When I moved to Dubai recently one of the things that struck me immediately was how convenient life is here. Sitting at home I can use my smartphone to order a bottle of milk from an all-day shop four floors away or a meal from any one of 900 restaurants in the city.

And that’s just the start of it. There are apps for taxis, apps that compare prices for thousands of products and reveal the best discounts at shopping malls, and apps you can use to have groceries, beauty products and movie tickets delivered to your doorstep.

Not to mention do your laundry, home cleaning, take care of pest control, deliver gas cylinders for the BBQ and map out self-guided walking tours to see the best of Dubai, if you decide to leave the comfort of your own home.

While I think I’m pretty tech-savvy, my 15-year old daughter still sees me as archaic because, like most kids, she leaves me far behind when it comes to getting the best out of smartphone technology.

Not that this worries me. I have all the gadgets, but find myself using them less and less out of concern that apps are taking over our lives, and the long-term consequences can be damaging for the family, and for business. Social interaction, one of the main building blocks of society, is being eroded in the race to develop and launch the latest version of the newest smart technology product, before someone else does.

When my now 27-year old son came home from school, the first thing he wanted to do was go out and play with his mates. Today, when my grandchildren have finished their homework, all they’re interested in is getting on their PlayStation or iPad for the online games.

Dependence on technology is already having a hugely negative effect on people’s ability to communicate, and can have serious long-term effects on the business place. Individuals from my generation built their careers on an ability to talk to anyone, to build a relationship with people with different interests from all backgrounds.

Now, young people who spend much of their time with their heads bowed in obedience to their smartphones consequently find it more and more difficult and uncomfortable to be in an environment where they have to meet and speak to people for the first time.

In an office environment, successful people are the ones who interact with their colleagues, because they’re interested in the people around them.

When I walk into an office, I can often tell straight away who is the real ‘gamer’. Normally, it’s the one in the corner working hard, very diligently, putting lots of effort in, but not engaging with anyone else.

This person isn’t interested in going out to dinner with colleagues. Not interested in getting together with them at the weekend. Not interested in asking if they had a good time last night.

Very soon, we will discover a shortage of young people turning up for interviews who have the necessary communications skills needed to build relationships and play an effective role in the business world.

Parents, schools and employers have a responsibility to make sure that skills which previous generations learnt in the playground are still in place in the future.

We all have a responsibility to protect the fading art of interpersonal communication. This is not something you learn from messaging friends you’ve mostly met online, rarely see, and hardly look in the face and talk to when you get together because you’re both on, in and all over the smartphone.

The new job interview has to involve a process requiring the candidate to solve a problem, present the solution to people they have never met before, and engage with them in a way which shows their personality.

In the workplace we need to limit the use of emails, and force people to phone each other and talk. In my office, internal emails are banned on Sundays.

You don’t build a relationship electronically. Emails are one dimensional and can be interpreted in many different ways. There’s no substitute for a verbal conversation. That’s the way you get to know someone, and build trust.

Today’s young professionals are under unfair pressure to impress their boss by being permanently reachable and on top of things, and it’s easy to be accessible 24/7.

But while technology has created a lot of new ‘relationships’ for people, it has probably damaged more relationships along the way. There has to be a time to switch off.

— The writer is Head of PA Consulting Group, Middle East and North Africa. All opinions expressed are his own.