Allowing for greater touch in computer-mediated communication can extend to people management instruments to attract better talent into business and to dissolve the current high-tech vs. high-touch paradox.
Jessica, 23, shop attendant, got a $99 DNA kit for her birthday. She spat into the test tube and sent it for analysis to find out who her mother was. There is a lot of technology and a little touch there, but it shows the desire for “touch” as in the remembrances of touch by Seamus Heaney in Clearances V on folding blankets with his mother:
“So we'd stretch and fold and end up hand to hand For a split second as if nothing had happened”
Yet, in advanced economies, touching seems to be turning something of the past. People are becoming isolated, so much so that in the first lines of the 2004 film Crash, Graham says:
“In L.A., nobody touches you... I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.”
Graham’s lines may seem like an exaggeration, but if so, why would the American acting giant Uta Hagen argue that America has become desensitized, illustrating her point with the mushrooming of encounters where Americans get together to learn to touch themselves again?
Some societies ‘touch’ more than others. Indians touch the feet of their elders out of respect but avoid touching others in public. On the other hand, in Brazil, allegations of sexual harassment at work are hard to follow through on account of so much kissing and hugging at work, which has set the pace of modern management.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How Digital Transformation Can Power The Great Reset
Technology has the potential to serve as the key enabler of change between digitalising administrative tasks and fostering human connections
The Crypto Meltdown Of 2022
FTX implosion: A setback, but not the end for the crypto market
Govern Pre-IPO Unicorns to Create Value; Not Valuation
Billion-dollar startups always make the headlines. But is there true value behind those eye-catching valuations? How can proper governance be implemented for these much-hyped companies?
On change and change management
The best way to end the year, especially such a disrupted one as 2022, is by laying the groundwork for the year to come. Michelle Yong, Head of Resourcing at Shell, offers some insights on change management to bring us forward into 2023
The Great Reconnection: A paradigmatic moment for employers and employees
This year has not been a good one for employee retention. The Great Resignation, originally thought to be a US phenomenon, has emerged in Asia now. But is there a way to turn it into the Great Reconnection?
Lessons Managing in leadership: a global hybrid team
What takeaways can we draw from the pandemic? Fatima Koning, Chief Commercial Officer at IWG, shares what the last five years have taught her about managing a global sales team across 120 markets in the hybrid model
Eight HR trends that we saw throughout 2022
As companies manage their workforces in a dynamic era, HR departments have continually adapted and adjusted, and never more than this year as digital acceleration and workplace evolutions came together
One way to turn the tide of employee retention
There's a surprising link between skill development opportunities and job satisfaction. Here are some ways of boosting skilling and thereby talent retention
A key focus for L&D going into 2023 should be business alignment
Venkat Subramaniam of Degreed believes that learning is core to business success and organisations need to invest in the right processes and technologies to adapt to continuous change
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP CAN BE GAME GHANGER FOR INCLUSIVE FUTURE OF WORK
BREAKING FREE FROM THE STEREOTYPES IN THE INSURANCE SECTOR, PAMELA THOMSON-HALL SHARES HER JOURNEY OF BEING A CHAMPION FOR WOMEN AND BRINGING ABOUT A CHANGE IN A MALE-DOMINATED INDUSTRY
