How can AI and automation affect workplace culture?
Learn how to deal with staff concerns and hesitancy when implementing AI and automation technology
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation can bring a wealth of new possibilities to your organisation. Properly implementing exciting technology into your existing processes and practices can improve operational efficiency but what can’t be underestimated is how they can affect your workplace culture.
If you’re planning on implementing AI or automation in your organisation or expanding their use, you must take some time to reflect on how your broader workforce may be affected and what steps you can take to ensure the technology is introduced smoothly to everyone it impacts.
How can introducing AI affect your culture?
Introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI) into a company’s ecosystem ignites a transformative shift, deeply impacting workplace culture across several dimensions. This evolution offers both exciting opportunities and complex challenges for IT managers and business leaders to navigate.
AI integration fosters an environment of continuous learning and innovation. By utilising AI to streamline routine tasks, employees are liberated to focus on more strategic, creative endeavours that drive growth and innovation. For instance, deploying AI in customer service through chatbots or virtual assistants can handle repetitive queries, allowing human agents to tackle more nuanced, emotionally sensitive customer interactions. This shift not only enhances operational efficiency but also empowers employees to engage in more fulfilling work, fostering a culture of innovation. However, this demands a significant upskilling effort. IT managers must spearhead educational programs and workshops to equip their teams with the necessary skills to thrive alongside AI technologies, thereby ensuring a smooth transition and mitigating any resistance to change.
The introduction of AI brings about a heightened emphasis on data-driven decision-making. AI’s capability to analyse vast datasets with unparalleled speed and accuracy means decisions can now be based on deep insights rather than intuition. For business leaders, this necessitates cultivating a culture where data literacy is paramount. Employees across departments must be encouraged to develop an analytical mindset, understanding how to interpret AI-generated insights and apply them effectively in their roles. This change could also lead to organisational restructuring, as roles evolve to prioritise data analysis and interpretation skills. A robust framework for ethical data use and privacy must underpin this shift, ensuring AI applications respect customer and employee rights.
Finally, the integration of AI technologies paves the way for more collaborative and cross-functional teams. AI projects often require input from diverse groups, including data scientists, domain experts, and end-users, to ensure solutions are technically sound and practically valuable. This necessitates a cultural shift towards openness and collaboration, breaking down silos to foster interdisciplinary teamwork. For example, deploying an AI-driven project management tool could improve efficiency and transparency, enabling team members from various departments to track progress and collaborate more effectively. IT managers play a critical role in facilitating these collaborative efforts, ensuring that technology solutions are aligned with the overall business strategy and that all voices are heard.
Can automation negatively affect your culture?
Without proper leadership, the blunt answer is: yes.
You must remember that not everyone in your organisation may be ready to adopt automation as eagerly as you or your senior leadership team. Some employees worry that automation is here to replace them by providing a cheaper, more reliable option. With the cost of living at the front of everyone’s minds, technology such as RPA is seen as a risk, rather than an opportunity. Worries about job security are only natural.
Automation should not be seen as solely a ‘tech’ solution. It’s a solution that can affect your entire workforce. Workplaces of all kinds – from warehouses to call centres, accounting offices, hospitals, and retail stores – can utilise automation in a variety of ways. This means a wide range of staff may use the technology you implement, and the more people you affect, the greater the range of technical aptitude you have to deal with.
Employees can also grow confident and comfortable in their existing roles. When you apply technology to those roles and potentially change the tasks and responsibilities those employees must carry out, they can naturally be hesitant. You’re changing their role and not everyone may be ready to make the transition smoothly.
As you can see, automation affects your culture when there is a lack of communication and leadership. When you bring new technology into your organisation without properly communicating it through all levels of your staff, they can feel that it is being ‘forced upon them.’ This can breed reluctance and misinformation, and ultimately stop automation in its tracks before you have a chance to reap its rewards.
How to prepare your workplace for AI and automation
Staff appreciate honesty, transparency and consideration from their leaders. These qualities are paramount to discussing how AI and automation will change their roles for the better and help them develop. Below are five essential steps to improving your workplace culture:
Demonstrate leadership
Employees need a central point of information when they want to learn more about how planned technology is going to affect them. This helps you control what information they hear, ensuring them that they never misunderstand your organisation’s implementation plans, and inspires confidence throughout your workforce. Try to assign yourself this role or champion a member of your staff with a high level of technical knowledge and a wide understanding of how the business operates.
Speak with your staff regularly
As we’ve mentioned earlier, you don’t want staff to feel as though new technology is being forced upon them. Host discussions with your staff as early as possible in your implementation plans to show that you’re making decisions with their opinions in mind. After this initial conversation, keep them abreast of developments and continue to communicate with them.
You should also regularly canvas their opinions to find more opportunities to utilise AI and automation. Who knows the ins and outs of your business better than the staff on the front lines? Asking what tasks they want to automate turns tech implementation into a collaborative process, rather than an edict that staff may resist.
Reinforce the benefits
When faced with opposition or questions about AI or automation, keep the benefits of the technology at the forefront of your discussions. You’re trying to help your staff complete tasks faster, with more accuracy, and free up time for responsibilities that demand their time. Some staff may not buy into the expected advantages of automation from the start, so keep their perspective on the long-term benefits they’ll feel and show your plans aren’t just a flash in the pan.
Plan and explain technical training
In non-IT roles, there’s often a digital divide – a gap between those who are tech-savvy and those who are not. This divide can lead to resistance towards technological changes, including the implementation of AI or automation. This can be particularly true for workers that have heavily manual roles such as warehouse staff. You can relieve these doubts by providing a clear training plan to your employees to show how they’ll develop their skills to incorporate elements of technology. Emphasise that this is a chance for professional growth and reframe a daunting prospect into an opportunity.
Be clear about what kind of technology you’ll use
The perception that automation technology will ‘eliminate’ or ‘replace’ regular workers is still prevalent. That’s why you must not use ‘AI’ or ‘automation’ as catch-all terms. Be detailed in your explanation of how they will be applied and how your staff will still play an important role in your operations. One major concern for staff members when introduced to AI for the first time is data security. Establishing clear policies regarding data privacy and ethical AI use can help build trust. When employees understand how AI applications are improving efficiency or customer satisfaction without compromising their ethics or job security, it fosters a culture of trust and openness.