HR Certification Institute and HR Standards Institute CEO Amy Dufrane said research on human capital conducted by professional services firm Deloitte found that 76% of employees wanted to be involved in the changes their jobs will experience in line with the latest technological advancements.
“However, only 43% of organisations were helping to reimagine the future work of their teams’ jobs,” said Dufrane in her plenary address at the National Human Capital Conference & Exhibition (NHCCE) 2024 here today.
“Workers want that opportunity to reimagine their jobs, and we as employers need to include them in this process. We want to keep that culture of trust moving forward.
“We’re hearing and seeing reports that people are fearful that artificial intelligence (AI) is going to take their jobs, and we want to diminish that fear.”
Dufrane said actively working with employees in this manner would keep them engaged at the workplace and help them move into their “zone of genius”.
She described this as a mental state in which employees are able to produce quality work when drawing on their strengths while working on activities that are uniquely suited to them.
Dufrane also called on human resources practitioners to take the lead in introducing and managing AI in the workplace.
She noted that studies from HR research firm Institute for Corporate Productivity found that human resources professionals fell into one of three categories – AI laggards, AI enquirers, or AI innovators.
She said AI laggards provide no policies, safeguards, or clear guidance on how to use AI, while AI enquirers were researching AI and determining whether it would be useful to introduce at the office.
“But they’re all sitting by the sidelines waiting (for the) AI innovators, who are supportive of AI and are experimenting with it. They have put parameters around AI, and they have policies and practices in place,” she said.
“I embrace this and challenge our team at the HR Certification Institute to really think about how we can employ AI … and see what and how we can do things better from a job perspective.”