How To Create Great Employee Experiences In A Digital World Of AI

The world is more digital every day. We order on apps, exchange ideas online, connect virtually and work from anywhere. Tech offers convenience, flexibility and autonomy. But it also creates distance, distraction and even dissatisfaction. In the midst of it all, we must create great employee experiences.

And the time for meaningful work experiences is now. Because the use of tech drives all kinds of changes to how, where and when we work—as well as what we work on. In addition, the talent shortage and the competitive landscape make the human experience of work critical. People must feel fulfilled and valued by their employers—as well as empowered to perform brilliantly.

Tech Is Taking Work By Storm

The use of all kinds of technology is growing exponentially. For example, generative AI is slated to grow in the US to 117 million users in 2025—up from 7.8 users in 2022. In addition, use of ChatGPT is expected to grow by 882%, based on data from Insider Intelligence.

Usage of AI is growing globally as well, with 63% use in India followed by 49% in Singapore, 46% in Germany, 35% in Australia, 31% in France and the U.K., 26% in the US and 15% in Japan, based on a poll by UiPath.

AI is being applied in the workplace primarily through machine learning, neural networks, natural language processing and robotics.

Create Positive Employee Experiences

The saying is apt, “Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master.” It will be necessary to be intentional about our use of tech—and how we continue to value and prioritize the human experience.

Here’s how.

1. Create Proximity

Hybrid and remote work are here to stay, but presence also matters. People crave connections and our wellbeing and mental health depend on them, so be sure that work supports both virtual and in-person opportunities.

When people sit within 25 feet of a top performer, their own performance improves 15%. And when people sit within 65 feet of each other, there is a spillover of knowledge from colleague to colleague. In addition, evidence shows that when people are working side-by-side with others who are engaged and productive, they tend to increase their own engagement and productivity.

Friendship also matters. Fully 75% of people say they make their friends at work, and having a best friend at work is still one of the primary reasons people stay with an organization. Friends are often easier to make in person—and the cadence and frequency of working together tends to build strong relationships.

Leverage virtual channels, but also create meaningful work experiences that people want to show up for. Provide direction and purpose to unify people. Create compelling workplaces where people can choose to work where they want on the campus, based on what they need to accomplish.

Build teams by reinforcing mutual goals and assigning shared tasks. Reinforce how each person’s work matters to the team and the organization as a whole. Also reduce friction with tech that’s easy to use and supports virtual sharing—making it straightforward to execute a virtual or hybrid collaboration.

The bottom line: Use tech to optimize work processes, but ensure that it doesn’t create so much distance that people lose their connections to their team or the organization.

2. Ensure Clarity

Another critical way to create great experiences for people is to ensure they know what’s coming—as much as possible. People don’t trust what they don’t understand, so being open and transparent about your use of AI will build awareness and acceptance.

Two thirds of people believe AI will reduce a significant number of jobs in the next five years. In reality, AI may not take your job, but someone using AI will. In addition, AI is likely to take over tasks—even more than full jobs. So, it’s likely that job responsibilities will be re-organized to optimize what machines do in relationship to what people do.

Let employees know what’s changing and what’s not—and what initiatives are underway. Establish principles that will guide how you’ll incorporate AI and establish ethical standards for AI’s use. Smart companies are implementing internal advisory councils to guide how AI is used within the organization.

The bottom line: use new technology-based solutions, while making people aware and supporting their adoption of working in new ways.

3. Value and Protect People

People get a sense of identity and esteem from their work, so ensure that even as the content of jobs shifts, people still know you value them and they understand what kinds of work they’ll still need to perform.

Make AI part of your talent strategy. Continually assess where the business is going, what skills you’ll need, what work will need to be done and who will do it—considering both humans and machines to deliver outcomes.

Also ensure that you’re using AI to do tasks that are more routine, menial or less rewarding. And wherever you incorporate AI, be sure people still have opportunities to do work that leverages the best of their human skills:

• Their creativity—including imagination and innovation.
• Their curiosity—including wonder, intuition and inspiration.
• Their skills in connecting—including empathy, compassion, presence and trust.

The bottom line: lean into AI while also demonstrating you value the unique contribution people make.

4. Upskill People

Provide plenty of training and development so people can increasingly use all kinds of tech and AI in their work. Things are moving fast, so no matter what skills you hire for, you’ll also need to keep developing people.

Ensure you’re building technical skills, but also soft skills and interpersonal skills. Evidence demonstrates that the most in-demand soft skills will be self-awareness, communication, collaboration, conflict management, problem solving and leadership. In a world where tech can do so much, help people bring their best in terms of working together and getting things done with others.

Upskilling employees will help the business thrive, but it will also offset the talent shortage that every organization faces. By continually developing people, you’ll reinforce how much you respect and value them—and how much you’d like them to stick around and continue to contribute.

The bottom line: create a culture of continuous learning, development and growth.

5. Encourage Experimentation

Another way to ensure great experiences for people in the midst of tech solutions is to encourage experimentation. AI may seem scarier for people if they haven’t tried it.

Run pilots and experiment both formally and informally. Set guardrails and guidelines for how people will use AI, so you protect them as well as your company’s intellectual property and confidential information.

Encourage employees to try using new solutions in the course of their work. Their learning can inform where tech can make their job easier and more rewarding—and help you see where you might be able to implement or scale tech within the organization.

Also use AI to connect dots. You can get terrific benefit from using it within departments, but you’ll realize even more powerful outcomes when you can provide for more connection across the business.

For example, a pharma company could use AI to constantly scan for new regulations which affect their drug development departments, but also leverage the data to inform the collateral materials that their marketing team must keep current.

The bottom line: test, try and learn with the appropriate guardrails.

A Bright Future with Tech and AI

We have the opportunity for a bright future based on the use of tech and AI. But we’ll need to be smart and intentional about where we leverage it and how we optimize work—so humans still get the best opportunities to contribute, grow their careers and nurture positive experiences.