Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming business operations and HR practices, offering significant advantages, but challenges to adoption, particularly the impact of AI on employees, remain.
The Dual Reality of AI in Business
During an ADP ‘Insights in Action’ session, experts, including Dr. Chris Mullen, vice president of Workplace Insights and Transformation at ADP; Kim Coldiron, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at American Woodmark; and Zachary Nunn, CEO at Living Corporate, explored the benefits of AI and strategies for employee engagement. Key discussion points included:
- The business advantages of AI
- How to bring employees on board
As Gartner survey data indicates, HR leaders recognize the urgency of adopting AI, with 76% believing that failing to implement these solutions in the next couple of years could negatively impact their organization’s success. However a 2024 EY survey noted that 75% of employees are concerned that AI will make certain jobs obsolete, and 41% say adoption is moving too quickly, which creates a need for companies to balance technological advantages with employee needs and concerns.
Business Benefits of AI
AI provides numerous benefits for streamlining business operations and HR activities. According to Kim Coldiron, intelligent tools excel at data reconciliation and the summarization of information by integrating different data sources to create actionable outputs.
AI facilitates the quick, self-service answers employees seek, allowing HR staff to focus on the most crucial aspects of their work. Zachary Nunn emphasizes AI’s ability to streamline the analysis of large, unstructured, and qualitative datasets. However, he cautions that a human element remains essential:
“I think about AI as a really smart college undergraduate intern. Are you going to trust that intern to write up your entire business strategy? Probably not. Instead, you’ll give them a task to complete and review their work a couple dozen times.”
Nunn also highlights the use of AI for enriching the employee experience by automating or eliminating mundane tasks.
Encouraging AI Adoption: Addressing Employee Concerns
To encourage the adoption of AI, it’s really about working to get staff members to collaborate with the technology. Employees are wary of AI adoption because they worry about job security, the effect of being pushed to the sidelines, and the possible misuse of data, or the occurrence of inaccuracies that affect business operations.
Businesses need to demonstrate that AI can help the organization progress while supporting its employees. Nunn emphasizes the importance of:
- Careful selection of partners
- Developing an internal strategy
- Clearly defining problems that need solutions
- Carefully choosing the solution that is the best fit
- Ensuring that the rollout is implemented strategically over time
Involving staff in all phases of the process is key, as employee engagement is an important consideration. Employees must have a voice in order to regain a sense of control. Communication is really critical, as Coldiron notes:
“I remember reading survey comments, and I remember an employee asking for something. I saw that employee later and said, ‘Hey, don’t forget the next survey,’ and they said they wouldn’t bother answering it because the last time they did, nothing changed.”
Taking employee feedback into consideration, it’s important for HR teams to reveal what changes have been implemented, and the benefits for employees.
In summary, making AI a success for business requires combining good processes with employee interaction.
Ready to discover more AI benefits for your business and get the inside track on adoption? Check out the full Insights in Action session.
