Without getting too sci-fi, we believe it is important for anyone in HR, or indeed in any business, to be aware of the changing face of the future workforce. What balance are we going to find between automation and good old fashioned human contact? Will we indeed be replaced by robots?
The look of the future workforce is something on the mind of most HR people grappling with meeting the needs of current business while moving towards a changing future, so this subject stuck with us and got us thinking…
There is an increase in technology and the utilisation of robots to do many jobs that humans are currently doing – all indications are that this will continue to happen in a variety of different work types.
What will be the role of people as this transition works through?
Manufacturing could start to return to the business’ home country as cheaper costs of human labour overseas will not be such a consideration if the job is done by robots. That could offer a huge benefit to business – but then we begin to question what will be the differentiator for companies if there is less difference in the cost of production? We suggest that it may come down to innovation and customer experience.
We see a lot of focus in companies on innovation and the money spent to develop and commercialise the next thing that will make our lives better and more efficient. This innovation can give companies the competitive edge and build brand perception. HR will be focused on helping to build environments where innovative thinking is at the forefront of everything businesses do. This is exciting and encourages creative thought and activity. However it is possible that other companies could quickly replicate or upgrade on such innovation, so even that edge may be short lived unless there is a focus on continued innovation.
What we think is less short lived is peoples’ memories of past customer service they’ve received.
As an example – one of us recently purchased two new electrical products, both of which unfortunately had issues and required service people to make house calls. On both occasions the visit from the technician only happened due to perseverance in following up to initiate action. There was a lot of finger pointing about who was really responsible and who would actually do anything about it. This situation made us think about the true importance of the human contact in a company’s reputation. Customer service is what is remembered, fondly or otherwise.
If the playing field for the cost of products evens out, and the requirement for human interaction is lessened through increased technology then there should be increased importance placed on the quality of interactions. People build memories through experiencing emotions and this directly impacts on whether they would buy that product again or use that service company.
It may come down to the structure of a company’s customer service team. With the reduced labour and production costs there could also be a return to investing in an end to end problem solving customer service team. Maybe the future of offering the best experience and product is a balance of the old way and the new way? What we do know for sure is that the future workforce is changing and it is exciting.
We’d also both warmly welcome a resurgence of the importance of the value of customer service and we’re sure you would too!
