New research from BT reveals that anxiety about the speed of technological change is widespread among business leaders in HR. In fact, 96% of HR directors and executives report suffering from “bytemares” – technology-related stress severe enough to disrupt sleep, with cybersecurity and AI cited as the main causes of anxiety. With 74% of sector leaders agreeing that technological transformation is essential to the survival of their business, tackling this techno-anxiety could contribute significantly to the growth of the HR sector and the economy as a whole.
Half of HR business leaders say their companies are technology-driven, yet just as many admit they find it difficult to keep up with the pace of digital transformation: 55% say figuring out the right technology solutions for their organization is stressful. This sentiment appears to be impacting the sector’s adoption of new technologies, with only 11% of HR businesses investing in technology, lagging behind sectors such as IT and communications (15%), legal (13%) and finance (12%).
When asked about the most common concerns HR business leaders have about digital transformation, BT Data found that AI’s impact on operations (69%) and cybersecurity (66%) are seen as the biggest barriers to adopting new technologies. When asked about the threats that AI poses to the business, data privacy/security challenges (32%) and ethical considerations (32%) were cited as the top concerns for more than half of business leaders in this area. This may ultimately lead to a lower adoption rate of new technology solutions.
However, according to BT Insights, 70% of HR executives are focused on mastering technology to future-proof their business. In fact, four in five executives say they are optimistic about technology’s ability to transform work, and just under three-quarters acknowledge that digital transformation is critical to their company’s survival. That’s why 65% of HR industry leaders want more support to undertake digital transformation and combat the technology-related decision paralysis faced by almost half (48%) of decision makers.
Main image: From Goya’s The Sleep of Reason Gives Birth to Monsters, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
