By Rosanna Terminio, Managing Partner, AsecorpChina Business Consulting
‘Technological-Driven Change: The Employee Perspective’ was published in the winter 2022 edition of the German Chamber Ticker. Editor: Noga Feige, Senior Editor of Ticker Magazine. Visuals: Matter Design.
Digitalization and the introduction of AI and robotics to the workplace have become widespread in recent years, yet such steps have a huge impact on employees. Focusing on employee experience, both as a user of the technology and a stakeholder of the technological-driven change, can benefit companies from all aspects. This is true in terms of understanding which part of the process can be automated, and how to better assist workers in performing their tasks and redistributing tasks between employees and technology. Such an approach maintains workers’ self-satisfaction and, ultimately, can foster a higher and faster adoption rate of the new technology from the employee. This article reviews collaborative robot technology and how it affects employees, mainly from the Chinese perspective. This is part of a Ph.D. research in progress, including data since 2012 collected prior to the Ph.D.
I am the Cobot, Your New Colleague
Collaborative robots, or ‘cobots,’ are robots that are generally safe to operate alongside humans. They can be found both in public spaces and in factories, doing anything from providing information to carrying heavy materials. Cobots, or in Chinese, 协作 (assist)机器人, can augment workers by giving them new tools to complete tasks quickly and efficiently, and frees employees to focus on more added-value contributions. They can be moved and programmed more quickly than industrial robots, making them ideal for companies looking to increase production and adapt to changing customer requirements.
Among the different robotic technologies that have been introduced into human environments, collaborative robotics has been described as one of the fastest-growing sectors of the robotics market (IFR, December 2020), especially in industrial applications such as handling, welding, assembly, and applications in the automotive industry, where demand is currently the greatest (OECD, 2021).
Thanks to their flexibility and characteristics, collaborative robots have a unique role, traditionally played by humans: that of a ‘co-worker.’ That makes people’s interaction with them an increasingly important topic worldwide.
Furthermore, what makes cobots particularly interesting, is that humans spontaneously tend to project animacy and sensitivity to inanimate objects they interact with daily, and even treat certain artificial devices as humans, attributing intelligence, goals, and reasons to them. This makes it easy to expect that collaborative robots playing a ‘co-worker’ role will also be perceived as social entities. Will cobots be seen as collaborators, or as competitors for work?
Adoption of Collaborative Robots in China
Shortage of Blue-Collar Workers in China
The new World Robotics report, released in Frankfurt on October 13, 2022, shows a growth rate year-on-year of 31% in industrial robot installation. It is led mainly by Asian markets, representing 74% of the industrial robot market in 2021 (IFR). The largest adopter in the region remains China, with a growth of 51% in 2021 due to its rapid speed of robotization (FDI) promoted by the central government.
© World Robotics 2022
Two major factors drive the government’s push toward digitalization: Firstly, the need to upgrade Chinese manufacturing as part of the China 2025 program (and the newly launched “Five-Year plan for the robotic industry”), and the goal of modernization mentioned in the 20th Congress Work Report to make China a leader in the industry. Secondly, digitalization is seen as the response to China’s aging population, which is causing rising labor costs and labor shortages, especially among blue-collar employees.
Collaborative robots are expected to be especially common in China’s electronic and automotive industries. According to the UK-based research firm Interact: “China will dominate the market for collaborative robots, set to expand at annual growth rates estimated at more than 20% to 2026.” This potential pervasiveness of collaborative robot in working environments in China makes it extremely relevant to understand how individual employees could react to this change.
For one thing, this wave of digitalization has revealed a gap between labor market needs and the skills required from employees to work with machines. To respond to such challenges, China is focusing more on vocational training. In June this year, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security identified 18 new professions, such as the ‘robotic engineering technician,’ to tackle such issues.
Work Identity and Technologically-Driven Change in China
Digital transformation is often analyzed in terms of economic or technical criteria, often neglecting the fact that the pervasive nature of information technology and cybersecurity (ITC) in the workplace makes it a potent source of identity threats and conflict.
The introduction of new technology, like the cobot, changes the status quo in terms of roles and work processes. Individuals feel that technology threatens their beliefs about themselves as valuable and competent workers, making their work less meaningful. This technology-based insecurity can enact resistance to change, because the new technology is perceived as a threat. Chinese researchers demonstrated that this also applies to employees in China.
Furthermore, despite the belief that Asian and developing countries are more positive toward technology, results of interviews with robotic companies, integrators of automation systems, and employees in China so far demonstrate that this depends on the company size and culture. In large firms that already went through a massive automation process and have in-house technical departments, employees tend to view tech more positively. In very traditional industries and non-multinational firms, however, the opposite applies. In both cases, though, it was confirmed that no experience or a prior negative experience with technology triggers resistance, not only from blue collars but also at the management level.
An Employee-Centered Approach to Digitalization
Learned Helplessness
When events are perceived as uncontrollable, an expectation is created that future events will also be beyond control. Such feeling is defined as learned helplessness, and the loss of self-esteem associated with the loss of competencies will make an individual believe himself / herself to have a lower ability to perform work. This, in turn, has a negative impact on meaningful work, motivation, and, ultimately – the individual’s identity. In work settings, learned helplessness is cited by previous research as a significant factor in resistance to workplace technologies, suggesting that earlier detection and intervention may alleviate its impact.
However, transformative technological change involves functioning in new work designs, creating new partnerships and workflows, and mastering innovative information technology systems. All together, it might complicate the work and job objectives. That is why becoming digital could be challenging for many employees who appreciate the stability of predictable standard processes.
The above implies that human resources management (HRM) tasks such as workforce planning, recruitment and staffing, and training and development should be redesigned to meet the robots and manage the relationship between humans and robots in the organization.
Recruiting Talent to Work With Cobots
The war for talent will force organizations to diversify their talent pools and empower employees with greater autonomy in the workplace. For a successful long-term digital transformation, HR must act as a strategic partner and consider the long-term implications of their organization’s digital strategy on their talents – and possibly treat employees as customers. Different worker groups and motivational styles require specific training and participation programs according to their characteristics and needs.
One of the most challenging aspects of human-robot interaction is task definition for both humans and robots. How can a company become more efficient without negatively impacting worker identity and self-esteem, which in turn impacts motivation and technology adoption? Transparency, communication, and visionary leadership that puts people at the center of the change process can make all the difference. Leaders must design training programs and communicate the change effectively; provide clear task details and new job descriptions to reduce uncertainty and resistance. Prior research has proved that involving employees in changing and redefining their tasks positively impacts engagement, creativity, and performance.
Last but not least, when hiring new employees, it is worth taking into account which kind of soft skills or characteristics they already possess, such as:
- Willingness to learn and being open to change
- Supports training and upskilling
- Being technologically inclined
- Introverted (if needs to work alone with the robot)
- Independent and self-assured
Conclusion
The acceptance of a cobot by its human team members will ultimately determine the success of human–cobot collaboration, and the effective implementation of this new technology in the organization. As work influences people’s identity and sense of worth, facilitating this acceptance is not only a matter of return on investment – but also a responsibility for employee wellbeing and society as a whole.
The impact of automation on work is inevitable, and not everyone – blue-collar employees or managers – are able to cope with it. The human side of change requires examining how people learn and cope with change, and how their learning is facilitated or hindered. Research from Haldebrandt et al. (2020) proposes to measure a successful digital transformation in terms of an “increase of life quality, job satisfaction, efficiency, effectiveness and reduction of insecurity “for the employee. Providing employees at all levels with additional skills that will allow them to work better with the machine is a task that all stakeholders should commit to. Companies’ moral and professional obligation is to reduce the negative impacts of this transition for individuals and society as a whole.
Rosanna Terminio is a consultant, contributor, and lecturer specializing in innovation and strategy for the organization. She is a Managing Partner in AsecorpChina Business Consulting, a strategy consulting firm exclusively dedicated to the Chinese market. As an Independent researcher, she published in 2018 an academic paper titled: “The impact of RAAI (Robotic, Automation and Artificial Intelligence) from the employee perspective. A scoping review”. In 2019, she started her part-time PhD in Knowledge Society at UOC dedicated to researching how individual employees perceive the ongoing digital transformation. Rosanna can be reached at: rterminio@asecorpchina.com.cn
