by Alex Roldan
On one of my sessions with students in Information Resource Management at USEP, a very valid insight came to the fore when one of them asked: “Is technology really making people lives, particularly workers, happier?” He was referring to the changes in the way modern offices or workplaces are managed. Systems and processes that were once done manually today simply require a single click with a mouse to get a task completed. With the aid of IT, business processes are not only streamlined but we are also able to get constant information in ‘real time’ that is up to the minute and up to date. “But what changes does this bring to what they used to call their ‘second’ home (where they spend most of their productive hours)—their office?
I could no longer control the discussion when it began to veer away from its original purpose—to impress upon the students the potentials of IT as an important resource in business. I could not also simply ignore their valid ‘dreadful’ thoughts. It went straight into the implications of how IT is badly transforming the office environment.
Offices or workplaces are supposed to be places of comfort to help make workers become more productive. Employee relations are important to create cohesive groups and where resourcefulness and initiatives are constantly promoted. Moreover, workplaces are generally designed for workers to be comfortable in, or at least habitable places for business operations. But IT is changing everything, from personal interaction, objectivity of decisions, all the way to job security!
The sharing of experiences is productive, though it mainly delves on the negative impact of IT on their lives. They began to look for solutions to maintain the original concept of a workplace despite these changes. For example, a student suggested that every morning workers should share inspirational messages through intranets to maintain their personal link with co-employees that they seldom see, or perhaps haven’t met although they work for the same company. Another student suggested that workers ought to find time to visit field offices to meet up with the co-workers who they constantly communicate with by means of the computers. It is a different feeling to physically come in contact with the person on the other side who is working with you everyday.
It cannot be denied that IT, particularly the internet, has made job security a big issue since technology keeps changing each day. This means that one has to be in a constant learning mode if he or she is after job security. But my students found a way to overcome this. They suggested using the same technology to improve workers’ knowledge and learn new skills through sharing of even simple “do it yourself” instructions on how to use new software or new processes to achieve their tasks – meaning, sustaining one’s relevance in the organization.
But everyone agrees that not all issues that negatively affect workers in workplaces can be effectively resolved. For one, IT limits the employee’s judgment. Many office tasks are software dependent, such as making financial analysis and projections. It even gives a command when to order for supplies, making an employee a worker virtually dependent on machines. It is horrifying to think of an employee making a purchase request justifying it saying that “the computer said so!” Employees have no more time to analyze data produced by the computer when executives want to see the report right there and then because their system requires only a few clicks for the report to be produced complete with analysis. The mask of objectivity happens – the danger of believing in everything the IT system produces.
From many experiences, there are indications that IT stifles innovations, flexibility and adaptability of the employees.
I concur with these dreadful thoughts. They are real and there is no way we can evade the onslaught of technology on our lives. It’s a good thing that we are humans. We rule this world. We made the machines to make life easier for us and, eventually, a happier one. It is all up to us if we decide to make our workplace a frightful one.
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