use an operational system of record to allow managers, CEOs, and other stakeholders to interact directly with employees, rather than through a cumbersome chain of communications.

 

When digital communications are happening 24/7, employees have the information they need exactly when they need it, and live status updates are available, in-person communications will be enhanced because they can focus on what’s really important, leaving administrative communications to digital tools.

3. Know When Digital Communication Can’t Replace Face-to-Face
 

There are times when digital communication just isn’t appropriate and as the HR leader, it’s your job to lead the way in helping employees understand this. When addressing a performance issue, letting someone go, giving a promotion, or seeking expert advice to solve a problem, face-to-face trumps digital communication.

At the end of the day, it’s the people that make an organization successful and if communications are so bogged down by technology that human interaction is left behind, businesses will suffer long-term consequences. A balance between digital and personal communications is key.

Workfront CEO Alex Shootman believes in using multiple communication tools to lead a business while maintaining personal relationships. “If you want to be heard and understood — and lead modern work — you need to show genuine interest in others and share your messages generously rather than sparingly,” he said.

To truly be successful in this modern age of constant, digital communication, HR leaders need to find ways they can use tools to their advantage and make sure their companies maintain a people-first culture.

Laura Butler
Laura Butler

SVP People and Culture, Workfront

As Workfront’s SVP of People and Culture, Laura is responsible for creating and reinforcing a culture that the most passionate, innovative, and customer-focused talent wants to be a part of and has spent the last 20 years shaping global talent management strategies for Fortune 500 corporations. Laura has received multiple awards and industry recognition for her work in diversity and inclusion including Diversity Inc. Top 5 Utilities, 2016 ERG Above & Beyond Award for PG&E Woman’s Network, Human Right’s Campaign’s Best Places to Work and the #14 spot on the Training Top 125 in 2017 for strategic leadership development. Laura has been recognized as a global thought leader in Human Capital Management and was named to the San Francisco Business Times Most Influential Women list. The White House also recognized Laura, resulting in an invitation and face-to-face meeting with former Vice President Joe Bidden, for her work focused on veterans.
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