An HR Leader’s Survival Guide to the Age of AI

05 November 2024 / Essay

The use of AI in the workplace is changing the role of HR leaders, who must adopt new skills and ways of working to seize the opportunities these technologies offer. This new relationship, between AI and senior human capital executives, revolves around the ability of leaders to manage technological innovations and ethical concerns, maintaining a balance between efficiency and integrity.

Generative AI automates repetitive tasks, improves operational efficiency, modernizes processes, and frees up employees for higher value-added tasks. By relieving employees of certain functions, it also transforms the role of leaders. It invites them to refocus on more strategic objectives and to mobilize their teams to best integrate AI into their work.

At the individual level, today’s leaders must evolve their skills: not only to master emerging technologies like AI but also to understand the regulatory and ethical landscape that surrounds them. Mastering AI relies on the ability to identify specific problems, put them in context, ask the right questions, and judge the quality of answers these technologies provide. However, just over two in five leaders have taken concrete actions to improve their skills in mastering AI (44%), its regulation, and its ethical use (41%).

At the collective level, the key to success lies in change management, particularly in the training and ongoing engagement of teams so that they acquire the skills necessary to adopt and implement AI. More than three-quarters of employees are already using AI in their work (75%), most using their own preferred technologies (78%). Employees have not waited for approval to use AI, meaning it is up to leaders to successfully channel employees’ enthusiasm.

Leaders with human qualities such as sensitivity, wisdom and compassion are well placed to implement optimal use of AI within their organizations. Many employees believe that generative AI could increase their insecurity at work (58%), and are worried about a potential increase in stress and burnout (60%). To address these concerns, leaders should take an inclusive approach when adopting AI and establish healthy collaboration between different teams. They should rely on AI power users to help others adopt new technologies, and clearly communicate their adoption strategies with employees.

To successfully carry out this undertaking, leaders need help and guidance to understand the operational and business impact of technological change on their business. Almost all leaders are anxious about this.

Another important dimension to consider is the inclusion of women in the AI strategy. Currently, only a third of organizations include women in decisions relating to AI strategy potentially compromising the future relevance of the technology. To address this, senior leaders should promote dedicated mentoring programs to foster a gender-diverse culture that brings women into AI-related decision-making processes.

Ultimately, leaders must take a proactive approach to navigate this new technological environment. It is imperative to maintain a balance between AI innovation and human skills, while ensuring an inclusive and equitable work environment. Mentoring, training, leadership skills, culture all require humans and AI can only go so far. The ability of leaders to effectively leverage AI while maintaining a human perspective will be the real differentiator for companies that want to remain competitive in an increasingly automated world.