Technological Change at the Co-operation Life Insurance Company: Addressing the Human Element

Aluin Gilchrist is a Vancouver-based Canadian government civil
litigation lawyer.

While working toward his M.A., Chadwick developed questionnaires, then did 20 structured interviews and sent a confidential “blacken-the-number,” machine-scored questionnaire-survey to Co-operators employees. This text is included in the book and is easily adaptable for any manager who needs to know whether staff have responded favorably to increasing use of all kinds of computers at the work place.

Of 205 questionnaires, 186 were completed. Just under 90 percent of the employees responding say they feel “somewhat to a great deal” comfortable about technological change in general, 99 percent feel “somewhat to a great deal” willing to retrain or upgrade their skills. Over 82 percent felt that new technologies contributed “somewhat to a great deal” toward improved work performance for them, although less than 20 percent report using them more than 80 percent of the time on the job.

Chadwick attributes this to an underlying management attitude of genuine concern for employee welfare. Where change will soon eliminate positions, temporary employees are hired instead of full-time staff.

This book is interesting. It will be a good resource, not only for students of management appraisal techniques, but also for high school career centers.