NOVEMBER 2020HR TECH OUTLOOK8In MyOpinionIN MY OPINIONFostering a Connected Workforce Through Technological ToolsJerrold Williams, Chief Human Resources Officer, Hostess Brands, Inc.ByLittle excites me like innovative technology ­ at least in my personal life. When I learn about new technology ­ from the latest smartphone to a new generation of TVs ­ I immediately consider how I can benefit from and enjoy using it. Conversely, whenever I hear about new technology at work, I feel inconvenienced that I must change my habits or learn a new method. I believe that the reason for this resistance is that, in the workplace, leaders generally don't take the time to promote and educate employees about the new tools we're using and why.Technology is an enabler within an organization that serves one main purpose: to foster a positive relationship among leaders and with team members (individual employees). Technology allows us to communicate data and information in ways that we simply could not do in the past. In addition, technology empowers an organization to build capabilities that bring out collaboration and capabilities to drive cutting-edge creativity and actionable insights.Overall, an investment in technology is a direct expression of a company's culture. Technology reinforces the message that you want your employees to be successful. When an organization invests in information and tools that team members need to make their jobs and lives easier, they will understand how important their success is to the entire organization. At Hostess, we are concentrating on how we can leverage technology to connect our team members in ways that are meaningful to them. With employees that span four bakeries, offices in multiple cities and a geographically dispersed sales force, we want and need everyone to remain connected.We start with asking ourselves four key questions whenever we are implementing new technology and/or communicating with our teams: 1. "What do they need to know?" 2. "Why do they need to know it?" (Does it matter to them?) 3. "When do they need to know it?" 4. "Will they even receive it or pay attention to it when we say it or send it to them?"It is extremely important that each of our team members understand what it is they individually need to know. Culturally we say everyone should know, "What's my part?", which leads to understanding what each team member needs to know what the technology is, what it is going to deliver, and how it links to the overall performance of our Company.The "Why?" is the easiest part to miss. Jerrold Williams
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