(TNND) —Gallup finds managers play a key role in artificial intelligence’s workplace impact, but many companies still lack the training, support and organizational changes needed to realize its potential.
And even though 99% of surveyed human resource leaders consider AI important to their organizational strategy, half lack confidence in their managers’ ability to guide employees in using AI.
Brookings Metro senior fellow Mark Muro, an expert in the digital economy, said many workers have already started using AI on the job.
“I would hazard to guess most workers are not using it in the context of a promulgated, firm-wide organizational push, right?” Muro said. “So, it’s sort of a lot of freelancing. It likely is improving the level of work that can be done by individuals, but that is different from improving the productivity of the overall organization. And I think that’s the big, the $30 trillion question right now.”
Muro said the new Gallup report gets at some of the challenges that arise from a “bring-your-own-AI” to work approach that some companies are using.
And he said AI productivity gains won’t be realized without organizational change, but trust among employees is a key hurdle.
Managers already play a big role in fostering workplace satisfaction among employees, Muro said.
“And I think it’s even more important for AI, because AI could so easily get disconnected from the day-to-day and just become this conceptual issue that people have opinions on,” he said.
Gallup’s report, which pulled from surveys of both human resource leaders and employees, found that AI is a catalyst for change at companies, but it won’t create a better workplace on its own.
Managers make the difference, Gallup said. And higher manager support for AI is linked to improving culture.
When employees feel their manager actively champions AI, a third say AI transforms how work gets done at their organization. Among employees who don’t strongly feel their manager champions AI, just 4% say the same.
Employees with AI-supportive managers are also more likely to report that their workplace culture improved over the past year: 31% vs. 21%.
But Gallup also warned that its research consistently shows managers are carrying expanding responsibilities.
“Asking managers to lead AI transformation without considering their capacity and internal support risks turning a priority into another competing demand,” the Gallup report says.
Anton Dahbura, an AI expert and the co-director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy, said AI “is so broad, and it’s such a moving target,” that it’s difficult to draw firm conclusions about the technology as companies weigh its advantages against potential disadvantages.
But Dahbura said the AI rollout at companies “needs to be done very thoughtfully and very carefully.”
“And so, yeah, the more support, training, evaluation, all of those things, the better,” he said.
Dahbura said AI adoption can be confusing for companies, especially if they’re relying on outside vendors to come in with a new technology promising to be a “miracle cure.”
Sophisticated organizations know there will be some pain with the gain of AI, Dahbura said.
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And, ultimately, he said AI will work best for a lot of companies once it’s customized for their needs and integrated so it works in harmony with the rest of the enterprise. Those changes might play out behind the scenes, but he still said AI has the potential to change the roles of some workers.
Muro said he remains optimistic about the potential of productivity gains from AI, but companies must overcome “widespread skepticism and distrust” among the workforce.
Muro said “organizations and managers are going to need to go deeper” to achieve the outcomes they want from AI.
Most human resources leaders told Gallup that their organizations encourage peer learning and experimentation with AI, create centers of excellence or designate internal AI “champions,” and/or provide AI training specifically for managers. But only around half said their companies offer role-specific AI learning or certification programs, and only about a quarter said they embed AI skills into job expectations or performance goals.
Twelve percent said their companies have no formal actions underway yet to ensure employees and managers are effectively using AI.
