Managers need to put people first when embracing new technology

Businesses have to do more than just take advantage of emerging technologies – they also have to empower their employees to embrace the business strategies those technologies drive.

That means managers need to focus on enabling people – consumers, workers and ecosystem partners – to accomplish more with technology. They need to create a new corporate culture that looks at technology as the way to enable people to constantly adapt and learn, continually innovate new solutions, drive relentless change and disrupt the status quo. In an age where such a huge emphasis is placed on technology, the true leaders will, in fact, place people first.

For Hong Kong that could mean banks and insurance companies that look at ways to leverage big data and analytics to better slice and dice information their customers might need for mortgages, loans and savings and insurance plans. It means arming wealth managers with robo-advisory services so the advisers can layer bespoke advice on top of a regular flow of automated solutions tailored to their customers. In both examples the focus is on the people – empowering the staff and improving results for the customer – not the technology per se.

Such thinking could be applied to other businesses as well. Take, for instance what Samsung is doing, as highlighted in the Accenture Technology Vision 2016 report. Samsung is pushing out a constant stream of next-generation wearables and smart appliances: refrigerators that text you when a door is left open, washing machines that use spot energy prices to determine when to run a load of laundry, robot vacuum cleaners controlled by a smartwatch or smartphone. These are examples of how businesses in one industry are working with businesses in another to drive interest and consumption in both their products. Hong Kong conglomerates could do the same – but it takes buy-in from managers to encourage outside-the-box thinking of staff who are focused on what customers want.

Managers need to recognise that companies no longer just serve customers; they collaborate with them. They no longer just compete with rivals; they partner with them. They’re no longer limited by industry boundaries; they ignore them. The underlying theme for all this may be digital, but the defining factor is people.

For each company, how it embraces technology is unique to its needs. For some, it may be a wholesale reinvention. For others, it may simply be about breaking down barriers to change, as we explain in our Technology Vision 2016 focus on liquid workforces. Take a look at GE. Through a new approach called FastWorks, GE is embedding lean start-up practices into the workforce, pushing it to change faster and make smarter decisions, while staying close to customers. It’s doing away with rigid approval processes to allow employees to make rapid changes to their projects or quickly switch direction. Critically, GE also provides constant training that gives employees the skills they need to adapt and thrive.

In the end, the winners will create corporate cultures where technology empowers people to evolve, adapt and drive change to create products that customers want. In other words, the mantra for success is “people first”.