Why are companies prioritizing tech over human skills?
Why are companies prioritizing tech over human skills?
While human skills like adaptability, leadership, and communication overwhelmingly scored as vital in a new Deloitte survey, one in three employees say they have limited or no human skills training at their place of work.
As workplaces tend to emphasize short-term training on new technology, there’s evidence that the human side of workforce development may be lacking. In the survey, nearly all respondents said human skills are timeless, and close to 90% said human skills help them get ahead.
Yet, technology is where a lot of firms are investing in their employees. Deloitte’s Anthony Stephan said, “The future is dependent on a very clearly defined ‘yes and’ strategy. Yes, we must invest in tech, technical skills to continue to allow our people to create differentiated opportunity in the marketplace. And yes, we need to invest in human skills.”
Even though human skills have been getting more attention over the years, many organizations are holding back.
“I think a lot of it is time and budget,” said Claudia Magallan, a workforce development expert in Texas. “Especially when you’re working for small agencies or nonprofit agencies, you have to do as much as you can with a budget you have. How do you get people you know out of a classroom or away from cases and stuff like that, to attend a training … it has to be very calculated.”
However, budgets for training and development can be quite constrained while executive decisions tend to focus on short-term necessities, according to consultant Eliyahu Lotzar with Reframed Reality.
“Honestly, the bottom line problem is that HR doesn’t really have a seat at the table with the big players,” he said. “The fact that there’s somebody in HR waving a flag saying, ‘hey, we need to invest in the long run, people don’t develop as fast as you know, this little marketplace advantage you’re going to get if you implement this new software.'”
Lotzar added that while technology is making us more productive so we can feel accomplished, “We need to have social recognition and things are just getting much more intense.”
He said in the economic times we’re in today, technology can be at odds with a critical piece of workplace fulfillment relationships.
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