In a world racing to automate, optimize, and accelerate workflow, friction has become a four-letter word. Continued advancements in artificial intelligence and process automation promise speed, consistency, and smoother service delivery experiences by removing manual touches. However, not all friction is negative. In the world of Global Mobility, where stress, uncertainty, and human needs converge, “good friction,” or relational/human-to-human friction, can be a strategic asset.
Good friction can often amplify customer experiences and build more durable bonds of trust. As a relocation management company, Bristol is tasked with what may appear to be conflicting imperatives: becoming more efficient and speedy while also enhancing the relational experiences we establish with our corporate clients and their relocating employees. Remove friction where needed … retain friction in smart, impactful ways.
Therefore, we are intentionally attacking processes and systems to identify all points of friction in our quest to remove bottlenecks and error-prone manual steps, while also structuring designed interactions to enable personalized service support, surface concerns, and prevent downstream problems that automation alone can miss.
Good friction matters in some very important ways, such as:
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Emotional Complexity: Relocating is often emotional and disruptive. A timely call or face-to-face check-in can deliver empathy and calm a transferee and/or partner, prevent escalation, clarify confusion points, and strengthen trust.
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Information Gaps and Nuance: Systems capture and report data, and although we are all cozying up to predictive data analytics features, humans interpret context and nuance.
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Risk Mitigation: Smartly designed manual validation or phone confirmation can catch costly errors and misperceptions before they mature.
- Relationship Building: Our corporate clients and their relocating employees value empathy, clarity, availability, and responsiveness. Our task at Bristol is to harness and harmonize the extensive value associated with process automation with intentional human engagement.
By intentionally inserting relational friction where it matters most, we can deliver faster and, most importantly, more human-centric relocation experiences.
As a company that for nearly three decades has nurtured a highly relational, human-to-human culture, I am extremely excited to collaborate with Bristol associates, clients, and supplier-partners to maximize the seemingly endless ways to leverage AI and process automation, doing so in formats that will distinctly enhance the many points of good friction!
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