Why leaders fail to get employee buy-in on new tech

Georgina Gonzalez -

New technologies can work alongside teams to streamline workflows and boost productivity. Employees can often be wary of new tech, however, and managers underestimate the disruption it can cause. Here are four ways leaders fail to get employees on board and how to fix them, according to a Nov. 28 Wall Street Journal report:

1. Don't put the onus on younger employees

Despite probably being the most tech savvy, asking younger employees to train the rest of the team on new tech may not be a good idea. Longer tenured employees can feel slighted by having newer employees train them, which may make them resist the new technology. Instead, rotate who takes on the role of trainer.

2. Be careful when hiring tech support

Adding a new layer of employees to help run and maintain new technologies is a common occurrence. The addition of tech gurus can make other employees feel left out, however, and longstanding employees may feel like the tech support team treads on their toes. While new tech specialist roles aren't doomed to fail, leaders should stress the importance of traditional employees too and hire people with emotional management skills.

3. Conflict between different stakeholders

Even if a technology works well for more senior employees, it may be creating extra work for lower level employees, who may be tasked with confirming the new tech is doing what it is supposed to on top of their regular responsibilities. Leaders should focus on the voices of all staff from across the organizational hierarchy to come up with best practices for technology and solutions to any conflict and uneven workloads that may arise.

4. Unidirectional thinking about technology

Some leaders assume that once you have new technology implemented within a hospital or health system, the relationship with the technology developer ends. Understanding, however, that the relationship between developer and users is a back-and-forth conversation can benefit both parties. By feeding back information to the developers, systems can be tweaked and improved in the long-run. Leaders should be prepared to enter into a collaboration with developers when implementing new technology.

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