The people person

Priming your workplace for the ‘Feeling Economy’.

- ROLAND TRUST AND MING-HUI HUANG

For companies and their employees, the tide has turned. Proficiency in solving problems and analysing data are no longer the keys to success. Why? Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are moving tasks that involve analysing data and making calculations from humans to machines. Think of this as an evolution from a ‘Thinking Economy’ to a ‘Feeling Economy’. And, management will have to change.

This means you—managers and employees—had better get in touch with your emotions. The ability to listen, communicate, and empathise is increasingly valuable in the workplace.

The Global Business Policy Council recently stated, “[E]xecutives are putting renewed emphasis on the [human] dimension of their operations. In addition to preferring face-to-face interactions for recruitment and training, executives tell us they need a workforce skilled in management, innovation and creativity— skills that no robot can (yet) provide.”

Consider how this trend is affecting the financial industry. Take the job of a financial analyst, for example. This role seems pretty quantitative and thinking-oriented. But our research reveals it has become much more feeling-oriented in the last 10 years. People are using more AI-powered tools that can do a lot more of their analytical work for them, and what is left in their job is to hold people’s hands and reassure them about things like stock market dips.