The immense potential of artificial intelligence has become one of today’s most popular business talking points. But there is dramatic disparity between the AI perspectives of corporate leadership and their workers. Sixty-five percent of HR leaders believe AI will positively impact human capital within the next two years while 38% of U.S. workers are worried that AI may make some, or all, of their job duties obsolete.
At a surface level, workers’ worries are not misplaced. AI is a significant change agent that can generate role ambiguity. It, in turn, impacts personal performance, turnover rates, levels of resentment, depression and anxiety. Notably, negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, and depression are the leading cause of workplace absenteeism. Moreover, over-reliance on AI holds the potential to diminish cognitive health, undercut employee learning and erode critical thinking—all key factors for future job performance and success.
As a physician and health advisor to large corporations, I believe the message is clear: Companies that have spent years investing in total well-being and engagement strategies now need to up their game in the AI-enabled workplace—or risk losing ground on employee engagement, performance, and retention.
Here are seven tips, which will help you achieve these important goals.
Redefine job roles
Lack of role clarity impacts stress and anxiety, while employees with a clear understanding of how to do their job report better job satisfaction and performance. In addition to clarifying roles, companies need to identify skills gaps created when AI adoption shifts responsibilities, and develop personalized plans to help employees fill these gaps and maintain their confidence.
Double down on cognitive health
Maintain an inventory of work and tasks that leave room for learning, cognitive stimulation, and better brain health. A recent World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report says analytical thinking and creative thinking are the two most important skills for workers, and cognitive skills are growing in importance “most quickly.” With AI doing more of the heavy lifting, business will need to elevate work enablers, such as cognitive health, innovation, creativity, and critical thinking, to mission-critical roles, and place a corresponding emphasis on learning and growing these skills.
Communicate
Organizations should candidly communicate information on policy, processes and the introduction of revolutionary technologies such as AI. This will support the goals of alleviating stress and anxiety, promoting job security, and building strong culture as well as deepening loyalty.
Adapt wellness initiatives
Train managers, executives, and people leaders to recognize and respond effectively to employees’ AI- and technology-driven concerns, including anxiety and stress. Provide comprehensive health and wellness benefits packages that include robust mental health supports for employees, and focus on resilience building around adapting to change and ambiguity. Offer mentorship, workshops, town halls, and the like to discuss subjects such as managing stress and coping with work demands before burnout sets in or turnover occurs.
Empower employees
Remind employees that AI will take on mundane tasks, freeing them to focus on more meaningful and rewarding challenges that most impact and grow the business. Leaders should empower, encourage, and enable team members to come up with hidden wins and new use cases for AI that complement rather than compete with their role. This approach helps nurture a growth mindset, which is linked to lower levels of stress and better self-care.
Underscore your mission
Seventy percent of employees say that their sense of purpose is defined by their work. When AI rejigs roles, leaders need to remind their employees of the big picture and why they were initially attracted to their organizations. Imparting that sense of mission, of being part of something bigger, can help employees become more resilient and embrace upskilling or a new role. In other words, their job may change, but they still play a role in, for instance, saving lives, building a better world, or sending people to the moon.
Integrate AI into your wellness strategy
While privacy must be prioritized, companies are already using AI itself to identify and manage employee stressors, better understand how their employees think and feel around issues such as work-life balance, and design enhanced workplace policies. We are also seeing AI used in innovative health and wellness tools such as digital mental health supports, matching patients with health providers (e.g. psychologists) and more.
The point is to be building a healthy AI-powered workplace. While generative AI remains in its early stages, it’s clearly having an immense impact on companies and their employees. AI poses real near-term challenges to employee career pathing, mental health, and overall well-being. But strong HR, health, and wellness functions can play an outsize role to help employers and employees alike navigate, leverage, and benefit from this rapidly advancing technology—all while cultivating more productive, resilient, and inspiring work environments.
