Can AI help us reignite the energy within our workforce?

54% of employees worldwide feel overworked and 39% feel exhausted. The digital intensity of workers’ days has increased substantially, with the average number of meetings and chats rising. In fact, 2022 projections were that the number of meetings will only continue to rise by around 34% by 2027. So, can an AI companion infuse energy and motivation into the workforce and eliminate time-consuming obstacles now?

It is only in the last few years that Generative AI has become truly accessible for individuals, but we are already seeing significant improvements to productivity and engagement. Interest is high, as demonstrated by AI bot ChatGPT reaching an estimated 100 million active monthly users just two months from launch, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history. By comparison, TikTok took nine months to reach 100 million monthly users and Instagram took two and a half years. 

AI is invariably transforming the way that people work: Gen Alpha won’t remember a time when not everyone had access to natural language processors at the touch of a button, just as Millennials will struggle to remember a time before mobile phones.

The democratisation of AI across the workforce is driving value through increasing productivity, but also through reshaping the employee experience (EX), helping to make work more fulfilling and engaging for employees. However, the benefits do not stop at purely traditional productivity gains (e.g. cost out and efficiency gains) which AI conversation is often dominated by. But truly driving productivity means touching much more – it's about enhancing the quality of work, fostering engagement, promoting creativity and innovation, and encouraging collaboration. By embracing AI, organisations can not only improve business performance, but also increase job satisfaction and help retain top talent in an increasingly competitive market. This is particularly relevant today, where hybrid working patterns, the trend of quiet quitting, the growing preference for remote work, screen fatigue, and the expectation for employers to be more flexible are all shaping the way that we work.

Although Gen Alpha hasn’t entered the workforce yet, AI certainly has, and its early adopters are evidence of the myriad of ways in which it can be used to enhance business performance. For example, General Electric uses predictive AI that directly analyses data from aircraft engines, helping technicians solve problems before they happen, ensuring the safety of all those involved.

A new generation of AI solutions is emerging, designed to work alongside people to amplify their impact – it’s all about digital:human collaboration. 

For example, in the UK, workers spend an average of 7 hours and 42 minutes a week writing emails. Whilst email is a necessary part of most jobs, few would argue in favour of spending more time on it. In fact, only 42% of emails sent are full read and understood. This is where AI tools like Microsoft Copilot can make a significant difference. Copilot can summarise long email threads, and quickly draft suggested replies. Early studies have shown that this can have a real impact, with 64% of new users reporting that they spend less time processing emails. With the help of Copilot, you can clear your inbox in minutes, not hours, and enhance the quality of your emails. Say goodbye to the endless cycle of email management and hello to a more productive and efficient workday.

But AI can also do much more than that. AI capabilities can be applied to specific use cases to enable employees to focus their time on what really matters. For example, for journalists, it can suggest a compelling closing paragraph for a press release. According to Microsoft’s regular Work Trend Index survey 68% of early users agree that using Copilot helps them jumpstart the creative process and 72% said it helped them generate ideas while writing. For HR, AI can help with talent development, helping the team develop career paths and succession plans, using generative AI to identify potential roles, skills, and opportunities based on the employee’s profile, aspirations, and the organisation’s needs. For Finance, AI can help assess the strengths and weaknesses of the current financial controls, measuring their impact on financial performance and reporting quality whilst proposing improvements.

Whilst there are various ways to view AI by BU, there is also the persona lens which is cross cutting. We have found that early adopter organisations have seen the most benefits when strategically placing initial licences aligned to persona groups rather than by functional teams. It is important to consider, across your organisation, the roles that should be prioritised by weighing up the ROI by persona group (e.g. Analysts).

While introducing AI may seem like the key to unlocking business success, simply providing your workforce with access to the technology is not enough. It is crucial to invest in change management from the outset – key to this is building habits straightaway within the workforce. If individuals start consistently using tools, they will then develop a habitual tendency to select it due to ease, familiarity, and comfort. One way to help them build this is by setting up default options around your technologies - making a certain habit easy to lean into – e.g. prompt for it to open in a certain platform / use a certain tool.

Key examples of how change management can help:

1. Help employees form habits and ensure a seamless introduction – we have seen opportunities missed where AI has been enabled but is not used. Your workforce needs to understand the gains that they can achieve from it in making their day-to-day working life easier.
2. Educate colleagues on how to maximise value from AI once embedded – the stronger the input (their instruction), the more useful the output. It is not simply googling a phrase; we have found that employees must dictate exactly what they need in a straightforward concise way but still including rich description.
3. Upskilling leaders, to ensure that they are comfortable and clear on what AI can do. They can then advise on where best to embed it within their organisation first to maximise success and ensure full adoption.

Whilst it might seem easier to forgo change management in favour of ‘quicker’ implementation of your new tool, this approach can undermine your efforts. A failed attempt at introducing technology is not likely to inspire trust or encourage engagement, meaning that the goal of introducing AI in the hopes of empowering your workforce would fall by the wayside.

The workforce is constantly changing and being affected by the arrival of a new generation of workers who are skilled in technology, the aftermath of the pandemic, and the evolution of the hybrid work model. These changes are complex and challenging, but this new generation of AI is seen as a potential saviour that, coupled with expert change management will remove the drudgery of work, unleash creativity, and reenergise the workforce.

Authors: Lucy Pringle and Holly Best