Acting Instead of Reacting—Ensuring Employee Retention during Successful Introduction of i4.0

Abstract

The increasing implementation of digital technologies has various positive impacts on companies. However, many companies often rush into such an implementation of technological trends without sufficient preparation and pay insufficient attention to the human factors involved in digitization. This phenomenon can be exacerbated when these technologies become highly dependent, as during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to better understand challenges and to propose solutions for a successful implementation of digitized technology. A literature review is combined with survey results and specific consulting strategies. Data from the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany were collected by means of an online survey, with a representative sample of the German population. However, we did not reveal any correlation between home office and suffering, mental health, and physical health (indicators of digitization usage to cope with COVID-19 pandemic), but rather that younger workers are more prone to using digitized technology. Based on previous findings that older individuals tend to have negative attitudes toward digital transformation, appropriate countermeasures are needed to help them become more tech-savvy. Accordingly, a software tool is proposed. The tool can help the management team to manage digitization efficiently. Employee well-being can be increased as companies are made aware of necessary measures such as training for individuals and groups at an early stage.

Retaining Employees with Adoption of Industry 4.0 Technologies in the Automotive Sector– Mediation of Training 4.0 & Employee Competency

“…Moreover, the results were obtained from a specific country or industry, making it challenging to extrapolate them to other countries or contexts. Therefore, this study aims to empirically test the direct relationship between industry 4.0 technology adoption and employee retention (Eickemeyer et al, 2021). Previous research has been conducted in other regions, while this study examines the effect of adopting i4.0 technologies on employee retention in Pakistan.…”

“…This study will be significant in terms of its findings. In a study conducted by Eickemeyer et al (2021), the authors explained how relevant training and management support while implementing a new technology aids in employee retention. Previously, technological adoption has been found to affect employability and employee empowerment significantly but not employee retention (Sharma et al, 2022).…”

“…However, this adoption not only precisely improvises productivity but also impacts the internal stakeholders of organizations. For example, the threat of unemployment and job insecurity cultivates among employees (Eickemeyer et al, 2021;Ejsmont, 2021). On the other hand, the training and learning required skills for adoption can reduce the threats mentioned above (Ejsmont, 2021).…”

Systems and Industries in Response to COVID-19 Crisis: Closing Remarks

“…The use of digital technologies has beneficial effects on businesses during the COVID-19 crisis, but several businesses raced into such digital transformation without adequate planning and giving sufficient attention to personnel matters. Thus, the focus of one of the research articles [7] published via this special issue was to offer improvements for a better digitization shift. As explained by the article, personnel well-being can be improved if industries are informed of essential steps such as coaching at a beginning period.…”

The Employee Sustainability Strategy in Automation

“…Employee feeling of the insecurity of losing job in automation caused job insecurity. Many employees felt worry when the organization disqualify them because of these technological transformation (Eickemeyer et al, 2021).…”