'Certainty is not what employees need from you right now'
Leaders should avoid going radio silent on employees amid AI adoption, even if that means talking about unfinished and uncertain plans surrounding the emerging technology.
This is according to Amy Lavoie, VP of people science at Culture Amp, amid new data indicating that more leaders are actively encouraging AI experimentation without telling employees the reason why.
Only 58% of employees said their leaders have clearly explained how their organisations plan to use AI to reach company goals, a 27-point difference from the 85% of employees who said they are being actively encouraged to explore and experiment with AI.
Lavoie acknowledged that AI may be too new to be predictable at the moment, and that leaders are being asked to describe a future even they cannot see clearly yet.
"We do not know with certainty which roles AI reshapes, which skills hold their value, or what a career path looks like three years out. As a result, leaders may go quiet, because saying nothing feels safer than saying something that turns out to be wrong," the Culture Amp executive said.
"The most useful thing a leader can do right now is admit the plan is unfinished, and then keep talking anyway. Certainty is not what employees need from you right now. Candor is."
The Culture Amp report underscored that leaders should share what they've accomplished with AI, even what they abandoned, even the parts that they still can't figure out.
"Employees will likely take it far better than they'd take silence from you," the report read.
A workforce ready for AI
Engagement from leadership is being highly encouraged as the Culture Amp report showed that employees are ready to embrace AI tools at work.
More than eight in 10 employees said they understand the risks associated with using AI in their work (86%), while another 80% said they already trust that their company will use the developing technology in a responsible way.
Lavoie warned that employees left in the dark fill the silence themselves usually with "the least generous explanation available."
"The workforce is telling us something important," the Culture Amp executive said.
"Employees are telling us they understand the risks, they are using the tools, and they feel more productive. That is not a workforce resisting change. That is a workforce that has done its part and is waiting on leadership to do theirs."
