6 Tips to Increase Employee Adoption of New Tech
At Logistics Studio the very nature of our work allows us to see the challenges and opportunities involved in adopting new technologies within a company. Based on our experience we’d like to outline a strategic approach to facilitate the smooth integration of innovative solutions, ensuring maximum benefits for the organization. By addressing key concerns such as employee resistance, resource allocation, and scalability, we hope to provide actionable insights for executives and decision-makers navigating the landscape of technology adoption.
Keep Your Head On Straight
Staying competitive can be another full time job on top of your normal duties, staying up to date with the latest and greatest technologies in and of itself can be trying. The headwinds in adopting a new technology can be daunting including resistance from employees, cost implications, and uncertainty about ROI. Focusing outwardly, getting a good sense on not only who the major players are in the logistics technology space but also their clients may help you align your needs to the correct provider. If at all possible, reach out (LinkedIn is always a good choice) to members of an org who have implemented a similar solution. Ask them about ramp up times, adoption and try to get an overall impression of working with a provider.
Waiting for the right moment to adopt a new technology may lead to analysis paralysis. Accepting that there may never be a right moment will make this whole process smoother.
Have a Plan
The first hurdle will be assessing your existing tech ecosystem, how will the gap you’re trying to fill affect the existing infrastructure in your company. Will you be doubling solutions, will one not play well with the other requiring yet another custom connector? How are your employees going to interact with these solutions, what will their workflow ultimately look like?
Consulting with those who already shepard the solutions you currently have in place will help with the installation and maintenance of the new one. Conducting a comprehensive assessment of existing systems and processes to identify areas for improvement. Set clear objectives and goals for technology adoption aligned with the company’s overall vision, mission, business priorities and customer needs.
Analyzing The Need For New Technology
Any human that uses a system everyday even for a matter of months will readily have a list of bugs, limitations, workarounds and gripes. But do they amount to a rip and replace of that system? Impact on an employee is vastly different from an impact to your bottom line. Taking the time to sort through not only employee’s concerns but also understanding if those concerns are having an impact on how you are conducting business will help you better conceptualize your tech requirements.
A clear view of what business problem you are trying to solve is the best way to go about solving it. Say you are looking for a capacity solution, are you going to drive automation around your existing capacity network? Or do you feel like you need better carriers because you are attempting to achieve consistent capacity? Ultimately asking yourself “Why am I trying to solve this problem with technology?” is absolutely key to a successful adoption.
Before introducing a new technology, make sure you effectively communicate its value and purpose to the relevant teams. Make sure they understand how it will help them with the problems they have already expressed, and hopefully grease the tracks of their work experience. Walk through what benefits the new technology has over the old one, and address any potential concerns or seat squirming. Use clear and simple language, and avoid jargon or technical terms that may confuse or intimidate your staff or stakeholders.
Identify Measurable KPIs
Now that we know what problem we are trying to fix, we can make our decision on what solution fits best for us. Identify what exactly will need to be measured to ensure that the solution is working. Generally this is done by leveraging data analytics as well as employee and customer experience. Now that we know what our KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are we can turn to the business of pilot implementation.
Begin a Pilot Program/Monitoring Performance and ROI
Launching pilot projects will test the feasibility and effectiveness of new technologies in real-world scenarios. With your KPIs in hand choose as varied a pool of users and stakeholders of the new solution as you can. Measure the impact of the adoption on key business metrics. Use the data and feedback that you acquire as your compass, track your progress and any other impacts to neighboring systems or teams. From this point you can begin iterating based on lessons learned to drive continuous improvement.
Training and Support
Once the solution has been deployed to the larger organization you may experience a drop in the acceptance numbers you gathered via KPI during the pilot program. To help alleviate these post launch jitters make sure that the proper training and support is available to the affected teams. Ensure that this roll out isn’t a surprise to anyone, and you may even want to make training materials available to them before the go-live date. Offering time away from their normal duties to use these training materials may offer you a greater ROI in the end.
Going one step further, seek input and feedback from your teams on the implementation, and evaluation. Invite them to test, review, or suggest improvements. Reward their contributions and achievements, and most of all celebrate their successes. By involving and empowering your staff, you can increase their ownership, engagement, and satisfaction with the new technology.
Logistics Studio has years of experience in logistics confronting the challenges you are about to face when choosing a new solution. They will help you not only understand what you need but how best to get there. With dedicated teams you can augment your existing tech staff to ensure a smooth transition. Logistics Studio’s experts are available to design and implement solutions to bridge gaps in between your existing stack and the one you daydream about. Feel free to set up a meeting, stop waiting for the moment to be right, let us know how we can help you design and implement the tech stack your organization needs and deserves.