As artificial intelligence and automation become more common in the workplace, HR leaders must integrate these technologies without diminishing their human workforce. Striking this balance allows HR leaders to proactively address potential disruptions and ensure that technology enhances, rather than replaces, the human element in the workplace.
To help you find this balance, Forbes Human Resources Council members explore how to strategically use AI while meeting the needs of their workforce. From creating a digital roadmap to empowering employees to partake in the process, these strategies can ensure humanity and technology work together seamlessly.
1. Give Employees An Early Role In The Process
The key for HR leaders is to frame AI tools to amplify and empower the human workforce, not replace them. Encourage managers to involve employees in the process early, identifying tasks that can be automated to drive more strategic, creative work. Education to help employees adapt and thrive alongside these technologies, fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth now, is a must! - Jason Averbook, Leapgen
2. Ask Your Team Where They Need Help
Ask your teams where help is needed. AI has a wide range of capabilities that are growing every day. Let employees tell you where they need an extra hand, then go evaluate various AI options with that feedback in mind. Make sure you are solving real, on-the-ground pain points the workforce is facing. By picking a tool without their input, you might actually make their jobs harder by accident. - Nicky Hanco*ck, AMS
3. Create A Digital And Process Roadmap
First, we need to focus on the current state, establishing a clear digital and process transformation roadmap to find quick impactful wins. Streamlining people operations allows for automation, enabling the team to accomplish more work in less time. Leveraging technology to augment the employee experience frees up the team's time to innovate and execute, not eliminate. - Julie Hankins, Epista
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4. Focus On Messaging And Address Concerns
HR leaders must focus on messaging to introduce AI and automation tools. It's crucial to frame AI as an enabler that enhances productivity for managers to focus on more strategic tasks. In addition to messaging and education, HR leaders must proactively address concerns about job displacement to ensure a healthy balance. This may involve policies and practices that prioritize upskilling - Rachel Fletcher
5. Understand That AI And People Are Not Mutually Exclusive
The solution lies in the understanding that the two are not mutually exclusive. Together, people and automation tools allow for a more productive and efficient way to deliver, therefore allowing the potential to free up time for balance. - Jalie Cohen, Radiology Partners
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6. Redesign Jobs And Focus On The Journey
Focus on redesigning jobs to use the technology, upskilling employees, implementing feedback mechanisms to address concerns and being transparent about the journey. Ideally, these strategies empower employees to embrace change and see it as an opportunity for growth, because AI in the workplace is the future, and the future is here. - Tracy Cote, StockX
7. Present AI As An Opportunity, Not A Threat
HR leaders can present AI as an opportunity rather than a threat. Successful implementation of this technology tends to focus people on relationships and AI on repetition. When the human touch adds value—typically personal relationships and highly creative tasks—AI may be unnecessary. When the human touch does not add value–such as repetitive and easily automated tasks—AI offers potential. - Barry Asin, Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA)
8. Separate Repetitive Tasks From Ones Requiring Human Judgment
Draw a bright red line separating rote, repetitive tasks—candidates for automation—from tasks relying on human judgment calls. Defend and preserve your people who do the latter. You want workers to see AI as a helpmate they can exploit for professional benefit, not some ominous threat that could replace them. Staff buy-in drives smoother AI adoption—and greater ROI for the business. - Graham Glass, CYPHER Learning
9. Use AI As A Copilot Tool
AI is not the future of HR; AI is the present of HR, and is here to stay! The role of HR is to help leaders use AI as a copilot tool for daily tasks. HR needs to be proactive and help leaders identify the areas that will be impacted by AI. Once we identify those areas, there should be a sense of urgency to help employees upscale their skills to allow for a smooth transition. - Angeles Escalante, SPHR, Caterpillar
10. Offload Automated Work And Become More Creative
AI is the next big empathy opportunity for companies to support talent. AI goes far beyond efficiency and productivity gains. It gives people the opportunity and runway to become creative problem solvers, critical thinkers and strategic contributors by offloading work that can be automated. Framing it as an opportunity, not a threat, can encourage willing adopters among your employees. - Marcy Klipfel, Businessolver
11. Provide Training And Continuous Learning
HR leaders should guide managers to use AI and automation to augment human work, not replace it. They should identify suitable tasks for automation, provide employee training for new technologies and foster a culture of continuous learning. By emphasizing the complementary nature of humans and machines, HR can help maintain a healthy balance and create a more efficient workplace. - Jessica Kriegel, Culture Partners
12. Share AI Success Stories
Help managers allay fears and embrace curiosity about automating and digitizing some aspects of the workplace and workforce. Share success stories about how high-impact organizations use AI to automate the routine and mundane (so employees can focus on those aspects of work only humans can do) and collect enormous amounts of people data to inform a better employee experience and healthy culture. - Laci Loew
13. Teach Managers To Set Boundaries
Education is everything here. Introduce AI by educating managers on what it is and is not. Provide real business examples of how managers can utilize the tool to save time, gain efficiencies and work smarter, not harder. AI is here to stay the same as the internet; embracing it, educating the individuals and setting boundaries about appropriate use will help individuals understand it. - Oksana Lukash, Avid Bioservices
14. Be Adaptable
The changing nature of technology and the requirement for employees to adapt to that change are constant and not new. Ensuring that businesses and their employees embrace a mindset of continuous learning and skills upgrade is critical and reduces instances where there is a mismatch between the needs of the business and the skills of the employee. Evolution stops for no one. - Jon Lowe, DailyPay
15. Prioritize Change Management
HR leaders can facilitate AI integration by prioritizing education, training and change management. Performance metrics should reflect human and machine contributions, with ongoing feedback mechanisms in place. Clear ethical guidelines and support for employees are also essential. - Reema Akhtar, Seer Solutions
16. Evaluate Strategy Using A Human Task Force
AI opportunities should be examined through a holistic AI strategy framework in which value, feasibility and impacts are evaluated and used to inform investment decisions. The benefit of a proactive AI strategy model is that the human task force is considered as an input, not a resulting factor, allowing the organization to harness technology to transform rather than disrupt the organization. - Jennifer Rozon, McLean & Company
17. Build Stronger Relationships
The need to build personal relationships in HR will never disappear. AI and automation tools are just a resource for managers to accomplish their work more efficiently, with appropriate human oversight. In fact, AI can give your managers more time to focus on people and connect with employees, so encourage them to find ways to improve their productivity in order to build stronger relationships. - Niki Jorgensen, Insperity
18. Add Intelligence To Existing Systems
Using AI-powered skills frameworks and talent intelligence platforms is revolutionizing talent management and workforce development by adding layers of intelligence to the existing systems of record. We can think about intelligence in two meanings: intelligence gathering and intelligent decisions. TIP uses data from your HCM system or ATS but allows you to develop actionable insights. - Shay David, retrain.ai
19. Free Up Time For Strategic Planning
While some think that AI will lead to job loss, this isn’t necessarily the case. In HR, AI can automate manual tasks such as sourcing candidates, parsing resumes and scheduling interviews. This frees up time for HR teams to focus on building relationships with candidates as well as strategic business priorities, such as workforce planning, succession planning and talent development. - Sanjay Sathe, SucceedSmart Inc.
20. Implement A Phased Approach To Integration
Leaders should implement a phased approach to AI integration, ensuring there is human oversight throughout. By prioritizing openness and transparency, enabling training and upskilling opportunities for employees to better understand and use AI effectively, leaders can foster a culture of continuous improvement while optimizing workflows, expediting processes and increasing productivity. - Albert Galarza, TELUS International
