'There's going to come a time when productivity and culture begin to move in separate directions,' AI expert
Despite the fanfare, cracks in AI workplace implementation are emerging, along with low employee trust in the technology.
A recent report released by IT solutions and services company CDW, for example, found that IT decision makers in Canadian companies are not very confident in their organization’s ability to implement AI tools into workflows.
Another survey by Canadian tech alliance TECHNATION reported that 43 percent of Canadian employees have little to no knowledge of AI.
That same report, which surveyed 2,000 Canadian workers, found that 60 percent of employers felt that AI could assist their employees with repetitive tasks so they could focus on work “that matters.”
But what if employers and employees have different ideas about what that work is, and how best to use these tools?
AI tool implementation is a talent challenge as much as a tech challenge, which is why human resources has a crucial role to play in guiding organizations into the “AI revolution”, say experts.
From replacement to augmentation
A first hurdle for employers to clear is changing the narrative around new technology, and especially AI, from one based on fear to collaboration, said Brett Hotas, executive director, future workforce development strategy at TECHNATION.
“HR can help its current staff upskill and prepare for the future, and they can help individuals position themselves to leverage AI technologies in their current roles,” he said.
“Instead of replacing people's jobs entirely, people are going to be faced with opportunities where they can actually end up working more efficiently and more effectively as new tools and resources are introduced.”
In its report, CDW identified several challenges for organizations implementing AI tools, including training for employees and teams that have varying degrees of experience and knowledge of AI, requiring tailored solutions to the needs of specific individuals or teams.
A large part of this training process will be teaching employees to be critical thinkers; learning the technology itself requires adaptability and problem-solving skills, and a workforce that is thinking more outside of the box is a win-win for an organization’s business case, Hotas said.
“This really opens up another opportunity for promoting a culture of lifelong learning, because you're constantly engaging and encouraging curiosity, scepticism; you're basically coaching your staff to challenge the status quo a little bit more, and the willingness to question assumptions and explore new areas.
“If this AI revolution and these tools in the workplace weren’t already incentive enough to develop critical thinking skills for your workforce, there's this whole other host of reasons why you should already be doing it.”
HR to keep human element in AI training
Due to the speed at which AI tools are developing, empowering a workforce to embrace rather than reject the technology must go beyond basic training strategies, explains Karla Congson, CEO and founder of Agentiiv, a Toronto AI tech start-up.
“A lot of organizations, like with many technology implementations, look tech first, whereas with generative AI, I believe it's equally a technology and a talent challenge, and the reason for that is that the tech is moving so darn quickly, and there's a lot of unbelievable fear of displacement and automation, job loss and all of that,” she said.
Employees aren’t going to want to try something that they’re scared of, Congson said, which is where HR can step in to play a pivotal role in the process by ensuring the human element of AI implementation is centred.
“The speed at which it's going to change organizations is going to take a lot of people by surprise,” she said. “So how are you planning organizational change, adoption, change management, technology implementation, when you don't have 10 years for this?”
People do not generally adapt well to rapid change, and employees might feel that the tools automating tasks are putting their own jobs at risk, Congson said.
“So that very human component of change management, training, reskilling, communication, organizational modelling, all need to be part and parcel to generative AI implementation.”
Time to prepare for AI implementation is now
The CDW survey reported that 87 percent of Canadian employees have concerns about job loss due to AI automation, and less than one in five think AI will create more jobs than it replaces.
This presents a unique challenge for HR, said Congson, explaining for an employer that is fully integrating AI, workplace culture is going to become more important than it ever has, which means HR leaders have an opportunity to take active roles in the strategy of their organizations.
“Key performance indicators, ROI, all of that comes down to profitability and productivity – how much juice can you squeeze out of every person in every activity? There's going to come a time when productivity and culture begin to move in separate directions,” she said.
“You can squeeze productivity to a certain amount, you can downsize, you can get 10x out of each person … at some point, that equation is going to impact culture.”
Employees who watch their organization focus on using AI technology for increased productivity, with the resultant job cuts, will make them afraid that their jobs will inevitably be next, impacting their own contribution, commitment and cultural imprint on the company, Congson said.
“CHROs have such an important role, to safeguard culture and the importance of culture in a technology-driven future, where productivity increases are just going to 10-X, but that will have a negative impact on culture.”
