3 Ways To Prioritise Human Needs In The Digital Business World
29 October 2025
3 Ways To Prioritise Human Needs In The Digital Business World
There probably isn’t a single business that doesn’t have some kind of digital capability. Even the smallest local traders often have a basic website, a payment page, or a social profile. This digital transformation has brought huge productivity gains, but it has also made the working world feel, at times, hostile to the humans who run it. Nothing happens without the very real, flesh-and-blood teams behind the software, yet the human touch is rapidly dwindling.
As a business owner or manager you can choose a different route: one that places people alongside platforms, not beneath them. Below are three practical, immediate ways to do that while keeping customers and the bottom line front of mind.
1 Use Tech That Supports Them
Technology should be an enabler, not an extra job. Too many investments prioritise automation and speed while ignoring the human costs of using those systems: cognitive load, frustration, duplicated work, slow customer responses or poor wellbeing.
Start with empathy-led selection:
- Map the work the team actually does, not the idealised version you imagine. Observe tasks, shadow users for an hour, and document the pain points they mention repeatedly.
- Prioritise systems with good user experience, clear onboarding, and responsive vendor support.
- Choose technology that reduces cognitive load by automating low-value work while preserving control for humans on decisions that need judgement.
Balance automation and human oversight
Automating routine tasks—data entry, reminders, simple reporting—frees employees for meaningful work. However, automation that hides its logic or makes irreversible decisions will create distrust and extra correction work. Select tools that offer transparent rules, easy overrides, and clear audit trails.
Invest in training and ongoing support
New tech requires investment in people, not only licences. Short, role-focused training sessions and accessible help resources reduce resistance and speed adoption. Create a simple internal knowledge base or a “cheat sheet” for common problems and keep it updated. Well-trained teams use tools more creatively and deliver better outcomes for customers.
Recommended considerations when evaluating tech:
- Accessibility and inclusion features; keyboard navigation, readable fonts, and screen-reader compatibility.
- Integration with existing systems to avoid manual double-handling of data.
- Vendor reliability, data security standards, and the ability to export data if you switch providers.
2 Create a Comfortable Workspace
Digital work still happens in human bodies. Long hours on laptops, video calls and hurried sit-stand transitions add up. When we prioritise physical comfort and environmental design, digital tools are easier to use, mistakes fall and wellbeing improves. Your overall office design should focus on how your employees need to work.
Design for people and tasks
Office layout should support how people actually work. Quiet zones for concentrated tasks, small collaboration spaces for pair work, and flexible desks for hot-desking users all make a difference. Consider simple ergonomic investments that repay themselves in productivity and reduced sickness absence. Essential ergonomic and environmental measures:
- Adjustable desks and chairs with lumbar support; position monitors to avoid neck strain.
- Lighting that reduces glare on screens and improves alertness; plants and good ventilation to boost comfort.
- Noise-mitigating options such as soft-furnishings, acoustic panels, or booking systems for phone booths.
Promote healthy digital habits
Encourage regular breaks away from screens, do short, screen-free meetings where appropriate, and normalise camera-off periods in longer video calls. Share guidance on eye health, posture and micro-breaks; these are low-cost steps with measurable benefits.
Support hybrid and remote workers
Digitisation has expanded where work happens. Make sure remote and hybrid colleagues have a reasonable equipment allowance, standards for home workstations and clear expectations about availability. A simple checklist and an annual remote-work stipend reduce inequality between office and home workers.
3 Always Have a Review
Technology and workplaces aren’t “set and forget.” Regular review cycles embed learning, reduce hidden costs and keep systems aligned with human needs. Make feedback a built-in part of your operational rhythm.
Create short feedback loops
Use a combination of quick pulse surveys and targeted interviews. Short anonymous surveys after a system rollout capture initial reactions; follow-up focus groups identify persistent blockers and practical fixes. A one-month, three-month and six-month check-in cadence works well for most system changes.
Ask the right questions
- What is easier now and what is harder?
- Which parts of the system cause repeated errors or workarounds?
- What would help people complete their jobs faster or with less stress?
Make review outcomes visible
Feedback is only useful if it leads to action. Track requests, publish decisions and communicate roadmaps so staff see improvements and understand trade-offs. Where change isn’t possible, explain why and describe compensating actions.
Handle mistakes as improvement opportunities
When new systems don’t deliver expected gains, treat the result as learning, not blame. Capture the costs of minor failures early and use them to tweak configuration, training and process design. This reduces the chance of large, expensive reversals later.
Practical checklist to get started this month
- Hold a two-hour shadowing session with one team to map where tech helps and where it hinders.
- Commit a modest equipment budget for ergonomic improvements for the team with the highest screen time.
- Run an anonymous two-question pulse survey one month after any new system rollout and publish a short action plan within two weeks.
Conclusion
Prioritising human needs in a digital business isn’t about resisting technology. It’s about choosing, configuring and running technology with people at the centre. When tech supports day-to-day work, offices are comfortable and reviews are routine, employees can do their jobs better, customers get a more consistent experience and the business benefits from lower churn and higher productivity.
Put simply: invest in tools people can use well, design environments that let bodies and minds perform, and treat reviews as a normal part of your operational rhythm. Those three moves create a digital workplace that suits the humans inside it rather than the other way around.
Further reading
- Acas — Home and hybrid working: How to structure a policy and supporting guidance: https://www.acas.org.uk/policies-for-home-and-hybrid-working/how-to-structure-a-policy
- Acas — Managing employees who work from home (expenses, equipment and performance): https://www.acas.org.uk/managing-staff-who-work-from-home
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE) — Display screen equipment (DSE) workstation checklist: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ck1.htm
- HSE — Working safely with display screen equipment (overview and assessment guidance): https://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/dse/assessment.htm
- NHS Employers — Health and wellbeing guidance and NHS Health and Wellbeing Framework: https://www.nhsemployers.org/health-and-wellbeing
- GOV.UK — Flexible working: Overview for employers and employees: https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working
- Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) — Flexible working and people management guidance: https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/fundamentals/emp-law/flexible-working/factsheet
Header image by Moondance from Pixabay
Decision Making Resources
For more decision making resources look at our great-value guides. These include some excellent tools to help your personal development plan. The best-value approach is to buy our Decision Making Bundle, available from the store.
These are the 6 key PDF guides we recommend to help you make better decisions. We’ve bundled them together to help you develop your decision making skills – at half the normal price! Each guide is great value, packed with practical advice, tips and tools on how to make better decisions.
Read the guides in this order and use the tools in each. Then turn problems into opportunities and decide … to be a better manager! Together the bundle contains: 6 pdf guides, 178 pages, 30 tools, for half price!
Extreme Thinking – Unlocking Creativity
Blog Content: Most blog pages on this site are from sponsored or guest contributors. Although we may receive payment for these, all posts are vetted to ensure they meet our editorial standards and offer value for our readers.
>> Return to the Leadership Knowledge Hub
