How Do We Integrate Tech in a People-Centric Way?
Can we modernize without putting our people at a disadvantage?
I acknowledge that this is a challenging issue to address. While we all understand the benefits of technology relative to operational efficiency and potential cost savings, there are always three major concerns:
Empowering the workforce and technological rollouts are not mutually exclusive concepts. We must acknowledge the challenges and look at the histories and evolutions of technology in a people-centric environment. We can take the lessons learned to understand how we can make operations more efficient without completely displacing workers.
We are not in the industrial revolution with sweeping changes taking people off the warehouse floor. Today, we can actually empower the workforce to help make jobs safer and more productive.
The Case of UAV Drones for Building Maintenance
Think about unmanned arrival vehicles (UAV) drones that have been around for a decade.
New York requires people to clean buildings with scaffolds, dropping off the sides of skyscrapers to conduct spot inspections of building caulking and curtain laws for exteriors.
My question is, why do we persist in doing that when we have technology that we can use to do those same inspections with people operating the drones?
People are required to power the tools, it is not fully autonomous. That to me is a classic example of the tangible benefits that technology can offer. The same people that are in scaffolds a thousand feet in the air can be on the ground leveraging technology. While it may not be as many people, it won’t displace the workforce.
The benefit? Cost-effective. Faster. Easier. Streamlined.
This strategy can improve business without significantly impacting people. Keep them in business, but upscale or rescale how they are working. The individuals who are displaced can also be trained to work drone maintenance or learn to operate different types of drone machinery. There are so many options that can help take people out of the skies and still keep their jobs.
Autonomous Robotics for Janitorial Services
In every city, there is an army that keeps office buildings clean at night behind the scenes. This work is labor intensive, manual, and repetitive. However, autonomous and robotics technology can do the work that the people are doing.
Similar to the drone angle, there are some elements of the workforce that will be displaced. We must be respectful and empathetic towards this challenge. But, these same people can be trained to operate autonomous robots. Semi-autonomous and fully autonomous, there is someone at the controls. There are also people that can be trained to repair and maintain the robots doing these tasks.
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Not to say that robots are going to take over and people are going to lose their jobs, but let’s find the happy medium where it makes sense for people and technology.
Ultimately, people are going to benefit from this: accessing higher paying jobs, and being taken off of the roads at night since they will not have to do the commute. We have the opportunity to upscale and increase wages with the savings accessed if we automate the repetitive tasks that are required to keep our buildings running all around the world.
An Immediate Call To Arms
The technology is only getting better and more efficient. Today, we should draw a line in the sand and start to focus on what that means for our business.
Real estate leaders like myself and others need to give a voice to this, becoming more intentional and focused on the deployment of new technologies.
Industry organizations need to prioritize a study, committee, or focus group on this issue. Brain power needs to be applied to this particular discussion in a tangible and actionable way.
We have talked about it in numerous conferences and meetings, but we gloss over the topic. Industry organizations need to lead with intention and be deliberate to make this a priority for real estate’s future.
We owe it to our society. We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand.
As an industry, we must retreat from the idea that it’s going to displace people and take away jobs, or that the technology isn’t ready, or that it’s all too far-fetched and we’re being fanciful. We need to come to the realization that this is real.
Hines: Innovation 2.0
Hines has developed “Innovation 2.0” — exploring how we can action these technologies into the industry.
Innovation 2.0 studies the new technologies, continuing to learn and identify the best-in-breed tools that are truly applicable in real estate environments. Our group pilots and incubates the technologies to troubleshoot and test. Finally, Innovation 2.0 strategizes how we can put a plan in place to action what we’ve been advocating for.
Thank you so much for reading!
Creative problem solver, committed to higher performance buildings, businesses and organizations
2yInteresting to report that we use drones for exterior survey and robotic vacuums for nightly cleaning alongside a trained workforce that is enabled to be more productive, safe and efficient in their work. It's not a reduction, but an additive advantage.