AI has the potential to improve productivity by enabling employees to focus on work which adds more value, and can support better decision making, but only if it’s implemented thoughtfully – that is one of the conclusions of new research on the impact of AI by the National Forum for Health and Wellbeing at Work.
How AI is introduced is fundamental to success.
In the article below, Helen Matthews, independent CPO and former CPO of Ogilvy and Weber Shandwick, who has recently completed a qualification in Gen AI at the University of Cambridge, shares her eight tips on how to do this well.
And if you want to do a deeper dive into this subject, we are running a FREE webinar on AI in the workplace on 17th March at 9am, find out more and register here
1. Inform yourself about AI
I urge anyone in an HR role, please get ahead of AI because this is the biggest behaviour change since the industrial revolution.
CPOs are in a role which is about creating the right environment for people to be at their best, so need to understand where the risks are, and how to cocreate with colleagues.
Doing a qualification in AI has definitely been worth it for me. But you don’t need to do this, you can find lots of free course now too.
Stay curious and focus on your ethics. Ethics, I predict, are going to be everything and we need to be thinking in terms of guardrails and governance.
2. Meet people where they are
One of the biggest challenges with AI at work currently is the adoption gap; there are those embracing it, and many that aren’t. And we can feel, and see, the anxiety around AI in the data. People are worried about their jobs.
There’s a disconnect organisationally. CEOs are investing heavily in AI and then asking: why aren’t people using it? But at the same time, we have employees thinking ‘if this is going to replace my role, why on earth am I going to lean into this?’
Everyone needs to go on a journey with AI so they can work out where AI really adds value for them. In the creative sector, that I work in, that means AI agents can be created to free you up to do your best creative work and thinking.
My advice is to meet people where they are, which might involve a bit of a reset. Education needs to be right at the heart of this. So learning and development is hugely important.
The good news is that we can see, from the data, that people are doing the training and then starting to experiment more.
We need to create that supportive space for employees to feel safe to experiment.
3. Be clear about how it should be used
Employers need to know the answers to these questions from employees: how do we use AI safely? What are the ‘rules’ of engagement? What shouldn’t be used?
For instance, for the last question, the answer for us would be we don’t use client data outside of a locked-down, experimentation space.
Rules and guardrails give employees the psychological safety they need to (hopefully) start to be more playful at work with AI.
At the same time, if a policy is too rigorous it can paralyse people.
If you are stuck with where to start, then check out your trade body, they will have guidelines on AI. Like the CIPD, for example. And make sure you are GDPR compliant.
4. Focus on psychological safety first
I’ve already talked about guardrails, rules and compliance, and how they can start to create psychological safety.
Alongside this, foundational training is important, as is communicating the company’s vision clearly and employees’ part in that.
5. Show employees mistakes are OK
People must feel they can make mistakes.
Employees need the reassurance that if they experiment, mistakes will be accepted.
Most large companies have ‘sandboxes’ which are secure and controlled environments where organisations can experiment with AI. If you experiment in this controlled way, it sets employees up for success.
Anxiety builds if there’s a fear of making mistakes.
6. Give employees space to experiment
There’s not only a need for acceptance of mistakes, people need to be given time and space to experiment too. If you are in an environment where everyone is billable, you need to give them ring-fenced time in their working day.
7. Nurture your early adopters
Early adopters could be your secret sauce. Find them.
Figure out how to go forward with them, by co-designing with them. Create intentional communities of your early influencers.
8. Don’t forget the importance of the human touch
One of my concerns is that AI ‘hallucinates’, which means it sometimes gives you false information. You still need to have a human checking the information to catch these hallucinations.
It also gives information that might be better delivered by a human. For example, in the UK, grievances are up. That’s because, if people are unhappy at work, they’re explaining their situation to AI and it’s telling them to do something that isn’t necessarily incorrect, but if they’d spoken to a human instead it might have been resolved.
To hear Helen talk in more depth on this topic, tune into the latest episode of the MAD Leaders Podcast: workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing, on Spotify or where you get your podcasts
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