LASU Journal of Employment Relations and Human Resource Management
(LJERHRM)
ISSN: 2705-3482
Volume 6, No. 1, 2026
Pages 110-119
DOI: 10.36108/ljerhrm/6202.60.0180
Human-Centric Automation in Banking: A Conceptual Review of Employee Experience in Digital Work Environments
Adewale Omotayo OSIBANJO1*, & Richard Ichebadu ONUMAJURU2
1,2,Department of Business Management, Covenant University, Nigeria
Abstract
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s cashless policy and fintech disruption have accelerated automation in Deposit Money Banks, reshaping digital work environments and employee experience. Yet extant literature treats automation as monolithic and privileges customer outcomes over employee wellbeing. This conceptual review advances a human-centric framework for understanding how specific dimensions of automated systems affect employee experience in Nigerian banking. Drawing on Job Demands-Resources Theory and Sociotechnical Systems Theory, the paper disaggregates automated systems into technological infrastructure, process automation, process efficiency, and task completion rate. Employee experience is conceptualised across three dimensions: Employee Engagement, Mental Well-being, and Employee Retention. Ten propositions articulate a dual-path model in which infrastructure and efficiency function as job resources enhancing engagement and well-being, while automation extent and task completion rates function as job demands increasing technostress and turnover intention. The framework is contextualised for Tier-2 Deposit Money Banks in Lagos State, where infrastructure instability, youth unemployment, and sociotechnical misfit amplify negative effects. Implications for Central Bank of Nigeria policy, bank management, and future empirical research are discussed. Sustainable digital transformation in African banking requires joint optimisation of technical and social systems, positioning employee experience as strategic to automation success.
Keywords: Human-Centric Automation; Employee Engagement; Technostress; Job Demands- Resources Theory