Can Technology Actually Hinder Employee Engagement?

The short answer?  Yes, if we’re not careful.  And in this blog, I’m going to tell you why. 

First of all, full disclosure:  this is an opinion piece, and while my blogs are usually very well-researched; the fact of the matter is, my Google search found reams of articles and papers as to how technology can help or facilitate employee engagement (more on that later), but little or nothing of the pitfalls of technology with regard to engaging employees (I guess that’s just not sexy).  So, for now, this blog is based entirely on experiences of myself and several colleagues and clients whom I have consulted.

The Three Key Ingredients for Engaging Employees

Before we can understand the benefits and pitfalls of technology with regard to engaging employees, we need to remind ourselves about the true nature of engagement; and specifically how employees become engaged or disengaged.  I’ll be very brief here, because there is already a TON of research out there, so I need not repeat anything but the essential here.  Basically, we basically require three essential ingredients to engage the employee[1]: 

1. Job purpose (the work one does has a positive impact on something that one cares about)

2. Reciprocal caring (I believe my organization cares about me, so I care about helping my organization succeed); and,

3. A sense of belonging and social cohesion (I feel part of something greater than myself, and feel included by those around me). 

Technology can be a Very Positive Engagement Enabler

Many organizations succeed at one or two of these; but, in my experience, relatively very few succeed at all three.  Technology can certainly help to enable and improve employee engagement.  There are a great many examples I can use to illustrate this, but they are already very well documented, so I’ll name just a few.    Where technology can have the greatest positive impact, is in facilitating #2 and #3, mostly through advanced collaboration tools which allow greater interaction, especially between workers in different locations.   Survey platforms have evolved to the point where virtually anyone can ask their employees anything at any time, i.e. constant listening.   Organizations can keep abreast of the emotional temperature of their employees in real time; and assuming that they respond to this feedback, this can be a wonderful tool to help with #2 and #3.  Technology can also assist recognition and reward, which accentuates the feeling of job purpose and impact #1.

But it can also pose a danger……

But now to the true subject at hand:  how is technology a danger to employee engagement?  In fact, the danger is emerging from a confluence of both social and technological trends.  Technology is enabling the “do-it-yourself” culture.  No longer do we need to engage “experts” in opinion research, survey design, and sample statistics to construct and analyze the employee survey.  There are many platforms available in the marketplace that place this capability at the fingertips of virtually any one who wants to use it (and pay for it, of course).   The trend of concern here is that these Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms are now evolving to the extent that not only can you conduct your survey, but these tools can also provide sophisticated data analysis which identify key issues in your organization; and, provide the managers with “best practice”, ready-made solutions.  Engagement is low because many employees don’t see career opportunities?  Just drag and drop proven solutions into your action plan and then monitor progress on implementation.  Sounds great!  And it is (to an extent).   Managers can view their own results, and create their own action based on best practices.  Very efficient.  So, what’s the problem?

The danger, and emerging trend, is that technology is providing a short-cut around the most important ingredient in the action planning process which works:  employee involvement, and more specifically:  connectedness through conversations.   Engaging employees requires social interaction.  The organization, is at its very essence, a social organization. People need to interact with other people to achieve a common, desirable goal (#1 – Job purpose).  They need to feel that the organization cares about their well being and contribution to that goal (#2 Reciprocal caring), and perhaps most of all, they need to feel connected to the people around them, especially their managers and leaders (#3 Sense of belonging and inclusion).

Often the conversations required can be uncomfortable, but they are necessary.   Since they can be uncomfortable, many people (leaders, managers, and employees alike) tend to avoid them.  Conversations take time and effort.  The emerging technology enables understanding and responding (through action plans) much more efficient, but more effective? Not if we use that technology to avoid those all-important conversations.

Is this a generational thing?

Maybe the next generation will think and feel very differently, as we can already see the comfort that many young people for communicating through devices in lieu of the personal conversation.  My own Gen=Z boys are the poster-children for this.

So, what’s the solution?

Let’s embrace the technology to enable the conversations, but not as a substitute for them.   Use the action planning features to learn what others do, and then use collaboration technology to involve your team in selecting and developing tailor-made actions for your team.   Develop your action plans in groups with your team.  Use pulse surveys and polls to vote on actions before you include them in your action plan.  You can even crowd-source your action plans – the key here is to be as inclusive as possible. I can go on here, but I think you get the idea.

If you find yourself using the ability of technology as a short-cut to eliminate the conversation, you may also find yourself with fewer engaged employees as a result.   Use technology to encourage and facilitate connectedness, conversation and collaboration.  To be engaged in the workplace is human.  Use technology to humanize the process.

[1] the emotional investment in one’s work and one’s organization which motivates “going the extra mile”, a.k.a. discretionary effort