Key Takeaways
- Generative AI is creating a growing divide between executives' high expectations and employees' actual capabilities, highlighting the need to bridge this gap to achieve productivity gains.
- Effective AI integration requires comprehensive training for all employees, empowering them to adapt and thrive in an AI-first environment.
- Successful AI adoption hinges on clear leadership and strategic change management, with executives supporting employees through training and transparent communication.
- Establishing clear AI usage guidelines is crucial for helping employees understand the technology's scope and limitations, ensuring responsible and effective use.
With the release of ChatGPT less than two years ago, OpenAI introduced generative AI to a broader audience. This unleashed a powerful force that has the potential to completely transform the operations and cultures of most business sectors, including technology, education, health care, and retail.
Business leaders are putting generative AI at the top of their lists of priorities, enamored by thoughts of increasing revenues, improving customer service, and reducing costs. After six years of AI adoption hovering at about 50 percent, McKinsey and Co. found that in 2023—the first full year with generative AI—it crept up to 55 percent. This year, it's 72 percent.
According to the Upwork Research Institute, about 85 percent of leaders are requiring employees to use the technology or pushing for its adoption, and 96 percent of C-suite executives believe generative AI tools will boost overall productivity in their organizations. They expect workers to increase their output, expand their skill sets, and take on more responsibilities.
Navigating the generative AI divide: challenges and burnout
Enthusiasm for generative AI is strong among executives. However, there's a chasm that's appearing between what business leaders expect to happen and those employees whose job it is to meet those expectations. The Upwork study paints a picture of a worker population that is straining under the increasing corporate demands, facing growing workloads, and lacking the tools or training needed to turn AI into greater productivity.
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The phrase “burnout” is used multiple times in the report, particularly among younger workers, with 83 percent of Gen Zers saying they're hitting the wall. Women report slightly more burnout than men, with one in three employees surveyed indicating they are likely to quit their jobs within six months due to feeling overworked.
Of those workers using AI, almost half can't see how to reach their employers' productivity levels, and three-quarters say AI tools are increasing their workloads and actually reducing their productivity. In addition to spending more time learning how to use the tools and evaluating or moderating the outputs of AI systems, they are now expected to perform more work. Many are simply overwhelmed by having to use AI tools.
There are wide gaps between executives and workers in everything from how realistic corporate expectations are to how much the C-suite prioritizes the well-being of their employees to how ready the workforce is to use AI in their jobs. About a quarter of executives surveyed in the study have training programs for employees, and few even have a well-implemented AI strategy.
Bridging AI enthusiasm with employee concerns
Organizations have to find ways to bridge this gap between executive enthusiasm and worker concerns. Gartner argues that AI has the potential to drive business value for companies but that worker distrust of the technology—from bias to worries that they are essentially training their digital replacements—is getting in the way.
What can be done to bridge this divide, to reach the productivity, efficiency, and financial gains that corporations are thirsty for while enabling employees to embrace AI while keeping them from wilting under excessive expectations?
Here are some steps to consider:
Change management:
Integrating AI into the business processes and culture requires a strategic roadmap, from defining what executives expect to gain from embracing the emerging technology to planning the implementation process. Is the organization's infrastructure ready for generative AI workloads? Is its data quality high enough? Is the security strong enough? Meanwhile, change will come to employees in terms of behavior, expectations, and skills. They'll need the company's support to navigate the changes. Leaders have to understand what their workers need as AI comes into their work lives and will need to tailor their integration plans accordingly.
Training:
If workers are going to adopt AI in their jobs, they'll need ongoing training. They know this: 6in 10 workers say they'll need to learn new skills as AI becomes a fixture in the work environment, but 88 percent don't trust their employers to support their need to understand the technology. One problem: Most training is aimed at employees with a bachelor's degree or higher, even though most workers don't have such degrees. For organizations to fully realize the benefits of AI—and to be more competitive—they'll need to train their entire workforce, and they need to do it now.
AI guidelines:
Policies and guidelines are critical factors when bringing new technology into a business, and AI is no different. For employees who are adapting to generative AI in their jobs, they need to understand what their bosses will and won't allow. This includes defining who can and can't use AI for their work, whether prior approval is needed, what tasks it can be used for, who in the company workers can reach out to with questions, and ensuring that humans are still responsible for the outcome.
Leadership:
Workers are looking to employers to help them transition into this new AI-first world. Executives will need to implement both broad AI learning programs to develop AI skills and career development to energize and keep talented workers. According to a LinkedIn report, four of five workers want to learn to use AI for their work and the C-suite is beginning to understand this. Nine of 10 global execs plan to keep or increase their investments in learning and development, including upskilling and reskilling, though more investments into large-scale programs are needed. And KPMG found that half of CEOs were investing more in new technology than employee training. Three-quarters also believe in a collaborative leadership model, being open about goals and progress and taking in feedback from workers.
Aligning AI integration with workplace cohesion
Generative AI is the top priority for most businesses, but to reap the benefits of the technology, employees must be enabled by it rather than hindered. Bridging the gap between executive expectations and employee capabilities is essential to unlock AI's full benefits. Organizations must adopt key strategies to align their workforce, fostering an environment where everyone moves in the same direction. By committing to understanding the workforce's nuanced needs and promoting open communication, businesses can transform AI from a daunting mandate into an empowering tool. With comprehensive training and thoughtful guidelines, generative AI can seamlessly integrate into daily operations, enhancing both employee experience and business outcomes and ultimately creating a balanced ecosystem where innovation thrives.
