Over the past year, generative AI has increasingly infiltrated the workplace, with workers using it to produce short text, images, and even presentation slides, while firms have started automating routine tasks. In HR, I have the feeling that many professionals have preferred to watch from the sidelines. This is set to change in 2024, as firms start to go after the low-hanging fruit. This could include using AI to increase employee engagement and simplify some basic processes. For example, AI is a perfect tool to handle the annual employee engagement survey. What was once a large and unwieldy task can be done much faster and more frequently by deploying AI.
Other tasks where people value human interaction may take longer to be impacted by AI. In the recruiting process, for example, it’s long been possible to use AI to screen CVs, yet people now joke about how they were rejected by the algorithm. These kinds of interactions put employers at risk, as it might make them think less positively about the company. In areas like recruiting and onboarding, it will continue to be important for firms to strike a balance between using AI to increase efficiency without dehumanizing the company.
In many ways, it’s a lot like having a young and rebellious intern working for you. On the one hand, you love their skillset, but you wouldn’t want to let them loose without close supervision. In 2024, I expect AI to play the assistant role in HR with a gradual delegation only happening in 2025.
Growing demands on leaders
Lastly, a growing preoccupation for employers is how to create passion and energy around an organization’s purpose and culture, particularly if staff aren’t present physically. Many leaders have struggled to build bonds with their staff online. Yet this will have to change if firms are to increase employee engagement and reduce frustration and turnover rates.
According to a recent survey of over 40 leading Swedish companies, how to foster stronger, clearer, and more engaged leadership was among the top priorities. The new workplace requires a leadership model that privileges trust over control. Managers must move away from checking up on staff and instead lead with purpose and intent, starting with co-creating priorities and goals, and provide opportunities to regularly communicate with staff via online meetings as well as F2F, such as regular town halls and team meetings. Finding ways to replicate the spontaneous water cooler chat through digital channels will grow ever more important to build loyalty and a sense of belonging.