As employee video communications rely more and more on automation and advanced networking technology, some employees might be uncomfortable with a system taking over their jobs. Here’s how to quell those concerns and use this fast-growing information technology field to your advantage.
Many people see employee video communications as an arm of the dreaded information technology (IT) department. In some organizations, the sales team, for example, might not know exactly what goes on in the IT department, all they know is the IT workers make the computers work. But as employee video communications become more important with remote workers and expanding companies, the anxiety over new technology and automation is spreading up from the IT department to all departments in many organizations.
It’s easy to write off this anxiety as natural fear of technology that always seems to pervade many industries until it’s clear that things like automation and cloud-based employee video communications are working with workers and not against them.
Side Effects of Automation
If you think of automation as a new prescription drug or treatment, then anxiety over being replaced by a computer or a machine is a side effect. The truth is, yes, some employees will lose some of their duties to automation, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be fired altogether. Factories are one thing, but in most businesses selling services or products of some kind that can’t be replicated thousands of times by machines aren’t actually shedding workers by the thousands because they automate some of their processes.
Employee video communications is a process and a system that requires some collaboration by many people to be effective. If some of those processes are automated, the process goes smoother for everyone and no one loses their job. Let’s look at a hypothetical example.
Employee Video Communications Make Collaboration Easier and Involve More People
Employee video communications require collaboration to be effective. Let’s say an established, thriving Internet service company selling online purchasing systems to small and medium-sized businesses invests in a new employee video communications system. This system is used not only to communicate to remote employees around the world, it’s also used to communicate with clients, business partners, and others. Because of this shift, the human resources department had to make changes and work together with each other and other departments.
Instead of distributing information through email exchanges or simple office memos, the expanded workforce in several places at once demands a more scaleable approach. That’s where automation and a dedicated video production team, possibly from an employee video communications company, come in. Rather than jettison the entire HR department, human resources can now do their jobs faster and more efficiently. Instead of relying on pieces of paper for communication, they can send widespread messages or training modules to everyone in the company at once. No one loses their job, but duties certainly change.
Any kind of change is not easy. Employees want to know that they’re competent at their jobs, and if their job changes, that competency is threatened. A positive, patient, and forward-thinking corporate culture will help keep all employees on the same page and eager for new responsibilities, as will the utilization of new technology to accomplish more than what was possible before.