With the recent development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, “workplace automation” has transformed into smart automation and forced many workers to ask themselves the questions: Will robot take my job? The situation does indeed appear dire, and in line with what Steve Wozniak once prophesized: “fast machines will eventually get rid of slow humans”.
While there is no stopping the technological revolution that calls into question one’s job security, there is a viable option to go along with the technological flow, and leverage workplace automation to ensure you keep your marketing position.
What follows are 6 ways in which you as a marketing expert can make yourself indispensable in your workplace in light of automation:
Go Back to the Basics
When it comes to retrenchments to make room for AI, employers usually begin with those employees who are simply not up to scratch and haven’t got the basics covered. The basics of being a good employee include being a team player and being willing to go the extra mile. Doing work that matters, rather than just doing what is easy will also work in your favor.
Many employees simply pass the time doing tasks that require minimum effort, but as quoted in Forbes article, Amy Hoover, president of TalentZoo, “to become indispensable, dig deeper and really think about the work that matters to the company and its success. Tackle those projects first.” When you have the basics covered, your supervisor will know that you can add real value to the business and you take the organization’s vision seriously, an asset no AI technology can bring to the table.
Cultivate a Particular Skill or Relationship
“Being indispensable”, at its core, means being able to do what nobody else can do — not even really smart robots. If you can identify a need for your company that no other employee can fill, it is in your best interest to fill that position. That could mean anything from being the only marketer in your office who knows how to code, or the one who can speak Mandarin or even one who has an irreplaceable relationship with a big client.
Relationships with big clients are especially important to making yourself indispensable in light of workplace automation, as robots can rarely build trusting relationships with people. As cited in the Forbes article, Steven Robbins, an executive and personal coach and business podcaster says, “if you are the only person who is a trusted advisor to your company’s biggest customer, you will be essential to the company.”
Practice Empathy
Empathy is often recognized as an important skill or quality in an individual’s personal life but overlooked in the business world. Empathy is something that machines cannot obtain, and this is why it is so important to understand what empathy is and why it matters in the workplace.
Experts at Dataserv believe that empathy is fundamental to successful business practices, and recommend practicing empathy by listening more than speaking, sharing individual perspectives, being vulnerable, and not making assumptions without facts. Practicing empathy is especially important for marketers, as it allows you to truly understand the client’s needs and wants. Thus, practicing empathy could be one of the best ways to secure your marketing position, as it is a quality that is truly invaluable in the industry.
Stay Current with Technology
As previously mentioned, there is no stopping the innovative technology train from moving full steam ahead. Your best option is to buy a ticket and hop on. With the immersion and explosion of social media marketing, influencers, and internet culture; it is of vital importance that marketing professionals stay in-the-know.
Another major game-changer that simply cannot be ignored by any marketing professionals is big data. Villanova University maintains that it is of utmost importance to ensure that you have the skills to mine big data and to analyze it thoroughly. These are skills that can be obtained through data analytics training courses and would be invaluable to you for securing your marketing position.
Take Responsibility for Your Own Career Development
Experts at Unitemp are of your opinion that you must take responsibility for your own job security by putting in place measures to encourage your personal career development. These measures include learning new skills, finding a mentor to help you grow professionally, investing in Training and Development courses, and staying on top of industry trends. Taking initiative and responsibility is another way to distinguish yourself from robots with this very human quality.
Do What Machines Can’t
With the rapid improvement of AI technologies and machine learning, there seems to be less and less than machines cannot do. Understanding the human experience, however, is one thing machines will never fully be able to do because they are not human.
One of the key areas of marketing is the ability to identify verticals and niches that will drive your campaign. Verticals are categories of things that humans crave such as love, money, and time. Niches are specific products or parts of these categories that can be marketed such as dating websites, that target a human’s craving for love. Successful marketers need to be able to identify these verticals and niches by thoroughly understanding the human experience. Tapping into this human understanding as a marketer is pertinent to securing your marketing position against machines that might want to fill it.