A recent SHRM article by Yutaka Takagi addresses a critical workplace challenge for 2025 about finding the sweet spot between AI efficiency and meaningful human connection.
Takagi shares an insightful story about two office administrators whose seemingly inefficient paper exchange routine actually facilitated crucial interdepartmental communication. He connects this to today's workplace dilemma where AI threatens to eliminate not just tasks but the valuable human interactions that come with them.
The article poses a question that directly addresses the challenges with our contact center clients: "How do we find the right mix between digital and human connection?"
At TouchPoint One, we recognize that AI is just one of many forces challenging human connectivity in today's CX workplace. Remote work arrangements, globally distributed teams, and the increasing complexity of human tasks (as AI handles more routine work) all contribute to a working environment where meaningful connections are harder to establish and maintain.
These challenges make it more important than ever to be intentional about meeting essential human needs for connection, recognition, and belonging. Our Acuity Performance Management platform and A-GAME gamification solutions are specifically designed to address these fundamental needs in an environment where they might otherwise go unfulfilled.
How A-GAME Addresses Takagi's Tips for Finding Balance
In his article, Takagi offers three valuable tips for finding the right balance between digital and human connection. Here's how A-GAME directly addresses each of these recommendations:
1. Creating Spaces for Meaningful Interaction
A-GAME Leagues transforms the typically isolated contact center experience into an engaging themed environment where teams participate in tournaments, quests, adventures, and other exciting competitions. Our A-GAME Xtreme feature takes this further by enabling senior leaders to draft teams from frontline agents, fostering direct connections between management and staff – particularly valuable when teams are geographically dispersed.
2. Using Technology to Enable Meaningful Connection
Much like Mary and Susan's mail delivery routine in Takagi's article, our gamification approach recognizes that the game itself is primarily a mechanism for connection. While A-GAME does boost awareness of KPIs and align with performance goals, its true power lies in creating natural opportunities for collaboration, camaraderie, and shared insights. When humans increasingly focus on complex tasks in isolated environments, these structured moments of connection become essential for organizational knowledge sharing and community building.
3. Building a Culture of Connection
Organizations using A-GAME report dramatic improvements in both human metrics and business outcomes. One receivables management provider saw a 76% reduction in attrition while improving balanced scores by 28% – proving that human connection and performance excellence work together, even as workplace dynamics evolve.
As Takagi concludes, "Automation and AI tools can help us do more with the resources we have, but we can't forget the most important part of HR in the process: the human element."
I couldn't agree more. In a workplace transformed by AI, remote arrangements, and increasing task complexity, TouchPoint One's gamification solutions help organizations intentionally preserve and enhance the human connections that drive true engagement, satisfaction, and performance.
Want to learn more about maintaining essential human connections in today's evolving contact center environment? Schedule a call with me today!
