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Why teams resist automation (and how leaders can fix it)
Let’s be honest: Automation projects often fail for a number of businesses.
In fact, McKinsey reports 70% of transformations fail. For digital projects, Gartner puts it at 80%. Not because the technology doesn’t work, but because you haven’t prepared for the human side of change.
Not always a fail, obviously. But not meaningful implementation either.
The pattern is predictable: leadership gets excited about a new tool, consultants have no reason to use it, everyone goes back to doing things exactly how they’ve always done them.
Here’s what nobody tells you about automation adoption: the technology is (kinda) the easy part. Automation is pretty simple. I could teach you the basics in half a day.
The hard part? Leading humans through change.
So, how do you:
- Lead your team through adoption?
- Overcome automation resistance?
- Make sure the change sticks?
Well, let’s start with the uncomfortable part: If your team is resistant to automation, you’re not set up for success.
The Identity Crisis Nobody Talks About
Your recruiters have built their identity around being busy.
“Busywork” is the time-consuming activity that feels productive but has low impact. Whether it’s manual data entry, hours of sending emails, or reviewing hundreds of CVs — you’re about to take that work away. No wonder they’re resistant.
You’re challenging how your team measures their worth. Who are they if they’re not the person who ‘does everything manually, because that’s the personal touch?’
Identify the Root Cause and Communicate Clear Benefits
Before you can address resistance, you need to understand it.
What’s really driving your team’s hesitation?
- Fear of job loss?
- Lack of technical skills?
- Comfort with current processes?
It’s your choice to address this identity shift, to name it.
Don’t shy away from this conversation — actively talk about it with your team.
But understanding the fear or reservations isn’t enough. You need to get clear on the benefits. Starting with yourself.
Why are you investing in automation as a leader? Get specific. Is it to scale the business? Reduce errors? Free up budget for growth? If you’re not clear on this, your team won’t be either. And if automation isn’t written into your operational strategy with real commitment behind it, nothing will change.
Then, what’s in it for your consultants? Your team needs to know what automation means for their daily work:
- More placements (because you’re actually talking to warm candidates)
- Improved candidate experience (consistent touchpoints, no one falls through cracks)
- More time for high-value conversations
- More business development leads surfaced
- [Insert your own here.]
Get specific with your examples:
“Hey team, we haven’t spoken to 60% of our active candidates. With automation, we can get that time back or let automation initiate those conversations. Let’s experiment.”
“This number of placed candidates didn’t get their first-month check-in last quarter. Automation can help when we forget.”
It’s not leadership vs consultants. It’s about everyone understanding the real value and moving forward together.
Your Team Is Reading Your Vibe
Your team’s resistance to automation often has little to do with the technology itself. It has everything to do with whether they trust your emotional state during uncertainty.
When you talk about automation and process improvement (if you haven’t discussed it yet, start now!), they’re not just listening to your words. They’re getting a vibe. They’re really asking: “Does my leader believe this will work?”
The most successful automation rollouts are led by leaders who’ve genuinely resolved their own anxiety about the unknown. This doesn’t mean having all the answers. Pretending you do will make things worse.
What your team needs to see:
- Confident unknowing — comfort with learning alongside them
- Genuine curiosity — real excitement about discovering possibilities
- Authentic uncertainty — “I don’t know exactly how this will work, but I’m excited to figure it out with you”
Your team’s adoption speed has a lot to do with your internal emotional state. Not just your change management tactics. Before convincing your team, convince yourself. What are you anxious about? What gets you excited?
Involve Your Team in Implementation
Want buy-in? Let your team build it with you.
Start with finding the right people and asking the right questions:
- Find advocates (not just tech enthusiasts, find the problem-solvers)
- Get input on pain points from consultants and support staff
- Let them help design automation
How to make it happen:
- Create a user group with internal champions
- Ask consultants, “What’s annoying you right now?”
- Go through your own hiring process (actually pretend to be a candidate)
- Show your team the platform (literally share screen so they can see the automation)
Everything starts with the user group. They test automation and advocate for it with your wider team.
Provide Ongoing Training and Support
Training isn’t a two-day workshop followed by “good luck.” It’s an ongoing commitment to your team’s success.
Start with the foundations:
- Don’t know what you don’t know? Start there
- Recruiters aren’t using the database properly? Start there
- You have bad data? Start there
Fix the basics before adding automation on top of chaos.
What actually works:
- Celebrate small wins publicly
- Hands-on sessions where people can experiment
- Use product updates as training opportunities
- Regular check-ins with safe spaces for “stupid” questions
- Leverage your account manager (they want you to succeed)
- Invest in external consultants who can say what your team won’t hear from you
Remember: automation amplifies what’s already there. Bad processes become automated bad processes. Good foundations become scalable success.
The goal isn’t perfection from day one. It’s progress, consistently supported, until the new way becomes the normal way. Start small, build from there.
Your Next Move
The majority of automation projects fail due to people issues, not technology. But yours doesn’t have to. This requires ownership from the top.
Start here:
- Get clear on your own why: What genuinely excites you about automation? If you’re not convinced, your team won’t be either.
- Have the real conversation: Address the elephant in the room. Yes, automation will change aspects of how they work. No, it won’t replace them (unless they refuse to adapt).
- Start small: Pick one painful, annoying process everyone hates. Automate that. Celebrate. Repeat.
- Remember: Change is a process, not an event. Expect mistakes. Resistance is normal. Keep moving forward with curiosity.
Look, leading through automation adoption is scary. You’re asking people to change how they’ve worked for years. You’re challenging their professional identity. And yes, some will resist no matter what you do. But most of your team? They’re just waiting for someone to show them it’s going to be okay. To prove that automation makes their work more meaningful, not less.
Be that leader. Start small. Stay curious. And remember every agency that’s successfully automated started exactly where you are now. The only difference? They took the first step.
Hamish Annan is a recruitment and marketing automation consultant who helps recruitment teams through the challenges of adopting automation. Follow him on LinkedIn or get in touch at hamishannanconsulting.com.
