Change can be scary for many people. Something new means a disruption in their lives. They fear they will have to learn something — and learning is never really easy — or that they won't understand it and they'll fall behind. Even worse, they think the new tech will replace them. So how do you get your employees to use new technology? 

Always know that people will come up with a myriad of excuses for not adopting anything new, like saying they've already tried something similar and it didn't work, or it is too expensive, or they already have a product like that.

But what they'll rarely tell you is that they are afraid. Afraid they won't look smart or that they'll become redundant or end up wasting money. 

No amount of trying to sell them on the new tech will work — in fact, it may cause them to dig in further and not listen to all the benefits and innovations it will bring.

We Feel Your Pain
We deal with this all the time at Healthy Roster. We reach out to industrial companies, letting them know they can use our service to not only prevent injuries but remotely triage those with sprains and pains to filter out the ones who don't need to see a doctor. And create a costly claim.

We let them know that for every $1 they spend on us saves them $3 to $7 and have proof but we're new and maybe scary to some. They let us know they already have a nurse hotline even though most callers are referred to their doctor, creating that expensive claim. They tell us they already pay Workers' Comp insurance but don't realize their premiums go up and up with every new preventable claim. And one actually admitted that he was afraid we would replace him. 

So How Do You Convince Employees to Adopt New Tech?
Whenever a new tech product comes out, there are always early adopters. These are the people who want the latest and greatest and are willing to try something new. Remember the lines of people camping outside the Apple stores for the iPhones? 

Start with your early adopters so that they can see the benefits of the new innovation. If you force it on people, they might end up using it but they'll be the first to find fault, to criticize, and eventually harm your morale. When the early adopters don't get replaced, don't get injured, don't find fault, and actually have positive results... one very important thing will happen: 

Your culture will shift. 

When they see the lives or work of others being enhanced, only then will they see the truth. And have that A-ha! moment of realization that they have been resisting the wrong thing. 

And when the culture shifts, the fear of the tech will be replaced by the fear of missing out and of not "keeping up" with the others who are moving forward while they stand still. 

How We Implement Change
At Healthy Roster, we almost always start with small pilot programs instead of trying to go company-wide with our Virtual Injury Prevention service. 

And nearly every one of the industrial employees who accesses our telehealth platform — which includes our mobile app, onsite kiosk and hotline — tells us: 

• "We were hesitant at first, but now we think it's great!" 
• "The program is super-easy to use!"
• "It's just a wonderful thing that you guys are doing this for us."
• "I could barely walk before and I don't have that anymore."
• "Every plant should have this. It's just amazing."

We share these messages with the other locations and shifts within the company after the pilot program. We let them know that it works, that it has a positive impact, and that it's easy to use and... people love it! 

So, start small with your new technology. Get positive feedback. Implement slowly and share the results. 

Your employees will be less resistant to change after their worries have been alleviated. Or shifted.  

Watch this video to see how we captured honest reviews of employees of our new tech: