Technology Trends In UK Workplaces
Technological trends have been rapidly increasing in this fast-paced, competitive world. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI), automation and remote work have been gaining popularity rapidly and have helped transform the lives of humans in various aspects and industries. Most of the work done earlier by humans is now replaced with robots and other AI tools. This major shift has been modifying and transforming the job market and the nature of the job. Several job roles such as assembly line workers, data entry and customer service are already done with the help of machines. Robots are increasing in some industries to carry out several operations previously done by humans. However, increasing the usage of automation and AI is helpful for workers. Most experts have asserted that adopting these technological advancements in the organisation will help create more job opportunities in the market. By adopting these machines and robots for repetitive and routine work, humans will get time for more strategic and creative work. This will ultimately require the employees to train themselves with new skills like programming, data analysis and the ability to solve problems, which will gain more importance in the future. Managers in the United Kingdom use technology to connect with their team members and aid them in checking out different opportunities with technological advancements like automation and AI. Effective managers identify novel opportunities and risks because knowledge is becoming more automated and virtual with each passing day with the help of robotics, artificial intelligence and several other technologies.
Several actions explain how these vast technological advancements change the ever-changing landscape.
- Automation tools must be considered as coworkers instead of thinking of them as job replacements – Technological advancements like AI mainly concentrate on eliminating several jobs with the help of automation. In contrast, effective managers continue focusing on the enhanced jobs through AI or the new jobs added. This indicates that there is a need for human expertise, and their knowledge will be more improvised through automation tools. One example of insurance space is when the experts utilise reinvention technology to understand how an underwriting work can be designed again by employing large language models. Several underwriters’ jobs are reinvented and redesigned to eliminate repetitive tasks and modify them by making them more valuable in different and novel ways.
- Embracing digital usage – Effective managers make their employees use automation and digitisation more and more. This is so because it helps in designing the roles and jobs again and pays for the programs to adopt novel technologies and concentrate on valuing some particular skills of the employees. Managers working at an organisation come together in various departments to recognise the novel skills important for meter readers to make them customer technicians. After this, they execute the plan, and their design helps improve the attributes of technology and humans.
- Using other sources of phased strategies of retirement and talent – To come across and deal with individual shortages having some specific skills, managers can effectively utilise employees from different sectors who are laid off from the technological sector and higher and vocational education courses as well as from other countries. These leaders also utilise phased strategies for retirement to keep possession of the workers in their later careers. In several cases, organisations collaborate with educational institutions to establish programs and events to progress their firm with long-term goals. In some cases, firms collaborate with governments to hire highly skilled individuals. One example of a new program developed in Canada is considered where H-1B visa holders tempted the nation, which allured many applications by reaching the limit in less than 2 days.
- Determining intrinsic risks and adopting strategies to handle them – Managers understand the risks and try to determine them, which are linked with AI and digitised work. They keep designing job roles dedicated to technological advancements and help employees understand that AI is easily understandable, illustratable, fair, ethical and impartial. Leaders provide employees with proper training to understand data-handling policies involving gamified assignments and simulation exercises. These managers inquire about the standards and policies of the employees to make sure the employees are working carefully. Moreover, they create standards using procedures and guidelines to keep the confidential data of the customers, employees and firm from being exposed to others. They also ensure that the firm invests in recent technological advancements associated with servers, firewalls, maintenance, virtual private networks and antivirus software and ensure the reviews of legal and security services generated by AI.
- Addressing employees’ expertise in their novel working procedures – Managers can understand that to align with the business’s goal, employees want to keep working on the tasks that are more meaningful for the firm and add more worth. Thus, they talk about employees attaining better growth and purpose with the help of automation. For instance, effective leaders help understand the improvements made by automation in job roles by eliminating repetitive tasks, enhancing ideation, working on problem-solving, and developing flexibility among employees. Managers are also more responsive to concerns related to digitisation and automation, which makes the employees learn about novel processes and technologies. Meanwhile, most employees fear that the novel work models will outdated their work. They offer their employees proper support and guidance to make them grow and learn by evolving themselves and having training for acquiring specific skills. They also focus on the effects of automation and technological advancements on the workers who are paid less or are working remotely because of newer working methods, which involves bias on career growth and payment.
- Concentrate on making connections with humans in a virtual and digitised world – These managers have understood, with the help of direct experience and thorough research, that employees who are more focused on the virtual and digitised feel detached and are more worried about the development of their career while the preference of most of the employees is for the hybrid or remote mode of work. Managers keep connecting with their employees virtually and live, supporting the significance of actively listening to their changing preferences and viewpoints in this highly digitised globe. Managers stay attentive to understanding the effects of novel technologies and models on various employees in different ways about their job roles, benefits and salary and also their financial, emotional, social and physical well-being. They also utilise these advanced technological tools to aid in building relations with the employees and make them create connections among themselves.
Read Also: Digital Transformation in Management: Harnessing Technology for Success
Some of the skills that are important for the employees to acquire themselves and attain success in their career growth.
- Technical knowledge – Leaders hire employees with expertise and understanding of programming languages who can understand cloud computing, web development, software development and database management. Additionally, acquiring skills in cybersecurity is significantly important as the cases of cyber threats are increasing with each passing day. As technology expands, employees with strong determination are always ready to keep themselves updated and learn the latest trends in their sector.
- Excellent communication skills – Effective managers mainly hire individuals who have excellent skills of communication, both verbal and written communication skills. Professionals and developers need employees who acquire the capability of communicating effectively with business analysts and project managers, mainly non-stakeholders. They mainly describe difficult concerns in simple language and give suggestions for solutions. Employees with the ability to have robust problem-solving capabilities are required because professionals often troubleshoot and try to resolve difficult concerns.
- Teamwork – Working together is very important in this industry because different teams need guidance and support to complete most projects. Business analysts, web developers and project managers come together and work to ensure that the projects are delivered timely and are under the specified budget and that the quality of the project remains high. Leaders mainly look for people who acquire the ability to work effectively in a team, communicate clearly and are capable of taking charge and positively contributing to the project.
- Data Analytics – One of the most important factors every company emphasises is customer experience. Customers’ experience aids in expanding the growth of revenue in the economy, which requires the need for data analysts. Specifically, employees with the capability of conducting quantitative analysis along with the ability to visualise and interpret data. Data visualisation refers to combining mathematics and data science, understanding the business environment in broader terms, and thinking of creative and innovative solutions. The world is gradually shifting towards alluring experiences of customers by being capable of interpreting financial, demographic and customer data and making use of it in transforming the experience of customers, which is considered significant while competing in novel areas like metaverse.
- Multi-tasking ability – Employees working in the technological fields have a lot of work to do and must be able to juggle themselves with different projects and work simultaneously. This is so because their clients need various things at one time. Employees must present information to their clients while writing reports, brainstorming their goals and thinking about how to attain them.
- Working under pressure – Working with technologies helps save time in particular situations, specifically when there is a need for the business to fix any issue or remove a virus from their software, which becomes a disturbing concern in running the business effectively.
- Ability to solve problems – Effective leaders need to have the ability to recognise mistakes and should take possible measures and find appropriate solutions. Customers facing difficulty may ask the organisation to find more efficient ways of communicating and dealing with problems or find easier solutions to the problems to keep themselves updated with the current technological advancements to understand how to manage the difficulty and deal with it in the professional world.
Conclusion
Technological advancements have been rapidly transforming the world into a tech-driven world. Effective managers and leaders in the UK also adopt these technological advancements to grow revenue and the economy. Technological advancements have been adopted by managers, considering their benefits. While the employees think of these advancements as their job replacements. Yet, there are many advantages, as AI, automation, and other technologies help eliminate repetitive tasks and make employees more creative and innovative. Moreover, these tools help identify and manage risks and embrace the nation to become digitised and much more. At the same time, there is a need for the employees to acquire several necessary sets of skills. They must acquire strong and excellent communication skills, robust problem-solving abilities, the ability to do multiple tasks simultaneously, technical knowledge and an understanding of data analytics is also considered an important skill. Working together in a team is also of same importance for the employees.
References
- Rose, S., 2020. Industrial Revolution 4.0: The changing technology landscape and its effect upon customer service employees.
- Legun, K. and Burch, K., 2021. Robot-ready: How Apple producers are assembling in anticipation of new AI robotics. Journal of Rural Studies, 82, pp.380-390.
- Hitt, M.A., Keats, B.W. and DeMarie, S.M., 1998. Navigating in the new competitive landscape: Building strategic flexibility and competitive advantage in the 21st century. Academy of Management Perspectives, 12(4), pp.22-42.
Author Bio: Mark Edmonds is a distinguished professional at Academic Assignments, a leading provider of premier student assignment help services. With a wealth of expertise in technology trends and their impact on the modern workplace, Mark is committed to sharing valuable insights. His passion for education is evident in his work, “Technology Trends In UK Workplaces,” where he explores the evolving tech landscape. Mark’s dedication to empowering students with knowledge and fostering success in the academic world positions him as a trusted authority in technology and its intersection with workplaces in the UK.