What is Human-Driven Technology for Businesses?

As technology continues to drive innovation, it will only become a larger part of everyday life.

Yet with how much people rely on technology, there are certain barriers businesses are coming up against.

While businesses thrive on technology, there has been a disconnect between human interaction and engagement with it.

In fact, a report by Microsoft shows that 63% of workers are excited about the new job opportunities that tech creates. Yet, 62% say their organization doesn’t prioritize building culture.

What does human-driven technology mean for businesses?

When a business is technologically-driven, it can save time on repetitive tasks, track employee performance, make communication easier and boost productivity.

It’s also a huge advantage for employees to work from home and serve their clients — known as Anywhere Operations, which allows businesses to operate through a digital-first and remote-first framework.

However, technology also requires a human touch.

Between employees and customers, technology has mitigated face-to-face human interaction. In some ways, it benefits us by making work more efficient. Yet, the lack of personal interaction is driving coworkers to feel isolated.

For instance, instant messaging apps may provide us with constant communication, but miscommunication is commonplace as many find it easier to interpret a person’s intentions or meaning when you can see their face.

That’s why the human touch is especially important.

Why technology requires human–centered strategies

Technology centered around humans provides hyper-personalized experiences between customers and employees. The truth is that organizations have experienced a recent explosion in technology investment. However, the productivity of this investment hasn’t kept up.

Anyone can afford to buy technology. Yet, the vast majority of how they use it is what makes organizations unique — which is why they need human talent.

Organizations that are oriented toward unlocking that talent provide more meaningful work. It opens people up to developing and using their knowledge to incorporate true value in their work.

However, technology modernization has separated from the people and processes that interact with it.

Therefore, companies need to ask themselves what is required to enable technology and human-centered development?

How to remain human-centered in a tech-driven world

Organizations need to evolve their thinking when it comes to technology. One of the biggest barriers with technology is integrating humans — to develop new habits and behaviors and maximize worker potential.

When the pandemic struck, it caused millions of people to feel like they were in limbo in their professional and personal lives. Organizations were investing in technology during this time, and humans felt the disconnect between themselves and their company’s mission.

While technology is a powerful tool in business, so are humans. Therefore, companies need to rethink the workforce and allow humans to practice innate human skills that technology can’t achieve.

Humans are naturally skilled at empathy, collaboration, innovation, coaching, self-awareness and mentoring. However, technology has allowed people to step back and automate their tasks without embracing these unique human characteristics.

As a result, people have been conditioned not to practice these areas within their company. Therefore, organizations need to allow people to lead the technology and not the other way around.

Here are some ways organizations can accomplish this.

1. Focus on upping humanity

People need to be at the center of every decision and strategy. Whether a decision concerns customers, employees or the communities within the organization, they need to focus on human implications.

Including the human factor will help companies navigate disruption and will have them outperform competitors.

2. Reduce friction

Companies use technology to remove barriers and allow people to do their jobs efficiently. However, organizations need to create a culture of connectivity where employees can be creative, collaborate and trust each other.

Ensure your company is taking advantage of this by providing opportunities for engagement. Fostering the human connection will be invaluable to your organization and allow people to focus on higher-value tasks.

3. Center your organization around impact

A human-centered organization focuses on impact, not processes. It values agility over ranking. Therefore, businesses can facilitate fluid teams of diverse backgrounds that instill creativity.

Those who can work adequately with technology can serve a higher purpose and deliver innovation at a faster scale.

Ensure your enterprise is resilient

The benchmark for success is whether your organization is helping humans do what they need to with technology. If your business wants to keep delivering value, placing humans at the center of its strategies, processes, values and operations — with technology as an enabler — will be the driver of change.

However, it starts with recognizing that transformation is a constant process. Therefore, business leaders should keep an eye on what’s to come and adapt to the future.