The term "Luddite" refers to individuals opposed to new technology due to concerns about job security, privacy, and societal impact.

Some people oppose new technologies due to concerns that automation and AI may replace human workers.

Others may resist new technologies due to a lack of understanding or fear of change, leading to wasted time and resources.

The original Luddite movement in 19th-century England opposed labor practices, including unskilled workers and low wages, associated with new textile technologies.

Experts believe automation will displace both low-skilled and professional jobs.

Others see the digital revolution as an opportunity for unprecedented prosperity and freedom.

Resistance to new technology can stem from concerns like loss of control, competence, and uncertainty.

Organizations should proactively prepare staff for change through internal change management.

Comprehensive education and training programs can demystify AI and address employee misconceptions.

Open communication helps leaders listen to and address employees' AI concerns with empathy.

Building trust with resistant supervisors is crucial for a positive work environment.

Showing empathy is crucial for building trust with difficult supervisors.

Effective communication, including active listening and genuine interest, helps build trust and rapport with supervisors.

Transparent communication can help mitigate organizational resistance to technology adoption.

Trust builds when employees feel inspired by senior leaders and see strategic actions driving business success.

Core values are crucial for building trust within an organization.

Finding common ground can help establish a foundation for cooperation with resistant supervisors.

Assurance about data privacy and evolving protocols can foster an ethical technology culture.

A trustworthy digital technology strategy should prioritize security, accountability, and ethical use.

Earning digital trust requires judgment calls, investments, and changes that reflect a technology's impact on individuals.

HR leaders should prioritize transparency and communication to build trust with resistant supervisors.

Open communication is essential for empowering teams to utilize new tools and technologies.

Education and training are crucial for supervisors and employees to understand the benefits and risks of new technology.

Education and training help individuals adapt to new technology for personal and professional growth.

Organizations can provide resources like training programs to help employees adapt to new technology.

Continuous learning is essential to stay competitive in the job market.

Failure to adapt to new technology can harm one's career and job performance.

Investing in employee training boosts productivity, efficiency, and job satisfaction.

The rapid pace of technological change can be overwhelming, requiring support and resources to cope.

Some individuals may oppose new technology due to concerns that automation and artificial intelligence will replace their jobs.

Education and training can help alleviate concerns by providing skills to work with new technologies.

Adequate training is necessary to help workers understand AI's benefits and risks and alleviate job security anxieties.

Companies can alleviate AI fears by providing education, fostering open communication, and establishing clear guidelines and protections.

Employee training can boost workers' wellbeing by increasing confidence, motivation, and job satisfaction.

Custom learning pathways can improve individual performance by addressing areas for improvement.

Companies with strong employee training have 53% less turnover than those with poor training.

CX leaders must be transparent about AI and automation benefits to gain workforce buy-in.

Investing in modern cloud architecture is necessary for secure AI implementation.

Emphasizing AI's benefits, like upskilling employees and alleviating workloads, can address job security concerns.

Organizations can provide support and training to address supervisor concerns about new technology and mitigate the managerial skills gap.

Clarifying and redesigning manager roles can alleviate job security concerns.

Three key fears resisting digital transformation are Fear of Change, Fear of Loss, and Fear of Mortality.

Aligning changes with business goals can persuade colleagues.

Involving colleagues early in the transformational journey can create a sense of investment and increase support.

22% of U.S. workers fear technology will make their jobs obsolete, a Gallup poll finds.

The percentage of workers fearing job obsolescence due to technology rose from 15% in 2021 to 22%.

College-educated workers drive the increase in fear of job obsolescence.

Younger workers are more concerned than older workers that technology will make their jobs obsolete.

Workers earning under $100,000 per year often fear job obsolescence due to technology.

Only 21% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they trust their organization's leadership, a Gallup survey found.

Trust builds when employees feel inspired by senior leaders and see strategic actions driving business success.

Core values are crucial for building trust within an organization.

Leaders must consistently exemplify core values to maintain credibility and trust.

Authenticity is critical for a team's well-being and productivity.

Accepting people's biases is important for a safe and trust-filled work environment.

Leaders can foster engagement by facilitating open dialogue and offering unconditional support.

Respecting every opinion helps team members feel seen and heard.

Trust is built over time but can be lost in a moment.

Most board leaders consider trust critical to attracting and retaining top talent.

Most board leaders consider trust vital for customer loyalty.

Low trust slows down organizational processes, leading to low-quality outputs.

55% of organizations lack trust tracking, but nearly half plan to start within the next year.

The Leadership Trust Index (LTI) is a verified trust metric to measure organizational trust levels.

A 20% increase in an organization's LTI score can lead to a 15% drop in stress, 3% fewer sick days, 10% higher productivity, and 15% higher employee engagement.

Trustworthiness consists of ability, integrity, and benevolence.

Coaching, openness, evangelizing, and kindness can immediately improve an organization's LTI score.

Measuring trust helps organizations identify strengths and weaknesses to improve.

Organizations must build a digital trust strategy that meets their customers' expectations.

Digital trust is the expectation that digital technologies will protect stakeholders' interests and uphold societal values.

A trustworthy digital technology strategy should prioritize security, accountability, and ethical use.

Earning digital trust requires judgment calls, investments, and changes that reflect a technology's impact on individuals.

CEOs and Boards of Directors must define and act on a vision for digital trust.

A realistic vision for technology use determines an organization's digital trust investments.

Effective leaders are needed to create a clear vision, earn trust, and demonstrate compassion.

Effective leadership requires vision, trustworthiness, and compassion.

A clear vision is necessary to lead and motivate others.

Trustworthiness is a key component of leadership, demonstrated through intentions and competence.

Compassionate leadership involves understanding and appreciating others' perspectives, demonstrating empathy, caring, and kindness, especially in difficult times.

Trusted employees are more engaged, active, and productive.

Building trust with employees requires virtual leaders to be open and transparent.

Leaders should evaluate employees based on output, not hours worked.

Regular check-ins and virtual meetings help build trust and connection among team members.

Organizations can measure trust-building strategies with resistant supervisors using metrics like employee engagement rates.

Employees who view their leaders as authentic tend to be more committed, engaged, and satisfied.

Executives can use AI tools to build skills like communication style, impact, and body language.

Transparent communication requires clear messaging to explain decisions and changes.

Leaders can create a 'trust and authenticity' playbook by focusing on genuine interactions and transparent communication.

Measuring the ROI of leadership training is essential for justifying investments and driving improvement.

Organizations with strong leadership development and a positive ROI are more attractive to top talent.

Measuring the ROI of leadership training programs is challenging due to defining objectives.

Organizations can track metrics like employee engagement, turnover rates, and supervisor feedback to measure the effectiveness of trust-building strategies with tech-resistant supervisors.

U.S. employee trust in leadership has fallen to 21% from 24% in 2019.

Leaders need to communicate clearly, inspire confidence, and lead change to foster trust.

95% of workers trust their leaders when clear communication, confidence, and change leadership are present.

High employee engagement improves productivity, reduces turnover, and boosts revenue.

Low employee engagement costs the global economy an estimated $8.1 trillion per year.

Although 54% of organizations see productivity gains from hybrid work, only 22% track related metrics.

The C-suite should formulate metrics to evaluate a hybrid work model's success, rather than delegating to HR.

Internal metrics should be gathered before establishing a hybrid work policy.

Hybrid work success metrics should be evaluated quarterly.

The term "Luddite" refers to individuals opposed to new technology due to concerns about job security, privacy, and societal impact.

The term "Luddite" refers to individuals opposed to new technology due to concerns about job security, privacy, and societal impact.

Some people oppose new technologies due to concerns that automation and AI may replace human workers.

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Content: The Unabomber Hate Hoax

The hate crime hoax is an underappreciated genre of performance art. There have been well over a hundred in the past decade—from Muslims setting fire to their own mosques, to LGBTQ-types baking their own hate cakes, and the black actor Jussie Smollett duping the entire news media with his fake MAGA-hat beat down. Yet half the country pretends these hoaxes don’t exist.

Recently we saw what appears to be a new, anti-tech variation of this art form with the arrest of Jason Duhaime. On Sept. 13, the Northeastern University virtual reality lab director allegedly called in a fake bomb threat to police. Authorities shut down half the school while response teams investigated.

Had a disciple of Ted Kaczynski resumed the attack on industrial society? Not quite.

At the time, Duhaime told Boston police and federal agents a remarkably stupid story about an exploding hard-shell case—without even bothering to fake the explosion. He also provided a frantic letter, supposedly contained in the case, which called for the university’s virtual reality lab to be closed. Unsurprisingly, federal authorities found digital copies of the letter on Duhaime’s personal computer, leading to his arrest on Oct. 4.

In a stroke of demented genius, Duhaime allegedly combined that ruse with another underappreciated genre—the crazy uncle email. Typically forwarded from an anonymous source, it is marked by hysterical capitalization, amusing typos, and an apocalyptic sense of urgency. Duhaime’s apparently phony letter is a decent satire of this style.

“It has come to our attention that this VR lab is trying to change us as a world!” it read. “Trying to get us to live in a world that we only communicate through headsets and live in a called the METAVERSE! … You are trying to change the fabric of the ideology of a peoplee [sic].”

“You are not the creator!!!!!!!! You think you are!!!” it continues. “We know you are the anti-christ sent to this world to change everything!!! We will stop you!!!”

Maintaining this quirky literary form, the letter writer accused the lab director of colluding with “Mr. Mark Zuckerberg and the US government” to surveil the world, build robots, and treat the entire population as “human test subjects” in a twisted experiment. He charged this axis with plotting to “destroy US all AS A SOCIETY,” and warned that they had “2 months to take operations down or else!!!!!”

It’s possible that Duhaime actually received emails of this sort and just snapped. Or maybe, after 25 years as an IT guy, he really needed a day off. In any case, he’s now facing two federal charges, each carrying up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Why would a person do something like this? Perhaps to discredit genuine concerns about the dark reality described in the hoaxer’s letter. For instance, in 2016 Facebook hired former Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) director Regina Dugan—a vocal advocate of digital tattoos for kids and swallowable digital pills—to oversee their secretive operations at Building 8. DARPA is aptly known as the Pentagon’s brain.

Just last year, Facebook’s Project Steno funded the implantation of an advanced brain-computer interface (BCI) at the University of California, San Francisco. The implant allows a stroke victim to translate his thoughts into text onscreen. This study was used to advance Facebook’s own BCI ambitions. The team was led by Edward Chang, a DARPA-funded neuroscientist.

The Northeastern University operation that Duhaime oversaw is on a similar wavelength. According to the Experimental Technologies Lab webpage, their projects include “using modalities such as eye tracking and biometric tools for capturing user data including electrodermal activity, heart rate, EEG, and facial expression analysis.” In other words, digital surveillance is going under the skin.

The lab is also developing AR/VR (augmented and virtual reality) to propagandize issues like “climate change” and “social justice.” By using 3D sensory simulation to impose a synthetic model of the world onto a subject’s brain, virtual reality may be the most effective mind-control system yet devised. It’s basically TV plus LSD.

“Students are going through an experience teaching them about Islamophobia,” Duhaime wrote in an Instagram post. “We’ve had people crying. It becomes an emotional response because they’ve never had that sort of experience.” Imagine a distant future, circa 2025, where an entire generation is turned into left-wing droids by way of VR “education” technologies.

The threatening letter found at Northeastern University seemed to have been inspired by the real “Unabomber Manifesto”—properly titled Industrial Society and Its Futuregiven its anti-tech stance and signature capitalization. In his tract, the murderous Kaczynski put forward two legitimate insights which were unfortunately obscured by his actual mail-bomb campaign.

First, he argued technology is creating a digital cage that threatens all organic freedom on the planet. Second, the self-hatred, virtue-signaling, and repellent weakness exhibited by “leftists” is driving the acceptance of this digital cage.

“It is a mistake to argue for powerlessness and passivity, because people NEED power,” Kaczynski wrote. “Instead of arguing for powerlessness and passivity, one should argue that the power of the INDUSTRIAL SYSTEM should be broken, and that this will greatly INCREASE the power and freedom of INDIVIDUALS and SMALL GROUPS.” No one remembers this insight, though. They only remember the bombs.

Regardless of which identity group stages them, all hate hoaxes serve one purpose: to vilify “evil white conservatives” as the single greatest threat of our time. It is the genre’s defining feature. The caricature written into the bomb hoax letter is indistinguishable from the MAGA hat-wearing attackers described by Jussie Smollett. And because these hoaxes are never thoroughly debunked—and liberals need to believe in a white villain—these fictions are used to justify the digital panopticon being erected all around us.

This perpetual hate hoax hysteria is a form of virtual reality—illusions in a digital cage where powerless people can simulate a sense of control. Meanwhile, actual power accumulates in the hands of those who develop and deploy these technologies of surveillance and suppression.

Kaczynski warned about this reality. Duhaime’s alleged hoax was a poor attempt to make us forget it.

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Content: Technological solutionism — the idea that tech developers can be trusted to innovate or code our way out of problems, and into prosperity — is on its way out. Individuals’ trust in tech and the companies who develop it has been eroded by innumerable failures. For businesses, it’s no longer acceptable to use technology without taking steps to ensure it’s trustworthy.

Regular people — and, increasingly, legislators and regulators — have reasonably been made skeptical by recent transgressions against individuals’ privacy, calcification of corporate or individual biases into life-altering algorithms, constant threats that new tech erodes their ability to make a living, and beta testing unsecured or faulty connected devices or vehicles on an unsuspecting populace. Looking at the near future, with generative AI and virtual worlds being implemented faster than we can track, the trust problem is only getting worse.

More tech isn’t going to solve this problem. Customers are looking at the choices that company leaders make and assessing whether those choices match individual consumers and citizens’ values — and whether they put people first. And because every company uses some form of digital technology in its operations and relationships with customers and partners, every company needs to worry about digital trust. “Digital trust programs are a necessity, and when done right, can be both a differentiator and enabler for a business. As demands rise for companies to show they are trustworthy, organizations should strive to build a digital trust strategy that meets or exceeds their customers’ expectations, not just what’s legally required,” according to Vikram Rao, Salesforce’s Chief Trust Officer and a member of the World Economic Forum Digital Trust Steering Committee.

Some companies may look at the problem and hope they can buy or hire their way out of it. In some cases, a new role, like a Chief Trust Officer or Chief Digital Trust Officer may help. But before CEOs and boards rush into creating a c-suite role as a panacea, they need to take a hard look at what exactly trustworthy technology looks like in the 21st century, how companies earn digital trust, and what changes and investments they need to make to do that.

What makes technology trustworthy?

No technology is inherently trustworthy or untrustworthy. After all, technologies have no agency in themselves; instead, as a character in the Afrofuturist film Neptune Frost puts it, “technology is only a reflection of us.” Trust in technology is a reflection of the decisions people make when they develop the tech, use it, and implement it. While there are many ways to think about trust, when the World Economic Forum convened business, government, and civil society leaders in the field of trustworthy tech, the assembled group reached this consensus: “Digital trust is individuals’ expectation that digital technologies and services — and the organizations providing them — will protect all stakeholders’ interests and uphold societal expectations and values.”

In this work, the Forum’s Digital Trust Community realized that the most important question to ask with regard to technology is not “how do you get people to trust technology?” Rather it’s “what do we need to do — as technology developers, owners, and users — to respect people’s values and expectations?” With the right mindset and the right goals, it’s possible to develop an effective and trustworthy strategy for the use of digital technology. At its heart, such a trustworthy tech strategy comes from consideration for the individuals subjected to new technologies (regardless of the technology in question).

With respect for individual rights and expectations in mind, a trustworthy digital technology strategy should identify the right goals. The World Economic Forum’s digital trust community offered three broad sets of goals:

  • Security and Reliability
  • Accountability and Oversight, and
  • Inclusive, Ethical, and Responsible Use

As Julie Brill, Microsoft’s Chief Privacy Officer and a member of the Forum’s Digital Trust Steering Committee said at the time, “the goals of any developer of AI or other technologies should mirror the goals of the organizations and individuals who use or encounter that technology. Shared goals of inclusivity and responsible use, strong privacy and security protections, and effective oversight are the foundational elements to building a trustworthy relationship between developers, their customers, and individuals who use the technology.” Users and consumers can better rely on technologies that protect them, that include their needs and match their values, and that have good governance practices baked in, to remediate any inadvertent harms.

How do you invest in digital trust?

Earning digital trust isn’t simple, and it can’t be automated. Rather it requires a series of judgment calls, investments, and organizational changes that reflect the totality of a technology’s likely impact on individuals. These shifts, encompassing the whole business, can only be orchestrated by company leaders. As Keith Enright, Chief Privacy Officer at Google and Digital Trust Steering Committee member, said, “decisions companies are making now about preparedness determine where they will be down the line in terms of trust.”

Becoming prepared to start earning back trust requires CEOs and Boards of Directors to do at least three things:

  • Define a vision for digital trust
  • Plan to act in more trustworthy ways
  • Recruit people who will help earn trust

The first investment leaders need to make is to take the time and energy to truly understand the impact of the technologies they create or deploy. Developing a realistic and comprehensive vision for how an organization uses technology in service of its goals and those of the people who rely on it determines how an organization will invest in digital trust.

Leaders should approach decisions involving technology with a clear sense of how those technologies reflect and impact core organizational values and the values of the society in which the business operates. Their vision for creating or adopting new technologies must consider both the benefits to the business and society alongside a clear and responsible assessment of the potential harms new technologies might impose on potential customers or other stakeholders.

For example, a business adopting generative AI must assess how the technology might increase efficiencies (a benefit to the business), unlock new solutions to pressing challenges (a benefit to society) while also developing a plan to prevent expected harms, for example, to democratic processes from AI “hallucinations” or misinformation and to workers displaced by these advanced technologies. Only a vision that responsibly considers both the benefits and the risk of new technology can truly be considered trustworthy.

After deciding on a vision that includes trustworthy goals, organizations need a plan to act for digital trust. This plan requires leaders to invest in the internal structures and teams that best support digital trust. For all applications of digital technology, the Forum’s work identified eight dimensions where positive action can help achieve an organization’s goals — both trust goals and overall financial or strategic goals. Those dimensions are cybersecurity, safety, transparency, interoperability, auditability, redressability, fairness and privacy. (As with the Digital Trust Goals, these dimensions are defined and explored in the Forum’s Insight Report, Earning Digital Trust: Decision-making for Trustworthy Technologies.)

In most organizations, these areas likely fall to different departments and leaders, which means optimizing them requires an interdisciplinary approach — and possibly some structural change — in order to support the careful decision-making required to earn trust from users and other stakeholders. However, the realities of a given industry or company may mean it’s not possible to maximize every one of the dimensions described. For example, greater transparency may not be possible for companies who work in highly-sensitive industries (e.g., national security), so their accountability and security would have to supplement. Similarly, some dimensions of trustworthiness (perhaps most noticeably privacy) vary between jurisdictions and geographies. People’s expectations and values are the litmus test for what makes technology trustworthy. Trust, itself, may be highly region and industry specific.

The third big initial investment is in the people who can help the business earn digital trust. Making technology trustworthy is a multi-faceted effort conducted on an organizational (or societal) scale — which means that ultimate responsibility for trustworthiness falls to the CEO. This general duty of trustworthy technology decision-making doesn’t mean, however, that the business shouldn’t invest in recruiting experts (maybe even on the c-suite), who can help establish the right strategy, and the right structures, to support digital trust.

This leader, possibly a Chief Trust Officer — but just as likely to be the Chief Privacy Officer, General Counsel, CISO, or another executive — must be both an expert in stakeholder management and a trusted counselor to the CEO and the board. Stakeholder management comes into play where companies already have cybersecurity, privacy, compliance, and even ethics functions. The leads for each of those roles has a stake in the overall trustworthiness of the digital strategy of a company — in both building it and benefiting from it. In order to be a counselor on digital trust, this individual must also be able to think systemically — bridging between these disciplines in order to help leaders make the best judgement call on how, where, and toward what ends new technologies should be applied.

In order to be most effective, an officer responsible for digital trust can’t be an expert on every technology and every facet of trust, rather they have to be able to understand the strategy for the company and the values of affected individuals, workers, and customers. They support development of a trustworthy vision by conveying a system-wide picture of what the technology landscape looks like to CEOs and boards and helping build a strategy that supports trust rather than erodes it. They also help oversee the myriad and interdepending actions that, taken together, earn trust from users, partners, and other stakeholders.

CEOs must understand that trust in the technology that underlies and enables virtually every business can’t be bought, but by investing in the time it takes to make the right decisions, establish a trustworthy vision, and recruit effective supporters, it can be earned.

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Content: You will not miss us!
8,008 followers
Why robots will take your job, and what to do - panic or rejoice
Why robots will take away your profession.
Increasingly, you can hear about the challenges posed by automation and cybernization to existing professions today.
And we are talking not only about unmanned vehicles and chatbots replacing call center operators, but also about programs that can calculate bank loans and insurance rates, depriving analysts and, moreover, neural networks that claim to compete with highly qualified and creative employees.
Exemption from routine or danger of unemployment?
A cause for concern or long-awaited freedom?
History of the problem
Mechanisms of ancient times.
Competition has always existed – professions disappeared and arose, people fought for jobs with each other and with technology, philosophers and economists built forecasts and tried to predict the prospects and are still doing it.
For example, you can assess how much automation threatens your profession and how quickly robots will replace you by using Will Robots Take My Job.
Aristotle was the first to think about the possibility of transferring “work ” to machines.
In the first book of his Politics, he suggested that they could evolve to such an extent that the need for human labor would disappear.
For him, quite in line with the views of work at the time, as something distracting from participation in public life and personal development, this was an extremely optimistic forecast.
“Work ” in ancient Greece was considered to be the lot of the lower classes, and the mechanisms would only liberate slaves, considered nothing but“ machines of flesh and blood. ”
The reorientation of the economy to the export of wool led to the introduction of a policy of “enclosures ”.
The real competition of a sufficiently large mass of people technology for the first time was only more than a millennium and a half later in England.
At first, the reorientation of the economy to wool exports led to the introduction of a policy of “fencing ”, in which landlords expelled farmers from the fields in order to free the territory for sheep grazing, which led to the first massive surge of“ unemployment ” – albeit not in the current sense.
The then arising vagrancy and poverty contemporary of these events, the Chancellor of England and philosopher Thomas More described the famous "sheep ate people."
However, after a few decades it became clear that no – not eaten.
The former peasants were absorbed by the growing cities, where they found a new job in textile manufactures, processing the same wool obtained from shearing sheep.
This was the first example of how, by taking away one thing, “technology ” is able to offer something different.
But we must admit: the process of urbanization was painful, the work that replaced the cultivation of land turned out to be hard and dirty, the gap with the traditional way of life was very traumatic, and the population of England as a result of hunger and the fight against vagrancy, which was conducted, including the use of gallows, decreased, according to some estimates by 30% (to understand the scale - the Soviet Union during the Second World War lost "only" 15% of the population).
Workers in a textile factory, late 18th century.
The next episode of the confrontation between people and technology occurred a century later in the same field of light industry - the invention in 1785 by Edmund Cartwright of a mechanical loom increased labor productivity forty times.
Jobs that had just been lost were once again lost.
But again temporarily – after spinning machines, others appeared and all of them demanded new resources, and their extraction – new types of labor.
Manufactures were replaced by factories, and muscle strength by the power of steam obtained from coal.
Machine Destroyers
The Luddite movement.
This time, the changes that occurred were met with bayonets - there was a movement of Luddites.
Sabotage of work and direct action: attacks on factories and the destruction of machines caused a harsh reaction of the state, which sent troops to suppress the “army of Ned Ludd ”.
It is characteristic that no one at the top bothered to convey to the workers the idea that there will still be work for them, even if not the one to which they had time to get used.
The fact is that the “top ” themselves at that time did not think too much about how all this was arranged, and people were perceived as expendable material, while the inertia of consciousness of ordinary workers who had just recovered from the transition from the agrarian to the urban way of life was also very high.
The First Industrial Revolution at the beginning of the 18th century.
The theoretical basis for the interaction of technological innovations and the masses of labor began to be summed up only by economists and philosophers of the middle of the XIX century.
They were the first to suggest that the disappearance of certain types of work in the process of technological development entails the emergence of new ones, and “work ” as a whole is not something final, which may be“ not enough ”.
The First Industrial Revolution was in full swing and the optimism of its apologists only grew stronger over time.
By the end of the century, it seemed that progress would eliminate not only social problems and contradictions, but could also rid humanity of wars.
However, while some spoke of the "Luddite delusion", others spoke of the "enslavement of the masses" and the need to hand over to the "factory workers", predicting that as long as the instruments of production are in the hands of the big proprietors, their employees will remain disenfranchised, and the lack of social security will cause explosions of unemployment at any moment.
Second wave
The Second Industrial Revolution.
The word “unemployment ” came into being at that time.
The fact is that a peasant working in the fields or a craftsman who provides for the needs of himself and the small surrounding community could not face something like this - he himself formed his employment.
When the scheme of selling labor on a strict schedule became mass within the framework of fulfilling a strictly regulated set of duties, the challenge arose to lose such an opportunity.
The Second Industrial Revolution was on the way.
The basics of streaming production were laid at the end of the 19th century, and by the beginning of the 20th century, the combination of Ford ’ s marketing strategy (he invented that the car was not an attribute of the elites, but a mass need) and the conveyor he introduced led to new changes that went beyond factories and factories.
On January 18, 1886, the first car invented by Karl Benz was released.
It was the emergence of technology on the streets of cities that brought a new wave of competition.
Look at the photos of the streets of the beginning of the last century: here they are dammed with carts, among which a lonely clumsy car is trying to maneuver, but ten years later, the only horse frightened by the roar of engines and sobbing of klaxons is clutching to the sidewalks.
Here it will be important to note how unpredictable this jump became: “At the beginning of the 20th century, the French Academy warned about an environmental disaster, which inevitably should lead to the accumulation of horse manure associated with the development of horse-drawn transport in Paris, ” recalls, reasoning about the prediction of the future Stanislav Lem.
However, note: in those regions where human labor is cheaper, technology can not replace it, as we are shown, for example, rickshaws, until recently used their own muscle power and only with a sharp drop in the cost of small vehicles motorized.
A more modern example is “computer rickshaws ” – hundreds of thousands of low-skilled Chinese, hacked captchas all day, because their work costs less than the introduction of scripts.
Technological unemployment
The line of the American unemployed during the Great Depression.
In the 1930s, Maynard Keynes, who gave the world the theory of the “social state ”, from the attempts of which many economies have not recovered so far, introduced the term“ technological unemployment ” into mass circulation.
Since then, the debate about whether the introduction of new technological solutions and opportunities can create a long-term job crisis or whether everything is limited to repurposing, when obsolete professions are replaced by new ones, and it is enough for people to change or improve their skills.
Until the end of the last decade, most experts were inclined to believe that “technological unemployment ” is always a temporary phenomenon, leading to the renewal and improvement of the professionalism of workers.
Mechanical labor was replaced by physical labor, the operator - a profession more status and highly paid than the worker, the reduction of costs leads to the release of time - these are the main theses sounded then.
Pessimistic views remained largely the domain of marginals, such as Theodore Kaczynski, famous for his terrorist struggle against progress under the name of Unabomber and primitive philosophers.
Pessimism
The first full-fledged computer in the USSR BESM-1.
Cautious voices expressing doubts about the correctness of this approach sounded even then.
And if in one of his speeches in 1962, President Kennedy said that “if people are able to invent new machines that take away their jobs, even more so are able to invent new jobs, ” then two years later, a letter from scientists and activists concerned with the problem of technological unemployment, sent to his successor, Lyndon Johnson, stated that“ a revolution in cybernetics will create a separate nation of poor, unskilled unemployed. ”.
Theorists disputed the impossibility of long-term unemployment, as did Martin Ford in the book “Light in the Tunnel: Automation, Acceleration of Technology and the Economy of the Future ” or Marshall Brains in“ Robotic Nation ”.
Gasne-Peter Martin and Harald Schumann, in their Global Trap, describe a society in which the labor of twenty percent of the population is enough for the world economy to continue to develop.
There are those who see it as a threat and a danger, like Paul Krugmann in his article “Sympathy for the Luddites ” or Frey and Osborne in“ The Future of Work. ”
In addition, in practice, it turned out that technology is not so freeing up time – for example, representatives of professions requiring high qualifications, at least in the United States today work more than 30 years ago, and technologies that provide remote access to working tools allow them not to break away from professional tasks and in their “free time ”.
It is also important that new jobs, as it was noticed at the beginning of the XXI century, are created not so much by technology as by the change in the way of life that they entail.
So in the mid-2010s, nine out of ten working people are employed in professions that did not exist a century earlier, but only 5% of the jobs that appeared from 1993 to 2013 are in high-tech areas, such as IT or telecom.
However, the question is whether this does not mean that indirectly they still arise due to technologies that provide an opportunity for development for the service sector.
Is it bad?
A shot from the film "I, Robot" (2004).
Harvard economics professor Lawrence Summers, who previously served as U.S. Treasury Secretary, said in 2014 that he no longer believes that automation will always create new jobs and that it is not some hypothetical possibility in the future; it is something that is emerging now.
In his opinion, the changes will be very global and will lead to mass unemployment not only among low-skilled employees, but also for “blue ” and“ white ” collar workers, because “there are many reasons to think that the software revolution will be even more significant than the agrarian one. ”
The robot prepares food.
However, this is what allows us to look to the future with optimism.
Summers ’ s thought of the meaning of the digital revolution echoes the position of futurologist Alvin Toffler.
As early as 1970, in his book Future Shock, he wrote that by comparing the Digital Revolution with the Industrial Revolution, we downplay its significance and it would be more correct to draw a parallel with the exit of mankind from caves and the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and cattle breeding.
Potentially, this means that humanity is on the verge of an unprecedented, unknown written history civilizational leap of colossal proportions.
And, due to the fact that the speed of changes in the world has increased many times and now, the fact that in the case of the end of the Stone Age, took millennia, is being carried out in front of one, a maximum of a couple or three generations, this breakthrough, of course, will be painful.
However, having reviewed the usual way of life, the attitude to it and their values, will not humanity be able to break through to the conditions of life, previously even unimaginable.
"Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991).
We are easily accustomed to such changes in “work ” as freelancing and remote work, quite calmly came to a repeated change of professions, instead of a continuous, decades-long“ career ” and even were able to include them in your life, saying that this is the way to find yourself.
So is it not time to begin to accustom ourselves to the idea that, as economic historian Robert Skidelsky said, “Sooner or later we will run out of work ”?
After all, freelancing and remote employment are about freedom, about leaving the “office slavery ” and searching for the way of life that is convenient for us.
Yes, to get used to the idea that the traditional “work ” is over and now we will have to independently invent what to occupy ourselves will not be easy.
It will require responsibility, but it is freedom.
Isn ’ t it time for us, joyfully exclaiming “Glory to the robots! ”, to go in search of our place in the new world?
Why robots will take away your profession.
The fact that it is not only about robots, but also about the “work ” itself and the possibility of life without it, about the risks associated with negative scenarios of confrontation between people and machines and the possibilities of overcoming them, we will talk in the next parts of the cycle.
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Empowering A New Class Of Agency Creatives

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Amber is the Co-Founder & CEO of Invisible North.

For leaders of creative agencies, the heartbeat of our success resides in our people and their ideas. Creating a balanced agency ecosystem demands that the team feels valued, supported and heard, equipped not only with the tools for their craft but also the empowerment to experiment, push boundaries and boldly innovate.

Today, a major shift is underway, marked by the integration of emerging technologies like AI and thus a fear of job security with automation. And with it, there is a persistent undercurrent—the sense among many creatives that their work is being undervalued.

As leaders steering through this transformative journey, we recognize that these new tools and processes, though intimidating, harbor the potential to spark increased creativity when truly understood and approached with intentionality. Over the years, I’ve uncovered a few tried-and-true methods to help empower teams to utilize these new tools, experiment and enhance their craft amid our evolving industry.

Create Safe Spaces

Agency leaders play a pivotal role in shaping the company narrative for their teams and uplifting them from within. It begins with fostering an environment for open communication in which team members are comfortable expressing their concerns, ideas and opinions, especially at a time when many have mixed feelings about bringing AI into the workplace.

To truly empower our communities, we must acknowledge these emotions and encourage a workplace where they can feel valued and motivated. In doing so, their best work can come to life.

We have a strong culture in our agency of show-and-tell, inspiration trips/research and challenges. If there are areas that team members want to learn about, we find time to dig into research, insights and workshops with best-in-class partners so that we can enhance collective brain trust and overcome the fear of unknown barriers to comfort and flow.

Champion Wins

In a creative field where individual expression and innovation are highly valued, it’s crucial for leaders to create an environment that fosters personal inspiration. Getting results from soup to nuts on a project is not an easy feat—so much goes into it across departments. Oftentimes, we move from one project to the next and forget to stop and celebrate the wins or embrace the learnings. By acknowledging the diverse efforts it took to bring the campaign to life, along with any new tools or methods used, you’re reinforcing the efforts needed to create success.

We use our monthly companywide newsletters, quarterly town halls and biannual all-team meetings to share individual, team and project accolades alongside other agency updates.

Embrace Change

The introduction of new technologies in any space often triggers a fear of the unknown. Teams should view these changes as catalysts rather than inhibitors. Through thoughtful integration strategies, leaders can help harness emerging technologies to enrich the creative process rather than impede it.

We’ve seen time and time again that when you curate a supportive environment to freely experiment, magic happens. It is imperative to encourage teams to explore with new tools and also hold space to share their discoveries. That’s where the real learning begins. It’s also essential to tackle any concerns or anxieties team members may have, leading with transparent communication throughout.

Foster Community

Emerging technologies will inevitably shape the way agencies and creatives approach their craft, ultimately opening new doors for how we tell stories, create experiences and personalize content. No matter the changes, the thing that must remain constant is continuing to prioritize the people who truly make the work special.

As the heartbeat of the creative process, we must protect our community above all else—recognizing their anxieties, celebrating their experimentations, championing their well-being and helping them navigate this new frontier. So, as we embrace a new year, let’s carry these principles forward into 2024—a commitment to cultivating a community that not only adapts to change but propels it. Let’s create a legacy of inspired, valued and empowered creative professionals.

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Why workers see downsides to AI

2 hours ago

Many organisations have great intentions to deploy AI for productivity but fail to adequately train workers.

A trio of recent surveys from Ireland, the UK and the US suggest that workers are still trying to wrap their heads around AI. Attitudes range from suspicious to overwhelmingly positive – but it’s fair to say that most respondents were on the fence.

Irish recruitment firm Prosperity Recruitment’s 2024 employment and salary report featured a survey of 400 Irish professionals. More than half (57pc) said they use tools like ChatGPT daily or weekly. Only 15pc claimed they never used it.

Mixed views

Of those that do use AI, a slim majority (51.6pc) believe it aids productivity, while the remainder are unconvinced or think of the tech as a “distraction”.

When asked what they think the main risks of AI in the workplace are, the majority said inaccuracy, plagiarism and deepfakes. Speed and productivity were seen as the biggest benefits that AI can offer workers.

The small sample size weakens the findings somewhat, but Prosperity Recruitment did gather testimonials from workers from different industries on how they believe their work is being impacted by AI. Interestingly, attitudes varied depending on the sector the respondent worked in. An educator said the tech “undermines the importance of institutional education and academic achievement”.

One UX and UI designer said they were much faster at doing data analysis, whereas another pointed out that creativity is being replaced by homogeneity due to AI.

Software developers, customer support specialists and digital marketers tended to be enthusiastic about AI’s productivity and speed advantages. One even proclaimed: “One developer can do the job of three.”

That loaded statement is the reason many other workers are so vehemently anti-AI. They worry they are going to be replaced by automation. Of the 400 people who were surveyed by Prosperity, the majority said they think their jobs will evolve but will not be lost entirely due to AI.

Not just job jitters

This sentiment was not shared by the majority of people surveyed by Pluralsight. The tech company polled 1,200 executives and IT professionals from across the UK and the US as part of its AI Skills Report 2024. The findings revealed AI anxiety, especially over adoption processes and skills gaps. As many as 81pc of respondents felt they could integrate AI into their roles right now, only 12pc actually have any practical experience using the tech.

While 87pc said they planned to increase AI spending over the next 12 months, only 40pc said their organisations have any proper formal training strategies in place to help them benefit.

“Even as organisations accelerate AI adoption, the majority don’t understand what, if any, AI skills their employees possess or have an upskilling strategy to develop them,” said the report’s authors.

Like the respondents to Prosperity’s survey, the majority of those Pluralsight polled said the main benefit of AI is productivity – but this is only pie in the sky if organisations aren’t training workers adequately. It may also be a contributing factor to workers’ anxieties around AI ‘stealing their jobs’ – not a concern to be trifled with. Pluralsight previously did a study on AI anxiety and the types of workers affected; most experiencing worries and doubts over the tech are minorities or working on high-conflict teams.

No blues for blue collar workers

Attitudes to AI tend to be less radical in the blue collar sector. The Knowledge Academy, a UK-based training and coaching company, asked 2,000 UK students whether they thought AI advancements would put jobs at risk. Less than a quarter said they were worried about job security due to automation.

Of that minority, around a fifth fear AI because they believe it will replace manual jobs, such as data entry or assembly-line work. Like Prosperity’s survey, The Knowledge Academy also broke down attitudes towards AI based on sector. It found that 100pc of students seeking work in the mining, energy and water supply, agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors are unconcerned about AI.

Those seeking careers in education, information and communication, public admin and social security felt the most threatened by AI.

Last week, we spoke to two experienced tech workers about the main risks and rewards of working in AI and analytics. Their views on the tech’s positives and negatives were balanced and well worth a read.

Find out how emerging tech trends are transforming tomorrow with our new podcast, Future Human: The Series. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

By Blathnaid O’Dea

Blathnaid O’Dea joined Silicon Republic in 2021 as Careers reporter, coming from a background in the Humanities. She likes people, pranking, pictures of puffins – and apparently alliteration.

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6 Strategies To Alleviate Employees’ Fears Of AI In 2024

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The rise in AI has caused a mixture of excitement and fear as it becomes a standard part of our lives. Some say it’s a risk to civilization as we know it, while others insist it will transform the way we work, live and interact with one another. The part that is not debatable is that not only is AI not going away, it’s on the upswing. You can get that tattooed. So it’s important to develop a reasonable comfort around its use.

Is AI Coming For You Or To You?

One way to do that is to consider that AI is coming to you, not for you. The stigma and fear around the technology has caused some employees to shy away from a tool that can enhance productivity and certain mental health benefits like cognitive re-framing for anxiety. On the flip side, studies also show that workers who frequently use AI are at higher risk for burnout.

However, the opposite findings are reported in a new global survey from Sage. Out of over 1,000 HR leaders, 95% have experienced a workload increase over the last year, and 91% noted an increase in their responsibilities. Yet, instead of fearing AI usage, 77% of the respondents cite AI as having the potential to revolutionize their work processes by reducing time-consuming tasks and ultimately easing burnout.

Taylor Blake, senior vice president of new initiatives at Degreed, told me by email that there’s a lot of fear about AI, but avoiding the technology won’t make the risks go away. He explains that employees need to know what the AI tools are capable of, and they need to be experimenting. He also said that many companies want their employees to adopt this technology, adding that many workers are left wondering if AI will take their jobs in the next two years and what this means for their careers.

How Companies Can Help Assuage AI Fears

Mismanaged fear is responsible for most poor communication in organizations. It’s important that business leaders consider the psychological safety of their employees and how their mental health impacts the company’s bottom line.

The human mind is like Velcro for negativity and Teflon for positivity. Work-life’s inevitable uncertainties instantly arouse our fight-or-flight reaction. Our survival brain is constantly updating our world, making judgments about what's safe and what isn't. It will do almost anything for the sake of certainty because we’re hardwired to overestimate threats and underestimate your ability to handle them. Here is where business leaders can step in and offer a helping hand, according to the experts.

“Some companies are going all in on AI, wanting their employees to start adopting this technology, leaving employees wondering if AI will take their jobs in two years and what this means for their careers,” Blake says, adding that in this new reality, companies should be helping their employees navigate where they can best apply their skills and develop new ones simultaneously. “Many of us have the mindset that learning is something we do early in our careers, but we need to shift that to a mindset of being lifelong learners. Learning is the new competitive advantage in today’s AI-powered job market.”

According to Rick Hammell, founder and CEO of Helios, leaders play a crucial role in alleviating employees' fears of AI. He shared with me six strategies companies can implement to mitigate fear and misunderstanding

  1. Providing comprehensive education and training programs. By offering employees a deeper understanding of AI technologies, their benefits and limitations, Hammell suggests that leaders can demystify AI and address misconceptions that often fuel fear and uncertainty.
  2. Fostering open communication within the organization. Hammell believes that creating a culture where employees feel comfortable expressing their concerns about AI allows leaders to actively listen to these fears and address them with empathy and clarity.
  3. Emphasizing the concept of human-machine collaboration. Hammell advocates highlighting how AI can complement and enhance employees' skills and productivity rather than replace them. He insists that this will enable leaders to help employees see AI as a tool that can improve their work experiences.
  4. Establishing clear ethical guidelines and policies for the use of AI in the workplace. Hammell sees this as crucial in addressing common fears related to AI. He acknowledges that employees often worry about job loss, privacy concerns, skill obsolescence, bias and discrimination and a lack of control when it comes to AI. To assuage these fears, he advises that leaders reassure employees about job security by emphasizing that AI is meant to augment their work, not replace it entirely.
  5. Implementing robust data protection measures and transparent data handling practices can help address privacy concerns. Hammell recommends offering upskilling and reskilling programs to help employees adapt to the changing skill requirements in the age of AI to alleviate fears related to skill obsolescence.
  6. Promoting diversity and inclusion in AI development and deployment. Hammell argues that it is essential to address concerns about bias and discrimination. “By involving employees in the design and implementation of AI systems and providing opportunities for feedback, leaders can empower employees and help them feel more in control of AI processes,” he concludes.

A Final Wrap-Up

Companies are developing technology to help people feel more confident with the inevitable technology. A study by Genesys, for example, finds a consensus among most employees who say they don’t fear AI replacing their jobs. Only 10% of GenZ/millennials and seven percent of GenX/boomers worry about this in the long run. Instead, 23% of GenZ/millennials and 19% of GenX/boomers see its potential to make their jobs better. The study concluded that organizations should seize this opportunity to educate and train their employees on AI’s benefits.

Bill Salak, the CTO and COO of Brainly, is on a mission to ensure the country’s future workforce is well-educated and ready to wield AI properly. His company has validated its commitment to the future workforce with the launch of Test Prep, an AI-driven tool that builds good time management skills and bolsters their overall understanding of AI use. The new Brainly feature uses AI to generate personalized study experiences—boosting confidence and reducing anxiety.

The conflicting findings that are emerging around AI reflects our human inability to accept uncertainty. It shows that some workers have fear; others have appreciation, which raises the question, “Is AI a sword or a shield?” Too much or too little of anything can be harmful. In the final analysis, it’s how corporate America uses the technology to improve humanity that ultimately matters.

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Content: 1. “A rising number of American workers fear technology will make their jobs obsolete in the near future,” Axios reported Thursday, Sept. 14. A total of 22% of U.S. workers feel that way, according to the latest Gallup poll. That is up from the 15% of workers with those feelings in 2021. “The jump is being driven ‘almost entirely’ by college-educated workers.”

2. Fear of becoming obsolete (FOBO) is gaining more recognition in the work environment. According to the poll, younger workers aged 18-34 are more concerned than their older counterparts that technology like artificial intelligence will make their jobs obsolete. The fear also is commonly felt by workers who make less than $100,000 per year.

Others may resist new technologies due to a lack of understanding or fear of change, leading to wasted time and resources.

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The Right Way To Evaluate A Technology Solution For Your Organization

Founder and CEO at Ludi, Inc., a healthcare technology company making it easy for hospitals to pay physicians.

Selecting a new technology for your company can be daunting. Organizations usually begin this process with a desire to either streamline or solve specific pain points. Regardless of your specific needs, implementing new technology will involve change. For your organization as an entity, change can be great. Change can reduce inefficiencies and errors, as well as usher in new opportunities. But for the people who work for your organization, change can trigger anxiety and ultimately resistance to the new technology. Here are six things to keep in mind when evaluating new technology:

1. Identify your problem. It sounds simple, but many organizations jump straight to the solutions they find appealing. If you focus on the true problem you’re trying to solve, you will stay goal-oriented while searching for a vendor.

2. Keep an open mind. You may have seen a solution you find appealing, but remember that you don’t know what you don’t know. The technology partner you choose should be an expert in the field and may offer you products that you didn’t even know existed. Stay open to new ideas and solutions. One of the things I’ve noticed is prospective clients saying, “We can’t buy this product unless it handles this exact case we’re trying to solve for.” That’s not always the most effective approach because it doesn’t take all the variables into consideration. For example, my company works with hospitals to streamline complex physician payment structures. The hospital may have had the doctor recording their time one way because they were using a paper system and approvals needed to be checked in a certain manner for that doctor to get paid. Once you eliminate paper, though, in that particular scenario, everything is up for discussion – not just the way doctors record their time, but the entire physician payment process at the hospital. Rigidity will not benefit you when evaluating new technology.

3. Get your people on the same page. Meet with department heads to pull together all the pain points that need to be solved. You must be comprehensive during your internal review because needs come out differently across different departments. You may not be able to solve everyone’s problem with the new technology, but it’s important to align your team before you bring in a vendor. Then prioritize your needs. Once your departments agree on the priorities, be clear with your team on who is making the final decision. Departmental input is important, but knowing who the purchaser is within your organization is equally important. Remember: Don’t lose sight of why you're buying this technology. Keep the ultimate purpose in mind.

4. Consider internal change management. Change is difficult for many of us, so it’s important to stop and consider the people who will be affected by this change. Resistance to change can originate from any of the following: loss of control, insecurities about competence, feeling defensive about past work, concern about more work and general uncertainty. Be proactive in preparing your staff for a change, because all of these responses tend to have a ripple effect in corporate cultures.

5. Focus on the future. If you’ve ever bought a house, you know that there are things you didn’t know you needed until you lived with your investment for a few years. Technology is no different. You may have a list of goals for your business, but there is no telling what you’ll need 10 years from now. The best technology partner will be flexible enough to support your organization as it grows. How can you find a partner with this type of future-focused outlook? See point number two.

6. Listen and be patient. The people delivering technology solutions in the market are experts and can offer you insights into the industry. I suggest finding a solution that can handle 90% of what you need out of the box. Work with your solution provider and try their out-of-the-box solutions for 90 days before you decide what you need next. Make sure the product you choose is flexible enough to grow with your business, but resist over-customizing the product because that can back you into a corner.

Technology solutions truly can help you streamline and standardize your business. Time spent organizing what problem you are trying to solve will make the search much more efficient. While there may not be a solution out there that does everything you hope to accomplish, keep an open mind and you'll find a solution that's right for your specific needs.

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A new report from Slack reveals that companies worldwide are not taking full advantage of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and automation that could unlock new levels of employee productivity. Based on responses from more than 18,000 desk workers globally, the Slack State of Work report found that only 23% of companies invest in technology to improve productivity, and only 27% use AI tools to achieve this goal.

According to the study, many organizations still operate with outdated work practices, tools, and approaches that prevent employees from reaching their full potential.

“Many companies are stuck in old ways of thinking about productivity,” Christina Janzer, SVP at Slack research and analytics, told VentureBeat. “Part of the confusion comes from a growing schism between leaders and teams over how to properly define and measure productivity in today’s environment. Organizations need to take a more holistic approach, and that includes enabling employees to experiment with tools and technology to drive better results.”

The report aims to highlight three trends that are shaping the modern workplace and driving employee productivity: the underutilization of new technologies such as AI and automation, the transformation of office work and design in the era of hybrid work, and the direct influence of employee engagement and talent development on productivity.

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Slack found that companies that have embraced AI are 90% more likely to report increased productivity levels than those that have not. In addition, the majority of employees surveyed (77%) believe that automating routine tasks, such as obtaining expense report approvals, would enhance their productivity.

Despite this potential, 60% of employees report that their company has not implemented AI tools to support their productivity, and 43% say that their team has not adopted any means of automation to make their work processes more efficient or easier.

“We’re just beginning to tap into the potential of AI at work,” said Janzer. “However, our survey shows a majority of employees are interested in testing it out. Fifty-three percent of workers said using generative AI would improve their productivity, even though most aren’t currently using it at work.”

The worldwide survey was conducted as part of a collaborative effort between experience management platform Qualtrics and Salesforce’s Slack from February 24 to March 21, 2023. The sample size comprised 18,149 individuals from various industries including both desk workers and executives from regions including the U.S. (3,115), Australia (2,034), France (2,039), Germany (2,032), the UK (2,027), India (2,039), Singapore (1,341), Japan (1,658) and South Korea (1,864).

The essence of AI and automation for streamlining productivity

Janzer highlighted that most respondents (77%) acknowledge the benefits of automating repetitive tasks in enhancing productivity. However, the study shows that only 45% of teams have implemented automation to simplify or optimize their work processes.

“That’s a mismatch, and it could cost companies that don’t move quickly to catch up,” she said.

The survey findings indicate that several companies still depend on antiquated methods to enhance productivity and monitor employee performance. Employees spend approximately 32% of their time on tasks that do not align with company objectives.

“Companies like Stack Overflow look at a blend of inputs and outputs to measure their progress,” said Janzer. “Because, regardless of how much performative work you eliminate, most of us can think of some repetitive work that we do that isn’t valuable but has to be done in our jobs. That’s where AI and automation become extremely valuable.”

Missed productivity gains

Janzer explained that numerous organizations neglect the potential of utilizing AI and automation to optimize and simplify tedious tasks, leading to missed productivity gains. This is significant, as desk workers who have implemented automation report saving up to one month of work per year.

“Companies like LG AI Research in Seoul are using generative AI to improve knowledge workers’ efficiency by automating repetitive tasks, providing insights and recommendations for decision-making, and enabling better collaboration so that their employees can focus on tasks that require human intelligence and creativity,” Janzer added. “We’re learning more about the potential benefits of these tools every day. So, companies who may not have jumped on board yet will want to catch up fast to keep up.”

Slack cited the success of music platform Spotify’s advertising team, which utilized automated workflows to bolster collaboration across account teams. This initiative resulted in a 40% increase in productivity by mitigating the need for frequent meetings and reducing email traffic.

Janzer emphasized that it is crucial to prioritize trust and safety when utilizing AI or any other work tool as we continue to uncover the benefits of these technologies. To support the responsible use of AI among customers Salesforce has developed a strong focus on building tools that prioritize accuracy, safety, honesty, empowerment and sustainability.

Moreover, Janzer said that Salesforce has established an office of ethical and humane use to address inquiries and apprehensions about the use of technologies, AI included.

Effective ways to enhance workplace collaboration

The study shows that one-third of executives track metrics like work hours and email communication, which only 15% of employees perceive as helpful in improving productivity.

“There’s much more to productivity than inputs alone,” said Janzer. “It’s key to build a culture that measures performance based on results instead of solely tracking inputs like hours worked or emails sent.”

The report also emphasizes the significance of enabling effective hybrid work by providing employees with innovative means to collaborate and communicate. According to the survey, employees require a flexible work schedule (52%), a distinct workspace with more meeting rooms and quiet areas (32%) and superior technology to collaborate from any location (80%) to boost productivity.

However, only 21% of executives are modifying the physical office to enhance productivity, and merely 19% encourage asynchronous work, which assists in reducing meeting times.

The post-pandemic office role

The role of the office has shifted in the post-pandemic world, said Janzer. In the past, the office was the primary location for all work, but now, employees primarily want to use the space to collaborate.

“The crucial factor is to create workplace policies with purposeful intent,” she added. “That includes defining core collaboration hours, a block of time when teammates are expected to be available for meetings and real-time responses, as well as time when people have more flexibility to work in a way that’s best for them — whether that’s stepping away from their computer to whiteboard, or doing heads-down focus work.”

Janzer mentioned that integrating apps directly into Slack can help teams reduce context switching and complete all their work in a single tool, regardless of their location. Additionally, Slack’s upcoming generative AI feature SlackGPT will allow employees to summarize conversations and huddles, making catching up on unread messages received during working hours easier, especially for distributed teams.

The importance of mental well-being for productivity

Another intriguing finding from the survey was that job satisfaction, engagement and mental wellness are top factors that contribute to productivity.

As a result, Salesforce recommends that leaders should focus on both productivity and wellness to achieve optimal results and believes that incorporating AI and automation tools can be a critical component in attaining this goal.

“Transparent, two-way conversations between leaders and employees help companies understand how people feel about their work and workload and whether they have the proper environment to thrive, said Janzer. “Setting employees up for success includes creating clarity around expectations, setting up a time for focus work, and adopting the right tools and technology. So, do not overlook the importance of motivating teams to create a healthy and productive environment.”

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Three Change Management Priorities For Seamless GenAI Deployment

President & CTO at ContractPodAi.

There is no question that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as a powerful, transformative force in today’s business. In its 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, PwC looked at how GenAI would significantly change how organizations operate. They concluded the technology is "approaching a critical juncture, seemingly poised to transform business models, redefine work processes and overhaul entire industries."

In the next year, more than 50% of CEOs surveyed said they expect GenAI to "enhance their ability to build trust with stakeholders," while roughly 60% expect it to "improve product or service quality." Within the next three years, nearly 70% also anticipate that GenAI will "increase competition, drive changes to their business models and require new skills from their workforce." The lasting business impacts that CEOs expect from the technology include boosted efficiency and increased time-to-revenue.

Generative AI comes with a low barrier to entry, empowering organizations to start small and grow their usage of this technology over time. Because of this, I recommend starting with a particular use case and scaling it to the greater organization from there. The secret to the scaling process is for senior leaders to keep a close pulse on their change management efforts. After all, if your organization does not have a smooth adoption and implementation process and is neither aligned nor trained sufficiently around new technology, you'll likely fall short of reaping the full ROI from your digital investment moving forward.

Here are three change management strategies to keep in mind if you’re planning to embrace GenAI in your organization.

Taking A Phased Adoption Approach

Integrating AI into the day-to-day work of the organization necessitates a simple and seamless adoption process. To foster this digital transformation, senior leaders should consider a phased approach that sees AI deployed gradually and refine processes as needed. This gives employees time to familiarize themselves with the technology to maximize its benefits and minimize its disruption to the business.

Additionally, they can build a digital infrastructure characterized by robust digital resources, dedicated support teams and user feedback loops. All of this goes a long way in preventing the problems that typically arise in the adoption process.

Fostering A Culture Of Trust

Another change management strategy is mitigating organizational resistance around AI. This is achieved through clear and direct communication about the business objectives and expected outcomes of AI adoption, and an open discussion about the collaborative partnerships that can form between employees and the technology.

Transparency is key here. On top of establishing these lines of communication, senior leaders should ensure that AI solutions are designed with security, transparency and accountability measures in place. It’s also important for employees and customers to be assured that their data privacy will continue to be top of mind as the technology becomes further scaled to be used within day-to-day workstreams. Be sure to communicate that protocols and guidelines will evolve in the spirit of fostering an ethical and socially responsible AI culture. All of this translates to more support and buy-in across the enterprise.

Redesigning Career Paths And Skills

The advent of GenAI does not have to mean the disruption of traditional job roles but rather a redesign of professional skills and career paths. As AI is gradually integrated into everyday operations, employees should be taught new skills, allowing them to leverage the technology to its fullest.

Some examples of this include advanced training in applied AI, machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP). As AI scales to take on both repetitive and complex tasks, organizations should concentrate on bolstering employees' built-in business instincts and reinforcing their natural human skills. This involves nurturing areas such as business creativity along with strategic and critical analytical abilities and enhancing emotional intelligence within the workplace. This effort should be coupled with a special focus on fostering employees' continuous improvement.

At the end of the day, having a successful digital transformation journey calls for prioritizing the change management strategies mentioned above and exploring other best practices.

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America’s Innovation Readiness Is Not Ready

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Every so often, a report or survey appears that challenges our beliefs about how the world works. Boston Consulting Group’s [BCG], new report, Innovation Systems Need A Reboot, a survey of how corporate leadership thinks about innovation, and how ready these organizations are to deliver on their innovation intentions, does just this. Can we imagine that in the twenty-first century, that there are still corporations where innovation has not achieved a reliably important position in the executive mindset? Sounds incredible, doesn’t it, but this is exactly what BCG’s survey is telling us. This is alarming for all of us who take corporate innovativeness for granted, but it also demands that we re-examine many of the instinctive assumptions we hold regarding how executives think, and act, regarding their strategic priorities.

One finding, alone, is staggering; not only is America’s “innovation readiness,” not ready, but the way in which innovation executives think, globally, about innovation as a corporate strategic asset is frightening. BCG’s survey, the eighteenth annual survey it has conducted on leading innovative practices, which calls upon the insights and opinons of one thousand and three senior innovation executives, from around the world, opens with the sobering recognition that: “Companies have never placed a higher priority on innovation—yet they have never been as unready to deliver on their innovation aspirations.”

The problem lies not so much with the hardware, as it does with the software; the social-side of innovation. Fascinated, as we may be, by the bling of new technology, it is a failure to adjust skills and talent, organizational processes and leadership that creates most of the disconnect between ideation and delivery. The result is that, in an era of tumultuous change, we are not prepared; and as Louis Pasteur, an innovator who changed the fortunes of our species, pointed out, “chance favors only the prepared mind.” Not being prepared extracts a high-price; and puts us all at risk.

Several findings of the BCG report merit further attention:

  • We are not witnessing a decline of appreciation in innovation. Among the firms surveyed, “innovation prioritization” is actually up — “a record 83% of companies rank innovation as a top-three priority” — and, we are also told that eighty-one percent of North American firms share this ranking, which represents an eleven percent increase in prioritization of innovation among them, compared to the year before. Consider, however, that this also means that, in 2023, just a year ago, a year when AI was emerging as an powerful exogenous force to be dealt with, when climate change should have been on every corporate mind, when the Internet of Things was already bringing ubiquitous connectivity to everyone, everywhere; only seventy-three percent of the North American firms considered innovation to be a top-three priority. What else could have been more important? What were these people thinking? Meanwhile, ninety-two percent of Chinese firms had innovation included as a top-three priority.
  • The study’s authors interpreted the increased prioritization of innovation as possibly indicating the emergence of longer-term strategic perspectives, replacing the survival choices that had been necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic; yet seventy percent of those reporting noted that their innovation activities were actually seeing a renewed emphasis on efficiency, and more short-term projects; and only thirty-six percent of those surveyed felt that their strategies needed refreshing. All of this is disappointing from a long-term innovation readiness perspective. All too often, efficiency is a pernicious enemy of real innovation, and satisfaction with the future serves to dampen enthusiasm for the future; exploitation trumps exploration.
  • Despite professing a belief in the power and promise of corporate innovation, a large majority of the respondents admitted that they were not adequately prepared for future innovation. When considering why such unpreparedness was characterizing their organizations, the bulk of their concerns focus on internal factors, such as: internal corporate strategic confusion, availability of funding, talent pool constraints, risk-averse cultures, and siloed innovation, etc.; all of which are inward-facing considerations. At a time when “outside-in” is the preferred orientation of forward-facing strategic thinkers, these C-suiters are decidedly “inside-out.” Inside-out is a dangerous orientation when most of the real action requiring strategic response is taking place outside of the firm, no matter which firm, industry or geography we are speaking about.
  • There is also the sense that when the respondents think “innovation,” they appear to be thinking, solely, “technology.” As a result, only sixty-seven percent of the labor-intensive, and customer experience-sensitive, wholesale and retail firms surveyed, saw innovation as a top-three priority, with no indication that business model innovation, or customer-journey value-propositions, were recognized as innovation in such organizations.

The readiness of organizations to innovate, and to successfully take those innovations to the marketplace, relies upon a rich web of people-based interactions: big dreams receiving more attention than small ones; teams that are fit and eager to explore new realities; decision-makers who are up to making big calls; value-chain and ecosystem partners who buy-into innovation and add their ideas into the mix; universities educating a new generation of leaders who are will flourish in complex and multidisciplinary environments. These very human webs reflect organizations that are prepared for future challenges; that are not hostages to legacy thinking or momentary market success; and leaders who can take organizations to market positions which were formerly considered unattainable. One expects that few of these capabilities would be seen in the sample surveyed here.

Coincidentally, with the writing of this piece, a young strategy consultant friend of mine was admitting his surprise, in the field, on “ how the word "innovation" is a double-edged sword for organizations: while some love it, others fear it, as if it will kill them...” This could be what we are seeing with the firms in this survey; a strong public affirmation for being innovative, while at the same time a reluctance to do anything remotely risky. This is a form of what Steve Blank has termed “innovation theatre,” where there is a lot of activity undertaken, but not much progress in fundamental product or process change. In most instances, innovation theatre ends badly.

Besides revealing the peril that corporate organizations face by not being ready, BCG also offers several corporate examples of organizations who they feel are increasing their innovation readiness: Tata Group, for the way it links strategy, from the top, with innovation decisions at the business unit level; Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, for their sustained focus and persistent commitment to specific market opportunities that are built upon existing strengths; automobile technology supplier, Aptiv, for its rigorous refreshing of its innovation portfolio; and, Nvidia, for aggressiveness and daring in expanding its innovation portfolio, “shift[ing] the organization’s innovation focus away from its core in computer graphics to leading the nascent market for AI chips.” Each of these examples portray organizations that take both innovation, and the necessary preparedness for it, seriously.

In sum, we owe BCG a debt of gratitude for reminding us that while ideation may be glamorous, it’s only the beginning of a difficult journey from new idea to new ways of working and living. If there is danger ahead in this journey, this study suggests that it’s not so much the technology that will hold us back, but the organizations and leaders that we must rely upon; and, at the moment, so many of them do not appear to be ready for the challenge.

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Content: Learning Resistors
Dr. Alaa Jarad
Have you ever met someone who made you believe that there is no use, that the person will never learn, will never change?
There is no doubt that we are faced with individuals who seem opposed to or resistant to learning.
Today ’ s article reviews the characteristics of individuals who cannot learn or have resistance to learning, the possible reasons for their resistance, and strategies for fostering a supportive learning environment for these individuals.
What are the characteristics of learning resistant individuals?
First, we agree that there are two conditions for learning, first: desire or will, second: ability, so that a person learns must have the desire and the will to learn, a student can be forced to go to school, or attend a lesson, but can not be forced to absorb and learn the content, and therefore learning is a « choice », and the person is free to choose to learn or ignore.
The second condition of learning is ability, that is, ability, mental and sensory competence, perception, assimilation, remembering, thinking, forming, criticizing, expressing, understanding and retrieving ideas, where the individual can have a desire to learn, but his mental potential is weak, or has slow learning, or even a learning disability, all of which have different methods of treatment unless the person resists learning.
As for the traits of these learning resistant individuals, they may exhibit a lack of interest, apathy, or negativity toward educational endeavors.
Some individuals may also show a lack of motivation, consistently avoid challenges, or exhibit a fixed mindset that limits their belief in their ability to learn and grow.
These traits can manifest across different age groups and learning environments, posing serious challenges for teachers, parents, mentors and managers.
Why do people resist learning?
In addition, external influences such as personal circumstances or social pressures can contribute to resistance to learning, and psychological barriers, such as fear of failure, low self-esteem, or a fixed mindset can also play an important role.
What are the strategies for overcoming learning resistance?
Adopting the right strategies breaks down barriers and fosters a positive learning environment, where trust is built, and showing genuine interest by teachers or coaches and managers can facilitate and adjust the learning process according to learners ’ individual needs, interests and strengths, resulting in increased engagement and motivation.
Practical activities, real-life applications and interactive discussions can also be used.
Providing a supportive and inclusive environment for everyone is critical, and encouraging, positive reinforcement, and celebrating small successes can boost these individuals ’ confidence and help them develop a growth mindset.
By identifying the underlying factors that contribute to learning resistance and implementing customized strategies, growth potential can be unleashed within these individuals.
Everyone can have the ability to learn and grow, if given the right support, encouragement and opportunities.
Through patience, empathy and innovative methods, an inclusive learning environment can be created that fosters the success of all learners, including those who may initially seem unteachable.
Garad @ alaagarad.com
@ Alaa _ Garad
To read the author ’ s previous articles, please click on his name.
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Content: Contact Center AI: An Interview with Talkdesk’s Ben Rigby

Question: Ben, What Is the Current Sentiment Around AI and Automation in Contact Centers?

Answer: Today, contact centers have started to feel the concrete benefits of AI, from its ability to improve customer satisfaction to increasing agent productivity and upskilling employees.

While some companies still struggle to understand how automation can fit into their tech stack to transform how they operate as a business, many have started to experiment with AI technology to support specific processes or tasks in their contact centers.

Q: The Report Shows That Only 15 Percent of Organizations Are Taking Advantage of Emerging AI Technology, Such As Human-in-the-Loop. What Might Be Causing the Hesitation?

A: Our survey shows that contact center professionals are lacking confidence in their understanding of AI and the business results they should expect. As with implementing any new technology, AI comes with challenges, and our survey found that security and IT risks around legacy contact center equipment rank number one for concern.

Companies are also facing resistance from leaders and staff within their organization while grappling with labor shortages, all of which make it difficult to build, use, and maintain new automated systems. CX (customer experience) leaders need to be transparent with their workforce, emphasizing the core benefits and uses of AI and automation.

In addition to improving a business’s processes and bottom line, this technology also has the power to streamline employees’ day-to-day activities by filtering out the repetitive tasks. By openly communicating these direct benefits, companies can gain buy-in from their entire workforce, from entry level staff all the way up to managers and above.

Q: What Are the Security Risks That Come with AI Technology?

While security and IT risks of outdated contact center equipment are a main barrier to adoption, once deployed as part of a digital transformation initiative, AI actually makes contact centers more secure. Three in four CX professionals agree that AI tech will allow customer data to be more secure than a live agent, and four in five agree that AI will significantly help companies improve identity and authentication security in the next two years.

Q: How Can CX Leaders Address These Risks?

A: If AI has the potential to improve contact center security, the question then becomes, how can companies securely implement the technology? The answer is simple: businesses must put the strongest foundation in place to support AI. Specifically, they’ll need to invest in modern cloud architecture that will seamlessly and securely integrate AI technology.

Q: If a Company Has Not Yet Adopted This Technology, Are They Falling Behind?

A: Companies that continue to be resistant to AI adoption will undoubtedly fall behind in two areas: EX [employee experience] and CX. In today’s contact center workforce, AI technology helps reduce the repetitive tasks and transactional work for agents, alleviating stress, reducing workloads, and allowing teams to rebuild their contact center workforce.

AI provides the much-needed support during ongoing labor shortages and will be instrumental in upskilling workers to provide a more meaningful role in the contact center.

In terms of CX, conversational AI can help contact centers provide high-quality experiences by instantly responding to customer queries at any time of the day. AI can also equip agents with the contextual, personalized knowledge they need to accurately answer customer questions. This leaves customers highly satisfied and eases friction that comes with lengthy interactions.

Q: In Making the Decision to Implement More Advanced AI Technology, What Do CX Professionals Need to Consider?

A: There are three things CX professionals and leaders should consider:

First, do our agents have the right training and resources to leverage this technology effectively? Before launching new tech solutions, it’s important that the current agents have a strong skill set and understanding of how this will impact day-to-day operations, as well as best practices to work in tandem once the technology is in place.

Second, do we have the internal resources to make AI operations accessible? AI will continue to become more advanced and the only way for a company to reap the benefits of this technology is by making it accessible to everyone, even those who don’t have formal technical training or backgrounds.

Third, do we have a current system that can support a safe integration of advanced AI technology? Without the right foundation, you won’t be able to utilize AI to its full potential. Prior to deploying AI technology, take the time to consolidate redundant tech stacks.

Q: With 79 Percent of CX Leaders Planning to Increase Contact Center Investments, What Do You Think the State of AI and Automation in Contact Centers Will Look Like in 2023?

A: In 2023, the realization of AI’s capabilities and benefits will be more apparent than ever. While some companies may still be hesitant, there will be many more use cases and success stories to reference and tout the positive outcomes for contact centers.

We can all agree that AI technology will continue to evolve and adapt to new business needs within the next year. Along with that, the growth of no-code solutions will continue to shine a light on the true ease of adoption, putting a rest to concerns around the challenges of adoption.

Thank you, Ben, for taking time to share your insight.

It’s been my pleasure!

Ben Rigby is the SVP and Global Head of Product & Engineering at Talkdesk, an end-to-end contact center solutions provider.

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Empowering A New Class Of Agency Creatives

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Amber is the Co-Founder & CEO of Invisible North.

For leaders of creative agencies, the heartbeat of our success resides in our people and their ideas. Creating a balanced agency ecosystem demands that the team feels valued, supported and heard, equipped not only with the tools for their craft but also the empowerment to experiment, push boundaries and boldly innovate.

Today, a major shift is underway, marked by the integration of emerging technologies like AI and thus a fear of job security with automation. And with it, there is a persistent undercurrent—the sense among many creatives that their work is being undervalued.

As leaders steering through this transformative journey, we recognize that these new tools and processes, though intimidating, harbor the potential to spark increased creativity when truly understood and approached with intentionality. Over the years, I’ve uncovered a few tried-and-true methods to help empower teams to utilize these new tools, experiment and enhance their craft amid our evolving industry.

Create Safe Spaces

Agency leaders play a pivotal role in shaping the company narrative for their teams and uplifting them from within. It begins with fostering an environment for open communication in which team members are comfortable expressing their concerns, ideas and opinions, especially at a time when many have mixed feelings about bringing AI into the workplace.

To truly empower our communities, we must acknowledge these emotions and encourage a workplace where they can feel valued and motivated. In doing so, their best work can come to life.

We have a strong culture in our agency of show-and-tell, inspiration trips/research and challenges. If there are areas that team members want to learn about, we find time to dig into research, insights and workshops with best-in-class partners so that we can enhance collective brain trust and overcome the fear of unknown barriers to comfort and flow.

Champion Wins

In a creative field where individual expression and innovation are highly valued, it’s crucial for leaders to create an environment that fosters personal inspiration. Getting results from soup to nuts on a project is not an easy feat—so much goes into it across departments. Oftentimes, we move from one project to the next and forget to stop and celebrate the wins or embrace the learnings. By acknowledging the diverse efforts it took to bring the campaign to life, along with any new tools or methods used, you’re reinforcing the efforts needed to create success.

We use our monthly companywide newsletters, quarterly town halls and biannual all-team meetings to share individual, team and project accolades alongside other agency updates.

Embrace Change

The introduction of new technologies in any space often triggers a fear of the unknown. Teams should view these changes as catalysts rather than inhibitors. Through thoughtful integration strategies, leaders can help harness emerging technologies to enrich the creative process rather than impede it.

We’ve seen time and time again that when you curate a supportive environment to freely experiment, magic happens. It is imperative to encourage teams to explore with new tools and also hold space to share their discoveries. That’s where the real learning begins. It’s also essential to tackle any concerns or anxieties team members may have, leading with transparent communication throughout.

Foster Community

Emerging technologies will inevitably shape the way agencies and creatives approach their craft, ultimately opening new doors for how we tell stories, create experiences and personalize content. No matter the changes, the thing that must remain constant is continuing to prioritize the people who truly make the work special.

As the heartbeat of the creative process, we must protect our community above all else—recognizing their anxieties, celebrating their experimentations, championing their well-being and helping them navigate this new frontier. So, as we embrace a new year, let’s carry these principles forward into 2024—a commitment to cultivating a community that not only adapts to change but propels it. Let’s create a legacy of inspired, valued and empowered creative professionals.

Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?

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Content: Image: © terovesalainen/Stock.adobe.com

Why workers see downsides to AI

2 hours ago

Many organisations have great intentions to deploy AI for productivity but fail to adequately train workers.

A trio of recent surveys from Ireland, the UK and the US suggest that workers are still trying to wrap their heads around AI. Attitudes range from suspicious to overwhelmingly positive – but it’s fair to say that most respondents were on the fence.

Irish recruitment firm Prosperity Recruitment’s 2024 employment and salary report featured a survey of 400 Irish professionals. More than half (57pc) said they use tools like ChatGPT daily or weekly. Only 15pc claimed they never used it.

Mixed views

Of those that do use AI, a slim majority (51.6pc) believe it aids productivity, while the remainder are unconvinced or think of the tech as a “distraction”.

When asked what they think the main risks of AI in the workplace are, the majority said inaccuracy, plagiarism and deepfakes. Speed and productivity were seen as the biggest benefits that AI can offer workers.

The small sample size weakens the findings somewhat, but Prosperity Recruitment did gather testimonials from workers from different industries on how they believe their work is being impacted by AI. Interestingly, attitudes varied depending on the sector the respondent worked in. An educator said the tech “undermines the importance of institutional education and academic achievement”.

One UX and UI designer said they were much faster at doing data analysis, whereas another pointed out that creativity is being replaced by homogeneity due to AI.

Software developers, customer support specialists and digital marketers tended to be enthusiastic about AI’s productivity and speed advantages. One even proclaimed: “One developer can do the job of three.”

That loaded statement is the reason many other workers are so vehemently anti-AI. They worry they are going to be replaced by automation. Of the 400 people who were surveyed by Prosperity, the majority said they think their jobs will evolve but will not be lost entirely due to AI.

Not just job jitters

This sentiment was not shared by the majority of people surveyed by Pluralsight. The tech company polled 1,200 executives and IT professionals from across the UK and the US as part of its AI Skills Report 2024. The findings revealed AI anxiety, especially over adoption processes and skills gaps. As many as 81pc of respondents felt they could integrate AI into their roles right now, only 12pc actually have any practical experience using the tech.

While 87pc said they planned to increase AI spending over the next 12 months, only 40pc said their organisations have any proper formal training strategies in place to help them benefit.

“Even as organisations accelerate AI adoption, the majority don’t understand what, if any, AI skills their employees possess or have an upskilling strategy to develop them,” said the report’s authors.

Like the respondents to Prosperity’s survey, the majority of those Pluralsight polled said the main benefit of AI is productivity – but this is only pie in the sky if organisations aren’t training workers adequately. It may also be a contributing factor to workers’ anxieties around AI ‘stealing their jobs’ – not a concern to be trifled with. Pluralsight previously did a study on AI anxiety and the types of workers affected; most experiencing worries and doubts over the tech are minorities or working on high-conflict teams.

No blues for blue collar workers

Attitudes to AI tend to be less radical in the blue collar sector. The Knowledge Academy, a UK-based training and coaching company, asked 2,000 UK students whether they thought AI advancements would put jobs at risk. Less than a quarter said they were worried about job security due to automation.

Of that minority, around a fifth fear AI because they believe it will replace manual jobs, such as data entry or assembly-line work. Like Prosperity’s survey, The Knowledge Academy also broke down attitudes towards AI based on sector. It found that 100pc of students seeking work in the mining, energy and water supply, agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors are unconcerned about AI.

Those seeking careers in education, information and communication, public admin and social security felt the most threatened by AI.

Last week, we spoke to two experienced tech workers about the main risks and rewards of working in AI and analytics. Their views on the tech’s positives and negatives were balanced and well worth a read.

Find out how emerging tech trends are transforming tomorrow with our new podcast, Future Human: The Series. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

By Blathnaid O’Dea

Blathnaid O’Dea joined Silicon Republic in 2021 as Careers reporter, coming from a background in the Humanities. She likes people, pranking, pictures of puffins – and apparently alliteration.

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Content: This content is part of the Conference Coverage: Everything Enterprise Connect 2021: News, trends and insights

UC user adoption training must evolve for hybrid work

Learn why industry leaders at Enterprise Connect said user adoption training is key to UC success in the hybrid workplace -- and how employee experience platforms can help.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed how people work. The adoption and use of unified communications tools, for example, skyrocketed to support remote workers. But, as workflows have changed, organizations must alter their approach to supporting end-user adoption of new tools.

At the start of the pandemic, organizations rolled out whatever tools they felt necessary to support remote work. As a result, employees learned how to use the tools on the fly as the traditional methods of user adoption training -- such as classroom-style trainings in the office -- were no longer possible.

Now, as organizations have become more strategic about their unified communications (UC) investments to support a hybrid workplace, they must also consider employee training to ensure adoption success. There is a direct correlation between preparing end users before deploying a new tool and user productivity post-deployment, COMMfusion LLC President Blair Pleasant said.

Most end users who felt they were well prepared with training before a deployment believed the new tool made them more productive, according to a BCStrategies survey of end users and IT leaders. Of those end users who said they weren't adequately trained, only 17% said they felt more productive.

Pleasant and other industry analysts and leaders spoke at the Enterprise Connect virtual conference. One key topic was the importance of supporting user adoption in a hybrid workplace to ensure UC deployment success and employee productivity, regardless of location.

Hybrid work means new training models

As organizations think about user adoption programs in a hybrid workplace, they have to ensure training is equal for both remote and office-based employees, said Eric Hanson, chief marketing officer at cloud-based communications provider Fuze.

Some user adoption training methods, like classroom-style instruction, will be set aside as employees work remotely. Other training strategies will emerge, like Yammer community forums, to create more of an online discussion, said Alan Shen, CTO at IT management software provider Unify Square.

Video training will also be key, especially to recreate the feeling of in-office training. For more successful video training, organizations should consider virtual events that combine real-time activities with asynchronous, on-demand content, Hanson said.

Training structured with synchronous and asynchronous content can address the different ways people learn and create a more engaging experience, he said. On-demand materials can also be used for reference after a training session.

"Adoption isn't something that happens right after deployment," Hanson said.

However, using video for training can be challenging, despite the overall growth of video across organizations, Pleasant said.

"The problem is end users can do it on their own time, but it doesn't mean they're going to," she said.

Training goes beyond business workflows

Organizations need to remember that UC tools are not just for business workflows and communication.

"When deploying new technology, we just think about the technology," Pleasant said. "We don't think about the organizational changes, the cultural impact and change management."

Rolling out a new application or system is not the main and end goal. The deployment needs to help employees collaborate more effectively, she said.

For example, many employees have used UC tools not just for collaboration workflows, but to maintain company culture and personal connections with their co-workers during the pandemic. User adoption training could include educating employees on how to use a new tool for social communications, like virtual happy hours, to support team cohesion, Shen said.

Employee experience platforms support user adoption

While training is key to boost user adoption, a major roadblock to adoption is the actual experience when using the tools. According to a global Omdia survey on the future of work, the biggest barrier to achieving successful outcomes with digital workplace technology is employee resistance.

"It's not a surprise as employees and line-of-business decision-makers have an idea of what tools they need to be successful, and IT isn't listening to them," Omdia analyst Tim Banting said.

According to the survey, 45% of companies said the IT department determines the need for workplace tools and makes the final recommendation. Only 15% of companies involve other stakeholders in the business when making buying decisions.

The result of not including employees and lines of business in buying decisions is not achieving ROI because employees aren't using the tools, he said.

Employee experience platforms can help highlight where user adoption is faltering and where more training may be necessary.

Addressing the gap between performance and experience

The operational data and application performance metrics that IT sees do not always reflect what employees are experiencing, said Johnny Russ, general manager of employee experience management at Qualtrics, a provider of employee experience tools.

IT may see data about the tools employees are logging in to or the number of help desk tickets filed, but they don't see data around situations where employees are logged in to an app but having frustrating UX.

"We're often missing appropriate understanding of why this is happening," Russ said.

Employee experience platforms, such as Qualtrics and Microsoft Viva, can provide greater insight into how employees are engaging with tools through features such as training effectiveness surveys, pulse surveys and AI-driven analytics. Without these metrics, IT could have a hard time addressing UX.

Or, as Pleasant put it, "You can't fix what you don't measure."

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Lessons Learned Selling Digital Transformation In A Risk-Averse Industry

Michael W. Levin, CEO and co-founder of Ideon.

In a 2018 McKinsey survey, 80% of respondents said their organizations had undertaken a digital transformation in the preceding five years.

And that was before the pandemic, which has, to say the least, accelerated such changes.

Of course it has. I’m preaching to the choir when I posit to this audience that digital change is necessary for the survival of almost any organization today, business or otherwise. That’s certainly the case for the industry in which my company operates—health insurance and employee benefits—and especially so for carriers, in part because of the rapid rise of InsurTech, which is helping to drive digital innovation throughout the industry.

And yet.

All too often, selling digital transformation within large organizations is an uphill battle. That’s especially the case at organizations in established industries—with ways of doing business that can sometimes date back decades—and is even more a truism if those organizations have a predisposition to manage risk. There are many reasons for this, of course, but three fears play a key role.

• Fear Of Change: It's human nature to favor the familiar over the unknown. We prefer what we know, even when shown a superior alternative. So it’s understandable that executives accustomed to analog processes may be wary of digital ones. There’s an entire field of study, behavioral economics, built around the status quo bias.

• Fear Of Loss: Digital transformation requires investment. And as a general rule, humans react twice as strongly to the loss of a given amount as they do to the gain of the same amount. So unless the ROI for a digital transformation project is clear and convincing, certain colleagues will tend to resist spending money.

• Fear Of Mortality: Not literally, of course. But bosses and employees alike often associate digital change with staff reductions. But even though such relationships are unclear, some executives resist change if they believe it will lead to a loss of headcount or otherwise erode positions of power.

The Way Forward

So how can an organization’s evangelizers persuade colleagues to embrace change? There’s no simple answer, but my experience over the years helping insurance organizations embrace data transparency and connected ecosystems suggests that four strategies—on their own or in combination—can help break through most institutional roadblocks:

1. Align proposed changes with business goals. Change for modernizing’s sake is one thing. Change that helps achieve already established goals is something else entirely. Good leaders are generally driven by big-picture aims. Tying digital transformation to company priorities allows evangelizers to harness existing momentum rather than requiring them to start from scratch.

2. Create your own stakeholders. Whatever their personality, human beings are much more likely to support an initiative if they feel invested in it. Quite frankly, we value something more when it's ours. And the best way to create investment in the idea of change is to involve colleagues early in the transformational journey. Ask the appropriate decision-makers or influencers for input about their problems and possible solutions. If the digital transformation you seek is the logical conclusion to that process, otherwise resistant colleagues will more likely support the idea because they had a hand in getting there.

3. Marshal your facts. Before investing resources in digital transformation, decision-makers want to know that it will pay off. Prepare information—statistics, research findings, anecdotes—on the ROI of digital transformation. Seventy-six percent of employees surveyed said having the digital tools they need makes them more productive. Additionally, Harvard Business School technologists report (paywall) that companies with the most effective digital transformations have higher net income than those with less-successful digital transformations. Data points like these can motivate leaders to prioritize tech imperatives.

4. Leverage FOMO. Regret aversion is a powerful thing. That is to say, many people are not as afraid of making a bad decision as they are afraid of feeling bad about a decision they made. It’s one reason people follow the crowd. We don’t necessarily believe that other people are smarter than we are. But many of us do believe (if only nonconsciously) that if we follow the lead of others we will have company if our decision turns out to be unwise. Regret aversion bias can be leveraged powerfully when selling digital transformation by framing a failure to adopt change as leaving an organization alone in the dark while the rest of the industry—or even its cutting-edge leaders—moves toward the light.

I know there is a reliable path to digital transformation because my firm has seen dozens of clients and partners complete such journeys. But accounting for the inevitable challenges, both structural and psychological, is key to achieving success.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

Title:

Content: Those Clinging To Old Methods, Resisting Change Causing My Administration Setback – Gov Sule Laments

Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, says people’s resistance to change is an obstacle to his leadership journey.

During a gathering of representatives from the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) at the Government House in Lafia, the state capital, Sule drew on social psychologist Douglas McGregor’s theory to highlight the reluctance of many to embrace change.

Reflecting on his experiences in international and national corporations, Governor Sule expressed how they motivated him to pursue public office, aiming to contribute positively to society.

“Having worked with global corporations, I felt compelled to bring back what I’ve learned to benefit our society.”

READ ALSO: “Step Down From Kanu’s Case, You’ve Been Compromised” – IPOB Alleges Justice Nyako Is Under FG Pressure To Jail Nnamdi Kanu To Save Husband, Son From EFCC

“Incorporating due process and transparency into governance has been my focus since assuming office.

“I’ve faced pushback from some within my administration who cling to old methods, resistant to change,” he lamented.

He attributed part of the challenge to the state’s limited financial resources, often ranking Nasarawa low in federal allocation standings.

“Despite innovative ideas, our resources are limited, hindering our ability to implement them fully,” Governor Sule disclosed.

The original Luddite movement in 19th-century England opposed labor practices, including unskilled workers and low wages, associated with new textile technologies.

Title:

Content: The new is the old well forgotten.
Where in the Network there was a fashionable insult to the opponents of AI
In the Internet discourse, deep in the study of sarcastic comments of anonymous persons, you can find the term "Luddite".
This label is often referred to as people who dare to express the slightest inclination to inhibit the constant development of artificial intelligence (AI).
Related video
Interestingly, such prominent figures as Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates have been awarded the Luddite Award, which is recognition of their cautionary position regarding the potential dangers associated with artificial intelligence.
During the ceremony, Robert D. Atkinson, the organizer of the award, noted: “Unfortunately, luminaries such as Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have contributed to the feverish refraction of hands about the impending apocalypse of artificial intelligence, ” writes IFLScience.
In Focus.Technology appeared its own Telegram-channel.
Subscribe not to miss the latest and exciting news from the world of science!
Atkinson also explained: "Do we consider any of them personally Luddites?
No, of course not.
They are pioneers of science and technology.
But they and others have done a disservice to the public — and undoubtedly have helped and comforted the increasingly common neo-Luddist impulse in modern society — by demonizing AI in the popular imagination.
But how did the term come about?
Its roots can be traced back to the early 1800s in England.
Before the industrial revolution, skilled craftsmen who knew a lot about textile production made clothes using their own machines and specialized tools.
However, a situation arose when new technologies and methods of mass production appeared, as a result of which artisans were unable to compete.
The result was a movement whose purpose was the destruction of the textile industry and the destruction of new machines.
Although there is some truth to this story, it does not reflect the whole essence of the Luddite movement.
Their actions were not driven solely by a reaction to new technologies; rather, they were a response to the profound transformations taking place in their professional activities.
While it is true that they often attacked a knitting machine known as a stocking frame, as well as other mechanized fixtures, their main concern was the labor practices associated with these machines.
Kevin Binfield, editor of the Luddite and Compassionate Works, explained their motives: "They simply wanted machines to produce high-quality goods, and that these machines employed workers who had been trained and received fair wages.
It was their only concern. ”
The nickname "Luddites" comes from the nickname "Ned Ludd", an apocryphal figure who allegedly sabotaged a textile factory in 1779, although historical evidence suggests that this man was most likely a fictional one.
In a 2007 paper, researcher David Linton explained: “Some say that a young man, possibly with cognitive impairment, named Ned Ludd once misunderstood an order and accidentally broke his frame machine.
Others argue that this was done deliberately, in a fit of anger.
Whatever the motive, it seems to have become a joke phrase that whenever the machine breaks, for whatever reason, you can say something like, "Ludd must have been here."
From this construction, it is a short step to the ironic application of the name Ludd to vandalism for political purposes. "
Between 1811 and 1816, the Luddite movement held sporadic and somewhat unorganized protests, characterized by the destruction of cars and the burning of factories.
In response, the mill owners resorted to extreme measures, using deadly force against the Luddites.
In April 1812, there was a grim turning point in Huddersfield, where at least four people died at the hands of the mill owners.
In retaliation, the Luddites killed the owner of the mill, William Horsfall, who boldly declared his intention to "smear himself with Luddite blood to the saddles."
Horsfall was shot while sitting on his horse.
Faced with these uprisings, the government immediately sent thousands of soldiers to quell the protests.
Moreover, they adopted a law according to which the breakdown of cars was subject to the death penalty or sending to colonies.
Subsequently, the movement dissipated, but the stable expression "Luddite" could not accurately convey the ideals and goals of the Luddites.
Previously, Focus wrote about the first IPSO in the history of mankind.
It turns out that it was invented in Babylon and it concerns the Flood.

Experts believe automation will displace both low-skilled and professional jobs.

Others see the digital revolution as an opportunity for unprecedented prosperity and freedom.

Title:

Content: Blog post

We cannot buy tomorrow — using stories to understand technology change

By Mark P. McDonald | December 03, 2021 | 0 Comments

tech NO logyPersonal ObservationHuman AbilityFuture of High TechDigital Society

The dynamic and accelerating rate of change, disruption, societal concerns, etc can make it difficult to see what it all means, the direction we are heading in.  Speculative fiction is one of the ways that people try to make sense out of what can appear to be senseless.  Gartner instituted a special project called “Stories from Planet B“.  The goal was to use stories and other artifacts to help stakeholders envision preferred and plausible futures in a way that is transformative, inspiring and disrupting.

Here is my story, you can find the others at “Stories from Planet B” on Gartner.com

Enjoy

Mark

YOU CANNOT BUY TOMORROW

Tara sat down, rubbing her leg to work out a cramp she had picked up on the walk from her house. She had delayed this to the last minute. “Can’t turn ten ‘till you talk to the old men,” her brother reminded her.

Tara cleared her throat. “Question: What was it like at the start?“

Response: Project 2207, Darius Senna, aged 105, recalling the founding of Pantos.

The front of the room darkened. “Tara. The name means star,” came a man’s voice from the darkness.

“Dad says it’s also a lubricant that has gone bad, ‘Tar — ahh!’”  The room got even darker.

“We call ourselves Pantos. The fifth wave of Planet B colonists, B5, like the vitamin,” the man’s voice continued.

Darius Senna walked out of the darkness. He was wearing a blue collarless shirt rolled up at the sleeves, dark pants and brown boots. Tara noticed his rough hands, and his face, lined from UV rays. A bench appeared. He sat down.

“We were not the first. The first were the explorers. They discovered Planet B, determined it could support life, and summoned us to our new home. Then came ships, filled with those who could afford to leave Earth behind.”

Senna leaned back. Tara noticed the old style comms implant on his wrist. “Six centuries ago, the English sent ships carrying goldsmiths, jewelers, governors and soldiers to Jamestown. They sought to civilize their ‘new world.’ Likewise, the first ships to Planet B carried engineers bankers, officials — the cream of a curdled civilization.”

Looking out the window, Darius continued: “Those first ships were technological marvels. Gossamer solar sails, filled with technology and terraforming equipment. They landed in the northern hemisphere of Planet B. When their technology failed, they starved, just like the colonists at Jamestown.”

He paused and looked at Tara. “After three more waves, some of them are still around, eating from waste regenerators, asking their tech why it doesn’t work. We don’t see them much. We think about them even less.” Darius leaned forward, clasping his hands, just like Tara’s father did when making a point. “We Pantos understand — the physical world feeds the digital world. When the physical does not work, the digital does not matter.”

“Old Earth technology changed in the early 21st century. It turned inward. It became obsessed with experience, entertainment and consumption.” His face hardened. “Before then, technology had made people’s lives better. Then society went digital, and consumption mattered more.”

Darius unclasped his hands. “Data replaced reason. People focused on themselves. Technology meant looking down at a screen, not up at the world around them. People thought it was wonderful. Screens made them feel better.”

He leaned back. Tara noticed the scar down the inside of his left arm. No one had scars anymore, not since the invention of Dermaplast. Darius saw her staring and, almost under his breath, said: “With their narrow datasets, myopic algorithms and self-centered beliefs, they couldn’t see what was really coming. And they never did.”

“I had just turned twenty-seven,” Darius said. He paused, lost in a memory.

He resumed, “We Pantos are not Luddites. We are some of the finest innovators and engineers humanity has ever known. Old Earth technologies were advanced, but consumptive. They were great for solving little problems. Distributing products instantaneously, keeping their users’ attention, showing each other how successful they were.”

“But when the big problems came, technology could not handle it. The heat, the drought, the pandemics, the inequalities, the authoritarian states. This was the world as it really was, not how it appeared online. Their technologies spent what resources they had, but could not create more. When their inherited wealth dried up, it all fell apart.”

“You know why we Pantos tell each other, ‘You can’t buy …”

“… Tomorrow,” Tara finished. She heard that at least ten times a month.

“Right,” Darius replied. “We say that when it’s time to get to work.”

“The ‘northerners’ brought Earth’s ethos of control and exploitation. Digital entertainment, not physical engagement. They binged on culture as they starved and froze to death. If you go up north you can see the graves of trillionaires, and screens looping videos demonstrating their importance.” Darius went silent.

Tara waited, unsure of what to do next. “If we are not the first, then when did we get here?”

Darius looked Tara directly in the face. “We came in the last wave. We came on outdated ships driven by ions. The ships were cannibalized once we landed on the southern hemisphere, far from the first four failures.”

He smiled, “The first waves came to Planet B in space limos. Pantos came in space beaters.”

“Pantos went to work. Our technology fits our hands, not our eyes. We built our homes, rather than having them printed. Building them ourselves proved we were here to stay. Doing things yourself teaches you the true costs and benefits of your actions.”

He paused for a moment, and said: “Tara, remember to feed the Briax when you get home.”

She knew. Doing builds ownership and responsibility; consuming builds nothing but your waistline.

Darius resumed: “Technology is part of our agency. Planet B sustains life, but we are building a world to ensure our minds stay broad; we think before we act. We make mistakes, like we did at Junction.”

He rubbed the inside of his left arm.

“Failure is acceptable when we learn from it. Unacceptable when it is a cost of doing business, or called an externality.”

“We stay strong, acknowledging challenges and celebrating progress. Technology encourages contribution, not consumption. Contribution brings meaning. Meaning motivates innovation and improvement. If it does not work for all of us, then it does not work well enough for any of us. We have much work to do. You know…”

“You can’t buy tomorrow,” Tara repeated, reflexively.

The room brightened. Senna was gone, as was the bench. A woman’s voice spoke up. “Congratulations, Tara. Welcome to your next decade.”

Tara stood up. As she was leaving, she thought she heard the woman say: “Another turning ten. A blessing.”

“Yes,” came Senna’s reply. “Old enough to understand, and young enough to care.”

Resistance to new technology can stem from concerns like loss of control, competence, and uncertainty.

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The Right Way To Evaluate A Technology Solution For Your Organization

Founder and CEO at Ludi, Inc., a healthcare technology company making it easy for hospitals to pay physicians.

Selecting a new technology for your company can be daunting. Organizations usually begin this process with a desire to either streamline or solve specific pain points. Regardless of your specific needs, implementing new technology will involve change. For your organization as an entity, change can be great. Change can reduce inefficiencies and errors, as well as usher in new opportunities. But for the people who work for your organization, change can trigger anxiety and ultimately resistance to the new technology. Here are six things to keep in mind when evaluating new technology:

1. Identify your problem. It sounds simple, but many organizations jump straight to the solutions they find appealing. If you focus on the true problem you’re trying to solve, you will stay goal-oriented while searching for a vendor.

2. Keep an open mind. You may have seen a solution you find appealing, but remember that you don’t know what you don’t know. The technology partner you choose should be an expert in the field and may offer you products that you didn’t even know existed. Stay open to new ideas and solutions. One of the things I’ve noticed is prospective clients saying, “We can’t buy this product unless it handles this exact case we’re trying to solve for.” That’s not always the most effective approach because it doesn’t take all the variables into consideration. For example, my company works with hospitals to streamline complex physician payment structures. The hospital may have had the doctor recording their time one way because they were using a paper system and approvals needed to be checked in a certain manner for that doctor to get paid. Once you eliminate paper, though, in that particular scenario, everything is up for discussion – not just the way doctors record their time, but the entire physician payment process at the hospital. Rigidity will not benefit you when evaluating new technology.

3. Get your people on the same page. Meet with department heads to pull together all the pain points that need to be solved. You must be comprehensive during your internal review because needs come out differently across different departments. You may not be able to solve everyone’s problem with the new technology, but it’s important to align your team before you bring in a vendor. Then prioritize your needs. Once your departments agree on the priorities, be clear with your team on who is making the final decision. Departmental input is important, but knowing who the purchaser is within your organization is equally important. Remember: Don’t lose sight of why you're buying this technology. Keep the ultimate purpose in mind.

4. Consider internal change management. Change is difficult for many of us, so it’s important to stop and consider the people who will be affected by this change. Resistance to change can originate from any of the following: loss of control, insecurities about competence, feeling defensive about past work, concern about more work and general uncertainty. Be proactive in preparing your staff for a change, because all of these responses tend to have a ripple effect in corporate cultures.

5. Focus on the future. If you’ve ever bought a house, you know that there are things you didn’t know you needed until you lived with your investment for a few years. Technology is no different. You may have a list of goals for your business, but there is no telling what you’ll need 10 years from now. The best technology partner will be flexible enough to support your organization as it grows. How can you find a partner with this type of future-focused outlook? See point number two.

6. Listen and be patient. The people delivering technology solutions in the market are experts and can offer you insights into the industry. I suggest finding a solution that can handle 90% of what you need out of the box. Work with your solution provider and try their out-of-the-box solutions for 90 days before you decide what you need next. Make sure the product you choose is flexible enough to grow with your business, but resist over-customizing the product because that can back you into a corner.

Technology solutions truly can help you streamline and standardize your business. Time spent organizing what problem you are trying to solve will make the search much more efficient. While there may not be a solution out there that does everything you hope to accomplish, keep an open mind and you'll find a solution that's right for your specific needs.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

Organizations should proactively prepare staff for change through internal change management.

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Content: BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

The Right Way To Evaluate A Technology Solution For Your Organization

Founder and CEO at Ludi, Inc., a healthcare technology company making it easy for hospitals to pay physicians.

Selecting a new technology for your company can be daunting. Organizations usually begin this process with a desire to either streamline or solve specific pain points. Regardless of your specific needs, implementing new technology will involve change. For your organization as an entity, change can be great. Change can reduce inefficiencies and errors, as well as usher in new opportunities. But for the people who work for your organization, change can trigger anxiety and ultimately resistance to the new technology. Here are six things to keep in mind when evaluating new technology:

1. Identify your problem. It sounds simple, but many organizations jump straight to the solutions they find appealing. If you focus on the true problem you’re trying to solve, you will stay goal-oriented while searching for a vendor.

2. Keep an open mind. You may have seen a solution you find appealing, but remember that you don’t know what you don’t know. The technology partner you choose should be an expert in the field and may offer you products that you didn’t even know existed. Stay open to new ideas and solutions. One of the things I’ve noticed is prospective clients saying, “We can’t buy this product unless it handles this exact case we’re trying to solve for.” That’s not always the most effective approach because it doesn’t take all the variables into consideration. For example, my company works with hospitals to streamline complex physician payment structures. The hospital may have had the doctor recording their time one way because they were using a paper system and approvals needed to be checked in a certain manner for that doctor to get paid. Once you eliminate paper, though, in that particular scenario, everything is up for discussion – not just the way doctors record their time, but the entire physician payment process at the hospital. Rigidity will not benefit you when evaluating new technology.

3. Get your people on the same page. Meet with department heads to pull together all the pain points that need to be solved. You must be comprehensive during your internal review because needs come out differently across different departments. You may not be able to solve everyone’s problem with the new technology, but it’s important to align your team before you bring in a vendor. Then prioritize your needs. Once your departments agree on the priorities, be clear with your team on who is making the final decision. Departmental input is important, but knowing who the purchaser is within your organization is equally important. Remember: Don’t lose sight of why you're buying this technology. Keep the ultimate purpose in mind.

4. Consider internal change management. Change is difficult for many of us, so it’s important to stop and consider the people who will be affected by this change. Resistance to change can originate from any of the following: loss of control, insecurities about competence, feeling defensive about past work, concern about more work and general uncertainty. Be proactive in preparing your staff for a change, because all of these responses tend to have a ripple effect in corporate cultures.

5. Focus on the future. If you’ve ever bought a house, you know that there are things you didn’t know you needed until you lived with your investment for a few years. Technology is no different. You may have a list of goals for your business, but there is no telling what you’ll need 10 years from now. The best technology partner will be flexible enough to support your organization as it grows. How can you find a partner with this type of future-focused outlook? See point number two.

6. Listen and be patient. The people delivering technology solutions in the market are experts and can offer you insights into the industry. I suggest finding a solution that can handle 90% of what you need out of the box. Work with your solution provider and try their out-of-the-box solutions for 90 days before you decide what you need next. Make sure the product you choose is flexible enough to grow with your business, but resist over-customizing the product because that can back you into a corner.

Technology solutions truly can help you streamline and standardize your business. Time spent organizing what problem you are trying to solve will make the search much more efficient. While there may not be a solution out there that does everything you hope to accomplish, keep an open mind and you'll find a solution that's right for your specific needs.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

Comprehensive education and training programs can demystify AI and address employee misconceptions.

Open communication helps leaders listen to and address employees' AI concerns with empathy.

Building trust with resistant supervisors is crucial for a positive work environment.

Title:

Content: Contact Center AI: An Interview with Talkdesk’s Ben Rigby

Question: Ben, What Is the Current Sentiment Around AI and Automation in Contact Centers?

Answer: Today, contact centers have started to feel the concrete benefits of AI, from its ability to improve customer satisfaction to increasing agent productivity and upskilling employees.

While some companies still struggle to understand how automation can fit into their tech stack to transform how they operate as a business, many have started to experiment with AI technology to support specific processes or tasks in their contact centers.

Q: The Report Shows That Only 15 Percent of Organizations Are Taking Advantage of Emerging AI Technology, Such As Human-in-the-Loop. What Might Be Causing the Hesitation?

A: Our survey shows that contact center professionals are lacking confidence in their understanding of AI and the business results they should expect. As with implementing any new technology, AI comes with challenges, and our survey found that security and IT risks around legacy contact center equipment rank number one for concern.

Companies are also facing resistance from leaders and staff within their organization while grappling with labor shortages, all of which make it difficult to build, use, and maintain new automated systems. CX (customer experience) leaders need to be transparent with their workforce, emphasizing the core benefits and uses of AI and automation.

In addition to improving a business’s processes and bottom line, this technology also has the power to streamline employees’ day-to-day activities by filtering out the repetitive tasks. By openly communicating these direct benefits, companies can gain buy-in from their entire workforce, from entry level staff all the way up to managers and above.

Q: What Are the Security Risks That Come with AI Technology?

While security and IT risks of outdated contact center equipment are a main barrier to adoption, once deployed as part of a digital transformation initiative, AI actually makes contact centers more secure. Three in four CX professionals agree that AI tech will allow customer data to be more secure than a live agent, and four in five agree that AI will significantly help companies improve identity and authentication security in the next two years.

Q: How Can CX Leaders Address These Risks?

A: If AI has the potential to improve contact center security, the question then becomes, how can companies securely implement the technology? The answer is simple: businesses must put the strongest foundation in place to support AI. Specifically, they’ll need to invest in modern cloud architecture that will seamlessly and securely integrate AI technology.

Q: If a Company Has Not Yet Adopted This Technology, Are They Falling Behind?

A: Companies that continue to be resistant to AI adoption will undoubtedly fall behind in two areas: EX [employee experience] and CX. In today’s contact center workforce, AI technology helps reduce the repetitive tasks and transactional work for agents, alleviating stress, reducing workloads, and allowing teams to rebuild their contact center workforce.

AI provides the much-needed support during ongoing labor shortages and will be instrumental in upskilling workers to provide a more meaningful role in the contact center.

In terms of CX, conversational AI can help contact centers provide high-quality experiences by instantly responding to customer queries at any time of the day. AI can also equip agents with the contextual, personalized knowledge they need to accurately answer customer questions. This leaves customers highly satisfied and eases friction that comes with lengthy interactions.

Q: In Making the Decision to Implement More Advanced AI Technology, What Do CX Professionals Need to Consider?

A: There are three things CX professionals and leaders should consider:

First, do our agents have the right training and resources to leverage this technology effectively? Before launching new tech solutions, it’s important that the current agents have a strong skill set and understanding of how this will impact day-to-day operations, as well as best practices to work in tandem once the technology is in place.

Second, do we have the internal resources to make AI operations accessible? AI will continue to become more advanced and the only way for a company to reap the benefits of this technology is by making it accessible to everyone, even those who don’t have formal technical training or backgrounds.

Third, do we have a current system that can support a safe integration of advanced AI technology? Without the right foundation, you won’t be able to utilize AI to its full potential. Prior to deploying AI technology, take the time to consolidate redundant tech stacks.

Q: With 79 Percent of CX Leaders Planning to Increase Contact Center Investments, What Do You Think the State of AI and Automation in Contact Centers Will Look Like in 2023?

A: In 2023, the realization of AI’s capabilities and benefits will be more apparent than ever. While some companies may still be hesitant, there will be many more use cases and success stories to reference and tout the positive outcomes for contact centers.

We can all agree that AI technology will continue to evolve and adapt to new business needs within the next year. Along with that, the growth of no-code solutions will continue to shine a light on the true ease of adoption, putting a rest to concerns around the challenges of adoption.

Thank you, Ben, for taking time to share your insight.

It’s been my pleasure!

Ben Rigby is the SVP and Global Head of Product & Engineering at Talkdesk, an end-to-end contact center solutions provider.

Showing empathy is crucial for building trust with difficult supervisors.

Title:

Content: Here are 10 effective tips for dealing with difficult coworkers
Published: 26 July 2023 - 08: 09
Source: Shutterstock
Every workplace will necessarily encounter difficult co-workers who will test our patience and see how well we can keep our cool under pressure.
Dealing with these people can be annoying and even counterproductive.
However, developing the skill of coping with difficult co-workers is key to having a productive work environment.
To help you deal with these difficult situations elegantly and efficiently, this article will review ten proven and reliable strategies.
Here are 10 effective tips for dealing with difficult coworkers
1.
Compassion and understanding
Compassion and understanding are two of the most important skills for dealing with difficult coworkers.
Try to put yourself in their position and think about their views.
Acknowledge that they may face challenges in their personal or professional lives, leading to their unwanted behavior.
Empathy can help build a good relationship and foster positive communication.
Source: Shutterstock
2.
Active Listening
Active listening is a vital skill when dealing with difficult co-workers.
Give them your full attention when they voice their concerns or complaints.
Believe their feelings and opinions, even if you disagree with them.
Often people just want to be heard, and attentive listening can relieve stress and improve communication.
3.
Maintaining Professionalism
It is essential to show professionalism at all times when dealing with difficult situations.
Avoid getting into heated discussions or letting your feelings govern your reactions.
Instead, respond calmly and specifically and focus on finding a constructive solution to the problem.
4.
Search for common points
Find common points with your difficult colleagues.
Identifying common goals or interests contributes to building a foundation for cooperation and understanding.
Discovering similarities may lead to more productive and collaborative discussions.
5.
Setting boundaries
It ’ s important to set and clarify your personal boundaries if your difficult colleague regularly crosses them.
Kindly let them know that certain behaviors are unacceptable and how they affect your ability to function effectively.
Stay consistent on these boundaries to maintain a positive working relationship.
6.
Avoid chatter and grumbling
Refrain from gossiping or complaining to other colleagues when you have difficulties because of your difficult colleagues.
This behavior can damage your professional reputation and increase negative energy.
Instead, talk directly with the person concerned and if necessary, seek advice from the HR department or supervisor.
7.
Collaborating on solutions
Shift your attention from problems caused by your difficult colleagues to collaborating on solutions.
Discuss issues openly and collaboratively to identify a solution that improves your relationship at work and overall team dynamics.
8. Be prepared to receive feedback
Being prepared to receive constructive nutrition is vital for personal and professional growth.
Gently accept your colleague ’ s criticism and use it as an opportunity to better understand their point of view and make improvements if necessary.
9.
Recognition of achievements
When appropriate, appreciate and thank your difficult colleague for his or her achievements and contributions.
Giving thanks for their efforts can contribute to creating a positive atmosphere and strengthening practical relationships.
10.
Know when to ask for help.
Some situations may be beyond your ability to resolve, and despite doing your best, problems may persist or worsen.
If difficulties persist, consider involving a supervisor, department, or HR representative to mediate the situation impartially.
Dealing with difficult co-workers is an unavoidable part of professional life.
However, with the right application of the right technologies you can turn these retrofit interactions into opportunities for growth and improved working relationships.
You can create a happy and productive work environment even among the most challenging coworkers if you practice empathy, active listening, and professionalism.
Remember that how you handle these situations reflects your personality and professionalism, so it ’ s worth investing the time and effort to develop good communication and collaboration with your colleagues.
Read also.
Topics you might like.

Effective communication, including active listening and genuine interest, helps build trust and rapport with supervisors.

Title:

Content: � � � � � � � �
Lifehacks
What can be the reasons that you do not like at work
Vladislav Moskalenko
What can be the reasons that you do not like at work
UAportal has prepared an article to consider the reasons why people may not like at work, as well as give practical advice on how to increase their attractiveness and build positive relationships with colleagues.
Keep an eye on your communication style
How a person communicates with their colleagues can have a significant impact on how they are perceived at work.
If someone seems rude, dismissive, or dismissive, then most likely people will not like working with them.
Instead of being overly critical or negative, people should be constructive.
In addition, efforts should be made to actively listen to others and to show a sincere interest in their ideas and thoughts.
Avoid gossip and politics in the office
Engaging in rumors and policy issues can quickly lead to a negative reputation at work.
Spreading rumors or negative reviews about colleagues not only harm relationships, but undermine trust in the team.
It is important to remember that what you say about others says a lot about yourself.
Instead, focus on building positive relationships and creating a supportive work environment.
This can maintain a professional reputation, and colleagues are more likely to respect you.
Take responsibility for mistakes
Nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes.
However, how people deal with these mistakes can greatly affect how others perceive them.
Instead of blaming someone or making excuses, it is important to take responsibility for your actions.
Admitting that you are wrong and taking corrective action is a sign of maturity and honesty.
It also demonstrates accountability that can earn respect and sympathy among colleagues.
See also: Three life hacks that will help improve relationships: "5 languages of love" and communication techniques
Express gratitude and acknowledge others
Identifying appreciation and appreciation for the efforts of colleagues can go a long way in building positive relationships at work.
It is important to recognize the achievements of others, whether it is a good job on a large project, or a small victory.
This can create a supportive work environment where there is an atmosphere of support and cooperation.
This not only helps build positive relationships, but also fosters a sense of sociability and teamwork.
Be open to comments and continuous learning
Openness to comments and the constant search for opportunities for growth and improvement are a valuable trait in any workplace.
When people are receptive to criticism, this indicates their desire for personal and professional development.
In addition, initiative in acquiring new skills and expanding knowledge demonstrates developmental thinking and a willingness to learn.
This can cause respect and admiration from colleagues.
Let us remind you that we have already written how to quickly and easily reveal your potential.
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Transparent communication can help mitigate organizational resistance to technology adoption.

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Three Change Management Priorities For Seamless GenAI Deployment

President & CTO at ContractPodAi.

There is no question that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as a powerful, transformative force in today’s business. In its 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, PwC looked at how GenAI would significantly change how organizations operate. They concluded the technology is "approaching a critical juncture, seemingly poised to transform business models, redefine work processes and overhaul entire industries."

In the next year, more than 50% of CEOs surveyed said they expect GenAI to "enhance their ability to build trust with stakeholders," while roughly 60% expect it to "improve product or service quality." Within the next three years, nearly 70% also anticipate that GenAI will "increase competition, drive changes to their business models and require new skills from their workforce." The lasting business impacts that CEOs expect from the technology include boosted efficiency and increased time-to-revenue.

Generative AI comes with a low barrier to entry, empowering organizations to start small and grow their usage of this technology over time. Because of this, I recommend starting with a particular use case and scaling it to the greater organization from there. The secret to the scaling process is for senior leaders to keep a close pulse on their change management efforts. After all, if your organization does not have a smooth adoption and implementation process and is neither aligned nor trained sufficiently around new technology, you'll likely fall short of reaping the full ROI from your digital investment moving forward.

Here are three change management strategies to keep in mind if you’re planning to embrace GenAI in your organization.

Taking A Phased Adoption Approach

Integrating AI into the day-to-day work of the organization necessitates a simple and seamless adoption process. To foster this digital transformation, senior leaders should consider a phased approach that sees AI deployed gradually and refine processes as needed. This gives employees time to familiarize themselves with the technology to maximize its benefits and minimize its disruption to the business.

Additionally, they can build a digital infrastructure characterized by robust digital resources, dedicated support teams and user feedback loops. All of this goes a long way in preventing the problems that typically arise in the adoption process.

Fostering A Culture Of Trust

Another change management strategy is mitigating organizational resistance around AI. This is achieved through clear and direct communication about the business objectives and expected outcomes of AI adoption, and an open discussion about the collaborative partnerships that can form between employees and the technology.

Transparency is key here. On top of establishing these lines of communication, senior leaders should ensure that AI solutions are designed with security, transparency and accountability measures in place. It’s also important for employees and customers to be assured that their data privacy will continue to be top of mind as the technology becomes further scaled to be used within day-to-day workstreams. Be sure to communicate that protocols and guidelines will evolve in the spirit of fostering an ethical and socially responsible AI culture. All of this translates to more support and buy-in across the enterprise.

Redesigning Career Paths And Skills

The advent of GenAI does not have to mean the disruption of traditional job roles but rather a redesign of professional skills and career paths. As AI is gradually integrated into everyday operations, employees should be taught new skills, allowing them to leverage the technology to its fullest.

Some examples of this include advanced training in applied AI, machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP). As AI scales to take on both repetitive and complex tasks, organizations should concentrate on bolstering employees' built-in business instincts and reinforcing their natural human skills. This involves nurturing areas such as business creativity along with strategic and critical analytical abilities and enhancing emotional intelligence within the workplace. This effort should be coupled with a special focus on fostering employees' continuous improvement.

At the end of the day, having a successful digital transformation journey calls for prioritizing the change management strategies mentioned above and exploring other best practices.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

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Trust builds when employees feel inspired by senior leaders and see strategic actions driving business success.

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Rekindling Trust In Post-Pandemic Leadership

Michael McFall is the co-Founder and co-CEO of BIGGBY COFFEE as well as author of the Inc. Original books GRIND and GROW.

As leaders navigated their companies through the challenges of a global pandemic, pivoting to accommodate a red-hot consumer economy and then recalibrating for an ever-allusive "new normal," something surprising happened: They lost the room.

This is supported by a recent Gallup survey, which found that only 21% of U.S. employees say they "'strongly agree' that they trust the leadership of their organization." It seems that after leading the charge into their companies' post-pandemic future, many business leaders are looking behind them and finding few followers.

As Gallup explains, "Trust begins to build when employees feel inspired by senior leaders and see strategic actions leading to business success." However, as companies cut costs, embrace new priorities and reconfigure their teams, many employees feel their leaders are neither inspiring nor strategic.

This may help explain why more than half of employees are disengaged at work and 42% are looking for new job opportunities.

Put bluntly, trust is a foundational component of effective leadership, and bosses or supervisors who haven’t earned their teams’ trust are leaders in name only. Addressing this challenge requires decisive action, and I believe it’s imperative to creating sustainable, thriving organizations at every level.

Steps To Restoring Trust

I believe that repairing the damage should be an urgent priority for leaders at every level, in companies big and small. Here are three steps to begin restoring trust in your leadership today.

1. Establish Your Core Values

Trust within an organization stems from the establishment of and adherence to core values. These values serve as the guideposts that shape the behaviors and interactions within a team. When an individual joins a team, understanding these core values helps them recognize the team's priorities and behavioral guidelines.

As a leader, it is crucial to exemplify these core values consistently. Failure to live by the set values can lead to a credibility gap, and your team can perceive a disconnect between what is professed and what is practiced. This can erode the trust your team members have in you and in the organization.

Every company can have its own set of core values, but example traits with broad application include:

• Openness

• Respect

• Compassion

• Accountability

• Integrity

• Teamwork.

Core values serve as the team’s North Star, informing actions and stipulating standards in any scenario.

2. Expect People To Be Themselves

Establishing an environment that encourages authenticity is critical for the well-being and productivity of a team. This means creating a space where team members are free to express not only their best, but also their less favorable traits, and making them feel comfortable enough to bring their whole selves into the interaction.

This inclusivity necessitates a supportive leadership approach that fosters an atmosphere of trust and safety, allowing individuals to operate in their true essence.

In unhealthy organizational structures, employees often find themselves investing significant amounts of time and energy deciphering their role within the team, figuring out team dynamics and trying to interpret the expectations of their superiors.

This constant self-adjustment and evaluation, the equivalent of constantly trying to solve a complex puzzle while performing professional tasks at a high level, can take away from their ability to focus on the challenges at hand and problem-solving.

In contrast, removing identity-based stressors allows people to focus on tasks, fostering improved productivity and more meaningful professional and cultural outcomes.

3. Create A Culture That Accepts Different Perspectives

In an increasingly polarized and reactionary cultural and business environment where even a marketing campaign can create an intense cultural backlash, people are often afraid to bring their authentic selves to work.

One employee survey found that 64% of people are "fearful of being authentic around others in the workplace," with 70% saying they "adopt an entirely different personality when they’re at work." This is a serious challenge for today’s leaders. When people feel they can’t bring their authentic selves to the office, I find that mistrust is a natural next step.

In reality, biases, or the viewpoints and preferences that collectively comprise our authentic selves, are natural and ubiquitous. Everyone has biases forged from their preferences, experiences and expectations.

Bias is perhaps better understood as perspective, and I believe that accepting people’s biases as part of their authentic selves is an important part of a safe, trust-filled work environment.

Leaders can help their teams experience this reality by creating an environment where biases can collide and empowering people to leverage their unique perspectives and authentic selves to build better businesses and cultivate thriving teams.

How To Take The Next Step

As leaders adapt to a continually changing global business landscape, many are losing their employees’ faith. Addressing this challenge requires decisive action.

To take the next step, leaders must foster a culture of engagement, facilitating open dialogue and extending unconditional support to their team members, even when faced with what may seem like unconventional ideas.

I am a firm believe that every opinion must be respected and acknowledged, which can help ensure that every team member feels seen and heard. This practice is deeply connected to the concept of "loving unconditionally," which may seem unusual as a corporate value but is integral to the trust-building process.

Most importantly, trust is built brick by brick as leaders’ consistent words and actions create an environment that values authenticity and diverse perspectives. It takes time to build but can be lost in a moment, making now the perfect time to begin rebuilding or reinforcing trust as a foundation for future success.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?

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Core values are crucial for building trust within an organization.

Finding common ground can help establish a foundation for cooperation with resistant supervisors.

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Content: Here are 10 effective tips for dealing with difficult coworkers
Published: 26 July 2023 - 08: 09
Source: Shutterstock
Every workplace will necessarily encounter difficult co-workers who will test our patience and see how well we can keep our cool under pressure.
Dealing with these people can be annoying and even counterproductive.
However, developing the skill of coping with difficult co-workers is key to having a productive work environment.
To help you deal with these difficult situations elegantly and efficiently, this article will review ten proven and reliable strategies.
Here are 10 effective tips for dealing with difficult coworkers
1.
Compassion and understanding
Compassion and understanding are two of the most important skills for dealing with difficult coworkers.
Try to put yourself in their position and think about their views.
Acknowledge that they may face challenges in their personal or professional lives, leading to their unwanted behavior.
Empathy can help build a good relationship and foster positive communication.
Source: Shutterstock
2.
Active Listening
Active listening is a vital skill when dealing with difficult co-workers.
Give them your full attention when they voice their concerns or complaints.
Believe their feelings and opinions, even if you disagree with them.
Often people just want to be heard, and attentive listening can relieve stress and improve communication.
3.
Maintaining Professionalism
It is essential to show professionalism at all times when dealing with difficult situations.
Avoid getting into heated discussions or letting your feelings govern your reactions.
Instead, respond calmly and specifically and focus on finding a constructive solution to the problem.
4.
Search for common points
Find common points with your difficult colleagues.
Identifying common goals or interests contributes to building a foundation for cooperation and understanding.
Discovering similarities may lead to more productive and collaborative discussions.
5.
Setting boundaries
It ’ s important to set and clarify your personal boundaries if your difficult colleague regularly crosses them.
Kindly let them know that certain behaviors are unacceptable and how they affect your ability to function effectively.
Stay consistent on these boundaries to maintain a positive working relationship.
6.
Avoid chatter and grumbling
Refrain from gossiping or complaining to other colleagues when you have difficulties because of your difficult colleagues.
This behavior can damage your professional reputation and increase negative energy.
Instead, talk directly with the person concerned and if necessary, seek advice from the HR department or supervisor.
7.
Collaborating on solutions
Shift your attention from problems caused by your difficult colleagues to collaborating on solutions.
Discuss issues openly and collaboratively to identify a solution that improves your relationship at work and overall team dynamics.
8. Be prepared to receive feedback
Being prepared to receive constructive nutrition is vital for personal and professional growth.
Gently accept your colleague ’ s criticism and use it as an opportunity to better understand their point of view and make improvements if necessary.
9.
Recognition of achievements
When appropriate, appreciate and thank your difficult colleague for his or her achievements and contributions.
Giving thanks for their efforts can contribute to creating a positive atmosphere and strengthening practical relationships.
10.
Know when to ask for help.
Some situations may be beyond your ability to resolve, and despite doing your best, problems may persist or worsen.
If difficulties persist, consider involving a supervisor, department, or HR representative to mediate the situation impartially.
Dealing with difficult co-workers is an unavoidable part of professional life.
However, with the right application of the right technologies you can turn these retrofit interactions into opportunities for growth and improved working relationships.
You can create a happy and productive work environment even among the most challenging coworkers if you practice empathy, active listening, and professionalism.
Remember that how you handle these situations reflects your personality and professionalism, so it ’ s worth investing the time and effort to develop good communication and collaboration with your colleagues.
Read also.
Topics you might like.

Assurance about data privacy and evolving protocols can foster an ethical technology culture.

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Three Change Management Priorities For Seamless GenAI Deployment

President & CTO at ContractPodAi.

There is no question that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as a powerful, transformative force in today’s business. In its 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, PwC looked at how GenAI would significantly change how organizations operate. They concluded the technology is "approaching a critical juncture, seemingly poised to transform business models, redefine work processes and overhaul entire industries."

In the next year, more than 50% of CEOs surveyed said they expect GenAI to "enhance their ability to build trust with stakeholders," while roughly 60% expect it to "improve product or service quality." Within the next three years, nearly 70% also anticipate that GenAI will "increase competition, drive changes to their business models and require new skills from their workforce." The lasting business impacts that CEOs expect from the technology include boosted efficiency and increased time-to-revenue.

Generative AI comes with a low barrier to entry, empowering organizations to start small and grow their usage of this technology over time. Because of this, I recommend starting with a particular use case and scaling it to the greater organization from there. The secret to the scaling process is for senior leaders to keep a close pulse on their change management efforts. After all, if your organization does not have a smooth adoption and implementation process and is neither aligned nor trained sufficiently around new technology, you'll likely fall short of reaping the full ROI from your digital investment moving forward.

Here are three change management strategies to keep in mind if you’re planning to embrace GenAI in your organization.

Taking A Phased Adoption Approach

Integrating AI into the day-to-day work of the organization necessitates a simple and seamless adoption process. To foster this digital transformation, senior leaders should consider a phased approach that sees AI deployed gradually and refine processes as needed. This gives employees time to familiarize themselves with the technology to maximize its benefits and minimize its disruption to the business.

Additionally, they can build a digital infrastructure characterized by robust digital resources, dedicated support teams and user feedback loops. All of this goes a long way in preventing the problems that typically arise in the adoption process.

Fostering A Culture Of Trust

Another change management strategy is mitigating organizational resistance around AI. This is achieved through clear and direct communication about the business objectives and expected outcomes of AI adoption, and an open discussion about the collaborative partnerships that can form between employees and the technology.

Transparency is key here. On top of establishing these lines of communication, senior leaders should ensure that AI solutions are designed with security, transparency and accountability measures in place. It’s also important for employees and customers to be assured that their data privacy will continue to be top of mind as the technology becomes further scaled to be used within day-to-day workstreams. Be sure to communicate that protocols and guidelines will evolve in the spirit of fostering an ethical and socially responsible AI culture. All of this translates to more support and buy-in across the enterprise.

Redesigning Career Paths And Skills

The advent of GenAI does not have to mean the disruption of traditional job roles but rather a redesign of professional skills and career paths. As AI is gradually integrated into everyday operations, employees should be taught new skills, allowing them to leverage the technology to its fullest.

Some examples of this include advanced training in applied AI, machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP). As AI scales to take on both repetitive and complex tasks, organizations should concentrate on bolstering employees' built-in business instincts and reinforcing their natural human skills. This involves nurturing areas such as business creativity along with strategic and critical analytical abilities and enhancing emotional intelligence within the workplace. This effort should be coupled with a special focus on fostering employees' continuous improvement.

At the end of the day, having a successful digital transformation journey calls for prioritizing the change management strategies mentioned above and exploring other best practices.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

Follow me on LinkedInCheck out my website

A trustworthy digital technology strategy should prioritize security, accountability, and ethical use.

Earning digital trust requires judgment calls, investments, and changes that reflect a technology's impact on individuals.

HR leaders should prioritize transparency and communication to build trust with resistant supervisors.

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This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

From User Adoption to Hybrid Work Success

Illia Reznik Alamy Stock Vector_.jpg

Image: Illia Reznik - Alamy Stock Vector
Somebody finally said it: Lindsay Grenawalt, chief people officer at Cockroach Labs, a database management vendor, wrote the following for Fast Company on the subject of hybrid work:

“There is so much that we can’t control about the future. And I can’t stress this enough: Nobody knows what they’re doing. We are in completely uncharted waters.”

It’s refreshing to see someone — especially an HR executive — concede so forthrightly that hybrid work will require a period of trial and error. And while this is an HR viewpoint, it’s one that IT professionals should buy into and support because the challenges of such an uncertain time fall heavily on IT as well.

Grenawalt’s overarching message is that experimentation is key to hybrid work success because it lets “employees feel in control of the experience.” That message of user empowerment was also shared here on No Jitter, from the IT perspective, by consultant Melissa Swartz of Swartz Consulting, in previewing her Enterprise Connect 2022 session on user adoption.

That session wound up offering a treasure trove of great advice and insights about how to make a user adoption project succeed. Swartz presented alongside Vallorie Weires, senior solutions and customer success advisor at Enabling Technologies consultancy, describing an engagement the two handled for a state government with 10,000 users to roll out Microsoft Teams.

The key to the project’s success was pairing the technical implementation with a powerful change management and adoption program. “They were in lockstep with us,” Swartz said about Weires’ change management team, which was on every call addressing the technology plan. “I’ve never seen a project where it was that much a part of the process.”

Weires cited research showing organizations that don’t invest in change management only see 35% of the benefit from a project compared with those that do. “You’re spending money on these [technology tools] because you’re trying to create an awesome experience for your users,” she said. “The adoption [program] just translates what you’re already trying to do into a way that your users can understand it and feel like they’ve been put first.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean users will always get what they want. In the state government project, one particular Teams feature gained instant popularity but had to be withdrawn because of a corporate governance issue. “Just because we address everyone’s concerns, it doesn’t mean we always say yes,” Weires said. “Sometimes it’s a hard: No, and here’s why.” The goal is to be transparent, so people feel seen and heard. “It’s not about being mushy, but it’s about people feeling that what they have to say matters,” she added.

Taking the sort of care and devoting the intensive change management resources to such a project requires a commitment of significant resources; Weires said 50% of the Teams rollout project’s budget was reserved for adoption and change management. And she acknowledged that IT hasn’t traditionally viewed change management as this large a component of a deployment. “This is a shift in the industry. It is a shift in the thinking,” she said.

But the shift is real and applies beyond focused projects like a Teams rollout. The principles that Weires and Swartz emphasized for their Microsoft Teams adoption project should be the same guideposts that enterprises follow as they implement hybrid work.

The big difference is that an enterprise can look to thousands of successful Teams rollouts worldwide as a model for their own effort and for confidence that the project can succeed. In contrast, it’s too early to say any enterprise has succeeded at hybrid work. But that’s all the more reason to focus on the principles of change management, transparency, and user feedback as the enterprise attempts to make hybrid work succeed.

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Content: Contact Center AI: An Interview with Talkdesk’s Ben Rigby

Question: Ben, What Is the Current Sentiment Around AI and Automation in Contact Centers?

Answer: Today, contact centers have started to feel the concrete benefits of AI, from its ability to improve customer satisfaction to increasing agent productivity and upskilling employees.

While some companies still struggle to understand how automation can fit into their tech stack to transform how they operate as a business, many have started to experiment with AI technology to support specific processes or tasks in their contact centers.

Q: The Report Shows That Only 15 Percent of Organizations Are Taking Advantage of Emerging AI Technology, Such As Human-in-the-Loop. What Might Be Causing the Hesitation?

A: Our survey shows that contact center professionals are lacking confidence in their understanding of AI and the business results they should expect. As with implementing any new technology, AI comes with challenges, and our survey found that security and IT risks around legacy contact center equipment rank number one for concern.

Companies are also facing resistance from leaders and staff within their organization while grappling with labor shortages, all of which make it difficult to build, use, and maintain new automated systems. CX (customer experience) leaders need to be transparent with their workforce, emphasizing the core benefits and uses of AI and automation.

In addition to improving a business’s processes and bottom line, this technology also has the power to streamline employees’ day-to-day activities by filtering out the repetitive tasks. By openly communicating these direct benefits, companies can gain buy-in from their entire workforce, from entry level staff all the way up to managers and above.

Q: What Are the Security Risks That Come with AI Technology?

While security and IT risks of outdated contact center equipment are a main barrier to adoption, once deployed as part of a digital transformation initiative, AI actually makes contact centers more secure. Three in four CX professionals agree that AI tech will allow customer data to be more secure than a live agent, and four in five agree that AI will significantly help companies improve identity and authentication security in the next two years.

Q: How Can CX Leaders Address These Risks?

A: If AI has the potential to improve contact center security, the question then becomes, how can companies securely implement the technology? The answer is simple: businesses must put the strongest foundation in place to support AI. Specifically, they’ll need to invest in modern cloud architecture that will seamlessly and securely integrate AI technology.

Q: If a Company Has Not Yet Adopted This Technology, Are They Falling Behind?

A: Companies that continue to be resistant to AI adoption will undoubtedly fall behind in two areas: EX [employee experience] and CX. In today’s contact center workforce, AI technology helps reduce the repetitive tasks and transactional work for agents, alleviating stress, reducing workloads, and allowing teams to rebuild their contact center workforce.

AI provides the much-needed support during ongoing labor shortages and will be instrumental in upskilling workers to provide a more meaningful role in the contact center.

In terms of CX, conversational AI can help contact centers provide high-quality experiences by instantly responding to customer queries at any time of the day. AI can also equip agents with the contextual, personalized knowledge they need to accurately answer customer questions. This leaves customers highly satisfied and eases friction that comes with lengthy interactions.

Q: In Making the Decision to Implement More Advanced AI Technology, What Do CX Professionals Need to Consider?

A: There are three things CX professionals and leaders should consider:

First, do our agents have the right training and resources to leverage this technology effectively? Before launching new tech solutions, it’s important that the current agents have a strong skill set and understanding of how this will impact day-to-day operations, as well as best practices to work in tandem once the technology is in place.

Second, do we have the internal resources to make AI operations accessible? AI will continue to become more advanced and the only way for a company to reap the benefits of this technology is by making it accessible to everyone, even those who don’t have formal technical training or backgrounds.

Third, do we have a current system that can support a safe integration of advanced AI technology? Without the right foundation, you won’t be able to utilize AI to its full potential. Prior to deploying AI technology, take the time to consolidate redundant tech stacks.

Q: With 79 Percent of CX Leaders Planning to Increase Contact Center Investments, What Do You Think the State of AI and Automation in Contact Centers Will Look Like in 2023?

A: In 2023, the realization of AI’s capabilities and benefits will be more apparent than ever. While some companies may still be hesitant, there will be many more use cases and success stories to reference and tout the positive outcomes for contact centers.

We can all agree that AI technology will continue to evolve and adapt to new business needs within the next year. Along with that, the growth of no-code solutions will continue to shine a light on the true ease of adoption, putting a rest to concerns around the challenges of adoption.

Thank you, Ben, for taking time to share your insight.

It’s been my pleasure!

Ben Rigby is the SVP and Global Head of Product & Engineering at Talkdesk, an end-to-end contact center solutions provider.

Open communication is essential for empowering teams to utilize new tools and technologies.

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Empowering A New Class Of Agency Creatives

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Amber is the Co-Founder & CEO of Invisible North.

For leaders of creative agencies, the heartbeat of our success resides in our people and their ideas. Creating a balanced agency ecosystem demands that the team feels valued, supported and heard, equipped not only with the tools for their craft but also the empowerment to experiment, push boundaries and boldly innovate.

Today, a major shift is underway, marked by the integration of emerging technologies like AI and thus a fear of job security with automation. And with it, there is a persistent undercurrent—the sense among many creatives that their work is being undervalued.

As leaders steering through this transformative journey, we recognize that these new tools and processes, though intimidating, harbor the potential to spark increased creativity when truly understood and approached with intentionality. Over the years, I’ve uncovered a few tried-and-true methods to help empower teams to utilize these new tools, experiment and enhance their craft amid our evolving industry.

Create Safe Spaces

Agency leaders play a pivotal role in shaping the company narrative for their teams and uplifting them from within. It begins with fostering an environment for open communication in which team members are comfortable expressing their concerns, ideas and opinions, especially at a time when many have mixed feelings about bringing AI into the workplace.

To truly empower our communities, we must acknowledge these emotions and encourage a workplace where they can feel valued and motivated. In doing so, their best work can come to life.

We have a strong culture in our agency of show-and-tell, inspiration trips/research and challenges. If there are areas that team members want to learn about, we find time to dig into research, insights and workshops with best-in-class partners so that we can enhance collective brain trust and overcome the fear of unknown barriers to comfort and flow.

Champion Wins

In a creative field where individual expression and innovation are highly valued, it’s crucial for leaders to create an environment that fosters personal inspiration. Getting results from soup to nuts on a project is not an easy feat—so much goes into it across departments. Oftentimes, we move from one project to the next and forget to stop and celebrate the wins or embrace the learnings. By acknowledging the diverse efforts it took to bring the campaign to life, along with any new tools or methods used, you’re reinforcing the efforts needed to create success.

We use our monthly companywide newsletters, quarterly town halls and biannual all-team meetings to share individual, team and project accolades alongside other agency updates.

Embrace Change

The introduction of new technologies in any space often triggers a fear of the unknown. Teams should view these changes as catalysts rather than inhibitors. Through thoughtful integration strategies, leaders can help harness emerging technologies to enrich the creative process rather than impede it.

We’ve seen time and time again that when you curate a supportive environment to freely experiment, magic happens. It is imperative to encourage teams to explore with new tools and also hold space to share their discoveries. That’s where the real learning begins. It’s also essential to tackle any concerns or anxieties team members may have, leading with transparent communication throughout.

Foster Community

Emerging technologies will inevitably shape the way agencies and creatives approach their craft, ultimately opening new doors for how we tell stories, create experiences and personalize content. No matter the changes, the thing that must remain constant is continuing to prioritize the people who truly make the work special.

As the heartbeat of the creative process, we must protect our community above all else—recognizing their anxieties, celebrating their experimentations, championing their well-being and helping them navigate this new frontier. So, as we embrace a new year, let’s carry these principles forward into 2024—a commitment to cultivating a community that not only adapts to change but propels it. Let’s create a legacy of inspired, valued and empowered creative professionals.

Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?

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Education and training are crucial for supervisors and employees to understand the benefits and risks of new technology.

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Three Change Management Priorities For Seamless GenAI Deployment

President & CTO at ContractPodAi.

There is no question that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as a powerful, transformative force in today’s business. In its 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, PwC looked at how GenAI would significantly change how organizations operate. They concluded the technology is "approaching a critical juncture, seemingly poised to transform business models, redefine work processes and overhaul entire industries."

In the next year, more than 50% of CEOs surveyed said they expect GenAI to "enhance their ability to build trust with stakeholders," while roughly 60% expect it to "improve product or service quality." Within the next three years, nearly 70% also anticipate that GenAI will "increase competition, drive changes to their business models and require new skills from their workforce." The lasting business impacts that CEOs expect from the technology include boosted efficiency and increased time-to-revenue.

Generative AI comes with a low barrier to entry, empowering organizations to start small and grow their usage of this technology over time. Because of this, I recommend starting with a particular use case and scaling it to the greater organization from there. The secret to the scaling process is for senior leaders to keep a close pulse on their change management efforts. After all, if your organization does not have a smooth adoption and implementation process and is neither aligned nor trained sufficiently around new technology, you'll likely fall short of reaping the full ROI from your digital investment moving forward.

Here are three change management strategies to keep in mind if you’re planning to embrace GenAI in your organization.

Taking A Phased Adoption Approach

Integrating AI into the day-to-day work of the organization necessitates a simple and seamless adoption process. To foster this digital transformation, senior leaders should consider a phased approach that sees AI deployed gradually and refine processes as needed. This gives employees time to familiarize themselves with the technology to maximize its benefits and minimize its disruption to the business.

Additionally, they can build a digital infrastructure characterized by robust digital resources, dedicated support teams and user feedback loops. All of this goes a long way in preventing the problems that typically arise in the adoption process.

Fostering A Culture Of Trust

Another change management strategy is mitigating organizational resistance around AI. This is achieved through clear and direct communication about the business objectives and expected outcomes of AI adoption, and an open discussion about the collaborative partnerships that can form between employees and the technology.

Transparency is key here. On top of establishing these lines of communication, senior leaders should ensure that AI solutions are designed with security, transparency and accountability measures in place. It’s also important for employees and customers to be assured that their data privacy will continue to be top of mind as the technology becomes further scaled to be used within day-to-day workstreams. Be sure to communicate that protocols and guidelines will evolve in the spirit of fostering an ethical and socially responsible AI culture. All of this translates to more support and buy-in across the enterprise.

Redesigning Career Paths And Skills

The advent of GenAI does not have to mean the disruption of traditional job roles but rather a redesign of professional skills and career paths. As AI is gradually integrated into everyday operations, employees should be taught new skills, allowing them to leverage the technology to its fullest.

Some examples of this include advanced training in applied AI, machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP). As AI scales to take on both repetitive and complex tasks, organizations should concentrate on bolstering employees' built-in business instincts and reinforcing their natural human skills. This involves nurturing areas such as business creativity along with strategic and critical analytical abilities and enhancing emotional intelligence within the workplace. This effort should be coupled with a special focus on fostering employees' continuous improvement.

At the end of the day, having a successful digital transformation journey calls for prioritizing the change management strategies mentioned above and exploring other best practices.

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Content: Contact Center AI: An Interview with Talkdesk’s Ben Rigby

Question: Ben, What Is the Current Sentiment Around AI and Automation in Contact Centers?

Answer: Today, contact centers have started to feel the concrete benefits of AI, from its ability to improve customer satisfaction to increasing agent productivity and upskilling employees.

While some companies still struggle to understand how automation can fit into their tech stack to transform how they operate as a business, many have started to experiment with AI technology to support specific processes or tasks in their contact centers.

Q: The Report Shows That Only 15 Percent of Organizations Are Taking Advantage of Emerging AI Technology, Such As Human-in-the-Loop. What Might Be Causing the Hesitation?

A: Our survey shows that contact center professionals are lacking confidence in their understanding of AI and the business results they should expect. As with implementing any new technology, AI comes with challenges, and our survey found that security and IT risks around legacy contact center equipment rank number one for concern.

Companies are also facing resistance from leaders and staff within their organization while grappling with labor shortages, all of which make it difficult to build, use, and maintain new automated systems. CX (customer experience) leaders need to be transparent with their workforce, emphasizing the core benefits and uses of AI and automation.

In addition to improving a business’s processes and bottom line, this technology also has the power to streamline employees’ day-to-day activities by filtering out the repetitive tasks. By openly communicating these direct benefits, companies can gain buy-in from their entire workforce, from entry level staff all the way up to managers and above.

Q: What Are the Security Risks That Come with AI Technology?

While security and IT risks of outdated contact center equipment are a main barrier to adoption, once deployed as part of a digital transformation initiative, AI actually makes contact centers more secure. Three in four CX professionals agree that AI tech will allow customer data to be more secure than a live agent, and four in five agree that AI will significantly help companies improve identity and authentication security in the next two years.

Q: How Can CX Leaders Address These Risks?

A: If AI has the potential to improve contact center security, the question then becomes, how can companies securely implement the technology? The answer is simple: businesses must put the strongest foundation in place to support AI. Specifically, they’ll need to invest in modern cloud architecture that will seamlessly and securely integrate AI technology.

Q: If a Company Has Not Yet Adopted This Technology, Are They Falling Behind?

A: Companies that continue to be resistant to AI adoption will undoubtedly fall behind in two areas: EX [employee experience] and CX. In today’s contact center workforce, AI technology helps reduce the repetitive tasks and transactional work for agents, alleviating stress, reducing workloads, and allowing teams to rebuild their contact center workforce.

AI provides the much-needed support during ongoing labor shortages and will be instrumental in upskilling workers to provide a more meaningful role in the contact center.

In terms of CX, conversational AI can help contact centers provide high-quality experiences by instantly responding to customer queries at any time of the day. AI can also equip agents with the contextual, personalized knowledge they need to accurately answer customer questions. This leaves customers highly satisfied and eases friction that comes with lengthy interactions.

Q: In Making the Decision to Implement More Advanced AI Technology, What Do CX Professionals Need to Consider?

A: There are three things CX professionals and leaders should consider:

First, do our agents have the right training and resources to leverage this technology effectively? Before launching new tech solutions, it’s important that the current agents have a strong skill set and understanding of how this will impact day-to-day operations, as well as best practices to work in tandem once the technology is in place.

Second, do we have the internal resources to make AI operations accessible? AI will continue to become more advanced and the only way for a company to reap the benefits of this technology is by making it accessible to everyone, even those who don’t have formal technical training or backgrounds.

Third, do we have a current system that can support a safe integration of advanced AI technology? Without the right foundation, you won’t be able to utilize AI to its full potential. Prior to deploying AI technology, take the time to consolidate redundant tech stacks.

Q: With 79 Percent of CX Leaders Planning to Increase Contact Center Investments, What Do You Think the State of AI and Automation in Contact Centers Will Look Like in 2023?

A: In 2023, the realization of AI’s capabilities and benefits will be more apparent than ever. While some companies may still be hesitant, there will be many more use cases and success stories to reference and tout the positive outcomes for contact centers.

We can all agree that AI technology will continue to evolve and adapt to new business needs within the next year. Along with that, the growth of no-code solutions will continue to shine a light on the true ease of adoption, putting a rest to concerns around the challenges of adoption.

Thank you, Ben, for taking time to share your insight.

It’s been my pleasure!

Ben Rigby is the SVP and Global Head of Product & Engineering at Talkdesk, an end-to-end contact center solutions provider.

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Why CEOs Need A New Playbook In The AI Era

To ensure that human touch remains at the forefront of technological transformation, top executives need a deliberate strategy for maintaining trust and authenticity.

Let’s thank AI, in part, for the volume of information already written about how companies can tap into the power of this technology to unlock new sources of value, drive efficiencies, or improve the customer experience. And that’s only scratching the surface. Add to the mix much, much more on managing disruption, threats and risks, plus governance, education and employee upskilling. Given the magnitude of the impact, it’s easy to understand why the conversation has shifted to all AI, all the time, inside many organizations.

Even so, what may be missing from the conversation is a focus on how this impacts C-level leadership, particularly when it comes to the executive behaviors that accelerate execution and drive action.

In an era where conversations about bots and ChatGPT dominate, how do senior leaders demonstrate authenticity, grow trust and show even more of their humanity in order to accelerate performance or drive change? Consider the following:

1. Take a ‘do not interfere’ approach. It’s fitting that renowned film director Steven Spielberg quoted a line from “The Godfather” when discussing AI at a June 2023 Yale CEO Summit: “I’m very much for AI as long as, as Vito Corleone said in the first ‘Godfather’ movie, ‘as long as your business doesn’t interfere with mine.’”

Spielberg may have been referring to the role AI should play in the creative process for writers or directors, but the sentiment equally applies to how executives must uniquely lead in the workplace. When it comes to the qualities of leadership that engage, inspire and move others to act, AI should not interfere.

At BTS, we’ve conducted more than a decade of research into the specific set of executive behaviors that accelerate execution and drive growth. Some of the most important qualities fall under the dimension of character and how executives create trust, including authenticity, integrity, humility and restraint. It’s areas like these where executives might be tempted to rely on AI to boost their impact, but here is where a “do not interfere” rule should apply. When it comes to strengthening character, a favorite quote by the motivational speaker Jim Rohn comes to mind: “You can’t hire somebody else to do your pushups for you.”

2. Use AI tools selectively to build skills. Several 2024 studies on trust, including the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer,  highlight unsettling trends across society, including a decline of trust in authority and in companies. Add in more concerns about the risks surrounding AI, and it creates an even higher bar for senior leaders to clear when it comes to gaining trust with employees, stakeholders, the media or members of the community. This is where executives can leverage AI, using coaching bots and tools to evaluate aspects of their communication style, impact and body language, providing real-time feedback that can help leaders make helpful adjustments in their approach.

Transparent communication also requires a clarity of message to help others understand the rationale behind decisions or changes, and tools like generative AI can find new ways of expressing familiar concepts so messages feel fresh and differentiated to employees. The options are endless, but the “do not interfere” principle stands: You are the message, and the minute your message starts to sound like it came from AI instead of you, the words lack soul. Another quote from Spielberg captures the idea: “I think the soul is unimaginable and is ineffable. And it cannot be created by any algorithm, it is just something that exists in all of us.”

3. Understand whether others see you as genuine. In the AI era, employees need to see even higher degrees of honesty, transparency and authenticity from their leaders. This raises the question of how your employees see you. Would they describe you as authentic, transparent, genuine?

Research shows just how important these qualities are today inside companies: Employees who describe their leaders as authentic are often more committed, engaged and satisfied. With engagement rates hovering around 33 percent, executives have an opportunity to take a deeper look at these aspects of their own leadership. Go beyond standard questions about trust in leadership and ask others to provide examples where they experienced you as authentic, genuine and real so you appreciate what is working and where more is needed.

4. Create an updated ‘trust and authenticity’ playbook. AI isn’t only disrupting ways of working; it is also disrupting ways of leading, which is why the pre-AI playbooks on “growing trust” or “leading authentically” require updates to lead change. Consider the case of one CEO who was a strong champion for AI, providing additional resources and investments to fast-track progress at his company. In spite of these efforts, months later, little progress had been made on the AI front, frustrating senior leadership, who wanted to understand what was getting in the way.

It turns out that employees were generally enthusiastic about the benefits of the technology, but they did not believe the organization would “have their backs” when changes were implemented. To address these concerns, the CEO recognized that his standard playbook to align employees and drive change wasn’t working. No matter how quickly he wanted the organization to move ahead with AI initiatives, the trust foundation needed strengthening first.

Says this CEO today: “The ‘slow down to speed up’ idea applies. Before, I focused on speed of execution, but to get traction on AI, we had to address trust gaps first. We created forums for employees to share where we let them down in the past, and we do a better job of listening and creating solutions together. I also share my own hopes and dreams about the future and talk about my fears, too. This is a process, but they know I hear them, I get it and I feel it, too. I say far less about moving fast, but today, we’re moving much faster.”

In the age of AI, where technology profoundly influences how organizations operate and innovate, leadership at the C-level must evolve to maintain authenticity, trust and humanity. Executives are encouraged to adopt a “do not interfere” approach with AI, using it selectively to enhance skills without compromising the unique human qualities that inspire and drive teams. By focusing on genuine interactions, communicating transparently and building a culture of trust, leaders can effectively navigate the complexities of digital transformation, fostering an environment where both people and technology thrive together.

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Empowering A New Class Of Agency Creatives

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Amber is the Co-Founder & CEO of Invisible North.

For leaders of creative agencies, the heartbeat of our success resides in our people and their ideas. Creating a balanced agency ecosystem demands that the team feels valued, supported and heard, equipped not only with the tools for their craft but also the empowerment to experiment, push boundaries and boldly innovate.

Today, a major shift is underway, marked by the integration of emerging technologies like AI and thus a fear of job security with automation. And with it, there is a persistent undercurrent—the sense among many creatives that their work is being undervalued.

As leaders steering through this transformative journey, we recognize that these new tools and processes, though intimidating, harbor the potential to spark increased creativity when truly understood and approached with intentionality. Over the years, I’ve uncovered a few tried-and-true methods to help empower teams to utilize these new tools, experiment and enhance their craft amid our evolving industry.

Create Safe Spaces

Agency leaders play a pivotal role in shaping the company narrative for their teams and uplifting them from within. It begins with fostering an environment for open communication in which team members are comfortable expressing their concerns, ideas and opinions, especially at a time when many have mixed feelings about bringing AI into the workplace.

To truly empower our communities, we must acknowledge these emotions and encourage a workplace where they can feel valued and motivated. In doing so, their best work can come to life.

We have a strong culture in our agency of show-and-tell, inspiration trips/research and challenges. If there are areas that team members want to learn about, we find time to dig into research, insights and workshops with best-in-class partners so that we can enhance collective brain trust and overcome the fear of unknown barriers to comfort and flow.

Champion Wins

In a creative field where individual expression and innovation are highly valued, it’s crucial for leaders to create an environment that fosters personal inspiration. Getting results from soup to nuts on a project is not an easy feat—so much goes into it across departments. Oftentimes, we move from one project to the next and forget to stop and celebrate the wins or embrace the learnings. By acknowledging the diverse efforts it took to bring the campaign to life, along with any new tools or methods used, you’re reinforcing the efforts needed to create success.

We use our monthly companywide newsletters, quarterly town halls and biannual all-team meetings to share individual, team and project accolades alongside other agency updates.

Embrace Change

The introduction of new technologies in any space often triggers a fear of the unknown. Teams should view these changes as catalysts rather than inhibitors. Through thoughtful integration strategies, leaders can help harness emerging technologies to enrich the creative process rather than impede it.

We’ve seen time and time again that when you curate a supportive environment to freely experiment, magic happens. It is imperative to encourage teams to explore with new tools and also hold space to share their discoveries. That’s where the real learning begins. It’s also essential to tackle any concerns or anxieties team members may have, leading with transparent communication throughout.

Foster Community

Emerging technologies will inevitably shape the way agencies and creatives approach their craft, ultimately opening new doors for how we tell stories, create experiences and personalize content. No matter the changes, the thing that must remain constant is continuing to prioritize the people who truly make the work special.

As the heartbeat of the creative process, we must protect our community above all else—recognizing their anxieties, celebrating their experimentations, championing their well-being and helping them navigate this new frontier. So, as we embrace a new year, let’s carry these principles forward into 2024—a commitment to cultivating a community that not only adapts to change but propels it. Let’s create a legacy of inspired, valued and empowered creative professionals.

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Why workers see downsides to AI

2 hours ago

Many organisations have great intentions to deploy AI for productivity but fail to adequately train workers.

A trio of recent surveys from Ireland, the UK and the US suggest that workers are still trying to wrap their heads around AI. Attitudes range from suspicious to overwhelmingly positive – but it’s fair to say that most respondents were on the fence.

Irish recruitment firm Prosperity Recruitment’s 2024 employment and salary report featured a survey of 400 Irish professionals. More than half (57pc) said they use tools like ChatGPT daily or weekly. Only 15pc claimed they never used it.

Mixed views

Of those that do use AI, a slim majority (51.6pc) believe it aids productivity, while the remainder are unconvinced or think of the tech as a “distraction”.

When asked what they think the main risks of AI in the workplace are, the majority said inaccuracy, plagiarism and deepfakes. Speed and productivity were seen as the biggest benefits that AI can offer workers.

The small sample size weakens the findings somewhat, but Prosperity Recruitment did gather testimonials from workers from different industries on how they believe their work is being impacted by AI. Interestingly, attitudes varied depending on the sector the respondent worked in. An educator said the tech “undermines the importance of institutional education and academic achievement”.

One UX and UI designer said they were much faster at doing data analysis, whereas another pointed out that creativity is being replaced by homogeneity due to AI.

Software developers, customer support specialists and digital marketers tended to be enthusiastic about AI’s productivity and speed advantages. One even proclaimed: “One developer can do the job of three.”

That loaded statement is the reason many other workers are so vehemently anti-AI. They worry they are going to be replaced by automation. Of the 400 people who were surveyed by Prosperity, the majority said they think their jobs will evolve but will not be lost entirely due to AI.

Not just job jitters

This sentiment was not shared by the majority of people surveyed by Pluralsight. The tech company polled 1,200 executives and IT professionals from across the UK and the US as part of its AI Skills Report 2024. The findings revealed AI anxiety, especially over adoption processes and skills gaps. As many as 81pc of respondents felt they could integrate AI into their roles right now, only 12pc actually have any practical experience using the tech.

While 87pc said they planned to increase AI spending over the next 12 months, only 40pc said their organisations have any proper formal training strategies in place to help them benefit.

“Even as organisations accelerate AI adoption, the majority don’t understand what, if any, AI skills their employees possess or have an upskilling strategy to develop them,” said the report’s authors.

Like the respondents to Prosperity’s survey, the majority of those Pluralsight polled said the main benefit of AI is productivity – but this is only pie in the sky if organisations aren’t training workers adequately. It may also be a contributing factor to workers’ anxieties around AI ‘stealing their jobs’ – not a concern to be trifled with. Pluralsight previously did a study on AI anxiety and the types of workers affected; most experiencing worries and doubts over the tech are minorities or working on high-conflict teams.

No blues for blue collar workers

Attitudes to AI tend to be less radical in the blue collar sector. The Knowledge Academy, a UK-based training and coaching company, asked 2,000 UK students whether they thought AI advancements would put jobs at risk. Less than a quarter said they were worried about job security due to automation.

Of that minority, around a fifth fear AI because they believe it will replace manual jobs, such as data entry or assembly-line work. Like Prosperity’s survey, The Knowledge Academy also broke down attitudes towards AI based on sector. It found that 100pc of students seeking work in the mining, energy and water supply, agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors are unconcerned about AI.

Those seeking careers in education, information and communication, public admin and social security felt the most threatened by AI.

Last week, we spoke to two experienced tech workers about the main risks and rewards of working in AI and analytics. Their views on the tech’s positives and negatives were balanced and well worth a read.

Find out how emerging tech trends are transforming tomorrow with our new podcast, Future Human: The Series. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

By Blathnaid O’Dea

Blathnaid O’Dea joined Silicon Republic in 2021 as Careers reporter, coming from a background in the Humanities. She likes people, pranking, pictures of puffins – and apparently alliteration.

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Content: This content is part of the Conference Coverage: Everything Enterprise Connect 2021: News, trends and insights

UC user adoption training must evolve for hybrid work

Learn why industry leaders at Enterprise Connect said user adoption training is key to UC success in the hybrid workplace -- and how employee experience platforms can help.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed how people work. The adoption and use of unified communications tools, for example, skyrocketed to support remote workers. But, as workflows have changed, organizations must alter their approach to supporting end-user adoption of new tools.

At the start of the pandemic, organizations rolled out whatever tools they felt necessary to support remote work. As a result, employees learned how to use the tools on the fly as the traditional methods of user adoption training -- such as classroom-style trainings in the office -- were no longer possible.

Now, as organizations have become more strategic about their unified communications (UC) investments to support a hybrid workplace, they must also consider employee training to ensure adoption success. There is a direct correlation between preparing end users before deploying a new tool and user productivity post-deployment, COMMfusion LLC President Blair Pleasant said.

Most end users who felt they were well prepared with training before a deployment believed the new tool made them more productive, according to a BCStrategies survey of end users and IT leaders. Of those end users who said they weren't adequately trained, only 17% said they felt more productive.

Pleasant and other industry analysts and leaders spoke at the Enterprise Connect virtual conference. One key topic was the importance of supporting user adoption in a hybrid workplace to ensure UC deployment success and employee productivity, regardless of location.

Hybrid work means new training models

As organizations think about user adoption programs in a hybrid workplace, they have to ensure training is equal for both remote and office-based employees, said Eric Hanson, chief marketing officer at cloud-based communications provider Fuze.

Some user adoption training methods, like classroom-style instruction, will be set aside as employees work remotely. Other training strategies will emerge, like Yammer community forums, to create more of an online discussion, said Alan Shen, CTO at IT management software provider Unify Square.

Video training will also be key, especially to recreate the feeling of in-office training. For more successful video training, organizations should consider virtual events that combine real-time activities with asynchronous, on-demand content, Hanson said.

Training structured with synchronous and asynchronous content can address the different ways people learn and create a more engaging experience, he said. On-demand materials can also be used for reference after a training session.

"Adoption isn't something that happens right after deployment," Hanson said.

However, using video for training can be challenging, despite the overall growth of video across organizations, Pleasant said.

"The problem is end users can do it on their own time, but it doesn't mean they're going to," she said.

Training goes beyond business workflows

Organizations need to remember that UC tools are not just for business workflows and communication.

"When deploying new technology, we just think about the technology," Pleasant said. "We don't think about the organizational changes, the cultural impact and change management."

Rolling out a new application or system is not the main and end goal. The deployment needs to help employees collaborate more effectively, she said.

For example, many employees have used UC tools not just for collaboration workflows, but to maintain company culture and personal connections with their co-workers during the pandemic. User adoption training could include educating employees on how to use a new tool for social communications, like virtual happy hours, to support team cohesion, Shen said.

Employee experience platforms support user adoption

While training is key to boost user adoption, a major roadblock to adoption is the actual experience when using the tools. According to a global Omdia survey on the future of work, the biggest barrier to achieving successful outcomes with digital workplace technology is employee resistance.

"It's not a surprise as employees and line-of-business decision-makers have an idea of what tools they need to be successful, and IT isn't listening to them," Omdia analyst Tim Banting said.

According to the survey, 45% of companies said the IT department determines the need for workplace tools and makes the final recommendation. Only 15% of companies involve other stakeholders in the business when making buying decisions.

The result of not including employees and lines of business in buying decisions is not achieving ROI because employees aren't using the tools, he said.

Employee experience platforms can help highlight where user adoption is faltering and where more training may be necessary.

Addressing the gap between performance and experience

The operational data and application performance metrics that IT sees do not always reflect what employees are experiencing, said Johnny Russ, general manager of employee experience management at Qualtrics, a provider of employee experience tools.

IT may see data about the tools employees are logging in to or the number of help desk tickets filed, but they don't see data around situations where employees are logged in to an app but having frustrating UX.

"We're often missing appropriate understanding of why this is happening," Russ said.

Employee experience platforms, such as Qualtrics and Microsoft Viva, can provide greater insight into how employees are engaging with tools through features such as training effectiveness surveys, pulse surveys and AI-driven analytics. Without these metrics, IT could have a hard time addressing UX.

Or, as Pleasant put it, "You can't fix what you don't measure."

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15 research-backed benefits of employee training

The benefits of employee training are felt far and wide, from improvements in workers' wellbeing to better customer interactions.

The total annual expenditure for training in the U.S. is now in excess of $100 billion. With high inflation, increasing interest rates, and an atmosphere of economic uncertainty, it’s safe to assume that business leaders will want to know if the benefits of employee training are worth the investment.

It’s more important than ever for learning and development leaders to be able to articulate what the organization and its employees have to gain from training. To get the wheels turning, this article will present a variety of ways L&D has a meaningful impact on the business, backed by recent research.

15 benefits of employee training

People who stop learning stop growing, and the same is true of organizations. In this ever-changing world, an organization that doesn’t keep developing its workforce is not likely to survive very long. In addition to increasing the vitality of an organization, here are 15 benefits of training employees.

1. Positive psychological effects

Chief among the intangible benefits of employee training is the confidence that comes from feeling competent. People who are confident in their roles are typically more motivated to seek new responsibilities and take advantage of upskilling opportunities.

Additionally, learning programs that directly focus on employee wellness produce positive psychological effects. For example, one study analyzing the effects of mindfulness-based training in occupational settings found improvements in employee wellbeing, job satisfaction, and work engagement.

2. Improved individual performance

Another one of the benefits of employee training is the impact it can have when the time for performance assessments comes. Custom learning pathways provide a means for employees to develop in their identified areas for improvement.

Additionally, because performance assessments are typically tied to promotions and salary increases, training can be a key contributor to an individual’s compensation. This is significant because of the correlation between monetary compensation and employee job satisfaction, which increases retention.

3. Reduced turnover

The cost of replacing an employee can be as much as twice the individual’s annual salary. The intangible costs of losing employees are also significant, including the loss of expertise and the negative effect on team morale.

However, a recent study comparing the results of multiple surveys found that companies highly rated for employee training have 53% less attrition than companies with poor ratings for training. And 94% of employees said they’d remain with a company that invests in their development.

Employees who feel valued because of the investment in their development are more engaged and connected with their organization. The competence they gain, one of the key benefits of employee training, gives them the confidence to tackle challenges rather than jump ship in difficult times.

4. Stronger collaboration

In an in-person training, learners typically have the opportunity to interact with their peers, often from different functional areas, in small-group activities. This allows employees to expand their peer networks while exercising their collaboration skills.

And the ripple effect of collaborative exercises is felt far and wide. Collaboration facilitates the exchange of knowledge, promotes innovation and creativity, and improves problem-solving. Not to mention its potential for decreasing the isolation that is often felt in remote workforces – never underestimate the value of including breakout rooms and group chats in virtual instructor-led training.

5. Boosted productivity

Learning and development can have a positive impact on employee productivity by offering training on skills like how to communicate concisely, conduct meetings effectively, and increase focus while working from home.

However, quantifying the impact of training on productivity can be a tricky business that relies heavily on establishing some reasonable basis for comparison. For many organizations, that entails measuring the length of time for a new hire to become fully productive in a given role, and seeing if that time can be reduced through training. For example, Glassdoor reported a 70%+ increase in productivity as a result of onboarding that included advanced learning tools.

Discover how a culture of learning can prepare your workforce for the future.

6. Better managers and leaders

Facebook conducted a study and discovered certain commonalities among employees who were predicted to leave the company but stayed anyway. They concluded that these employees’ managers played a large role in retaining them.

Leadership development is one of the biggest benefits of employee training for the simple fact that the old adage, “People don’t quit a job; they quit a boss,” rings true. Some of the skills that have become extremely important for managers to develop, even more so in remote-first workplaces, include emotional intelligence, inclusivity, and trust-building.

7. Attracting new talent

Providing opportunities to learn and grow is now deemed the top characteristic of an exceptional work environment. SHRM has also stated that people prefer to work for an employer that helps them develop new skills. Job seekers are well aware of the need to continue adding onto their skillset to remain competitive in the talent marketplace.

To fully realize L&D’s impact on the recruiting process, consider including a description of the organization’s learning programs in job postings, posting employee success stories on the website, and sharing about L&D offerings during interviews with candidates.

8. Bridged skill gaps

It wouldn’t be a list of employee training benefits without mention of closing skill gaps. Skill gaps were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and related talent shortage. A McKinsey & Company study found that 87% of companies have either identified current skill gaps in their workforce or expect to experience skill gaps in the near future.

According to the World Economic Forum, more than half of all employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling by 2025. Learning and development teams will be responsible for bridging these gaps, and around the world they’ve identified reskilling and upskilling as their top priority of the year.

9. A more inclusive workplace

According to Newsweek, a recent survey of large companies found that more employees have attended training on diversity, equity, and inclusion (90%) than training programs intended to improve their work performance (78%).

It’s clear that more and more organizations are beginning to recognize the importance of DEI programming. And the benefits resulting from the training investment are an added bonus. For example, research completed by global nonprofit Catalyst found that companies with inclusive cultures report a 59% increase in creativity, innovation, and openness.

10. Breaking down silos

Another one of the benefits of employee training is its ability to break down organizational silos, which have been described as the “greatest threat to organizational performance.” Information silos exist when people in one functional area don’t have easy access to information used and maintained in other areas.

Training on collaboration and cross-functional project work can develop a silo-busting mindset without setting fire to the org chart. With this perspective, employees don’t hesitate to share information or seek input from sources beyond the four walls of their department.

11. A competitive advantage

Most organizations have come to recognize the L&D function is not merely a cost center that provides support but doesn’t generate revenue. Increasingly, learning leaders are being viewed as strategic business partners to operating units and executive leadership. In fact, Forbes has described L&D as a competitive differentiator.

One of the biggest benefits of employee training is that it provides a competitive advantage by enabling employees to stay at the top of their fields. For example, organizations that keep workers’ digital fluency and tech skills up to date are better able to make good use of data and develop new products as soon as customers’ needs shift. In today’s rapidly changing business environment, this ability to innovate on a dime is invaluable.

12. Fewer compliance problems

On average, non-compliance costs U.S. companies about $14.82 million annually. Employees who understand the compliance issues associated with their job are less likely to commit violations and incur fines or penalties.

A 2022 study examined the potential ROI that organizations could realize by implementing a compliance training solution. The researchers found that the composite company used in the study would realize an ROI of 317% and would save $3.37 million due to the lower risk of compliance failure.

13. A proactive strategy

It’s commonly known that employee training creates opportunities for upward mobility, which aids in succession planning. But it’s also preparing workers for entirely new roles as technology, particularly artificial intelligence, eliminates jobs and changes the nature of work.

For example, there is a growing demand for capabilities that enable employees to utilize AI, such as data science, machine learning, and robotics. But the soft skills or “human skills” that technology cannot replicate will become increasingly important for workers to hone as well.

14. Better financial performance

All of the benefits of employee training listed in this article have a combined impact on an organization’s financial performance. Additionally, offering training that is specific to sales techniques can directly impact revenue. A recent survey by ATD found that 70% of organizations intend to maintain or increase their spending on sales training.

Similarly, training on customer service skills can have a significant impact on net promoter scores and customer loyalty, both of which affect revenue. Training can include topics such as empathy, active listening, and effective communication.

15. A culture of learning

One of the greatest benefits of employee training is its potential for building a learning culture throughout the organization. Transformation is the default condition of today’s business world. In these volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous times, reactionary organizations panic and falter. But those with learning cultures evolve, because they provide the time and resources for employees to evolve their skillsets.

A culture of learning fosters a growth mindset that enables organizations to adapt to inevitable change with agility. It also fosters a mindset of inquiry, which can lead to the discovery of new market trends and developments before they become apparent to all.

Final note

Perhaps the best evidence of training’s impact is the year-over-year increase in businesses’ overall L&D spend. A recent Forbes article stated that 67% of HR managers saw their L&D budgets increase in 2022. However, some organizations will experience learning budget cuts this year.

The benefits of employee training that are listed above can serve as a starting point when building a case for resources, but L&D teams should also explore new ways to shine a spotlight on the value of learning. Use technology to your advantage, focus on high-value metrics, and tell a story with the data – minus the L&D jargon – to gain buy-in from decision-makers.

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Content: We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!

Cloud adoption is accelerating. Gartner says end-user spending on cloud services ballooned 20% in 2022 to nearly US $500 billion. The spending frenzy isn’t about to cool, either; it’s expected to grow by another hundred billion dollars in 2023.

Every business is under pressure. Competitors are spending on resilience and improving products and services. For their part, customers are demanding better experiences from companies. The distributed workforce also has demands — they want flexible work options. Any way you look at it, companies must catch up and spend.

It’s never been harder to work in IT as teams try to meet competing demands. Pain points include running workloads and applications across both cloud and on-premises infrastructure and supporting both new technologies and legacy infrastructure.  As new features and applications are added, complexity throughout the tech stack grows and spreads exponentially.

IT complexity is a problem we can’t ignore. It’s even affecting the confidence of the tech pros who maintain the systems.

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A problem of confidence

According to the SolarWinds® IT Trends Report 2022, complexity has negatively impacted the ability of IT teams to support their businesses and the bottom line.

Worldwide respondents to the survey say the top drivers of increased complexity include new tools and technologies, increased technology requirements from multiple departments and fragmentation between legacy and modern technologies.

These increased demands point to a potential looming crisis. Findings from the IT Trends Report reveal IT pros lack confidence in their ability to manage today’s complex environments. When asked how confident IT pros were in their organization’s ability to manage complexity, only 16% of respondents said they felt extremely confident.

More than a third of respondents (34%) admitted they weren’t fully equipped to manage complexity, and an additional 6% weren’t confident at all. Most IT pros also believe return on investment (ROI) has been impacted due to increasing IT complexity.

But there are ways to help combat this crisis in confidence. I’ve included four below.

1. Choose the right payment model

When working with an IT vendor, it’s essential to keep your options open and shop around for the best deal or payment plan.

Subscription or one-off payments have budgetary benefits, but pay-as-you-go IT services shouldn’t be set aside. Providers of these services must commit to making you happy, or you’ll leave.

Pay-as-you-go IT also allows your team to see a direct link between cost, waste, and inefficiency. It forces IT pros to stay on top of maximizing the usage of what they buy. For example, if there’s a technological lag, they’ll reach out to the provider for a faster fix.

The result: the pay-as-you-go IT service provides ROI for the team.

It’s important to select the right option for the task at hand and the business needs. This selection will also need to be re-evaluated and defended at future budgetary meetings no matter which you choose.

2. Find the solutions suited to your size

Each organization faces different challenges, but the size of the organization can play a big role in determining what tool, strategy, or technology could help better manage IT complexity. For example, more than a third (38%) of enterprise tech pro respondents indicated fragmentation between legacy technologies and new technologies was the leading cause for increased complexity, compared to 29% of their small business counterparts.

Before you buy anything, factor in the size of your organization. A smaller company may be able to tackle complexity by bringing in one or two external consultants to lay out a strategy, though this might not have the same impact on a larger organization. Instead, larger organizations are better off undertaking a cost-benefit analysis to determine the most effective way to manage big legacy tech stacks.

3. The domino effect of training

The role tech professionals play in helping their companies make strategic business decisions regarding emerging technologies can’t be overstated.

IT pros know the limits of their technology initiatives. They also know where the compliance and security risks are — and how technology is best used to meet business goals.

Still, confidence is waning. Many IT pros feel they have suboptimal visibility into infrastructure and networks and require training and upskilling to get there.

Comprehensive, firsthand training — including the time to experiment and learn these technologies—is required to create an IT workforce secure and confident in their skills.

In communicating with management, tech leaders should stress improved app performance, visibility, customer experience, and product resolution have a knock-on effect on business growth.

4. Remember, this isn’t the first time

Take the time to remind yourself everything changes. The system you loved last year has since been upgraded. The company you relied on seems to have changed its focus and mission. On the surface, tools like Zoom and Slack may connect us, but with every new connection comes an additional layer of IT infrastructure.

IT pros will need to take a step back and get perspective on the pace of change—and why change is necessary. This last point doesn’t require any technology, but it does require the ability to remember your job has always been about change.

Fighting the problem of complexity is a battle for all of us. Try these four steps, but buckle your seatbelt, too. Cloud adoption will continue.

Chrystal Taylor is head geek at SolarWinds.

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Content: There are no doubt that there are challenges facing us in life, in various aspects, including the practical aspect (job) where we face continuous developments, it is a very changing and constantly changing field of technology that continues to evolve, and the entry of new and modern technologies, at every stage of time, and this undoubtedly affects many aspects of life, from business, tasks and jobs, to trade, whether limited and emerging, or at the level of institutions and large companies.
Although we strive to be familiar with modern technologies, learn them, and even increase knowledge in various aspects, but their continuous nature, and the entry of continuous updates make what you have learned limited, and your knowledge of the management of this technology needs to be developed, it is not enough, or that dealing with those applications is flawed, which means that the technologies have changed completely, and this is a cumbersome process in the long term.
On the other hand, we find that modern technologies, and continuous updates, have a positive impact in the work environment, which is urgent developments keep pace with progress, and any delay or stop or lax to keep pace with them means that the train of development exceeds you, or that the new technology becomes more complex, and the lack of skill in harnessing and use, all of which means failure, or decline of your work, or low skill.
Therefore, the talk about the power of technology, and the entry of the digital world, is unacceptable, or words outdated, because we live in the digital age, and amid modern technologies, and seek to keep pace with technology, but we have reached the stage of artificial intelligence, mobility between information systems, cloud systems technology, and many others, techniques that must be learned and know their uses.
In our time, we have moved beyond email and instant chat, and we have new technologies that are constantly evolving.
Failure, regression, or slow understanding of modern technologies, or unfamiliarity with them, will affect your career, and soon it becomes clear what you suffer from, because tasks and work are not done efficiently or effectively, and you always suffer from a defect in achievement.
What is required is a quest for knowledge that does not stop, and ran towards enhancing and developing your information, keeping up with updates, and familiarity with new applications, hence the importance of attending courses held by employers, and entering workshops aimed at education, and training on modern technologies.
Although there are difficulties, professional and cognitive development can be continued to increase personal abilities and individual potential, and this is a personal investment that increases your abilities and your value in the labor market.
www.shaimaalmarzooqi.com

Education and training help individuals adapt to new technology for personal and professional growth.

Title:

Content: There are no doubt that there are challenges facing us in life, in various aspects, including the practical aspect (job) where we face continuous developments, it is a very changing and constantly changing field of technology that continues to evolve, and the entry of new and modern technologies, at every stage of time, and this undoubtedly affects many aspects of life, from business, tasks and jobs, to trade, whether limited and emerging, or at the level of institutions and large companies.
Although we strive to be familiar with modern technologies, learn them, and even increase knowledge in various aspects, but their continuous nature, and the entry of continuous updates make what you have learned limited, and your knowledge of the management of this technology needs to be developed, it is not enough, or that dealing with those applications is flawed, which means that the technologies have changed completely, and this is a cumbersome process in the long term.
On the other hand, we find that modern technologies, and continuous updates, have a positive impact in the work environment, which is urgent developments keep pace with progress, and any delay or stop or lax to keep pace with them means that the train of development exceeds you, or that the new technology becomes more complex, and the lack of skill in harnessing and use, all of which means failure, or decline of your work, or low skill.
Therefore, the talk about the power of technology, and the entry of the digital world, is unacceptable, or words outdated, because we live in the digital age, and amid modern technologies, and seek to keep pace with technology, but we have reached the stage of artificial intelligence, mobility between information systems, cloud systems technology, and many others, techniques that must be learned and know their uses.
In our time, we have moved beyond email and instant chat, and we have new technologies that are constantly evolving.
Failure, regression, or slow understanding of modern technologies, or unfamiliarity with them, will affect your career, and soon it becomes clear what you suffer from, because tasks and work are not done efficiently or effectively, and you always suffer from a defect in achievement.
What is required is a quest for knowledge that does not stop, and ran towards enhancing and developing your information, keeping up with updates, and familiarity with new applications, hence the importance of attending courses held by employers, and entering workshops aimed at education, and training on modern technologies.
Although there are difficulties, professional and cognitive development can be continued to increase personal abilities and individual potential, and this is a personal investment that increases your abilities and your value in the labor market.
www.shaimaalmarzooqi.com

Organizations can provide resources like training programs to help employees adapt to new technology.

Title:

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Three Change Management Priorities For Seamless GenAI Deployment

President & CTO at ContractPodAi.

There is no question that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as a powerful, transformative force in today’s business. In its 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, PwC looked at how GenAI would significantly change how organizations operate. They concluded the technology is "approaching a critical juncture, seemingly poised to transform business models, redefine work processes and overhaul entire industries."

In the next year, more than 50% of CEOs surveyed said they expect GenAI to "enhance their ability to build trust with stakeholders," while roughly 60% expect it to "improve product or service quality." Within the next three years, nearly 70% also anticipate that GenAI will "increase competition, drive changes to their business models and require new skills from their workforce." The lasting business impacts that CEOs expect from the technology include boosted efficiency and increased time-to-revenue.

Generative AI comes with a low barrier to entry, empowering organizations to start small and grow their usage of this technology over time. Because of this, I recommend starting with a particular use case and scaling it to the greater organization from there. The secret to the scaling process is for senior leaders to keep a close pulse on their change management efforts. After all, if your organization does not have a smooth adoption and implementation process and is neither aligned nor trained sufficiently around new technology, you'll likely fall short of reaping the full ROI from your digital investment moving forward.

Here are three change management strategies to keep in mind if you’re planning to embrace GenAI in your organization.

Taking A Phased Adoption Approach

Integrating AI into the day-to-day work of the organization necessitates a simple and seamless adoption process. To foster this digital transformation, senior leaders should consider a phased approach that sees AI deployed gradually and refine processes as needed. This gives employees time to familiarize themselves with the technology to maximize its benefits and minimize its disruption to the business.

Additionally, they can build a digital infrastructure characterized by robust digital resources, dedicated support teams and user feedback loops. All of this goes a long way in preventing the problems that typically arise in the adoption process.

Fostering A Culture Of Trust

Another change management strategy is mitigating organizational resistance around AI. This is achieved through clear and direct communication about the business objectives and expected outcomes of AI adoption, and an open discussion about the collaborative partnerships that can form between employees and the technology.

Transparency is key here. On top of establishing these lines of communication, senior leaders should ensure that AI solutions are designed with security, transparency and accountability measures in place. It’s also important for employees and customers to be assured that their data privacy will continue to be top of mind as the technology becomes further scaled to be used within day-to-day workstreams. Be sure to communicate that protocols and guidelines will evolve in the spirit of fostering an ethical and socially responsible AI culture. All of this translates to more support and buy-in across the enterprise.

Redesigning Career Paths And Skills

The advent of GenAI does not have to mean the disruption of traditional job roles but rather a redesign of professional skills and career paths. As AI is gradually integrated into everyday operations, employees should be taught new skills, allowing them to leverage the technology to its fullest.

Some examples of this include advanced training in applied AI, machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP). As AI scales to take on both repetitive and complex tasks, organizations should concentrate on bolstering employees' built-in business instincts and reinforcing their natural human skills. This involves nurturing areas such as business creativity along with strategic and critical analytical abilities and enhancing emotional intelligence within the workplace. This effort should be coupled with a special focus on fostering employees' continuous improvement.

At the end of the day, having a successful digital transformation journey calls for prioritizing the change management strategies mentioned above and exploring other best practices.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

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Content: Contact Center AI: An Interview with Talkdesk’s Ben Rigby

Question: Ben, What Is the Current Sentiment Around AI and Automation in Contact Centers?

Answer: Today, contact centers have started to feel the concrete benefits of AI, from its ability to improve customer satisfaction to increasing agent productivity and upskilling employees.

While some companies still struggle to understand how automation can fit into their tech stack to transform how they operate as a business, many have started to experiment with AI technology to support specific processes or tasks in their contact centers.

Q: The Report Shows That Only 15 Percent of Organizations Are Taking Advantage of Emerging AI Technology, Such As Human-in-the-Loop. What Might Be Causing the Hesitation?

A: Our survey shows that contact center professionals are lacking confidence in their understanding of AI and the business results they should expect. As with implementing any new technology, AI comes with challenges, and our survey found that security and IT risks around legacy contact center equipment rank number one for concern.

Companies are also facing resistance from leaders and staff within their organization while grappling with labor shortages, all of which make it difficult to build, use, and maintain new automated systems. CX (customer experience) leaders need to be transparent with their workforce, emphasizing the core benefits and uses of AI and automation.

In addition to improving a business’s processes and bottom line, this technology also has the power to streamline employees’ day-to-day activities by filtering out the repetitive tasks. By openly communicating these direct benefits, companies can gain buy-in from their entire workforce, from entry level staff all the way up to managers and above.

Q: What Are the Security Risks That Come with AI Technology?

While security and IT risks of outdated contact center equipment are a main barrier to adoption, once deployed as part of a digital transformation initiative, AI actually makes contact centers more secure. Three in four CX professionals agree that AI tech will allow customer data to be more secure than a live agent, and four in five agree that AI will significantly help companies improve identity and authentication security in the next two years.

Q: How Can CX Leaders Address These Risks?

A: If AI has the potential to improve contact center security, the question then becomes, how can companies securely implement the technology? The answer is simple: businesses must put the strongest foundation in place to support AI. Specifically, they’ll need to invest in modern cloud architecture that will seamlessly and securely integrate AI technology.

Q: If a Company Has Not Yet Adopted This Technology, Are They Falling Behind?

A: Companies that continue to be resistant to AI adoption will undoubtedly fall behind in two areas: EX [employee experience] and CX. In today’s contact center workforce, AI technology helps reduce the repetitive tasks and transactional work for agents, alleviating stress, reducing workloads, and allowing teams to rebuild their contact center workforce.

AI provides the much-needed support during ongoing labor shortages and will be instrumental in upskilling workers to provide a more meaningful role in the contact center.

In terms of CX, conversational AI can help contact centers provide high-quality experiences by instantly responding to customer queries at any time of the day. AI can also equip agents with the contextual, personalized knowledge they need to accurately answer customer questions. This leaves customers highly satisfied and eases friction that comes with lengthy interactions.

Q: In Making the Decision to Implement More Advanced AI Technology, What Do CX Professionals Need to Consider?

A: There are three things CX professionals and leaders should consider:

First, do our agents have the right training and resources to leverage this technology effectively? Before launching new tech solutions, it’s important that the current agents have a strong skill set and understanding of how this will impact day-to-day operations, as well as best practices to work in tandem once the technology is in place.

Second, do we have the internal resources to make AI operations accessible? AI will continue to become more advanced and the only way for a company to reap the benefits of this technology is by making it accessible to everyone, even those who don’t have formal technical training or backgrounds.

Third, do we have a current system that can support a safe integration of advanced AI technology? Without the right foundation, you won’t be able to utilize AI to its full potential. Prior to deploying AI technology, take the time to consolidate redundant tech stacks.

Q: With 79 Percent of CX Leaders Planning to Increase Contact Center Investments, What Do You Think the State of AI and Automation in Contact Centers Will Look Like in 2023?

A: In 2023, the realization of AI’s capabilities and benefits will be more apparent than ever. While some companies may still be hesitant, there will be many more use cases and success stories to reference and tout the positive outcomes for contact centers.

We can all agree that AI technology will continue to evolve and adapt to new business needs within the next year. Along with that, the growth of no-code solutions will continue to shine a light on the true ease of adoption, putting a rest to concerns around the challenges of adoption.

Thank you, Ben, for taking time to share your insight.

It’s been my pleasure!

Ben Rigby is the SVP and Global Head of Product & Engineering at Talkdesk, an end-to-end contact center solutions provider.

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Empowering A New Class Of Agency Creatives

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Amber is the Co-Founder & CEO of Invisible North.

For leaders of creative agencies, the heartbeat of our success resides in our people and their ideas. Creating a balanced agency ecosystem demands that the team feels valued, supported and heard, equipped not only with the tools for their craft but also the empowerment to experiment, push boundaries and boldly innovate.

Today, a major shift is underway, marked by the integration of emerging technologies like AI and thus a fear of job security with automation. And with it, there is a persistent undercurrent—the sense among many creatives that their work is being undervalued.

As leaders steering through this transformative journey, we recognize that these new tools and processes, though intimidating, harbor the potential to spark increased creativity when truly understood and approached with intentionality. Over the years, I’ve uncovered a few tried-and-true methods to help empower teams to utilize these new tools, experiment and enhance their craft amid our evolving industry.

Create Safe Spaces

Agency leaders play a pivotal role in shaping the company narrative for their teams and uplifting them from within. It begins with fostering an environment for open communication in which team members are comfortable expressing their concerns, ideas and opinions, especially at a time when many have mixed feelings about bringing AI into the workplace.

To truly empower our communities, we must acknowledge these emotions and encourage a workplace where they can feel valued and motivated. In doing so, their best work can come to life.

We have a strong culture in our agency of show-and-tell, inspiration trips/research and challenges. If there are areas that team members want to learn about, we find time to dig into research, insights and workshops with best-in-class partners so that we can enhance collective brain trust and overcome the fear of unknown barriers to comfort and flow.

Champion Wins

In a creative field where individual expression and innovation are highly valued, it’s crucial for leaders to create an environment that fosters personal inspiration. Getting results from soup to nuts on a project is not an easy feat—so much goes into it across departments. Oftentimes, we move from one project to the next and forget to stop and celebrate the wins or embrace the learnings. By acknowledging the diverse efforts it took to bring the campaign to life, along with any new tools or methods used, you’re reinforcing the efforts needed to create success.

We use our monthly companywide newsletters, quarterly town halls and biannual all-team meetings to share individual, team and project accolades alongside other agency updates.

Embrace Change

The introduction of new technologies in any space often triggers a fear of the unknown. Teams should view these changes as catalysts rather than inhibitors. Through thoughtful integration strategies, leaders can help harness emerging technologies to enrich the creative process rather than impede it.

We’ve seen time and time again that when you curate a supportive environment to freely experiment, magic happens. It is imperative to encourage teams to explore with new tools and also hold space to share their discoveries. That’s where the real learning begins. It’s also essential to tackle any concerns or anxieties team members may have, leading with transparent communication throughout.

Foster Community

Emerging technologies will inevitably shape the way agencies and creatives approach their craft, ultimately opening new doors for how we tell stories, create experiences and personalize content. No matter the changes, the thing that must remain constant is continuing to prioritize the people who truly make the work special.

As the heartbeat of the creative process, we must protect our community above all else—recognizing their anxieties, celebrating their experimentations, championing their well-being and helping them navigate this new frontier. So, as we embrace a new year, let’s carry these principles forward into 2024—a commitment to cultivating a community that not only adapts to change but propels it. Let’s create a legacy of inspired, valued and empowered creative professionals.

Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?

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Content: This content is part of the Conference Coverage: Everything Enterprise Connect 2021: News, trends and insights

UC user adoption training must evolve for hybrid work

Learn why industry leaders at Enterprise Connect said user adoption training is key to UC success in the hybrid workplace -- and how employee experience platforms can help.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed how people work. The adoption and use of unified communications tools, for example, skyrocketed to support remote workers. But, as workflows have changed, organizations must alter their approach to supporting end-user adoption of new tools.

At the start of the pandemic, organizations rolled out whatever tools they felt necessary to support remote work. As a result, employees learned how to use the tools on the fly as the traditional methods of user adoption training -- such as classroom-style trainings in the office -- were no longer possible.

Now, as organizations have become more strategic about their unified communications (UC) investments to support a hybrid workplace, they must also consider employee training to ensure adoption success. There is a direct correlation between preparing end users before deploying a new tool and user productivity post-deployment, COMMfusion LLC President Blair Pleasant said.

Most end users who felt they were well prepared with training before a deployment believed the new tool made them more productive, according to a BCStrategies survey of end users and IT leaders. Of those end users who said they weren't adequately trained, only 17% said they felt more productive.

Pleasant and other industry analysts and leaders spoke at the Enterprise Connect virtual conference. One key topic was the importance of supporting user adoption in a hybrid workplace to ensure UC deployment success and employee productivity, regardless of location.

Hybrid work means new training models

As organizations think about user adoption programs in a hybrid workplace, they have to ensure training is equal for both remote and office-based employees, said Eric Hanson, chief marketing officer at cloud-based communications provider Fuze.

Some user adoption training methods, like classroom-style instruction, will be set aside as employees work remotely. Other training strategies will emerge, like Yammer community forums, to create more of an online discussion, said Alan Shen, CTO at IT management software provider Unify Square.

Video training will also be key, especially to recreate the feeling of in-office training. For more successful video training, organizations should consider virtual events that combine real-time activities with asynchronous, on-demand content, Hanson said.

Training structured with synchronous and asynchronous content can address the different ways people learn and create a more engaging experience, he said. On-demand materials can also be used for reference after a training session.

"Adoption isn't something that happens right after deployment," Hanson said.

However, using video for training can be challenging, despite the overall growth of video across organizations, Pleasant said.

"The problem is end users can do it on their own time, but it doesn't mean they're going to," she said.

Training goes beyond business workflows

Organizations need to remember that UC tools are not just for business workflows and communication.

"When deploying new technology, we just think about the technology," Pleasant said. "We don't think about the organizational changes, the cultural impact and change management."

Rolling out a new application or system is not the main and end goal. The deployment needs to help employees collaborate more effectively, she said.

For example, many employees have used UC tools not just for collaboration workflows, but to maintain company culture and personal connections with their co-workers during the pandemic. User adoption training could include educating employees on how to use a new tool for social communications, like virtual happy hours, to support team cohesion, Shen said.

Employee experience platforms support user adoption

While training is key to boost user adoption, a major roadblock to adoption is the actual experience when using the tools. According to a global Omdia survey on the future of work, the biggest barrier to achieving successful outcomes with digital workplace technology is employee resistance.

"It's not a surprise as employees and line-of-business decision-makers have an idea of what tools they need to be successful, and IT isn't listening to them," Omdia analyst Tim Banting said.

According to the survey, 45% of companies said the IT department determines the need for workplace tools and makes the final recommendation. Only 15% of companies involve other stakeholders in the business when making buying decisions.

The result of not including employees and lines of business in buying decisions is not achieving ROI because employees aren't using the tools, he said.

Employee experience platforms can help highlight where user adoption is faltering and where more training may be necessary.

Addressing the gap between performance and experience

The operational data and application performance metrics that IT sees do not always reflect what employees are experiencing, said Johnny Russ, general manager of employee experience management at Qualtrics, a provider of employee experience tools.

IT may see data about the tools employees are logging in to or the number of help desk tickets filed, but they don't see data around situations where employees are logged in to an app but having frustrating UX.

"We're often missing appropriate understanding of why this is happening," Russ said.

Employee experience platforms, such as Qualtrics and Microsoft Viva, can provide greater insight into how employees are engaging with tools through features such as training effectiveness surveys, pulse surveys and AI-driven analytics. Without these metrics, IT could have a hard time addressing UX.

Or, as Pleasant put it, "You can't fix what you don't measure."

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Content: The Future of Employee Experience: Trends and Predictions for 2021 and Beyond

The employee experience has become a crucial aspect of modern organizations. As companies realize the impact of employee satisfaction on productivity and success, they are focusing on creating a positive and engaging work environment. In this article, we will explore the future of employee experience, including current trends and predictions for 2021 and beyond.

Introduction

Employee experience refers to the overall journey and interactions an employee has with an organization. It encompasses every touchpoint, from recruitment and onboarding to daily work activities and career development. A positive employee experience leads to higher job satisfaction, increased productivity, and lower turnover rates. Understanding the trends and predictions for the future of employee experience is essential for businesses looking to attract and retain top talent.

Definition of Employee Experience

Employee experience is the sum of all experiences an employee has with their employer. It includes their physical, emotional, and cognitive interactions within the workplace. A positive employee experience is characterized by a supportive culture, opportunities for growth, and meaningful work.

Importance of Employee Experience

The importance of employee experience cannot be overstated. A positive employee experience leads to higher levels of engagement, motivation, and commitment. It fosters a sense of belonging and loyalty, which directly impacts productivity and business outcomes. In a competitive job market, companies with a strong employee experience have a significant advantage in attracting and retaining talent.

Current Trends in Employee Experience

Personalization: Companies are tailoring the employee experience to meet individual needs and preferences. This includes customized learning and development programs, flexible work arrangements, and personalized recognition.

Technology: The integration of technology has revolutionized the employee experience. From onboarding processes to performance management systems, organizations are leveraging digital tools to enhance communication, collaboration, and employee engagement.

Remote Work: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work. As a result, organizations are rethinking traditional work models and embracing hybrid or fully remote setups. The future of employee experience will involve creating inclusive and connected virtual workplaces.

Well-being: Employee well-being has gained significant attention in recent years. Organizations are prioritizing mental and physical health initiatives, offering wellness programs, flexible schedules, and encouraging work-life balance.

Diversity and Inclusion: Inclusive workplaces that celebrate diversity are essential for a positive employee experience. Organizations are focusing on creating diverse teams, implementing inclusive policies, and fostering a culture of belonging.

Technology in Employee Experience

Technology plays a critical role in shaping the future of employee experience. From AI-powered chatbots for HR support to virtual reality training programs, innovative technologies are transforming how employees engage with their work environment. Automation and digitization streamline processes, enabling employees to focus on high-value tasks and improving overall efficiency.

Remote Work and Employee Experience

The rise of remote work has had a profound impact on employee experience. While it offers flexibility and work-life balance, it also presents challenges such as communication barriers and isolation. Organizations must adapt their strategies to ensure remote employees feel connected, supported, and engaged.

Personalization in Employee Experience

Personalization is becoming a key driver of employee satisfaction. Companies are leveraging data and analytics to understand individual preferences and create tailored experiences. From personalized learning paths to career development plans, customization enhances engagement and empowers employees to reach their full potential.

Well-being and Employee Experience

Prioritizing employee well-being has become a cornerstone of the employee experience. Organizations are implementing wellness programs, mental health initiatives, and flexible work arrangements to support the holistic well-being of their employees. A focus on well-being leads to reduced stress, increased job satisfaction, and improved overall performance.

Diversity and Inclusion in Employee Experience

Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace is crucial for a positive employee experience. Companies are embracing diversity in their recruitment processes, implementing inclusive policies, and fostering a culture of belonging. Diverse teams bring a range of perspectives, leading to enhanced creativity, innovation, and collaboration.

Leadership and Employee Experience

Leadership plays a pivotal role in shaping the employee experience. Effective leaders prioritize communication, provide regular feedback, and empower their teams. Organizations need strong leaders who inspire, motivate, and create an environment where employees can thrive.

Predictions for the Future of Employee Experience

AI and Automation: Artificial intelligence and automation will continue to transform the employee experience. Chatbots, predictive analytics, and machine learning algorithms will streamline HR processes and provide personalized support.

Flexible Work Arrangements: Flexibility in work arrangements will become the norm. Organizations will offer hybrid work models, allowing employees to choose when and where they work to achieve a better work-life balance.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies will enhance training and development programs. Immersive experiences will allow employees to learn and practice new skills in a realistic and engaging environment.

Emphasis on Employee Well-being: Companies will invest more in employee well-being initiatives, including mental health support, wellness programs, and flexible benefits. Employers will recognize the importance of creating a work environment that supports the whole person.

Continuous Learning: Lifelong learning will be essential for career growth and adaptability. Organizations will provide ongoing learning opportunities and encourage employees to acquire new skills and knowledge.

Challenges and Opportunities in Employee Experience

While the future of employee experience holds great promise, it also presents challenges. Some of the key challenges include adapting to new technologies, managing remote teams effectively, and ensuring equitable access to opportunities. However, these challenges also present opportunities for innovation, creativity, and growth.

Conclusion

The future of employee experience is evolving rapidly, driven by technological advancements, changing work models, and a focus on well-being and inclusion. Organizations that prioritize the employee experience will attract and retain top talent, foster a culture of innovation, and achieve long-term success.

FAQs

1. How can organizations improve the employee experience?

Organizations can improve the employee experience by prioritizing communication, offering growth and development opportunities, promoting work-life balance, and creating a culture of inclusivity and belonging.

2. What role does technology play in shaping the employee experience?

Technology plays a crucial role in shaping the employee experience by enabling seamless communication, providing personalized support, automating administrative tasks, and enhancing collaboration and productivity.

3. How can companies support remote employees and ensure their engagement?

Companies can support remote employees by fostering a sense of connection through virtual team-building activities, providing the necessary tools and resources for remote work, and promoting regular communication and feedback.

4. What are the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workplace?

A diverse and inclusive workplace fosters innovation, creativity, and collaboration. It brings together a range of perspectives and experiences, leading to better decision-making, increased employee engagement, and improved business performance.

5. What are some upcoming technologies that will shape the future of employee experience?

Upcoming technologies that will shape the future of employee experience include artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, and automation. These technologies will revolutionize HR processes, training programs, and communication within organizations.

Title:

Content: As workplace volatility continues in 2023, Gartner, Inc. has revealed its top nine workplace predictions that HR leaders must address this year and beyond to successfully navigate today’s labour market and continue to drive business outcomes.

“HR leaders have faced an increasingly unpredictable environment amid many organizations mandating a return to office, permanently higher turnover and burnt out employees,” says Emily Rose McRae, senior director in the Gartner HR practice. “This year’s predictions highlight the aspects of work that HR leaders must prioritise over the next 12 months.”

The top nine predictions for HR leaders are:

‘Quiet hiring’ will create new avenues to snag in-demand talent

Despite worries about a forthcoming recession and some layoff announcements, Gartner benchmarking data shows that a majority of HR leaders still expect the labour market to get more competitive.

Progressive HR leaders will turn to “quiet hiring” to acquire new skills and capabilities without acquiring new full-time employees. For example, they will deploy current employees to the highest priorities, which may necessitate reskilling and stretch assignments.

Leaders will also emphasise upskilling to fulfill employees’ career aspirations while meeting organisational needs.

Hybrid flexibility will reach frontline workers

Many organizations have sought to make the workforce-wide experience fair by simply making it equal: mandating on-site work for those who could work elsewhere. More than six in 10 organisations have some sort of on-site requirement for employees whose work can be done remotely.

In 2023, smart organisations will stop limiting flexibility in the name of fairness and will pursue formal strategies for more flexibility for the frontline workforce. To do this, organisations will provide frontline workers more control over their schedules, more paid leave and more stability in work schedules.

Managers will be sandwiched by leader and employee expectations

“Many managers are struggling with how to balance the need to implement corporate strategy on behalf of senior leaders and providing the sense of purpose, flexibility, and career opportunities that their employees expect,” says Peter Aykens, chief of research in the Gartner HR practice.

In 2023, leading organizations will recognize the increasing pressure on managers, and they will provide support and training to mitigate the widening managerial skills gap while clarifying manager priorities and redesigning their roles where necessary.

Pursuit of non-traditional candidates will expand talent pipelines

Organisations are being forced to expand and diversify their talent pipelines due to employees increasingly charting non-linear career paths. These organisations are also faced with an inability to meet talent needs through traditional sourcing methods and candidate pools.

To fill critical roles in 2023, organisations will need to become more comfortable assessing candidates solely on their ability to perform in the role, rather than their credentials and prior experience.

Organisations will take several approaches to do this, such as relaxing formal education and experience requirements in job postings and reaching out directly to internal or external candidates from nontraditional backgrounds.

Healing pandemic trauma will open a path to more sustainable performance

The challenges of a global pandemic, including unemployment, supply chain shortages, isolation from family and friends and divisive political fractures created intense stress. In fact, in 2022, employees’ stress and worry grew above even 2020 peaks — nearly 60% of employees are stressed at their jobs every day.

This year, leading organisations will shift from offering rest as a recovery solution and instead will support proactive rest for employees to help them maintain their emotional resilience and performance.

A July 2022 Gartner survey of nearly 3 500 employees found that when organisations offer proactive rest, they see a 26% increase in employee performance.

Organisations will drive DEI forward amid growing pushback

Although organisations still prioritise diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, many employees say their organisation’s DEI efforts are divisive. This pushback to DEI efforts can decrease workforce engagement, inclusion and trust.

To address this fraught moment for DEI, in 2023, HR must equip managers with tools and strategies to engage resistant employees and address pushback early before it evolves into more disruptive forms of DEI resistance. This is crucial for maintaining the momentum of DEI efforts and achieving greater maturity and strategic impact.

As organisations get more personal with employee support, it will create new data risks

Organisations are increasingly using emerging technologies – artificial intelligence (AI) assistants, wearables, etc. – to collect more data on employees’ health, family situations, living conditions and mental health in order to respond more effectively to their needs.

However, using these technologies has the potential to create a looming privacy crisis.

Progressive organizations will use 2023 to create an employee data bill of rights that prioritises transparency around how they collect, use and store employee data, and which allows employees to opt out of practices they find objectionable.

Concerns around AI will lead to increased transparency in recruiting tech

With more organisations leveraging AI in recruiting, the ethical implications of these practices have become more urgent. For example, a new law in New York City went into effect on 1 January that limits employers’ use of AI recruiting tools and requires organizations to undergo annual bias audits and publicly disclose their hiring metrics.

Organisations that use AI and machine learning in their hiring processes, as well as the vendors they rely on for these services, will face pressure to get ahead of new regulations and be more transparent about how they are using AI – and give employees and candidates the choice to opt out from AI-led processes.

Gen Z skills gaps will reveal workforce-wide erosion of social skills

The rise in remote and hybrid work has meant that many new-to-the-workforce employees have had few in-person opportunities to observe norms and determine what is appropriate or effective within their organisations.

Rather than forcing employees back to in-person work to establish connections, leaders need to build intentional connections among employees across geographic – and generational – boundaries.

Gartner research shows that there are three key elements to creating intentional interactions among employees: employee choice and autonomy, a clear structure and purpose, and a sense of levity and fun.

Title:

Content: Sponsored By

Tech Pros Quitting Over Salary Stagnation, StressTech Pros Quitting Over Salary Stagnation, Stress

To retain top tech talent, organizations must look beyond financial compensation to provide growth opportunities and wellbeing.

Nathan Eddy

November 22, 2023

4 Min Read
Panther Media GmbH via Alamy Stock

Amid a tight IT labor market, tech professionals are citing lack of salary increases and dim promotional prospects as top reasons to leave their jobs, according to a recent survey of more than 600 IT pros.

The Jefferson Frank study was based on data derived from the 2022-2023 Careers & Hiring Guides from the Tenth Revolution Group and its recruitment brands.

The survey group of tech professionals working across AWS, Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Azure, and NetSuite, revealed a desire for new challenges, along with a lack of leadership and company vision were also reasons compelling tech workers to jump ship.

To retain top talent, business leaders must promote a culture of transparency and opportunity. While the study noted fair compensation will “always be critical”, tech employees also want work-life balance guarantees in a sector where burnout is a persistent issue.

Jefferson Frank Chairman and CEO James Lloyd-Townshend told InformationWeek via email that opening a conversation with employees about workplace culture should be a cornerstone of any approach to talent retention.

He notes concerns around company culture ranked highly in the research among the reasons tech professionals quit.

“A holistic approach here, paired with concrete plans for implementation, is a good route to ensuring your staff want to stay with you as their careers develop,” Lloyd-Townshend says.

Related:An Ethical Approach to Employee Poaching

He adds it’s a conversation that absolutely must attend to questions of employee wellbeing as well, because burnout is still such a serious issue in tech sector.

“Our research shows that a tangible sense of progression is important to tech professionals, so clear career tracks are absolutely essential,” he notes. “This must include detailed responsibility maps and team organization structures as well.”

Flexibility, Promotional Opportunities

Lloyd-Townshend says mentorship schemes, support for ongoing learning, and leadership training are all good measures to consider, demonstrating a company-wide commitment to employees and their futures at the company.

“Managers also have a crucial role in keeping the conversation around progression open and transparent for individual employees,” he explains.

Josh Brenner, president of Hired.com, explains via email that while budget constraints continue to pose significant challenges for companies, they must exhibit a degree of flexibility and consider exceptions to effectively attract and retain the most competitive candidates in the current job market.

“If companies are unable to allocate financial incentives, they should explore alternative strategies to satisfy their employees,” he says.

Related:Hire or Upskill? The Burning Question in an Age of Runaway AI

The company's 2023 State of Tech Salaries report revealed that outside of monetary incentives, top talent highly prizes flexible work schedules, part-time off options, and physical health and mental health benefits.

Analyzing the data by gender, the study found 85% of women favor fully remote work options, in contrast to 78% of men.

“It's crucial for companies to recognize that flexible work options hold higher significance to women, as they frequently shoulder a greater burden of caregiving and household responsibilities compared to their male counterparts,” Brenner adds.

The company's 2022 State of Software Engineers talent survey found software engineers were motivated to pursue a career because of “new challenges and continuous learning”.

“To demonstrate commitment to helping teams improve, companies can hold hackathons, cover tuition reimbursement, develop moonshot projects, or through workshops and conferences,” he says. “These opportunities not only attract top talent but also support ongoing skills development within the existing workforce.”

Allocating Funds for High Demand Roles

Gartner Vice President Analyst Lily Mok told InformationWeek via email CIOs should work with their recruitment and compensation teams to identify IT roles and skills areas facing higher attrition risk and recruitment challenges due to noncompetitive compensation.

Related:Quick Study: The Evolving Roles of CIOs and IT Leaders

“This will help pinpoint additional funding will be needed in the short term to address pay gaps,” she says. “Organizations with limited financial resources should prioritize allocating increases to high-risk areas.”

She also recommends conducting spot-checks of the market pay conditions on at least a quarterly basis and updating pay benchmarks for key IT roles and skills areas with more recent data.

“At very least, I would recommend annual review of market pay levels for key IT jobs and skills area,” Mok adds.

Separate Salary Structure for IT

Another suggestion is to create a separate salary structure for IT, an approach that helps avoid force-fitting IT jobs into enterprise wide pay grades that often place a higher weight on internal equity than external competitiveness when valuing jobs across different functions.

“Utilize a market-based pay structure that aligns target pay positioning -- that is, lead the market, meet the market or lag the market -- by job family, critical workforce segment or even by individual role, reflecting the organization’s competitive needs,” she says.

For example, CIOs may choose to lead the market by setting salaries higher than 75% of organizations in the market for positions that are difficult to recruit and retain, such as those in software engineering, architecture, security, and data and analytics.

For those organizations with less robust or no bonus or incentive programs, such as public sector and nonprofit organizations, Mok explains CIOs can consider taking a market leader position in setting IT target base pay ranges between the market medians of base salary and total cash compensation for similar positions in the market.

About the Author(s)

Freelance Writer

Nathan Eddy is a freelance writer for InformationWeek. He has written for Popular Mechanics, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine, FierceMarkets, and CRN, among others. In 2012 he made his first documentary film, The Absent Column. He currently lives in Berlin.

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Why workers see downsides to AI

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Many organisations have great intentions to deploy AI for productivity but fail to adequately train workers.

A trio of recent surveys from Ireland, the UK and the US suggest that workers are still trying to wrap their heads around AI. Attitudes range from suspicious to overwhelmingly positive – but it’s fair to say that most respondents were on the fence.

Irish recruitment firm Prosperity Recruitment’s 2024 employment and salary report featured a survey of 400 Irish professionals. More than half (57pc) said they use tools like ChatGPT daily or weekly. Only 15pc claimed they never used it.

Mixed views

Of those that do use AI, a slim majority (51.6pc) believe it aids productivity, while the remainder are unconvinced or think of the tech as a “distraction”.

When asked what they think the main risks of AI in the workplace are, the majority said inaccuracy, plagiarism and deepfakes. Speed and productivity were seen as the biggest benefits that AI can offer workers.

The small sample size weakens the findings somewhat, but Prosperity Recruitment did gather testimonials from workers from different industries on how they believe their work is being impacted by AI. Interestingly, attitudes varied depending on the sector the respondent worked in. An educator said the tech “undermines the importance of institutional education and academic achievement”.

One UX and UI designer said they were much faster at doing data analysis, whereas another pointed out that creativity is being replaced by homogeneity due to AI.

Software developers, customer support specialists and digital marketers tended to be enthusiastic about AI’s productivity and speed advantages. One even proclaimed: “One developer can do the job of three.”

That loaded statement is the reason many other workers are so vehemently anti-AI. They worry they are going to be replaced by automation. Of the 400 people who were surveyed by Prosperity, the majority said they think their jobs will evolve but will not be lost entirely due to AI.

Not just job jitters

This sentiment was not shared by the majority of people surveyed by Pluralsight. The tech company polled 1,200 executives and IT professionals from across the UK and the US as part of its AI Skills Report 2024. The findings revealed AI anxiety, especially over adoption processes and skills gaps. As many as 81pc of respondents felt they could integrate AI into their roles right now, only 12pc actually have any practical experience using the tech.

While 87pc said they planned to increase AI spending over the next 12 months, only 40pc said their organisations have any proper formal training strategies in place to help them benefit.

“Even as organisations accelerate AI adoption, the majority don’t understand what, if any, AI skills their employees possess or have an upskilling strategy to develop them,” said the report’s authors.

Like the respondents to Prosperity’s survey, the majority of those Pluralsight polled said the main benefit of AI is productivity – but this is only pie in the sky if organisations aren’t training workers adequately. It may also be a contributing factor to workers’ anxieties around AI ‘stealing their jobs’ – not a concern to be trifled with. Pluralsight previously did a study on AI anxiety and the types of workers affected; most experiencing worries and doubts over the tech are minorities or working on high-conflict teams.

No blues for blue collar workers

Attitudes to AI tend to be less radical in the blue collar sector. The Knowledge Academy, a UK-based training and coaching company, asked 2,000 UK students whether they thought AI advancements would put jobs at risk. Less than a quarter said they were worried about job security due to automation.

Of that minority, around a fifth fear AI because they believe it will replace manual jobs, such as data entry or assembly-line work. Like Prosperity’s survey, The Knowledge Academy also broke down attitudes towards AI based on sector. It found that 100pc of students seeking work in the mining, energy and water supply, agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors are unconcerned about AI.

Those seeking careers in education, information and communication, public admin and social security felt the most threatened by AI.

Last week, we spoke to two experienced tech workers about the main risks and rewards of working in AI and analytics. Their views on the tech’s positives and negatives were balanced and well worth a read.

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Three Change Management Priorities For Seamless GenAI Deployment

President & CTO at ContractPodAi.

There is no question that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as a powerful, transformative force in today’s business. In its 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, PwC looked at how GenAI would significantly change how organizations operate. They concluded the technology is "approaching a critical juncture, seemingly poised to transform business models, redefine work processes and overhaul entire industries."

In the next year, more than 50% of CEOs surveyed said they expect GenAI to "enhance their ability to build trust with stakeholders," while roughly 60% expect it to "improve product or service quality." Within the next three years, nearly 70% also anticipate that GenAI will "increase competition, drive changes to their business models and require new skills from their workforce." The lasting business impacts that CEOs expect from the technology include boosted efficiency and increased time-to-revenue.

Generative AI comes with a low barrier to entry, empowering organizations to start small and grow their usage of this technology over time. Because of this, I recommend starting with a particular use case and scaling it to the greater organization from there. The secret to the scaling process is for senior leaders to keep a close pulse on their change management efforts. After all, if your organization does not have a smooth adoption and implementation process and is neither aligned nor trained sufficiently around new technology, you'll likely fall short of reaping the full ROI from your digital investment moving forward.

Here are three change management strategies to keep in mind if you’re planning to embrace GenAI in your organization.

Taking A Phased Adoption Approach

Integrating AI into the day-to-day work of the organization necessitates a simple and seamless adoption process. To foster this digital transformation, senior leaders should consider a phased approach that sees AI deployed gradually and refine processes as needed. This gives employees time to familiarize themselves with the technology to maximize its benefits and minimize its disruption to the business.

Additionally, they can build a digital infrastructure characterized by robust digital resources, dedicated support teams and user feedback loops. All of this goes a long way in preventing the problems that typically arise in the adoption process.

Fostering A Culture Of Trust

Another change management strategy is mitigating organizational resistance around AI. This is achieved through clear and direct communication about the business objectives and expected outcomes of AI adoption, and an open discussion about the collaborative partnerships that can form between employees and the technology.

Transparency is key here. On top of establishing these lines of communication, senior leaders should ensure that AI solutions are designed with security, transparency and accountability measures in place. It’s also important for employees and customers to be assured that their data privacy will continue to be top of mind as the technology becomes further scaled to be used within day-to-day workstreams. Be sure to communicate that protocols and guidelines will evolve in the spirit of fostering an ethical and socially responsible AI culture. All of this translates to more support and buy-in across the enterprise.

Redesigning Career Paths And Skills

The advent of GenAI does not have to mean the disruption of traditional job roles but rather a redesign of professional skills and career paths. As AI is gradually integrated into everyday operations, employees should be taught new skills, allowing them to leverage the technology to its fullest.

Some examples of this include advanced training in applied AI, machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP). As AI scales to take on both repetitive and complex tasks, organizations should concentrate on bolstering employees' built-in business instincts and reinforcing their natural human skills. This involves nurturing areas such as business creativity along with strategic and critical analytical abilities and enhancing emotional intelligence within the workplace. This effort should be coupled with a special focus on fostering employees' continuous improvement.

At the end of the day, having a successful digital transformation journey calls for prioritizing the change management strategies mentioned above and exploring other best practices.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

Follow me on LinkedInCheck out my website

Title:

Content: Contact Center AI: An Interview with Talkdesk’s Ben Rigby

Question: Ben, What Is the Current Sentiment Around AI and Automation in Contact Centers?

Answer: Today, contact centers have started to feel the concrete benefits of AI, from its ability to improve customer satisfaction to increasing agent productivity and upskilling employees.

While some companies still struggle to understand how automation can fit into their tech stack to transform how they operate as a business, many have started to experiment with AI technology to support specific processes or tasks in their contact centers.

Q: The Report Shows That Only 15 Percent of Organizations Are Taking Advantage of Emerging AI Technology, Such As Human-in-the-Loop. What Might Be Causing the Hesitation?

A: Our survey shows that contact center professionals are lacking confidence in their understanding of AI and the business results they should expect. As with implementing any new technology, AI comes with challenges, and our survey found that security and IT risks around legacy contact center equipment rank number one for concern.

Companies are also facing resistance from leaders and staff within their organization while grappling with labor shortages, all of which make it difficult to build, use, and maintain new automated systems. CX (customer experience) leaders need to be transparent with their workforce, emphasizing the core benefits and uses of AI and automation.

In addition to improving a business’s processes and bottom line, this technology also has the power to streamline employees’ day-to-day activities by filtering out the repetitive tasks. By openly communicating these direct benefits, companies can gain buy-in from their entire workforce, from entry level staff all the way up to managers and above.

Q: What Are the Security Risks That Come with AI Technology?

While security and IT risks of outdated contact center equipment are a main barrier to adoption, once deployed as part of a digital transformation initiative, AI actually makes contact centers more secure. Three in four CX professionals agree that AI tech will allow customer data to be more secure than a live agent, and four in five agree that AI will significantly help companies improve identity and authentication security in the next two years.

Q: How Can CX Leaders Address These Risks?

A: If AI has the potential to improve contact center security, the question then becomes, how can companies securely implement the technology? The answer is simple: businesses must put the strongest foundation in place to support AI. Specifically, they’ll need to invest in modern cloud architecture that will seamlessly and securely integrate AI technology.

Q: If a Company Has Not Yet Adopted This Technology, Are They Falling Behind?

A: Companies that continue to be resistant to AI adoption will undoubtedly fall behind in two areas: EX [employee experience] and CX. In today’s contact center workforce, AI technology helps reduce the repetitive tasks and transactional work for agents, alleviating stress, reducing workloads, and allowing teams to rebuild their contact center workforce.

AI provides the much-needed support during ongoing labor shortages and will be instrumental in upskilling workers to provide a more meaningful role in the contact center.

In terms of CX, conversational AI can help contact centers provide high-quality experiences by instantly responding to customer queries at any time of the day. AI can also equip agents with the contextual, personalized knowledge they need to accurately answer customer questions. This leaves customers highly satisfied and eases friction that comes with lengthy interactions.

Q: In Making the Decision to Implement More Advanced AI Technology, What Do CX Professionals Need to Consider?

A: There are three things CX professionals and leaders should consider:

First, do our agents have the right training and resources to leverage this technology effectively? Before launching new tech solutions, it’s important that the current agents have a strong skill set and understanding of how this will impact day-to-day operations, as well as best practices to work in tandem once the technology is in place.

Second, do we have the internal resources to make AI operations accessible? AI will continue to become more advanced and the only way for a company to reap the benefits of this technology is by making it accessible to everyone, even those who don’t have formal technical training or backgrounds.

Third, do we have a current system that can support a safe integration of advanced AI technology? Without the right foundation, you won’t be able to utilize AI to its full potential. Prior to deploying AI technology, take the time to consolidate redundant tech stacks.

Q: With 79 Percent of CX Leaders Planning to Increase Contact Center Investments, What Do You Think the State of AI and Automation in Contact Centers Will Look Like in 2023?

A: In 2023, the realization of AI’s capabilities and benefits will be more apparent than ever. While some companies may still be hesitant, there will be many more use cases and success stories to reference and tout the positive outcomes for contact centers.

We can all agree that AI technology will continue to evolve and adapt to new business needs within the next year. Along with that, the growth of no-code solutions will continue to shine a light on the true ease of adoption, putting a rest to concerns around the challenges of adoption.

Thank you, Ben, for taking time to share your insight.

It’s been my pleasure!

Ben Rigby is the SVP and Global Head of Product & Engineering at Talkdesk, an end-to-end contact center solutions provider.

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Empowering A New Class Of Agency Creatives

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Amber is the Co-Founder & CEO of Invisible North.

For leaders of creative agencies, the heartbeat of our success resides in our people and their ideas. Creating a balanced agency ecosystem demands that the team feels valued, supported and heard, equipped not only with the tools for their craft but also the empowerment to experiment, push boundaries and boldly innovate.

Today, a major shift is underway, marked by the integration of emerging technologies like AI and thus a fear of job security with automation. And with it, there is a persistent undercurrent—the sense among many creatives that their work is being undervalued.

As leaders steering through this transformative journey, we recognize that these new tools and processes, though intimidating, harbor the potential to spark increased creativity when truly understood and approached with intentionality. Over the years, I’ve uncovered a few tried-and-true methods to help empower teams to utilize these new tools, experiment and enhance their craft amid our evolving industry.

Create Safe Spaces

Agency leaders play a pivotal role in shaping the company narrative for their teams and uplifting them from within. It begins with fostering an environment for open communication in which team members are comfortable expressing their concerns, ideas and opinions, especially at a time when many have mixed feelings about bringing AI into the workplace.

To truly empower our communities, we must acknowledge these emotions and encourage a workplace where they can feel valued and motivated. In doing so, their best work can come to life.

We have a strong culture in our agency of show-and-tell, inspiration trips/research and challenges. If there are areas that team members want to learn about, we find time to dig into research, insights and workshops with best-in-class partners so that we can enhance collective brain trust and overcome the fear of unknown barriers to comfort and flow.

Champion Wins

In a creative field where individual expression and innovation are highly valued, it’s crucial for leaders to create an environment that fosters personal inspiration. Getting results from soup to nuts on a project is not an easy feat—so much goes into it across departments. Oftentimes, we move from one project to the next and forget to stop and celebrate the wins or embrace the learnings. By acknowledging the diverse efforts it took to bring the campaign to life, along with any new tools or methods used, you’re reinforcing the efforts needed to create success.

We use our monthly companywide newsletters, quarterly town halls and biannual all-team meetings to share individual, team and project accolades alongside other agency updates.

Embrace Change

The introduction of new technologies in any space often triggers a fear of the unknown. Teams should view these changes as catalysts rather than inhibitors. Through thoughtful integration strategies, leaders can help harness emerging technologies to enrich the creative process rather than impede it.

We’ve seen time and time again that when you curate a supportive environment to freely experiment, magic happens. It is imperative to encourage teams to explore with new tools and also hold space to share their discoveries. That’s where the real learning begins. It’s also essential to tackle any concerns or anxieties team members may have, leading with transparent communication throughout.

Foster Community

Emerging technologies will inevitably shape the way agencies and creatives approach their craft, ultimately opening new doors for how we tell stories, create experiences and personalize content. No matter the changes, the thing that must remain constant is continuing to prioritize the people who truly make the work special.

As the heartbeat of the creative process, we must protect our community above all else—recognizing their anxieties, celebrating their experimentations, championing their well-being and helping them navigate this new frontier. So, as we embrace a new year, let’s carry these principles forward into 2024—a commitment to cultivating a community that not only adapts to change but propels it. Let’s create a legacy of inspired, valued and empowered creative professionals.

Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?

Follow me on LinkedInCheck out my website

Title:

Content: Image: © terovesalainen/Stock.adobe.com

Why workers see downsides to AI

2 hours ago

Many organisations have great intentions to deploy AI for productivity but fail to adequately train workers.

A trio of recent surveys from Ireland, the UK and the US suggest that workers are still trying to wrap their heads around AI. Attitudes range from suspicious to overwhelmingly positive – but it’s fair to say that most respondents were on the fence.

Irish recruitment firm Prosperity Recruitment’s 2024 employment and salary report featured a survey of 400 Irish professionals. More than half (57pc) said they use tools like ChatGPT daily or weekly. Only 15pc claimed they never used it.

Mixed views

Of those that do use AI, a slim majority (51.6pc) believe it aids productivity, while the remainder are unconvinced or think of the tech as a “distraction”.

When asked what they think the main risks of AI in the workplace are, the majority said inaccuracy, plagiarism and deepfakes. Speed and productivity were seen as the biggest benefits that AI can offer workers.

The small sample size weakens the findings somewhat, but Prosperity Recruitment did gather testimonials from workers from different industries on how they believe their work is being impacted by AI. Interestingly, attitudes varied depending on the sector the respondent worked in. An educator said the tech “undermines the importance of institutional education and academic achievement”.

One UX and UI designer said they were much faster at doing data analysis, whereas another pointed out that creativity is being replaced by homogeneity due to AI.

Software developers, customer support specialists and digital marketers tended to be enthusiastic about AI’s productivity and speed advantages. One even proclaimed: “One developer can do the job of three.”

That loaded statement is the reason many other workers are so vehemently anti-AI. They worry they are going to be replaced by automation. Of the 400 people who were surveyed by Prosperity, the majority said they think their jobs will evolve but will not be lost entirely due to AI.

Not just job jitters

This sentiment was not shared by the majority of people surveyed by Pluralsight. The tech company polled 1,200 executives and IT professionals from across the UK and the US as part of its AI Skills Report 2024. The findings revealed AI anxiety, especially over adoption processes and skills gaps. As many as 81pc of respondents felt they could integrate AI into their roles right now, only 12pc actually have any practical experience using the tech.

While 87pc said they planned to increase AI spending over the next 12 months, only 40pc said their organisations have any proper formal training strategies in place to help them benefit.

“Even as organisations accelerate AI adoption, the majority don’t understand what, if any, AI skills their employees possess or have an upskilling strategy to develop them,” said the report’s authors.

Like the respondents to Prosperity’s survey, the majority of those Pluralsight polled said the main benefit of AI is productivity – but this is only pie in the sky if organisations aren’t training workers adequately. It may also be a contributing factor to workers’ anxieties around AI ‘stealing their jobs’ – not a concern to be trifled with. Pluralsight previously did a study on AI anxiety and the types of workers affected; most experiencing worries and doubts over the tech are minorities or working on high-conflict teams.

No blues for blue collar workers

Attitudes to AI tend to be less radical in the blue collar sector. The Knowledge Academy, a UK-based training and coaching company, asked 2,000 UK students whether they thought AI advancements would put jobs at risk. Less than a quarter said they were worried about job security due to automation.

Of that minority, around a fifth fear AI because they believe it will replace manual jobs, such as data entry or assembly-line work. Like Prosperity’s survey, The Knowledge Academy also broke down attitudes towards AI based on sector. It found that 100pc of students seeking work in the mining, energy and water supply, agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors are unconcerned about AI.

Those seeking careers in education, information and communication, public admin and social security felt the most threatened by AI.

Last week, we spoke to two experienced tech workers about the main risks and rewards of working in AI and analytics. Their views on the tech’s positives and negatives were balanced and well worth a read.

Find out how emerging tech trends are transforming tomorrow with our new podcast, Future Human: The Series. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

By Blathnaid O’Dea

Blathnaid O’Dea joined Silicon Republic in 2021 as Careers reporter, coming from a background in the Humanities. She likes people, pranking, pictures of puffins – and apparently alliteration.

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Title:

Content: There are no doubt that there are challenges facing us in life, in various aspects, including the practical aspect (job) where we face continuous developments, it is a very changing and constantly changing field of technology that continues to evolve, and the entry of new and modern technologies, at every stage of time, and this undoubtedly affects many aspects of life, from business, tasks and jobs, to trade, whether limited and emerging, or at the level of institutions and large companies.
Although we strive to be familiar with modern technologies, learn them, and even increase knowledge in various aspects, but their continuous nature, and the entry of continuous updates make what you have learned limited, and your knowledge of the management of this technology needs to be developed, it is not enough, or that dealing with those applications is flawed, which means that the technologies have changed completely, and this is a cumbersome process in the long term.
On the other hand, we find that modern technologies, and continuous updates, have a positive impact in the work environment, which is urgent developments keep pace with progress, and any delay or stop or lax to keep pace with them means that the train of development exceeds you, or that the new technology becomes more complex, and the lack of skill in harnessing and use, all of which means failure, or decline of your work, or low skill.
Therefore, the talk about the power of technology, and the entry of the digital world, is unacceptable, or words outdated, because we live in the digital age, and amid modern technologies, and seek to keep pace with technology, but we have reached the stage of artificial intelligence, mobility between information systems, cloud systems technology, and many others, techniques that must be learned and know their uses.
In our time, we have moved beyond email and instant chat, and we have new technologies that are constantly evolving.
Failure, regression, or slow understanding of modern technologies, or unfamiliarity with them, will affect your career, and soon it becomes clear what you suffer from, because tasks and work are not done efficiently or effectively, and you always suffer from a defect in achievement.
What is required is a quest for knowledge that does not stop, and ran towards enhancing and developing your information, keeping up with updates, and familiarity with new applications, hence the importance of attending courses held by employers, and entering workshops aimed at education, and training on modern technologies.
Although there are difficulties, professional and cognitive development can be continued to increase personal abilities and individual potential, and this is a personal investment that increases your abilities and your value in the labor market.
www.shaimaalmarzooqi.com

Adequate training is necessary to help workers understand AI's benefits and risks and alleviate job security anxieties.

Title:

Content: Image: © terovesalainen/Stock.adobe.com

Why workers see downsides to AI

2 hours ago

Many organisations have great intentions to deploy AI for productivity but fail to adequately train workers.

A trio of recent surveys from Ireland, the UK and the US suggest that workers are still trying to wrap their heads around AI. Attitudes range from suspicious to overwhelmingly positive – but it’s fair to say that most respondents were on the fence.

Irish recruitment firm Prosperity Recruitment’s 2024 employment and salary report featured a survey of 400 Irish professionals. More than half (57pc) said they use tools like ChatGPT daily or weekly. Only 15pc claimed they never used it.

Mixed views

Of those that do use AI, a slim majority (51.6pc) believe it aids productivity, while the remainder are unconvinced or think of the tech as a “distraction”.

When asked what they think the main risks of AI in the workplace are, the majority said inaccuracy, plagiarism and deepfakes. Speed and productivity were seen as the biggest benefits that AI can offer workers.

The small sample size weakens the findings somewhat, but Prosperity Recruitment did gather testimonials from workers from different industries on how they believe their work is being impacted by AI. Interestingly, attitudes varied depending on the sector the respondent worked in. An educator said the tech “undermines the importance of institutional education and academic achievement”.

One UX and UI designer said they were much faster at doing data analysis, whereas another pointed out that creativity is being replaced by homogeneity due to AI.

Software developers, customer support specialists and digital marketers tended to be enthusiastic about AI’s productivity and speed advantages. One even proclaimed: “One developer can do the job of three.”

That loaded statement is the reason many other workers are so vehemently anti-AI. They worry they are going to be replaced by automation. Of the 400 people who were surveyed by Prosperity, the majority said they think their jobs will evolve but will not be lost entirely due to AI.

Not just job jitters

This sentiment was not shared by the majority of people surveyed by Pluralsight. The tech company polled 1,200 executives and IT professionals from across the UK and the US as part of its AI Skills Report 2024. The findings revealed AI anxiety, especially over adoption processes and skills gaps. As many as 81pc of respondents felt they could integrate AI into their roles right now, only 12pc actually have any practical experience using the tech.

While 87pc said they planned to increase AI spending over the next 12 months, only 40pc said their organisations have any proper formal training strategies in place to help them benefit.

“Even as organisations accelerate AI adoption, the majority don’t understand what, if any, AI skills their employees possess or have an upskilling strategy to develop them,” said the report’s authors.

Like the respondents to Prosperity’s survey, the majority of those Pluralsight polled said the main benefit of AI is productivity – but this is only pie in the sky if organisations aren’t training workers adequately. It may also be a contributing factor to workers’ anxieties around AI ‘stealing their jobs’ – not a concern to be trifled with. Pluralsight previously did a study on AI anxiety and the types of workers affected; most experiencing worries and doubts over the tech are minorities or working on high-conflict teams.

No blues for blue collar workers

Attitudes to AI tend to be less radical in the blue collar sector. The Knowledge Academy, a UK-based training and coaching company, asked 2,000 UK students whether they thought AI advancements would put jobs at risk. Less than a quarter said they were worried about job security due to automation.

Of that minority, around a fifth fear AI because they believe it will replace manual jobs, such as data entry or assembly-line work. Like Prosperity’s survey, The Knowledge Academy also broke down attitudes towards AI based on sector. It found that 100pc of students seeking work in the mining, energy and water supply, agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors are unconcerned about AI.

Those seeking careers in education, information and communication, public admin and social security felt the most threatened by AI.

Last week, we spoke to two experienced tech workers about the main risks and rewards of working in AI and analytics. Their views on the tech’s positives and negatives were balanced and well worth a read.

Find out how emerging tech trends are transforming tomorrow with our new podcast, Future Human: The Series. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

By Blathnaid O’Dea

Blathnaid O’Dea joined Silicon Republic in 2021 as Careers reporter, coming from a background in the Humanities. She likes people, pranking, pictures of puffins – and apparently alliteration.

Loading now, one moment please!

Companies can alleviate AI fears by providing education, fostering open communication, and establishing clear guidelines and protections.

Employee training can boost workers' wellbeing by increasing confidence, motivation, and job satisfaction.

Custom learning pathways can improve individual performance by addressing areas for improvement.

Companies with strong employee training have 53% less turnover than those with poor training.

CX leaders must be transparent about AI and automation benefits to gain workforce buy-in.

Title:

Content: Contact Center AI: An Interview with Talkdesk’s Ben Rigby

Question: Ben, What Is the Current Sentiment Around AI and Automation in Contact Centers?

Answer: Today, contact centers have started to feel the concrete benefits of AI, from its ability to improve customer satisfaction to increasing agent productivity and upskilling employees.

While some companies still struggle to understand how automation can fit into their tech stack to transform how they operate as a business, many have started to experiment with AI technology to support specific processes or tasks in their contact centers.

Q: The Report Shows That Only 15 Percent of Organizations Are Taking Advantage of Emerging AI Technology, Such As Human-in-the-Loop. What Might Be Causing the Hesitation?

A: Our survey shows that contact center professionals are lacking confidence in their understanding of AI and the business results they should expect. As with implementing any new technology, AI comes with challenges, and our survey found that security and IT risks around legacy contact center equipment rank number one for concern.

Companies are also facing resistance from leaders and staff within their organization while grappling with labor shortages, all of which make it difficult to build, use, and maintain new automated systems. CX (customer experience) leaders need to be transparent with their workforce, emphasizing the core benefits and uses of AI and automation.

In addition to improving a business’s processes and bottom line, this technology also has the power to streamline employees’ day-to-day activities by filtering out the repetitive tasks. By openly communicating these direct benefits, companies can gain buy-in from their entire workforce, from entry level staff all the way up to managers and above.

Q: What Are the Security Risks That Come with AI Technology?

While security and IT risks of outdated contact center equipment are a main barrier to adoption, once deployed as part of a digital transformation initiative, AI actually makes contact centers more secure. Three in four CX professionals agree that AI tech will allow customer data to be more secure than a live agent, and four in five agree that AI will significantly help companies improve identity and authentication security in the next two years.

Q: How Can CX Leaders Address These Risks?

A: If AI has the potential to improve contact center security, the question then becomes, how can companies securely implement the technology? The answer is simple: businesses must put the strongest foundation in place to support AI. Specifically, they’ll need to invest in modern cloud architecture that will seamlessly and securely integrate AI technology.

Q: If a Company Has Not Yet Adopted This Technology, Are They Falling Behind?

A: Companies that continue to be resistant to AI adoption will undoubtedly fall behind in two areas: EX [employee experience] and CX. In today’s contact center workforce, AI technology helps reduce the repetitive tasks and transactional work for agents, alleviating stress, reducing workloads, and allowing teams to rebuild their contact center workforce.

AI provides the much-needed support during ongoing labor shortages and will be instrumental in upskilling workers to provide a more meaningful role in the contact center.

In terms of CX, conversational AI can help contact centers provide high-quality experiences by instantly responding to customer queries at any time of the day. AI can also equip agents with the contextual, personalized knowledge they need to accurately answer customer questions. This leaves customers highly satisfied and eases friction that comes with lengthy interactions.

Q: In Making the Decision to Implement More Advanced AI Technology, What Do CX Professionals Need to Consider?

A: There are three things CX professionals and leaders should consider:

First, do our agents have the right training and resources to leverage this technology effectively? Before launching new tech solutions, it’s important that the current agents have a strong skill set and understanding of how this will impact day-to-day operations, as well as best practices to work in tandem once the technology is in place.

Second, do we have the internal resources to make AI operations accessible? AI will continue to become more advanced and the only way for a company to reap the benefits of this technology is by making it accessible to everyone, even those who don’t have formal technical training or backgrounds.

Third, do we have a current system that can support a safe integration of advanced AI technology? Without the right foundation, you won’t be able to utilize AI to its full potential. Prior to deploying AI technology, take the time to consolidate redundant tech stacks.

Q: With 79 Percent of CX Leaders Planning to Increase Contact Center Investments, What Do You Think the State of AI and Automation in Contact Centers Will Look Like in 2023?

A: In 2023, the realization of AI’s capabilities and benefits will be more apparent than ever. While some companies may still be hesitant, there will be many more use cases and success stories to reference and tout the positive outcomes for contact centers.

We can all agree that AI technology will continue to evolve and adapt to new business needs within the next year. Along with that, the growth of no-code solutions will continue to shine a light on the true ease of adoption, putting a rest to concerns around the challenges of adoption.

Thank you, Ben, for taking time to share your insight.

It’s been my pleasure!

Ben Rigby is the SVP and Global Head of Product & Engineering at Talkdesk, an end-to-end contact center solutions provider.

Investing in modern cloud architecture is necessary for secure AI implementation.

Title:

Content: Contact Center AI: An Interview with Talkdesk’s Ben Rigby

Question: Ben, What Is the Current Sentiment Around AI and Automation in Contact Centers?

Answer: Today, contact centers have started to feel the concrete benefits of AI, from its ability to improve customer satisfaction to increasing agent productivity and upskilling employees.

While some companies still struggle to understand how automation can fit into their tech stack to transform how they operate as a business, many have started to experiment with AI technology to support specific processes or tasks in their contact centers.

Q: The Report Shows That Only 15 Percent of Organizations Are Taking Advantage of Emerging AI Technology, Such As Human-in-the-Loop. What Might Be Causing the Hesitation?

A: Our survey shows that contact center professionals are lacking confidence in their understanding of AI and the business results they should expect. As with implementing any new technology, AI comes with challenges, and our survey found that security and IT risks around legacy contact center equipment rank number one for concern.

Companies are also facing resistance from leaders and staff within their organization while grappling with labor shortages, all of which make it difficult to build, use, and maintain new automated systems. CX (customer experience) leaders need to be transparent with their workforce, emphasizing the core benefits and uses of AI and automation.

In addition to improving a business’s processes and bottom line, this technology also has the power to streamline employees’ day-to-day activities by filtering out the repetitive tasks. By openly communicating these direct benefits, companies can gain buy-in from their entire workforce, from entry level staff all the way up to managers and above.

Q: What Are the Security Risks That Come with AI Technology?

While security and IT risks of outdated contact center equipment are a main barrier to adoption, once deployed as part of a digital transformation initiative, AI actually makes contact centers more secure. Three in four CX professionals agree that AI tech will allow customer data to be more secure than a live agent, and four in five agree that AI will significantly help companies improve identity and authentication security in the next two years.

Q: How Can CX Leaders Address These Risks?

A: If AI has the potential to improve contact center security, the question then becomes, how can companies securely implement the technology? The answer is simple: businesses must put the strongest foundation in place to support AI. Specifically, they’ll need to invest in modern cloud architecture that will seamlessly and securely integrate AI technology.

Q: If a Company Has Not Yet Adopted This Technology, Are They Falling Behind?

A: Companies that continue to be resistant to AI adoption will undoubtedly fall behind in two areas: EX [employee experience] and CX. In today’s contact center workforce, AI technology helps reduce the repetitive tasks and transactional work for agents, alleviating stress, reducing workloads, and allowing teams to rebuild their contact center workforce.

AI provides the much-needed support during ongoing labor shortages and will be instrumental in upskilling workers to provide a more meaningful role in the contact center.

In terms of CX, conversational AI can help contact centers provide high-quality experiences by instantly responding to customer queries at any time of the day. AI can also equip agents with the contextual, personalized knowledge they need to accurately answer customer questions. This leaves customers highly satisfied and eases friction that comes with lengthy interactions.

Q: In Making the Decision to Implement More Advanced AI Technology, What Do CX Professionals Need to Consider?

A: There are three things CX professionals and leaders should consider:

First, do our agents have the right training and resources to leverage this technology effectively? Before launching new tech solutions, it’s important that the current agents have a strong skill set and understanding of how this will impact day-to-day operations, as well as best practices to work in tandem once the technology is in place.

Second, do we have the internal resources to make AI operations accessible? AI will continue to become more advanced and the only way for a company to reap the benefits of this technology is by making it accessible to everyone, even those who don’t have formal technical training or backgrounds.

Third, do we have a current system that can support a safe integration of advanced AI technology? Without the right foundation, you won’t be able to utilize AI to its full potential. Prior to deploying AI technology, take the time to consolidate redundant tech stacks.

Q: With 79 Percent of CX Leaders Planning to Increase Contact Center Investments, What Do You Think the State of AI and Automation in Contact Centers Will Look Like in 2023?

A: In 2023, the realization of AI’s capabilities and benefits will be more apparent than ever. While some companies may still be hesitant, there will be many more use cases and success stories to reference and tout the positive outcomes for contact centers.

We can all agree that AI technology will continue to evolve and adapt to new business needs within the next year. Along with that, the growth of no-code solutions will continue to shine a light on the true ease of adoption, putting a rest to concerns around the challenges of adoption.

Thank you, Ben, for taking time to share your insight.

It’s been my pleasure!

Ben Rigby is the SVP and Global Head of Product & Engineering at Talkdesk, an end-to-end contact center solutions provider.

Emphasizing AI's benefits, like upskilling employees and alleviating workloads, can address job security concerns.

Title:

Content: Contact Center AI: An Interview with Talkdesk’s Ben Rigby

Question: Ben, What Is the Current Sentiment Around AI and Automation in Contact Centers?

Answer: Today, contact centers have started to feel the concrete benefits of AI, from its ability to improve customer satisfaction to increasing agent productivity and upskilling employees.

While some companies still struggle to understand how automation can fit into their tech stack to transform how they operate as a business, many have started to experiment with AI technology to support specific processes or tasks in their contact centers.

Q: The Report Shows That Only 15 Percent of Organizations Are Taking Advantage of Emerging AI Technology, Such As Human-in-the-Loop. What Might Be Causing the Hesitation?

A: Our survey shows that contact center professionals are lacking confidence in their understanding of AI and the business results they should expect. As with implementing any new technology, AI comes with challenges, and our survey found that security and IT risks around legacy contact center equipment rank number one for concern.

Companies are also facing resistance from leaders and staff within their organization while grappling with labor shortages, all of which make it difficult to build, use, and maintain new automated systems. CX (customer experience) leaders need to be transparent with their workforce, emphasizing the core benefits and uses of AI and automation.

In addition to improving a business’s processes and bottom line, this technology also has the power to streamline employees’ day-to-day activities by filtering out the repetitive tasks. By openly communicating these direct benefits, companies can gain buy-in from their entire workforce, from entry level staff all the way up to managers and above.

Q: What Are the Security Risks That Come with AI Technology?

While security and IT risks of outdated contact center equipment are a main barrier to adoption, once deployed as part of a digital transformation initiative, AI actually makes contact centers more secure. Three in four CX professionals agree that AI tech will allow customer data to be more secure than a live agent, and four in five agree that AI will significantly help companies improve identity and authentication security in the next two years.

Q: How Can CX Leaders Address These Risks?

A: If AI has the potential to improve contact center security, the question then becomes, how can companies securely implement the technology? The answer is simple: businesses must put the strongest foundation in place to support AI. Specifically, they’ll need to invest in modern cloud architecture that will seamlessly and securely integrate AI technology.

Q: If a Company Has Not Yet Adopted This Technology, Are They Falling Behind?

A: Companies that continue to be resistant to AI adoption will undoubtedly fall behind in two areas: EX [employee experience] and CX. In today’s contact center workforce, AI technology helps reduce the repetitive tasks and transactional work for agents, alleviating stress, reducing workloads, and allowing teams to rebuild their contact center workforce.

AI provides the much-needed support during ongoing labor shortages and will be instrumental in upskilling workers to provide a more meaningful role in the contact center.

In terms of CX, conversational AI can help contact centers provide high-quality experiences by instantly responding to customer queries at any time of the day. AI can also equip agents with the contextual, personalized knowledge they need to accurately answer customer questions. This leaves customers highly satisfied and eases friction that comes with lengthy interactions.

Q: In Making the Decision to Implement More Advanced AI Technology, What Do CX Professionals Need to Consider?

A: There are three things CX professionals and leaders should consider:

First, do our agents have the right training and resources to leverage this technology effectively? Before launching new tech solutions, it’s important that the current agents have a strong skill set and understanding of how this will impact day-to-day operations, as well as best practices to work in tandem once the technology is in place.

Second, do we have the internal resources to make AI operations accessible? AI will continue to become more advanced and the only way for a company to reap the benefits of this technology is by making it accessible to everyone, even those who don’t have formal technical training or backgrounds.

Third, do we have a current system that can support a safe integration of advanced AI technology? Without the right foundation, you won’t be able to utilize AI to its full potential. Prior to deploying AI technology, take the time to consolidate redundant tech stacks.

Q: With 79 Percent of CX Leaders Planning to Increase Contact Center Investments, What Do You Think the State of AI and Automation in Contact Centers Will Look Like in 2023?

A: In 2023, the realization of AI’s capabilities and benefits will be more apparent than ever. While some companies may still be hesitant, there will be many more use cases and success stories to reference and tout the positive outcomes for contact centers.

We can all agree that AI technology will continue to evolve and adapt to new business needs within the next year. Along with that, the growth of no-code solutions will continue to shine a light on the true ease of adoption, putting a rest to concerns around the challenges of adoption.

Thank you, Ben, for taking time to share your insight.

It’s been my pleasure!

Ben Rigby is the SVP and Global Head of Product & Engineering at Talkdesk, an end-to-end contact center solutions provider.

Organizations can provide support and training to address supervisor concerns about new technology and mitigate the managerial skills gap.

Clarifying and redesigning manager roles can alleviate job security concerns.

Three key fears resisting digital transformation are Fear of Change, Fear of Loss, and Fear of Mortality.

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Lessons Learned Selling Digital Transformation In A Risk-Averse Industry

Michael W. Levin, CEO and co-founder of Ideon.

In a 2018 McKinsey survey, 80% of respondents said their organizations had undertaken a digital transformation in the preceding five years.

And that was before the pandemic, which has, to say the least, accelerated such changes.

Of course it has. I’m preaching to the choir when I posit to this audience that digital change is necessary for the survival of almost any organization today, business or otherwise. That’s certainly the case for the industry in which my company operates—health insurance and employee benefits—and especially so for carriers, in part because of the rapid rise of InsurTech, which is helping to drive digital innovation throughout the industry.

And yet.

All too often, selling digital transformation within large organizations is an uphill battle. That’s especially the case at organizations in established industries—with ways of doing business that can sometimes date back decades—and is even more a truism if those organizations have a predisposition to manage risk. There are many reasons for this, of course, but three fears play a key role.

• Fear Of Change: It's human nature to favor the familiar over the unknown. We prefer what we know, even when shown a superior alternative. So it’s understandable that executives accustomed to analog processes may be wary of digital ones. There’s an entire field of study, behavioral economics, built around the status quo bias.

• Fear Of Loss: Digital transformation requires investment. And as a general rule, humans react twice as strongly to the loss of a given amount as they do to the gain of the same amount. So unless the ROI for a digital transformation project is clear and convincing, certain colleagues will tend to resist spending money.

• Fear Of Mortality: Not literally, of course. But bosses and employees alike often associate digital change with staff reductions. But even though such relationships are unclear, some executives resist change if they believe it will lead to a loss of headcount or otherwise erode positions of power.

The Way Forward

So how can an organization’s evangelizers persuade colleagues to embrace change? There’s no simple answer, but my experience over the years helping insurance organizations embrace data transparency and connected ecosystems suggests that four strategies—on their own or in combination—can help break through most institutional roadblocks:

1. Align proposed changes with business goals. Change for modernizing’s sake is one thing. Change that helps achieve already established goals is something else entirely. Good leaders are generally driven by big-picture aims. Tying digital transformation to company priorities allows evangelizers to harness existing momentum rather than requiring them to start from scratch.

2. Create your own stakeholders. Whatever their personality, human beings are much more likely to support an initiative if they feel invested in it. Quite frankly, we value something more when it's ours. And the best way to create investment in the idea of change is to involve colleagues early in the transformational journey. Ask the appropriate decision-makers or influencers for input about their problems and possible solutions. If the digital transformation you seek is the logical conclusion to that process, otherwise resistant colleagues will more likely support the idea because they had a hand in getting there.

3. Marshal your facts. Before investing resources in digital transformation, decision-makers want to know that it will pay off. Prepare information—statistics, research findings, anecdotes—on the ROI of digital transformation. Seventy-six percent of employees surveyed said having the digital tools they need makes them more productive. Additionally, Harvard Business School technologists report (paywall) that companies with the most effective digital transformations have higher net income than those with less-successful digital transformations. Data points like these can motivate leaders to prioritize tech imperatives.

4. Leverage FOMO. Regret aversion is a powerful thing. That is to say, many people are not as afraid of making a bad decision as they are afraid of feeling bad about a decision they made. It’s one reason people follow the crowd. We don’t necessarily believe that other people are smarter than we are. But many of us do believe (if only nonconsciously) that if we follow the lead of others we will have company if our decision turns out to be unwise. Regret aversion bias can be leveraged powerfully when selling digital transformation by framing a failure to adopt change as leaving an organization alone in the dark while the rest of the industry—or even its cutting-edge leaders—moves toward the light.

I know there is a reliable path to digital transformation because my firm has seen dozens of clients and partners complete such journeys. But accounting for the inevitable challenges, both structural and psychological, is key to achieving success.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

Aligning changes with business goals can persuade colleagues.

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Lessons Learned Selling Digital Transformation In A Risk-Averse Industry

Michael W. Levin, CEO and co-founder of Ideon.

In a 2018 McKinsey survey, 80% of respondents said their organizations had undertaken a digital transformation in the preceding five years.

And that was before the pandemic, which has, to say the least, accelerated such changes.

Of course it has. I’m preaching to the choir when I posit to this audience that digital change is necessary for the survival of almost any organization today, business or otherwise. That’s certainly the case for the industry in which my company operates—health insurance and employee benefits—and especially so for carriers, in part because of the rapid rise of InsurTech, which is helping to drive digital innovation throughout the industry.

And yet.

All too often, selling digital transformation within large organizations is an uphill battle. That’s especially the case at organizations in established industries—with ways of doing business that can sometimes date back decades—and is even more a truism if those organizations have a predisposition to manage risk. There are many reasons for this, of course, but three fears play a key role.

• Fear Of Change: It's human nature to favor the familiar over the unknown. We prefer what we know, even when shown a superior alternative. So it’s understandable that executives accustomed to analog processes may be wary of digital ones. There’s an entire field of study, behavioral economics, built around the status quo bias.

• Fear Of Loss: Digital transformation requires investment. And as a general rule, humans react twice as strongly to the loss of a given amount as they do to the gain of the same amount. So unless the ROI for a digital transformation project is clear and convincing, certain colleagues will tend to resist spending money.

• Fear Of Mortality: Not literally, of course. But bosses and employees alike often associate digital change with staff reductions. But even though such relationships are unclear, some executives resist change if they believe it will lead to a loss of headcount or otherwise erode positions of power.

The Way Forward

So how can an organization’s evangelizers persuade colleagues to embrace change? There’s no simple answer, but my experience over the years helping insurance organizations embrace data transparency and connected ecosystems suggests that four strategies—on their own or in combination—can help break through most institutional roadblocks:

1. Align proposed changes with business goals. Change for modernizing’s sake is one thing. Change that helps achieve already established goals is something else entirely. Good leaders are generally driven by big-picture aims. Tying digital transformation to company priorities allows evangelizers to harness existing momentum rather than requiring them to start from scratch.

2. Create your own stakeholders. Whatever their personality, human beings are much more likely to support an initiative if they feel invested in it. Quite frankly, we value something more when it's ours. And the best way to create investment in the idea of change is to involve colleagues early in the transformational journey. Ask the appropriate decision-makers or influencers for input about their problems and possible solutions. If the digital transformation you seek is the logical conclusion to that process, otherwise resistant colleagues will more likely support the idea because they had a hand in getting there.

3. Marshal your facts. Before investing resources in digital transformation, decision-makers want to know that it will pay off. Prepare information—statistics, research findings, anecdotes—on the ROI of digital transformation. Seventy-six percent of employees surveyed said having the digital tools they need makes them more productive. Additionally, Harvard Business School technologists report (paywall) that companies with the most effective digital transformations have higher net income than those with less-successful digital transformations. Data points like these can motivate leaders to prioritize tech imperatives.

4. Leverage FOMO. Regret aversion is a powerful thing. That is to say, many people are not as afraid of making a bad decision as they are afraid of feeling bad about a decision they made. It’s one reason people follow the crowd. We don’t necessarily believe that other people are smarter than we are. But many of us do believe (if only nonconsciously) that if we follow the lead of others we will have company if our decision turns out to be unwise. Regret aversion bias can be leveraged powerfully when selling digital transformation by framing a failure to adopt change as leaving an organization alone in the dark while the rest of the industry—or even its cutting-edge leaders—moves toward the light.

I know there is a reliable path to digital transformation because my firm has seen dozens of clients and partners complete such journeys. But accounting for the inevitable challenges, both structural and psychological, is key to achieving success.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

Involving colleagues early in the transformational journey can create a sense of investment and increase support.

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Edit Story

Lessons Learned Selling Digital Transformation In A Risk-Averse Industry

Michael W. Levin, CEO and co-founder of Ideon.

In a 2018 McKinsey survey, 80% of respondents said their organizations had undertaken a digital transformation in the preceding five years.

And that was before the pandemic, which has, to say the least, accelerated such changes.

Of course it has. I’m preaching to the choir when I posit to this audience that digital change is necessary for the survival of almost any organization today, business or otherwise. That’s certainly the case for the industry in which my company operates—health insurance and employee benefits—and especially so for carriers, in part because of the rapid rise of InsurTech, which is helping to drive digital innovation throughout the industry.

And yet.

All too often, selling digital transformation within large organizations is an uphill battle. That’s especially the case at organizations in established industries—with ways of doing business that can sometimes date back decades—and is even more a truism if those organizations have a predisposition to manage risk. There are many reasons for this, of course, but three fears play a key role.

• Fear Of Change: It's human nature to favor the familiar over the unknown. We prefer what we know, even when shown a superior alternative. So it’s understandable that executives accustomed to analog processes may be wary of digital ones. There’s an entire field of study, behavioral economics, built around the status quo bias.

• Fear Of Loss: Digital transformation requires investment. And as a general rule, humans react twice as strongly to the loss of a given amount as they do to the gain of the same amount. So unless the ROI for a digital transformation project is clear and convincing, certain colleagues will tend to resist spending money.

• Fear Of Mortality: Not literally, of course. But bosses and employees alike often associate digital change with staff reductions. But even though such relationships are unclear, some executives resist change if they believe it will lead to a loss of headcount or otherwise erode positions of power.

The Way Forward

So how can an organization’s evangelizers persuade colleagues to embrace change? There’s no simple answer, but my experience over the years helping insurance organizations embrace data transparency and connected ecosystems suggests that four strategies—on their own or in combination—can help break through most institutional roadblocks:

1. Align proposed changes with business goals. Change for modernizing’s sake is one thing. Change that helps achieve already established goals is something else entirely. Good leaders are generally driven by big-picture aims. Tying digital transformation to company priorities allows evangelizers to harness existing momentum rather than requiring them to start from scratch.

2. Create your own stakeholders. Whatever their personality, human beings are much more likely to support an initiative if they feel invested in it. Quite frankly, we value something more when it's ours. And the best way to create investment in the idea of change is to involve colleagues early in the transformational journey. Ask the appropriate decision-makers or influencers for input about their problems and possible solutions. If the digital transformation you seek is the logical conclusion to that process, otherwise resistant colleagues will more likely support the idea because they had a hand in getting there.

3. Marshal your facts. Before investing resources in digital transformation, decision-makers want to know that it will pay off. Prepare information—statistics, research findings, anecdotes—on the ROI of digital transformation. Seventy-six percent of employees surveyed said having the digital tools they need makes them more productive. Additionally, Harvard Business School technologists report (paywall) that companies with the most effective digital transformations have higher net income than those with less-successful digital transformations. Data points like these can motivate leaders to prioritize tech imperatives.

4. Leverage FOMO. Regret aversion is a powerful thing. That is to say, many people are not as afraid of making a bad decision as they are afraid of feeling bad about a decision they made. It’s one reason people follow the crowd. We don’t necessarily believe that other people are smarter than we are. But many of us do believe (if only nonconsciously) that if we follow the lead of others we will have company if our decision turns out to be unwise. Regret aversion bias can be leveraged powerfully when selling digital transformation by framing a failure to adopt change as leaving an organization alone in the dark while the rest of the industry—or even its cutting-edge leaders—moves toward the light.

I know there is a reliable path to digital transformation because my firm has seen dozens of clients and partners complete such journeys. But accounting for the inevitable challenges, both structural and psychological, is key to achieving success.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

22% of U.S. workers fear technology will make their jobs obsolete, a Gallup poll finds.

Title:

Content: 1. “A rising number of American workers fear technology will make their jobs obsolete in the near future,” Axios reported Thursday, Sept. 14. A total of 22% of U.S. workers feel that way, according to the latest Gallup poll. That is up from the 15% of workers with those feelings in 2021. “The jump is being driven ‘almost entirely’ by college-educated workers.”

2. Fear of becoming obsolete (FOBO) is gaining more recognition in the work environment. According to the poll, younger workers aged 18-34 are more concerned than their older counterparts that technology like artificial intelligence will make their jobs obsolete. The fear also is commonly felt by workers who make less than $100,000 per year.

The percentage of workers fearing job obsolescence due to technology rose from 15% in 2021 to 22%.

Title:

Content: 1. “A rising number of American workers fear technology will make their jobs obsolete in the near future,” Axios reported Thursday, Sept. 14. A total of 22% of U.S. workers feel that way, according to the latest Gallup poll. That is up from the 15% of workers with those feelings in 2021. “The jump is being driven ‘almost entirely’ by college-educated workers.”

2. Fear of becoming obsolete (FOBO) is gaining more recognition in the work environment. According to the poll, younger workers aged 18-34 are more concerned than their older counterparts that technology like artificial intelligence will make their jobs obsolete. The fear also is commonly felt by workers who make less than $100,000 per year.

College-educated workers drive the increase in fear of job obsolescence.

Title:

Content: 1. “A rising number of American workers fear technology will make their jobs obsolete in the near future,” Axios reported Thursday, Sept. 14. A total of 22% of U.S. workers feel that way, according to the latest Gallup poll. That is up from the 15% of workers with those feelings in 2021. “The jump is being driven ‘almost entirely’ by college-educated workers.”

2. Fear of becoming obsolete (FOBO) is gaining more recognition in the work environment. According to the poll, younger workers aged 18-34 are more concerned than their older counterparts that technology like artificial intelligence will make their jobs obsolete. The fear also is commonly felt by workers who make less than $100,000 per year.

Younger workers are more concerned than older workers that technology will make their jobs obsolete.

Title:

Content: 1. “A rising number of American workers fear technology will make their jobs obsolete in the near future,” Axios reported Thursday, Sept. 14. A total of 22% of U.S. workers feel that way, according to the latest Gallup poll. That is up from the 15% of workers with those feelings in 2021. “The jump is being driven ‘almost entirely’ by college-educated workers.”

2. Fear of becoming obsolete (FOBO) is gaining more recognition in the work environment. According to the poll, younger workers aged 18-34 are more concerned than their older counterparts that technology like artificial intelligence will make their jobs obsolete. The fear also is commonly felt by workers who make less than $100,000 per year.

Workers earning under $100,000 per year often fear job obsolescence due to technology.

Title:

Content: 1. “A rising number of American workers fear technology will make their jobs obsolete in the near future,” Axios reported Thursday, Sept. 14. A total of 22% of U.S. workers feel that way, according to the latest Gallup poll. That is up from the 15% of workers with those feelings in 2021. “The jump is being driven ‘almost entirely’ by college-educated workers.”

2. Fear of becoming obsolete (FOBO) is gaining more recognition in the work environment. According to the poll, younger workers aged 18-34 are more concerned than their older counterparts that technology like artificial intelligence will make their jobs obsolete. The fear also is commonly felt by workers who make less than $100,000 per year.

Only 21% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they trust their organization's leadership, a Gallup survey found.

Trust builds when employees feel inspired by senior leaders and see strategic actions driving business success.

Core values are crucial for building trust within an organization.

Leaders must consistently exemplify core values to maintain credibility and trust.

Authenticity is critical for a team's well-being and productivity.

Accepting people's biases is important for a safe and trust-filled work environment.

Leaders can foster engagement by facilitating open dialogue and offering unconditional support.

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Rekindling Trust In Post-Pandemic Leadership

Michael McFall is the co-Founder and co-CEO of BIGGBY COFFEE as well as author of the Inc. Original books GRIND and GROW.

As leaders navigated their companies through the challenges of a global pandemic, pivoting to accommodate a red-hot consumer economy and then recalibrating for an ever-allusive "new normal," something surprising happened: They lost the room.

This is supported by a recent Gallup survey, which found that only 21% of U.S. employees say they "'strongly agree' that they trust the leadership of their organization." It seems that after leading the charge into their companies' post-pandemic future, many business leaders are looking behind them and finding few followers.

As Gallup explains, "Trust begins to build when employees feel inspired by senior leaders and see strategic actions leading to business success." However, as companies cut costs, embrace new priorities and reconfigure their teams, many employees feel their leaders are neither inspiring nor strategic.

This may help explain why more than half of employees are disengaged at work and 42% are looking for new job opportunities.

Put bluntly, trust is a foundational component of effective leadership, and bosses or supervisors who haven’t earned their teams’ trust are leaders in name only. Addressing this challenge requires decisive action, and I believe it’s imperative to creating sustainable, thriving organizations at every level.

Steps To Restoring Trust

I believe that repairing the damage should be an urgent priority for leaders at every level, in companies big and small. Here are three steps to begin restoring trust in your leadership today.

1. Establish Your Core Values

Trust within an organization stems from the establishment of and adherence to core values. These values serve as the guideposts that shape the behaviors and interactions within a team. When an individual joins a team, understanding these core values helps them recognize the team's priorities and behavioral guidelines.

As a leader, it is crucial to exemplify these core values consistently. Failure to live by the set values can lead to a credibility gap, and your team can perceive a disconnect between what is professed and what is practiced. This can erode the trust your team members have in you and in the organization.

Every company can have its own set of core values, but example traits with broad application include:

• Openness

• Respect

• Compassion

• Accountability

• Integrity

• Teamwork.

Core values serve as the team’s North Star, informing actions and stipulating standards in any scenario.

2. Expect People To Be Themselves

Establishing an environment that encourages authenticity is critical for the well-being and productivity of a team. This means creating a space where team members are free to express not only their best, but also their less favorable traits, and making them feel comfortable enough to bring their whole selves into the interaction.

This inclusivity necessitates a supportive leadership approach that fosters an atmosphere of trust and safety, allowing individuals to operate in their true essence.

In unhealthy organizational structures, employees often find themselves investing significant amounts of time and energy deciphering their role within the team, figuring out team dynamics and trying to interpret the expectations of their superiors.

This constant self-adjustment and evaluation, the equivalent of constantly trying to solve a complex puzzle while performing professional tasks at a high level, can take away from their ability to focus on the challenges at hand and problem-solving.

In contrast, removing identity-based stressors allows people to focus on tasks, fostering improved productivity and more meaningful professional and cultural outcomes.

3. Create A Culture That Accepts Different Perspectives

In an increasingly polarized and reactionary cultural and business environment where even a marketing campaign can create an intense cultural backlash, people are often afraid to bring their authentic selves to work.

One employee survey found that 64% of people are "fearful of being authentic around others in the workplace," with 70% saying they "adopt an entirely different personality when they’re at work." This is a serious challenge for today’s leaders. When people feel they can’t bring their authentic selves to the office, I find that mistrust is a natural next step.

In reality, biases, or the viewpoints and preferences that collectively comprise our authentic selves, are natural and ubiquitous. Everyone has biases forged from their preferences, experiences and expectations.

Bias is perhaps better understood as perspective, and I believe that accepting people’s biases as part of their authentic selves is an important part of a safe, trust-filled work environment.

Leaders can help their teams experience this reality by creating an environment where biases can collide and empowering people to leverage their unique perspectives and authentic selves to build better businesses and cultivate thriving teams.

How To Take The Next Step

As leaders adapt to a continually changing global business landscape, many are losing their employees’ faith. Addressing this challenge requires decisive action.

To take the next step, leaders must foster a culture of engagement, facilitating open dialogue and extending unconditional support to their team members, even when faced with what may seem like unconventional ideas.

I am a firm believe that every opinion must be respected and acknowledged, which can help ensure that every team member feels seen and heard. This practice is deeply connected to the concept of "loving unconditionally," which may seem unusual as a corporate value but is integral to the trust-building process.

Most importantly, trust is built brick by brick as leaders’ consistent words and actions create an environment that values authenticity and diverse perspectives. It takes time to build but can be lost in a moment, making now the perfect time to begin rebuilding or reinforcing trust as a foundation for future success.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?

Follow me on LinkedInCheck out my website or some of my other work here

Respecting every opinion helps team members feel seen and heard.

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Edit Story

Rekindling Trust In Post-Pandemic Leadership

Michael McFall is the co-Founder and co-CEO of BIGGBY COFFEE as well as author of the Inc. Original books GRIND and GROW.

As leaders navigated their companies through the challenges of a global pandemic, pivoting to accommodate a red-hot consumer economy and then recalibrating for an ever-allusive "new normal," something surprising happened: They lost the room.

This is supported by a recent Gallup survey, which found that only 21% of U.S. employees say they "'strongly agree' that they trust the leadership of their organization." It seems that after leading the charge into their companies' post-pandemic future, many business leaders are looking behind them and finding few followers.

As Gallup explains, "Trust begins to build when employees feel inspired by senior leaders and see strategic actions leading to business success." However, as companies cut costs, embrace new priorities and reconfigure their teams, many employees feel their leaders are neither inspiring nor strategic.

This may help explain why more than half of employees are disengaged at work and 42% are looking for new job opportunities.

Put bluntly, trust is a foundational component of effective leadership, and bosses or supervisors who haven’t earned their teams’ trust are leaders in name only. Addressing this challenge requires decisive action, and I believe it’s imperative to creating sustainable, thriving organizations at every level.

Steps To Restoring Trust

I believe that repairing the damage should be an urgent priority for leaders at every level, in companies big and small. Here are three steps to begin restoring trust in your leadership today.

1. Establish Your Core Values

Trust within an organization stems from the establishment of and adherence to core values. These values serve as the guideposts that shape the behaviors and interactions within a team. When an individual joins a team, understanding these core values helps them recognize the team's priorities and behavioral guidelines.

As a leader, it is crucial to exemplify these core values consistently. Failure to live by the set values can lead to a credibility gap, and your team can perceive a disconnect between what is professed and what is practiced. This can erode the trust your team members have in you and in the organization.

Every company can have its own set of core values, but example traits with broad application include:

• Openness

• Respect

• Compassion

• Accountability

• Integrity

• Teamwork.

Core values serve as the team’s North Star, informing actions and stipulating standards in any scenario.

2. Expect People To Be Themselves

Establishing an environment that encourages authenticity is critical for the well-being and productivity of a team. This means creating a space where team members are free to express not only their best, but also their less favorable traits, and making them feel comfortable enough to bring their whole selves into the interaction.

This inclusivity necessitates a supportive leadership approach that fosters an atmosphere of trust and safety, allowing individuals to operate in their true essence.

In unhealthy organizational structures, employees often find themselves investing significant amounts of time and energy deciphering their role within the team, figuring out team dynamics and trying to interpret the expectations of their superiors.

This constant self-adjustment and evaluation, the equivalent of constantly trying to solve a complex puzzle while performing professional tasks at a high level, can take away from their ability to focus on the challenges at hand and problem-solving.

In contrast, removing identity-based stressors allows people to focus on tasks, fostering improved productivity and more meaningful professional and cultural outcomes.

3. Create A Culture That Accepts Different Perspectives

In an increasingly polarized and reactionary cultural and business environment where even a marketing campaign can create an intense cultural backlash, people are often afraid to bring their authentic selves to work.

One employee survey found that 64% of people are "fearful of being authentic around others in the workplace," with 70% saying they "adopt an entirely different personality when they’re at work." This is a serious challenge for today’s leaders. When people feel they can’t bring their authentic selves to the office, I find that mistrust is a natural next step.

In reality, biases, or the viewpoints and preferences that collectively comprise our authentic selves, are natural and ubiquitous. Everyone has biases forged from their preferences, experiences and expectations.

Bias is perhaps better understood as perspective, and I believe that accepting people’s biases as part of their authentic selves is an important part of a safe, trust-filled work environment.

Leaders can help their teams experience this reality by creating an environment where biases can collide and empowering people to leverage their unique perspectives and authentic selves to build better businesses and cultivate thriving teams.

How To Take The Next Step

As leaders adapt to a continually changing global business landscape, many are losing their employees’ faith. Addressing this challenge requires decisive action.

To take the next step, leaders must foster a culture of engagement, facilitating open dialogue and extending unconditional support to their team members, even when faced with what may seem like unconventional ideas.

I am a firm believe that every opinion must be respected and acknowledged, which can help ensure that every team member feels seen and heard. This practice is deeply connected to the concept of "loving unconditionally," which may seem unusual as a corporate value but is integral to the trust-building process.

Most importantly, trust is built brick by brick as leaders’ consistent words and actions create an environment that values authenticity and diverse perspectives. It takes time to build but can be lost in a moment, making now the perfect time to begin rebuilding or reinforcing trust as a foundation for future success.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?

Follow me on LinkedInCheck out my website or some of my other work here

Trust is built over time but can be lost in a moment.

Title:

Content: BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Rekindling Trust In Post-Pandemic Leadership

Michael McFall is the co-Founder and co-CEO of BIGGBY COFFEE as well as author of the Inc. Original books GRIND and GROW.

As leaders navigated their companies through the challenges of a global pandemic, pivoting to accommodate a red-hot consumer economy and then recalibrating for an ever-allusive "new normal," something surprising happened: They lost the room.

This is supported by a recent Gallup survey, which found that only 21% of U.S. employees say they "'strongly agree' that they trust the leadership of their organization." It seems that after leading the charge into their companies' post-pandemic future, many business leaders are looking behind them and finding few followers.

As Gallup explains, "Trust begins to build when employees feel inspired by senior leaders and see strategic actions leading to business success." However, as companies cut costs, embrace new priorities and reconfigure their teams, many employees feel their leaders are neither inspiring nor strategic.

This may help explain why more than half of employees are disengaged at work and 42% are looking for new job opportunities.

Put bluntly, trust is a foundational component of effective leadership, and bosses or supervisors who haven’t earned their teams’ trust are leaders in name only. Addressing this challenge requires decisive action, and I believe it’s imperative to creating sustainable, thriving organizations at every level.

Steps To Restoring Trust

I believe that repairing the damage should be an urgent priority for leaders at every level, in companies big and small. Here are three steps to begin restoring trust in your leadership today.

1. Establish Your Core Values

Trust within an organization stems from the establishment of and adherence to core values. These values serve as the guideposts that shape the behaviors and interactions within a team. When an individual joins a team, understanding these core values helps them recognize the team's priorities and behavioral guidelines.

As a leader, it is crucial to exemplify these core values consistently. Failure to live by the set values can lead to a credibility gap, and your team can perceive a disconnect between what is professed and what is practiced. This can erode the trust your team members have in you and in the organization.

Every company can have its own set of core values, but example traits with broad application include:

• Openness

• Respect

• Compassion

• Accountability

• Integrity

• Teamwork.

Core values serve as the team’s North Star, informing actions and stipulating standards in any scenario.

2. Expect People To Be Themselves

Establishing an environment that encourages authenticity is critical for the well-being and productivity of a team. This means creating a space where team members are free to express not only their best, but also their less favorable traits, and making them feel comfortable enough to bring their whole selves into the interaction.

This inclusivity necessitates a supportive leadership approach that fosters an atmosphere of trust and safety, allowing individuals to operate in their true essence.

In unhealthy organizational structures, employees often find themselves investing significant amounts of time and energy deciphering their role within the team, figuring out team dynamics and trying to interpret the expectations of their superiors.

This constant self-adjustment and evaluation, the equivalent of constantly trying to solve a complex puzzle while performing professional tasks at a high level, can take away from their ability to focus on the challenges at hand and problem-solving.

In contrast, removing identity-based stressors allows people to focus on tasks, fostering improved productivity and more meaningful professional and cultural outcomes.

3. Create A Culture That Accepts Different Perspectives

In an increasingly polarized and reactionary cultural and business environment where even a marketing campaign can create an intense cultural backlash, people are often afraid to bring their authentic selves to work.

One employee survey found that 64% of people are "fearful of being authentic around others in the workplace," with 70% saying they "adopt an entirely different personality when they’re at work." This is a serious challenge for today’s leaders. When people feel they can’t bring their authentic selves to the office, I find that mistrust is a natural next step.

In reality, biases, or the viewpoints and preferences that collectively comprise our authentic selves, are natural and ubiquitous. Everyone has biases forged from their preferences, experiences and expectations.

Bias is perhaps better understood as perspective, and I believe that accepting people’s biases as part of their authentic selves is an important part of a safe, trust-filled work environment.

Leaders can help their teams experience this reality by creating an environment where biases can collide and empowering people to leverage their unique perspectives and authentic selves to build better businesses and cultivate thriving teams.

How To Take The Next Step

As leaders adapt to a continually changing global business landscape, many are losing their employees’ faith. Addressing this challenge requires decisive action.

To take the next step, leaders must foster a culture of engagement, facilitating open dialogue and extending unconditional support to their team members, even when faced with what may seem like unconventional ideas.

I am a firm believe that every opinion must be respected and acknowledged, which can help ensure that every team member feels seen and heard. This practice is deeply connected to the concept of "loving unconditionally," which may seem unusual as a corporate value but is integral to the trust-building process.

Most importantly, trust is built brick by brick as leaders’ consistent words and actions create an environment that values authenticity and diverse perspectives. It takes time to build but can be lost in a moment, making now the perfect time to begin rebuilding or reinforcing trust as a foundation for future success.

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Measuring Trust Using The Leadership Trust Index

Dr John Blakey is the author of 'The Trusted Executive' and Founder of The Trusted Executive.

Trust is becoming more and more central to cultural challenges in organizations, according to a recent Deloitte survey. Organizations are choosing hybrid working and incorporating working from home. These emerging working models are here to stay and have thrown up a new set of business challenges. Trust is no longer a nice to have, it has become a must for top-performing organizations.

According to my research at Aston Business School, 89% of board leaders consider trust critical to attracting and retaining top talent, while 91% consider it vital in maintaining customer loyalty. Stephen Covey suggests in his classic text The Speed of Trust that low trust causes friction, which slows down organizational processes and eventually leads to low-quality outputs. These, and many other studies, demonstrate that a high-trust culture is a leader’s magic wand that positively influences many diverse business outcomes.

The Challenge Of Measuring Trust

However, if trust is that important, how can we measure it better than we do now? How do we track it in the same way we track employee engagement, productivity and staff morale? Because without accurate measurement tools and techniques, it is impossible to identify the trust strengths and risks within an organizational culture.

According to the Deloitte survey, 55% of organizations have no trust tracking in place, but nearly half of them plan to start measuring trust in the next 12 months. This priority is echoed in a recent CEOWorld article where the author, Rhett Power, states, "You must find objective ways to assess trust. Otherwise, you’ll end up relying on your gut to tell you if your people trust you. And your gut is always prone to being subjective." Indeed, in my own research, I found that CEOs rated themselves 29% more trustworthy than the people they lead. I call this the authenticity gap, and it should be a timely reminder for all leaders who are tempted to rest on their laurels regarding trust.

The Leadership Trust Index

Arising from research, we have developed a unique, academically verified trust metric known as the Leadership Trust Index (LTI). Over the past five years, the LTI has been used to measure trust levels in leading organizations in the UK's public, private and third sectors. Using this bank of data, we can benchmark any organization’s LTI so organizations know exactly where they stand when building a high-trust culture. What the Net Promoter Score (NPS) score did for focusing organizations on customer experiences, we hope the LTI can now do for creating a new standard of leadership defined by trustworthiness.

The Business Impact Of Measuring Trust

Overlaying our LTI against the work of Dr. Paul Zak (as featured in the Harvard Business Review), we estimate that increasing an organization’s LTI score by 20% leads to the following outcomes:

  • A 15% drop in stress levels
  • A 3% drop in sick days
  • A 10% increase in productivity
  • A 15% increase in employee engagement

In simple terms, organizations that increase their LTI scores are waving that magic wand of trust in a conscious and deliberate way. If we consider that trustworthiness = ability x integrity x benevolence, then the LTI score will point to gaps in those areas where a concerted management focus can drive improvements. For example, when used with a national law firm, the LTI revealed that the organization could improve its LTI by working on the integrity component of trustworthiness. Specifically, the culture was not considered humble by its employees and this affected perceptions of the brand's integrity. Being able to measure this aspect and benchmark with other organizations helped convince the leadership team to take action and improve.

Improving The LTI Score

When it comes to the practical steps organizations can take to improve their LTI score, we have found some common themes that generate immediate impact:

• Coaching. Leaders who help their staff develop through coaching, rather than telling, find that they can drive improved performance while still improving levels of trust in the team.

• Be open. Leaders who err on the side of being more open in sharing their own feelings, learnings and challenges engage their followers at a human level and this can inspire greater levels of trust.

• Evangelizing. Leaders who hold an inspiring vision, communicate this passionately and bounce back quickly from disappointments generate a positive "can do" confidence that can inspire others to trust them.

• Be kind. We refer to being kind as the purple dye of trust; all it takes is one drop of kindness and the whole complexion of a situation changes. Kindness is a trust "power tool" that is often neglected by busy, task-focused leaders.

Next Steps

In summary, what gets measured is treasured. As more and more CEOs realize the increasing power of trust, the next question they might ask is how to measure it. The Leadership Trust Index provides a reliable and consistent way to pin trust down, identify strengths and weaknesses, and take action to improve. In our experience, those organizations that benefit most from measuring their LTI have already taken their top team through some preparatory work to gain a better understanding of the role of trust in a high-performing organization. For example, the work of Lencioni and his Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a great primer for anyone contemplating going down this path.

Finally, the biggest obstacle organizations face when measuring their LTI is often the challenge of "survey fatigue." Staff have been subject to many different surveys and can grow weary of offering opinions that are not followed up with tangible responses and actions. The antidote to this is to make sure every survey counts and specific improvements are clearly linked to the named survey findings. If staff experience real change in organizational life as a result of a survey, it is hard to see how they would ever grow tired of offering their opinions, feedback and insights.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

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Measuring Trust Using The Leadership Trust Index

Dr John Blakey is the author of 'The Trusted Executive' and Founder of The Trusted Executive.

Trust is becoming more and more central to cultural challenges in organizations, according to a recent Deloitte survey. Organizations are choosing hybrid working and incorporating working from home. These emerging working models are here to stay and have thrown up a new set of business challenges. Trust is no longer a nice to have, it has become a must for top-performing organizations.

According to my research at Aston Business School, 89% of board leaders consider trust critical to attracting and retaining top talent, while 91% consider it vital in maintaining customer loyalty. Stephen Covey suggests in his classic text The Speed of Trust that low trust causes friction, which slows down organizational processes and eventually leads to low-quality outputs. These, and many other studies, demonstrate that a high-trust culture is a leader’s magic wand that positively influences many diverse business outcomes.

The Challenge Of Measuring Trust

However, if trust is that important, how can we measure it better than we do now? How do we track it in the same way we track employee engagement, productivity and staff morale? Because without accurate measurement tools and techniques, it is impossible to identify the trust strengths and risks within an organizational culture.

According to the Deloitte survey, 55% of organizations have no trust tracking in place, but nearly half of them plan to start measuring trust in the next 12 months. This priority is echoed in a recent CEOWorld article where the author, Rhett Power, states, "You must find objective ways to assess trust. Otherwise, you’ll end up relying on your gut to tell you if your people trust you. And your gut is always prone to being subjective." Indeed, in my own research, I found that CEOs rated themselves 29% more trustworthy than the people they lead. I call this the authenticity gap, and it should be a timely reminder for all leaders who are tempted to rest on their laurels regarding trust.

The Leadership Trust Index

Arising from research, we have developed a unique, academically verified trust metric known as the Leadership Trust Index (LTI). Over the past five years, the LTI has been used to measure trust levels in leading organizations in the UK's public, private and third sectors. Using this bank of data, we can benchmark any organization’s LTI so organizations know exactly where they stand when building a high-trust culture. What the Net Promoter Score (NPS) score did for focusing organizations on customer experiences, we hope the LTI can now do for creating a new standard of leadership defined by trustworthiness.

The Business Impact Of Measuring Trust

Overlaying our LTI against the work of Dr. Paul Zak (as featured in the Harvard Business Review), we estimate that increasing an organization’s LTI score by 20% leads to the following outcomes:

  • A 15% drop in stress levels
  • A 3% drop in sick days
  • A 10% increase in productivity
  • A 15% increase in employee engagement

In simple terms, organizations that increase their LTI scores are waving that magic wand of trust in a conscious and deliberate way. If we consider that trustworthiness = ability x integrity x benevolence, then the LTI score will point to gaps in those areas where a concerted management focus can drive improvements. For example, when used with a national law firm, the LTI revealed that the organization could improve its LTI by working on the integrity component of trustworthiness. Specifically, the culture was not considered humble by its employees and this affected perceptions of the brand's integrity. Being able to measure this aspect and benchmark with other organizations helped convince the leadership team to take action and improve.

Improving The LTI Score

When it comes to the practical steps organizations can take to improve their LTI score, we have found some common themes that generate immediate impact:

• Coaching. Leaders who help their staff develop through coaching, rather than telling, find that they can drive improved performance while still improving levels of trust in the team.

• Be open. Leaders who err on the side of being more open in sharing their own feelings, learnings and challenges engage their followers at a human level and this can inspire greater levels of trust.

• Evangelizing. Leaders who hold an inspiring vision, communicate this passionately and bounce back quickly from disappointments generate a positive "can do" confidence that can inspire others to trust them.

• Be kind. We refer to being kind as the purple dye of trust; all it takes is one drop of kindness and the whole complexion of a situation changes. Kindness is a trust "power tool" that is often neglected by busy, task-focused leaders.

Next Steps

In summary, what gets measured is treasured. As more and more CEOs realize the increasing power of trust, the next question they might ask is how to measure it. The Leadership Trust Index provides a reliable and consistent way to pin trust down, identify strengths and weaknesses, and take action to improve. In our experience, those organizations that benefit most from measuring their LTI have already taken their top team through some preparatory work to gain a better understanding of the role of trust in a high-performing organization. For example, the work of Lencioni and his Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a great primer for anyone contemplating going down this path.

Finally, the biggest obstacle organizations face when measuring their LTI is often the challenge of "survey fatigue." Staff have been subject to many different surveys and can grow weary of offering opinions that are not followed up with tangible responses and actions. The antidote to this is to make sure every survey counts and specific improvements are clearly linked to the named survey findings. If staff experience real change in organizational life as a result of a survey, it is hard to see how they would ever grow tired of offering their opinions, feedback and insights.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

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Measuring Trust Using The Leadership Trust Index

Dr John Blakey is the author of 'The Trusted Executive' and Founder of The Trusted Executive.

Trust is becoming more and more central to cultural challenges in organizations, according to a recent Deloitte survey. Organizations are choosing hybrid working and incorporating working from home. These emerging working models are here to stay and have thrown up a new set of business challenges. Trust is no longer a nice to have, it has become a must for top-performing organizations.

According to my research at Aston Business School, 89% of board leaders consider trust critical to attracting and retaining top talent, while 91% consider it vital in maintaining customer loyalty. Stephen Covey suggests in his classic text The Speed of Trust that low trust causes friction, which slows down organizational processes and eventually leads to low-quality outputs. These, and many other studies, demonstrate that a high-trust culture is a leader’s magic wand that positively influences many diverse business outcomes.

The Challenge Of Measuring Trust

However, if trust is that important, how can we measure it better than we do now? How do we track it in the same way we track employee engagement, productivity and staff morale? Because without accurate measurement tools and techniques, it is impossible to identify the trust strengths and risks within an organizational culture.

According to the Deloitte survey, 55% of organizations have no trust tracking in place, but nearly half of them plan to start measuring trust in the next 12 months. This priority is echoed in a recent CEOWorld article where the author, Rhett Power, states, "You must find objective ways to assess trust. Otherwise, you’ll end up relying on your gut to tell you if your people trust you. And your gut is always prone to being subjective." Indeed, in my own research, I found that CEOs rated themselves 29% more trustworthy than the people they lead. I call this the authenticity gap, and it should be a timely reminder for all leaders who are tempted to rest on their laurels regarding trust.

The Leadership Trust Index

Arising from research, we have developed a unique, academically verified trust metric known as the Leadership Trust Index (LTI). Over the past five years, the LTI has been used to measure trust levels in leading organizations in the UK's public, private and third sectors. Using this bank of data, we can benchmark any organization’s LTI so organizations know exactly where they stand when building a high-trust culture. What the Net Promoter Score (NPS) score did for focusing organizations on customer experiences, we hope the LTI can now do for creating a new standard of leadership defined by trustworthiness.

The Business Impact Of Measuring Trust

Overlaying our LTI against the work of Dr. Paul Zak (as featured in the Harvard Business Review), we estimate that increasing an organization’s LTI score by 20% leads to the following outcomes:

  • A 15% drop in stress levels
  • A 3% drop in sick days
  • A 10% increase in productivity
  • A 15% increase in employee engagement

In simple terms, organizations that increase their LTI scores are waving that magic wand of trust in a conscious and deliberate way. If we consider that trustworthiness = ability x integrity x benevolence, then the LTI score will point to gaps in those areas where a concerted management focus can drive improvements. For example, when used with a national law firm, the LTI revealed that the organization could improve its LTI by working on the integrity component of trustworthiness. Specifically, the culture was not considered humble by its employees and this affected perceptions of the brand's integrity. Being able to measure this aspect and benchmark with other organizations helped convince the leadership team to take action and improve.

Improving The LTI Score

When it comes to the practical steps organizations can take to improve their LTI score, we have found some common themes that generate immediate impact:

• Coaching. Leaders who help their staff develop through coaching, rather than telling, find that they can drive improved performance while still improving levels of trust in the team.

• Be open. Leaders who err on the side of being more open in sharing their own feelings, learnings and challenges engage their followers at a human level and this can inspire greater levels of trust.

• Evangelizing. Leaders who hold an inspiring vision, communicate this passionately and bounce back quickly from disappointments generate a positive "can do" confidence that can inspire others to trust them.

• Be kind. We refer to being kind as the purple dye of trust; all it takes is one drop of kindness and the whole complexion of a situation changes. Kindness is a trust "power tool" that is often neglected by busy, task-focused leaders.

Next Steps

In summary, what gets measured is treasured. As more and more CEOs realize the increasing power of trust, the next question they might ask is how to measure it. The Leadership Trust Index provides a reliable and consistent way to pin trust down, identify strengths and weaknesses, and take action to improve. In our experience, those organizations that benefit most from measuring their LTI have already taken their top team through some preparatory work to gain a better understanding of the role of trust in a high-performing organization. For example, the work of Lencioni and his Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a great primer for anyone contemplating going down this path.

Finally, the biggest obstacle organizations face when measuring their LTI is often the challenge of "survey fatigue." Staff have been subject to many different surveys and can grow weary of offering opinions that are not followed up with tangible responses and actions. The antidote to this is to make sure every survey counts and specific improvements are clearly linked to the named survey findings. If staff experience real change in organizational life as a result of a survey, it is hard to see how they would ever grow tired of offering their opinions, feedback and insights.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

55% of organizations lack trust tracking, but nearly half plan to start within the next year.

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Measuring Trust Using The Leadership Trust Index

Dr John Blakey is the author of 'The Trusted Executive' and Founder of The Trusted Executive.

Trust is becoming more and more central to cultural challenges in organizations, according to a recent Deloitte survey. Organizations are choosing hybrid working and incorporating working from home. These emerging working models are here to stay and have thrown up a new set of business challenges. Trust is no longer a nice to have, it has become a must for top-performing organizations.

According to my research at Aston Business School, 89% of board leaders consider trust critical to attracting and retaining top talent, while 91% consider it vital in maintaining customer loyalty. Stephen Covey suggests in his classic text The Speed of Trust that low trust causes friction, which slows down organizational processes and eventually leads to low-quality outputs. These, and many other studies, demonstrate that a high-trust culture is a leader’s magic wand that positively influences many diverse business outcomes.

The Challenge Of Measuring Trust

However, if trust is that important, how can we measure it better than we do now? How do we track it in the same way we track employee engagement, productivity and staff morale? Because without accurate measurement tools and techniques, it is impossible to identify the trust strengths and risks within an organizational culture.

According to the Deloitte survey, 55% of organizations have no trust tracking in place, but nearly half of them plan to start measuring trust in the next 12 months. This priority is echoed in a recent CEOWorld article where the author, Rhett Power, states, "You must find objective ways to assess trust. Otherwise, you’ll end up relying on your gut to tell you if your people trust you. And your gut is always prone to being subjective." Indeed, in my own research, I found that CEOs rated themselves 29% more trustworthy than the people they lead. I call this the authenticity gap, and it should be a timely reminder for all leaders who are tempted to rest on their laurels regarding trust.

The Leadership Trust Index

Arising from research, we have developed a unique, academically verified trust metric known as the Leadership Trust Index (LTI). Over the past five years, the LTI has been used to measure trust levels in leading organizations in the UK's public, private and third sectors. Using this bank of data, we can benchmark any organization’s LTI so organizations know exactly where they stand when building a high-trust culture. What the Net Promoter Score (NPS) score did for focusing organizations on customer experiences, we hope the LTI can now do for creating a new standard of leadership defined by trustworthiness.

The Business Impact Of Measuring Trust

Overlaying our LTI against the work of Dr. Paul Zak (as featured in the Harvard Business Review), we estimate that increasing an organization’s LTI score by 20% leads to the following outcomes:

  • A 15% drop in stress levels
  • A 3% drop in sick days
  • A 10% increase in productivity
  • A 15% increase in employee engagement

In simple terms, organizations that increase their LTI scores are waving that magic wand of trust in a conscious and deliberate way. If we consider that trustworthiness = ability x integrity x benevolence, then the LTI score will point to gaps in those areas where a concerted management focus can drive improvements. For example, when used with a national law firm, the LTI revealed that the organization could improve its LTI by working on the integrity component of trustworthiness. Specifically, the culture was not considered humble by its employees and this affected perceptions of the brand's integrity. Being able to measure this aspect and benchmark with other organizations helped convince the leadership team to take action and improve.

Improving The LTI Score

When it comes to the practical steps organizations can take to improve their LTI score, we have found some common themes that generate immediate impact:

• Coaching. Leaders who help their staff develop through coaching, rather than telling, find that they can drive improved performance while still improving levels of trust in the team.

• Be open. Leaders who err on the side of being more open in sharing their own feelings, learnings and challenges engage their followers at a human level and this can inspire greater levels of trust.

• Evangelizing. Leaders who hold an inspiring vision, communicate this passionately and bounce back quickly from disappointments generate a positive "can do" confidence that can inspire others to trust them.

• Be kind. We refer to being kind as the purple dye of trust; all it takes is one drop of kindness and the whole complexion of a situation changes. Kindness is a trust "power tool" that is often neglected by busy, task-focused leaders.

Next Steps

In summary, what gets measured is treasured. As more and more CEOs realize the increasing power of trust, the next question they might ask is how to measure it. The Leadership Trust Index provides a reliable and consistent way to pin trust down, identify strengths and weaknesses, and take action to improve. In our experience, those organizations that benefit most from measuring their LTI have already taken their top team through some preparatory work to gain a better understanding of the role of trust in a high-performing organization. For example, the work of Lencioni and his Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a great primer for anyone contemplating going down this path.

Finally, the biggest obstacle organizations face when measuring their LTI is often the challenge of "survey fatigue." Staff have been subject to many different surveys and can grow weary of offering opinions that are not followed up with tangible responses and actions. The antidote to this is to make sure every survey counts and specific improvements are clearly linked to the named survey findings. If staff experience real change in organizational life as a result of a survey, it is hard to see how they would ever grow tired of offering their opinions, feedback and insights.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

The Leadership Trust Index (LTI) is a verified trust metric to measure organizational trust levels.

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Measuring Trust Using The Leadership Trust Index

Dr John Blakey is the author of 'The Trusted Executive' and Founder of The Trusted Executive.

Trust is becoming more and more central to cultural challenges in organizations, according to a recent Deloitte survey. Organizations are choosing hybrid working and incorporating working from home. These emerging working models are here to stay and have thrown up a new set of business challenges. Trust is no longer a nice to have, it has become a must for top-performing organizations.

According to my research at Aston Business School, 89% of board leaders consider trust critical to attracting and retaining top talent, while 91% consider it vital in maintaining customer loyalty. Stephen Covey suggests in his classic text The Speed of Trust that low trust causes friction, which slows down organizational processes and eventually leads to low-quality outputs. These, and many other studies, demonstrate that a high-trust culture is a leader’s magic wand that positively influences many diverse business outcomes.

The Challenge Of Measuring Trust

However, if trust is that important, how can we measure it better than we do now? How do we track it in the same way we track employee engagement, productivity and staff morale? Because without accurate measurement tools and techniques, it is impossible to identify the trust strengths and risks within an organizational culture.

According to the Deloitte survey, 55% of organizations have no trust tracking in place, but nearly half of them plan to start measuring trust in the next 12 months. This priority is echoed in a recent CEOWorld article where the author, Rhett Power, states, "You must find objective ways to assess trust. Otherwise, you’ll end up relying on your gut to tell you if your people trust you. And your gut is always prone to being subjective." Indeed, in my own research, I found that CEOs rated themselves 29% more trustworthy than the people they lead. I call this the authenticity gap, and it should be a timely reminder for all leaders who are tempted to rest on their laurels regarding trust.

The Leadership Trust Index

Arising from research, we have developed a unique, academically verified trust metric known as the Leadership Trust Index (LTI). Over the past five years, the LTI has been used to measure trust levels in leading organizations in the UK's public, private and third sectors. Using this bank of data, we can benchmark any organization’s LTI so organizations know exactly where they stand when building a high-trust culture. What the Net Promoter Score (NPS) score did for focusing organizations on customer experiences, we hope the LTI can now do for creating a new standard of leadership defined by trustworthiness.

The Business Impact Of Measuring Trust

Overlaying our LTI against the work of Dr. Paul Zak (as featured in the Harvard Business Review), we estimate that increasing an organization’s LTI score by 20% leads to the following outcomes:

  • A 15% drop in stress levels
  • A 3% drop in sick days
  • A 10% increase in productivity
  • A 15% increase in employee engagement

In simple terms, organizations that increase their LTI scores are waving that magic wand of trust in a conscious and deliberate way. If we consider that trustworthiness = ability x integrity x benevolence, then the LTI score will point to gaps in those areas where a concerted management focus can drive improvements. For example, when used with a national law firm, the LTI revealed that the organization could improve its LTI by working on the integrity component of trustworthiness. Specifically, the culture was not considered humble by its employees and this affected perceptions of the brand's integrity. Being able to measure this aspect and benchmark with other organizations helped convince the leadership team to take action and improve.

Improving The LTI Score

When it comes to the practical steps organizations can take to improve their LTI score, we have found some common themes that generate immediate impact:

• Coaching. Leaders who help their staff develop through coaching, rather than telling, find that they can drive improved performance while still improving levels of trust in the team.

• Be open. Leaders who err on the side of being more open in sharing their own feelings, learnings and challenges engage their followers at a human level and this can inspire greater levels of trust.

• Evangelizing. Leaders who hold an inspiring vision, communicate this passionately and bounce back quickly from disappointments generate a positive "can do" confidence that can inspire others to trust them.

• Be kind. We refer to being kind as the purple dye of trust; all it takes is one drop of kindness and the whole complexion of a situation changes. Kindness is a trust "power tool" that is often neglected by busy, task-focused leaders.

Next Steps

In summary, what gets measured is treasured. As more and more CEOs realize the increasing power of trust, the next question they might ask is how to measure it. The Leadership Trust Index provides a reliable and consistent way to pin trust down, identify strengths and weaknesses, and take action to improve. In our experience, those organizations that benefit most from measuring their LTI have already taken their top team through some preparatory work to gain a better understanding of the role of trust in a high-performing organization. For example, the work of Lencioni and his Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a great primer for anyone contemplating going down this path.

Finally, the biggest obstacle organizations face when measuring their LTI is often the challenge of "survey fatigue." Staff have been subject to many different surveys and can grow weary of offering opinions that are not followed up with tangible responses and actions. The antidote to this is to make sure every survey counts and specific improvements are clearly linked to the named survey findings. If staff experience real change in organizational life as a result of a survey, it is hard to see how they would ever grow tired of offering their opinions, feedback and insights.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

A 20% increase in an organization's LTI score can lead to a 15% drop in stress, 3% fewer sick days, 10% higher productivity, and 15% higher employee engagement.

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Measuring Trust Using The Leadership Trust Index

Dr John Blakey is the author of 'The Trusted Executive' and Founder of The Trusted Executive.

Trust is becoming more and more central to cultural challenges in organizations, according to a recent Deloitte survey. Organizations are choosing hybrid working and incorporating working from home. These emerging working models are here to stay and have thrown up a new set of business challenges. Trust is no longer a nice to have, it has become a must for top-performing organizations.

According to my research at Aston Business School, 89% of board leaders consider trust critical to attracting and retaining top talent, while 91% consider it vital in maintaining customer loyalty. Stephen Covey suggests in his classic text The Speed of Trust that low trust causes friction, which slows down organizational processes and eventually leads to low-quality outputs. These, and many other studies, demonstrate that a high-trust culture is a leader’s magic wand that positively influences many diverse business outcomes.

The Challenge Of Measuring Trust

However, if trust is that important, how can we measure it better than we do now? How do we track it in the same way we track employee engagement, productivity and staff morale? Because without accurate measurement tools and techniques, it is impossible to identify the trust strengths and risks within an organizational culture.

According to the Deloitte survey, 55% of organizations have no trust tracking in place, but nearly half of them plan to start measuring trust in the next 12 months. This priority is echoed in a recent CEOWorld article where the author, Rhett Power, states, "You must find objective ways to assess trust. Otherwise, you’ll end up relying on your gut to tell you if your people trust you. And your gut is always prone to being subjective." Indeed, in my own research, I found that CEOs rated themselves 29% more trustworthy than the people they lead. I call this the authenticity gap, and it should be a timely reminder for all leaders who are tempted to rest on their laurels regarding trust.

The Leadership Trust Index

Arising from research, we have developed a unique, academically verified trust metric known as the Leadership Trust Index (LTI). Over the past five years, the LTI has been used to measure trust levels in leading organizations in the UK's public, private and third sectors. Using this bank of data, we can benchmark any organization’s LTI so organizations know exactly where they stand when building a high-trust culture. What the Net Promoter Score (NPS) score did for focusing organizations on customer experiences, we hope the LTI can now do for creating a new standard of leadership defined by trustworthiness.

The Business Impact Of Measuring Trust

Overlaying our LTI against the work of Dr. Paul Zak (as featured in the Harvard Business Review), we estimate that increasing an organization’s LTI score by 20% leads to the following outcomes:

  • A 15% drop in stress levels
  • A 3% drop in sick days
  • A 10% increase in productivity
  • A 15% increase in employee engagement

In simple terms, organizations that increase their LTI scores are waving that magic wand of trust in a conscious and deliberate way. If we consider that trustworthiness = ability x integrity x benevolence, then the LTI score will point to gaps in those areas where a concerted management focus can drive improvements. For example, when used with a national law firm, the LTI revealed that the organization could improve its LTI by working on the integrity component of trustworthiness. Specifically, the culture was not considered humble by its employees and this affected perceptions of the brand's integrity. Being able to measure this aspect and benchmark with other organizations helped convince the leadership team to take action and improve.

Improving The LTI Score

When it comes to the practical steps organizations can take to improve their LTI score, we have found some common themes that generate immediate impact:

• Coaching. Leaders who help their staff develop through coaching, rather than telling, find that they can drive improved performance while still improving levels of trust in the team.

• Be open. Leaders who err on the side of being more open in sharing their own feelings, learnings and challenges engage their followers at a human level and this can inspire greater levels of trust.

• Evangelizing. Leaders who hold an inspiring vision, communicate this passionately and bounce back quickly from disappointments generate a positive "can do" confidence that can inspire others to trust them.

• Be kind. We refer to being kind as the purple dye of trust; all it takes is one drop of kindness and the whole complexion of a situation changes. Kindness is a trust "power tool" that is often neglected by busy, task-focused leaders.

Next Steps

In summary, what gets measured is treasured. As more and more CEOs realize the increasing power of trust, the next question they might ask is how to measure it. The Leadership Trust Index provides a reliable and consistent way to pin trust down, identify strengths and weaknesses, and take action to improve. In our experience, those organizations that benefit most from measuring their LTI have already taken their top team through some preparatory work to gain a better understanding of the role of trust in a high-performing organization. For example, the work of Lencioni and his Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a great primer for anyone contemplating going down this path.

Finally, the biggest obstacle organizations face when measuring their LTI is often the challenge of "survey fatigue." Staff have been subject to many different surveys and can grow weary of offering opinions that are not followed up with tangible responses and actions. The antidote to this is to make sure every survey counts and specific improvements are clearly linked to the named survey findings. If staff experience real change in organizational life as a result of a survey, it is hard to see how they would ever grow tired of offering their opinions, feedback and insights.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

Trustworthiness consists of ability, integrity, and benevolence.

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Measuring Trust Using The Leadership Trust Index

Dr John Blakey is the author of 'The Trusted Executive' and Founder of The Trusted Executive.

Trust is becoming more and more central to cultural challenges in organizations, according to a recent Deloitte survey. Organizations are choosing hybrid working and incorporating working from home. These emerging working models are here to stay and have thrown up a new set of business challenges. Trust is no longer a nice to have, it has become a must for top-performing organizations.

According to my research at Aston Business School, 89% of board leaders consider trust critical to attracting and retaining top talent, while 91% consider it vital in maintaining customer loyalty. Stephen Covey suggests in his classic text The Speed of Trust that low trust causes friction, which slows down organizational processes and eventually leads to low-quality outputs. These, and many other studies, demonstrate that a high-trust culture is a leader’s magic wand that positively influences many diverse business outcomes.

The Challenge Of Measuring Trust

However, if trust is that important, how can we measure it better than we do now? How do we track it in the same way we track employee engagement, productivity and staff morale? Because without accurate measurement tools and techniques, it is impossible to identify the trust strengths and risks within an organizational culture.

According to the Deloitte survey, 55% of organizations have no trust tracking in place, but nearly half of them plan to start measuring trust in the next 12 months. This priority is echoed in a recent CEOWorld article where the author, Rhett Power, states, "You must find objective ways to assess trust. Otherwise, you’ll end up relying on your gut to tell you if your people trust you. And your gut is always prone to being subjective." Indeed, in my own research, I found that CEOs rated themselves 29% more trustworthy than the people they lead. I call this the authenticity gap, and it should be a timely reminder for all leaders who are tempted to rest on their laurels regarding trust.

The Leadership Trust Index

Arising from research, we have developed a unique, academically verified trust metric known as the Leadership Trust Index (LTI). Over the past five years, the LTI has been used to measure trust levels in leading organizations in the UK's public, private and third sectors. Using this bank of data, we can benchmark any organization’s LTI so organizations know exactly where they stand when building a high-trust culture. What the Net Promoter Score (NPS) score did for focusing organizations on customer experiences, we hope the LTI can now do for creating a new standard of leadership defined by trustworthiness.

The Business Impact Of Measuring Trust

Overlaying our LTI against the work of Dr. Paul Zak (as featured in the Harvard Business Review), we estimate that increasing an organization’s LTI score by 20% leads to the following outcomes:

  • A 15% drop in stress levels
  • A 3% drop in sick days
  • A 10% increase in productivity
  • A 15% increase in employee engagement

In simple terms, organizations that increase their LTI scores are waving that magic wand of trust in a conscious and deliberate way. If we consider that trustworthiness = ability x integrity x benevolence, then the LTI score will point to gaps in those areas where a concerted management focus can drive improvements. For example, when used with a national law firm, the LTI revealed that the organization could improve its LTI by working on the integrity component of trustworthiness. Specifically, the culture was not considered humble by its employees and this affected perceptions of the brand's integrity. Being able to measure this aspect and benchmark with other organizations helped convince the leadership team to take action and improve.

Improving The LTI Score

When it comes to the practical steps organizations can take to improve their LTI score, we have found some common themes that generate immediate impact:

• Coaching. Leaders who help their staff develop through coaching, rather than telling, find that they can drive improved performance while still improving levels of trust in the team.

• Be open. Leaders who err on the side of being more open in sharing their own feelings, learnings and challenges engage their followers at a human level and this can inspire greater levels of trust.

• Evangelizing. Leaders who hold an inspiring vision, communicate this passionately and bounce back quickly from disappointments generate a positive "can do" confidence that can inspire others to trust them.

• Be kind. We refer to being kind as the purple dye of trust; all it takes is one drop of kindness and the whole complexion of a situation changes. Kindness is a trust "power tool" that is often neglected by busy, task-focused leaders.

Next Steps

In summary, what gets measured is treasured. As more and more CEOs realize the increasing power of trust, the next question they might ask is how to measure it. The Leadership Trust Index provides a reliable and consistent way to pin trust down, identify strengths and weaknesses, and take action to improve. In our experience, those organizations that benefit most from measuring their LTI have already taken their top team through some preparatory work to gain a better understanding of the role of trust in a high-performing organization. For example, the work of Lencioni and his Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a great primer for anyone contemplating going down this path.

Finally, the biggest obstacle organizations face when measuring their LTI is often the challenge of "survey fatigue." Staff have been subject to many different surveys and can grow weary of offering opinions that are not followed up with tangible responses and actions. The antidote to this is to make sure every survey counts and specific improvements are clearly linked to the named survey findings. If staff experience real change in organizational life as a result of a survey, it is hard to see how they would ever grow tired of offering their opinions, feedback and insights.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

Coaching, openness, evangelizing, and kindness can immediately improve an organization's LTI score.

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Measuring Trust Using The Leadership Trust Index

Dr John Blakey is the author of 'The Trusted Executive' and Founder of The Trusted Executive.

Trust is becoming more and more central to cultural challenges in organizations, according to a recent Deloitte survey. Organizations are choosing hybrid working and incorporating working from home. These emerging working models are here to stay and have thrown up a new set of business challenges. Trust is no longer a nice to have, it has become a must for top-performing organizations.

According to my research at Aston Business School, 89% of board leaders consider trust critical to attracting and retaining top talent, while 91% consider it vital in maintaining customer loyalty. Stephen Covey suggests in his classic text The Speed of Trust that low trust causes friction, which slows down organizational processes and eventually leads to low-quality outputs. These, and many other studies, demonstrate that a high-trust culture is a leader’s magic wand that positively influences many diverse business outcomes.

The Challenge Of Measuring Trust

However, if trust is that important, how can we measure it better than we do now? How do we track it in the same way we track employee engagement, productivity and staff morale? Because without accurate measurement tools and techniques, it is impossible to identify the trust strengths and risks within an organizational culture.

According to the Deloitte survey, 55% of organizations have no trust tracking in place, but nearly half of them plan to start measuring trust in the next 12 months. This priority is echoed in a recent CEOWorld article where the author, Rhett Power, states, "You must find objective ways to assess trust. Otherwise, you’ll end up relying on your gut to tell you if your people trust you. And your gut is always prone to being subjective." Indeed, in my own research, I found that CEOs rated themselves 29% more trustworthy than the people they lead. I call this the authenticity gap, and it should be a timely reminder for all leaders who are tempted to rest on their laurels regarding trust.

The Leadership Trust Index

Arising from research, we have developed a unique, academically verified trust metric known as the Leadership Trust Index (LTI). Over the past five years, the LTI has been used to measure trust levels in leading organizations in the UK's public, private and third sectors. Using this bank of data, we can benchmark any organization’s LTI so organizations know exactly where they stand when building a high-trust culture. What the Net Promoter Score (NPS) score did for focusing organizations on customer experiences, we hope the LTI can now do for creating a new standard of leadership defined by trustworthiness.

The Business Impact Of Measuring Trust

Overlaying our LTI against the work of Dr. Paul Zak (as featured in the Harvard Business Review), we estimate that increasing an organization’s LTI score by 20% leads to the following outcomes:

  • A 15% drop in stress levels
  • A 3% drop in sick days
  • A 10% increase in productivity
  • A 15% increase in employee engagement

In simple terms, organizations that increase their LTI scores are waving that magic wand of trust in a conscious and deliberate way. If we consider that trustworthiness = ability x integrity x benevolence, then the LTI score will point to gaps in those areas where a concerted management focus can drive improvements. For example, when used with a national law firm, the LTI revealed that the organization could improve its LTI by working on the integrity component of trustworthiness. Specifically, the culture was not considered humble by its employees and this affected perceptions of the brand's integrity. Being able to measure this aspect and benchmark with other organizations helped convince the leadership team to take action and improve.

Improving The LTI Score

When it comes to the practical steps organizations can take to improve their LTI score, we have found some common themes that generate immediate impact:

• Coaching. Leaders who help their staff develop through coaching, rather than telling, find that they can drive improved performance while still improving levels of trust in the team.

• Be open. Leaders who err on the side of being more open in sharing their own feelings, learnings and challenges engage their followers at a human level and this can inspire greater levels of trust.

• Evangelizing. Leaders who hold an inspiring vision, communicate this passionately and bounce back quickly from disappointments generate a positive "can do" confidence that can inspire others to trust them.

• Be kind. We refer to being kind as the purple dye of trust; all it takes is one drop of kindness and the whole complexion of a situation changes. Kindness is a trust "power tool" that is often neglected by busy, task-focused leaders.

Next Steps

In summary, what gets measured is treasured. As more and more CEOs realize the increasing power of trust, the next question they might ask is how to measure it. The Leadership Trust Index provides a reliable and consistent way to pin trust down, identify strengths and weaknesses, and take action to improve. In our experience, those organizations that benefit most from measuring their LTI have already taken their top team through some preparatory work to gain a better understanding of the role of trust in a high-performing organization. For example, the work of Lencioni and his Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a great primer for anyone contemplating going down this path.

Finally, the biggest obstacle organizations face when measuring their LTI is often the challenge of "survey fatigue." Staff have been subject to many different surveys and can grow weary of offering opinions that are not followed up with tangible responses and actions. The antidote to this is to make sure every survey counts and specific improvements are clearly linked to the named survey findings. If staff experience real change in organizational life as a result of a survey, it is hard to see how they would ever grow tired of offering their opinions, feedback and insights.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

Measuring trust helps organizations identify strengths and weaknesses to improve.

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This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Measuring Trust Using The Leadership Trust Index

Dr John Blakey is the author of 'The Trusted Executive' and Founder of The Trusted Executive.

Trust is becoming more and more central to cultural challenges in organizations, according to a recent Deloitte survey. Organizations are choosing hybrid working and incorporating working from home. These emerging working models are here to stay and have thrown up a new set of business challenges. Trust is no longer a nice to have, it has become a must for top-performing organizations.

According to my research at Aston Business School, 89% of board leaders consider trust critical to attracting and retaining top talent, while 91% consider it vital in maintaining customer loyalty. Stephen Covey suggests in his classic text The Speed of Trust that low trust causes friction, which slows down organizational processes and eventually leads to low-quality outputs. These, and many other studies, demonstrate that a high-trust culture is a leader’s magic wand that positively influences many diverse business outcomes.

The Challenge Of Measuring Trust

However, if trust is that important, how can we measure it better than we do now? How do we track it in the same way we track employee engagement, productivity and staff morale? Because without accurate measurement tools and techniques, it is impossible to identify the trust strengths and risks within an organizational culture.

According to the Deloitte survey, 55% of organizations have no trust tracking in place, but nearly half of them plan to start measuring trust in the next 12 months. This priority is echoed in a recent CEOWorld article where the author, Rhett Power, states, "You must find objective ways to assess trust. Otherwise, you’ll end up relying on your gut to tell you if your people trust you. And your gut is always prone to being subjective." Indeed, in my own research, I found that CEOs rated themselves 29% more trustworthy than the people they lead. I call this the authenticity gap, and it should be a timely reminder for all leaders who are tempted to rest on their laurels regarding trust.

The Leadership Trust Index

Arising from research, we have developed a unique, academically verified trust metric known as the Leadership Trust Index (LTI). Over the past five years, the LTI has been used to measure trust levels in leading organizations in the UK's public, private and third sectors. Using this bank of data, we can benchmark any organization’s LTI so organizations know exactly where they stand when building a high-trust culture. What the Net Promoter Score (NPS) score did for focusing organizations on customer experiences, we hope the LTI can now do for creating a new standard of leadership defined by trustworthiness.

The Business Impact Of Measuring Trust

Overlaying our LTI against the work of Dr. Paul Zak (as featured in the Harvard Business Review), we estimate that increasing an organization’s LTI score by 20% leads to the following outcomes:

  • A 15% drop in stress levels
  • A 3% drop in sick days
  • A 10% increase in productivity
  • A 15% increase in employee engagement

In simple terms, organizations that increase their LTI scores are waving that magic wand of trust in a conscious and deliberate way. If we consider that trustworthiness = ability x integrity x benevolence, then the LTI score will point to gaps in those areas where a concerted management focus can drive improvements. For example, when used with a national law firm, the LTI revealed that the organization could improve its LTI by working on the integrity component of trustworthiness. Specifically, the culture was not considered humble by its employees and this affected perceptions of the brand's integrity. Being able to measure this aspect and benchmark with other organizations helped convince the leadership team to take action and improve.

Improving The LTI Score

When it comes to the practical steps organizations can take to improve their LTI score, we have found some common themes that generate immediate impact:

• Coaching. Leaders who help their staff develop through coaching, rather than telling, find that they can drive improved performance while still improving levels of trust in the team.

• Be open. Leaders who err on the side of being more open in sharing their own feelings, learnings and challenges engage their followers at a human level and this can inspire greater levels of trust.

• Evangelizing. Leaders who hold an inspiring vision, communicate this passionately and bounce back quickly from disappointments generate a positive "can do" confidence that can inspire others to trust them.

• Be kind. We refer to being kind as the purple dye of trust; all it takes is one drop of kindness and the whole complexion of a situation changes. Kindness is a trust "power tool" that is often neglected by busy, task-focused leaders.

Next Steps

In summary, what gets measured is treasured. As more and more CEOs realize the increasing power of trust, the next question they might ask is how to measure it. The Leadership Trust Index provides a reliable and consistent way to pin trust down, identify strengths and weaknesses, and take action to improve. In our experience, those organizations that benefit most from measuring their LTI have already taken their top team through some preparatory work to gain a better understanding of the role of trust in a high-performing organization. For example, the work of Lencioni and his Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a great primer for anyone contemplating going down this path.

Finally, the biggest obstacle organizations face when measuring their LTI is often the challenge of "survey fatigue." Staff have been subject to many different surveys and can grow weary of offering opinions that are not followed up with tangible responses and actions. The antidote to this is to make sure every survey counts and specific improvements are clearly linked to the named survey findings. If staff experience real change in organizational life as a result of a survey, it is hard to see how they would ever grow tired of offering their opinions, feedback and insights.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website

Organizations must build a digital trust strategy that meets their customers' expectations.

Digital trust is the expectation that digital technologies will protect stakeholders' interests and uphold societal values.

A trustworthy digital technology strategy should prioritize security, accountability, and ethical use.

Earning digital trust requires judgment calls, investments, and changes that reflect a technology's impact on individuals.

CEOs and Boards of Directors must define and act on a vision for digital trust.

A realistic vision for technology use determines an organization's digital trust investments.

Effective leaders are needed to create a clear vision, earn trust, and demonstrate compassion.

Title:

Content: July 16, 2024

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

As economic uncertainty plagues our communities, strong and authentic leadership is crucial. Effective leaders are needed at all levels of society to create a clear and inspiring vision, earn trust and demonstrate compassion.

Having built an award-winning company that employed over 100 people and built more than 6,000 houses, I’ve given much thought to leading and managing. The truth is, what it takes to lead during difficult times is no different than what it takes in “normal” times.

Whatever the outside environment is, there are three requirements for effective leadership.

Vision

Without a vision to inspire others, leadership simply doesn’t exist. Early in my career, I worked for a company whose slogan was “A New York Stock Exchange Company.” Not “We build quality homes” or “We make great communities” — just a reference to the NYSE. Where’s the vision?

When I think of leadership vision, I think of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” speech. In this speech, King painted a picture of a future that anyone listening would want to be a part of, helping to build. That is a clear and inspiring vision.

This is what I had in mind when I started my company. Our vision statement was simple: “T.W. Lewis Company will become the best homebuilding organization in America as measured by product quality, customer satisfaction and profitability.” This vision underpinned my leadership — a vision that expressed my dream, values and personal journey — and it also inspired all of our employees.

Related: How to Develop a Company Vision and Values

Trustworthiness: Can I trust you?

Think of someone you really admire and respect. My guess is that that person is trustworthy. They exhibit trustworthiness through both their intentions and their competence. They do what they say they will do. The same is true when it comes to leadership. Real leaders are trustworthy. They do what they say they will do.

One of the more recent examples of a “leader” who has failed in this department is Adam Neumann, WeWork’s ousted CEO. From questions about using the company’s funds to including family members in the business, numerous concerns were voiced about Neumann’s trustworthiness. Ultimately, he was removed because his followers did not trust him.

Do you care about your followers?

Leadership demands compassion – compassion for your employees and compassion for your customers. This means understanding and appreciating other people’s points of view and demonstrating “compassion with action” — empathy, caring and kindness for others.

While this is critical at all times, compassionate leadership is more important than ever. Get into the details. Deal with individuals. Solve problems. Make exceptions to the rules, and do the right thing.

Related: 5 Traits You Must Have to Create More Leaders

The four fundamentals of management

You also need to be a good manager. Throughout my long career, I’ve witnessed both successful and unsuccessful managers. My takeaway is that there are four fundamentals when it comes to management: planning, organizing, motivating and measuring. While leadership demands the above attributes, leadership alone is insufficient to keep your business going.

1. Planning

Whether you’re in the C-Suite or are a middle manager, you need to plan before moving forward. That is, start with your vision and create concrete steps for working toward it.

Another way to be a better planner involves goal-setting. You won’t achieve goals until you identify them and make a game plan for attaining them. I’ve learned it’s best to set goals for different time frames: daily, monthly, annually. Daily goals are important because they emphasize the importance of today. Monthly and annual goals are good because they help you focus on what is really important versus urgent.

Once you know what the goals are, you can make a plan for reaching them. What do you have to do? What does your team need to do? What role does each of your direct reports play?

Related: The 4 Pillars of Leadership Success

2. Organizing

When I was running my company, I was constantly looking at our organizational chart, asking myself if there was a better way to organize around our goals. Who is reporting to who? Do we have enough people working on X? Do we have too many people focused on Y?

Good management means a good organization of internal resources – both human and financial resources.

3. Motivating

Motivation is closely related to having a leadership vision. The best way to motivate your people is with an inspiring vision or a worthy ideal. If you’re a supervisor, think of yourself as the leader of your three, five or fifteen direct reports. How can you express a vision that will motivate them to be the best that they can be?

Show you care. People respond to personal encouragement. They also want to know that you’re listening to them and that you value and use their opinions.

4. Measuring

Without metrics acting as guardrails, you’ll have no way of knowing if your processes and systems are working as planned. Regular measurement will show you when your goals have been accomplished and when you can move on. If you haven’t met your metrics, you can then figure out what’s not working and get things back on track.

At my company, we carefully measured customer satisfaction to a minute detail throughout the sales process. When we saw something customers weren’t entirely happy with, we focused on it and figured out how to improve it.

Although our world may not be normal in many ways, effective leadership and management haven’t changed. Now is the time to get back to basics and ensure you’re doing all you need to guide your team and organization into a new future.

Source link

Effective leadership requires vision, trustworthiness, and compassion.

Title:

Content: July 16, 2024

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

As economic uncertainty plagues our communities, strong and authentic leadership is crucial. Effective leaders are needed at all levels of society to create a clear and inspiring vision, earn trust and demonstrate compassion.

Having built an award-winning company that employed over 100 people and built more than 6,000 houses, I’ve given much thought to leading and managing. The truth is, what it takes to lead during difficult times is no different than what it takes in “normal” times.

Whatever the outside environment is, there are three requirements for effective leadership.

Vision

Without a vision to inspire others, leadership simply doesn’t exist. Early in my career, I worked for a company whose slogan was “A New York Stock Exchange Company.” Not “We build quality homes” or “We make great communities” — just a reference to the NYSE. Where’s the vision?

When I think of leadership vision, I think of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” speech. In this speech, King painted a picture of a future that anyone listening would want to be a part of, helping to build. That is a clear and inspiring vision.

This is what I had in mind when I started my company. Our vision statement was simple: “T.W. Lewis Company will become the best homebuilding organization in America as measured by product quality, customer satisfaction and profitability.” This vision underpinned my leadership — a vision that expressed my dream, values and personal journey — and it also inspired all of our employees.

Related: How to Develop a Company Vision and Values

Trustworthiness: Can I trust you?

Think of someone you really admire and respect. My guess is that that person is trustworthy. They exhibit trustworthiness through both their intentions and their competence. They do what they say they will do. The same is true when it comes to leadership. Real leaders are trustworthy. They do what they say they will do.

One of the more recent examples of a “leader” who has failed in this department is Adam Neumann, WeWork’s ousted CEO. From questions about using the company’s funds to including family members in the business, numerous concerns were voiced about Neumann’s trustworthiness. Ultimately, he was removed because his followers did not trust him.

Do you care about your followers?

Leadership demands compassion – compassion for your employees and compassion for your customers. This means understanding and appreciating other people’s points of view and demonstrating “compassion with action” — empathy, caring and kindness for others.

While this is critical at all times, compassionate leadership is more important than ever. Get into the details. Deal with individuals. Solve problems. Make exceptions to the rules, and do the right thing.

Related: 5 Traits You Must Have to Create More Leaders

The four fundamentals of management

You also need to be a good manager. Throughout my long career, I’ve witnessed both successful and unsuccessful managers. My takeaway is that there are four fundamentals when it comes to management: planning, organizing, motivating and measuring. While leadership demands the above attributes, leadership alone is insufficient to keep your business going.

1. Planning

Whether you’re in the C-Suite or are a middle manager, you need to plan before moving forward. That is, start with your vision and create concrete steps for working toward it.

Another way to be a better planner involves goal-setting. You won’t achieve goals until you identify them and make a game plan for attaining them. I’ve learned it’s best to set goals for different time frames: daily, monthly, annually. Daily goals are important because they emphasize the importance of today. Monthly and annual goals are good because they help you focus on what is really important versus urgent.

Once you know what the goals are, you can make a plan for reaching them. What do you have to do? What does your team need to do? What role does each of your direct reports play?

Related: The 4 Pillars of Leadership Success

2. Organizing

When I was running my company, I was constantly looking at our organizational chart, asking myself if there was a better way to organize around our goals. Who is reporting to who? Do we have enough people working on X? Do we have too many people focused on Y?

Good management means a good organization of internal resources – both human and financial resources.

3. Motivating

Motivation is closely related to having a leadership vision. The best way to motivate your people is with an inspiring vision or a worthy ideal. If you’re a supervisor, think of yourself as the leader of your three, five or fifteen direct reports. How can you express a vision that will motivate them to be the best that they can be?

Show you care. People respond to personal encouragement. They also want to know that you’re listening to them and that you value and use their opinions.

4. Measuring

Without metrics acting as guardrails, you’ll have no way of knowing if your processes and systems are working as planned. Regular measurement will show you when your goals have been accomplished and when you can move on. If you haven’t met your metrics, you can then figure out what’s not working and get things back on track.

At my company, we carefully measured customer satisfaction to a minute detail throughout the sales process. When we saw something customers weren’t entirely happy with, we focused on it and figured out how to improve it.

Although our world may not be normal in many ways, effective leadership and management haven’t changed. Now is the time to get back to basics and ensure you’re doing all you need to guide your team and organization into a new future.

Source link

A clear vision is necessary to lead and motivate others.

Title:

Content: July 16, 2024

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

As economic uncertainty plagues our communities, strong and authentic leadership is crucial. Effective leaders are needed at all levels of society to create a clear and inspiring vision, earn trust and demonstrate compassion.

Having built an award-winning company that employed over 100 people and built more than 6,000 houses, I’ve given much thought to leading and managing. The truth is, what it takes to lead during difficult times is no different than what it takes in “normal” times.

Whatever the outside environment is, there are three requirements for effective leadership.

Vision

Without a vision to inspire others, leadership simply doesn’t exist. Early in my career, I worked for a company whose slogan was “A New York Stock Exchange Company.” Not “We build quality homes” or “We make great communities” — just a reference to the NYSE. Where’s the vision?

When I think of leadership vision, I think of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” speech. In this speech, King painted a picture of a future that anyone listening would want to be a part of, helping to build. That is a clear and inspiring vision.

This is what I had in mind when I started my company. Our vision statement was simple: “T.W. Lewis Company will become the best homebuilding organization in America as measured by product quality, customer satisfaction and profitability.” This vision underpinned my leadership — a vision that expressed my dream, values and personal journey — and it also inspired all of our employees.

Related: How to Develop a Company Vision and Values

Trustworthiness: Can I trust you?

Think of someone you really admire and respect. My guess is that that person is trustworthy. They exhibit trustworthiness through both their intentions and their competence. They do what they say they will do. The same is true when it comes to leadership. Real leaders are trustworthy. They do what they say they will do.

One of the more recent examples of a “leader” who has failed in this department is Adam Neumann, WeWork’s ousted CEO. From questions about using the company’s funds to including family members in the business, numerous concerns were voiced about Neumann’s trustworthiness. Ultimately, he was removed because his followers did not trust him.

Do you care about your followers?

Leadership demands compassion – compassion for your employees and compassion for your customers. This means understanding and appreciating other people’s points of view and demonstrating “compassion with action” — empathy, caring and kindness for others.

While this is critical at all times, compassionate leadership is more important than ever. Get into the details. Deal with individuals. Solve problems. Make exceptions to the rules, and do the right thing.

Related: 5 Traits You Must Have to Create More Leaders

The four fundamentals of management

You also need to be a good manager. Throughout my long career, I’ve witnessed both successful and unsuccessful managers. My takeaway is that there are four fundamentals when it comes to management: planning, organizing, motivating and measuring. While leadership demands the above attributes, leadership alone is insufficient to keep your business going.

1. Planning

Whether you’re in the C-Suite or are a middle manager, you need to plan before moving forward. That is, start with your vision and create concrete steps for working toward it.

Another way to be a better planner involves goal-setting. You won’t achieve goals until you identify them and make a game plan for attaining them. I’ve learned it’s best to set goals for different time frames: daily, monthly, annually. Daily goals are important because they emphasize the importance of today. Monthly and annual goals are good because they help you focus on what is really important versus urgent.

Once you know what the goals are, you can make a plan for reaching them. What do you have to do? What does your team need to do? What role does each of your direct reports play?

Related: The 4 Pillars of Leadership Success

2. Organizing

When I was running my company, I was constantly looking at our organizational chart, asking myself if there was a better way to organize around our goals. Who is reporting to who? Do we have enough people working on X? Do we have too many people focused on Y?

Good management means a good organization of internal resources – both human and financial resources.

3. Motivating

Motivation is closely related to having a leadership vision. The best way to motivate your people is with an inspiring vision or a worthy ideal. If you’re a supervisor, think of yourself as the leader of your three, five or fifteen direct reports. How can you express a vision that will motivate them to be the best that they can be?

Show you care. People respond to personal encouragement. They also want to know that you’re listening to them and that you value and use their opinions.

4. Measuring

Without metrics acting as guardrails, you’ll have no way of knowing if your processes and systems are working as planned. Regular measurement will show you when your goals have been accomplished and when you can move on. If you haven’t met your metrics, you can then figure out what’s not working and get things back on track.

At my company, we carefully measured customer satisfaction to a minute detail throughout the sales process. When we saw something customers weren’t entirely happy with, we focused on it and figured out how to improve it.

Although our world may not be normal in many ways, effective leadership and management haven’t changed. Now is the time to get back to basics and ensure you’re doing all you need to guide your team and organization into a new future.

Source link

Trustworthiness is a key component of leadership, demonstrated through intentions and competence.

Title:

Content: July 16, 2024

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

As economic uncertainty plagues our communities, strong and authentic leadership is crucial. Effective leaders are needed at all levels of society to create a clear and inspiring vision, earn trust and demonstrate compassion.

Having built an award-winning company that employed over 100 people and built more than 6,000 houses, I’ve given much thought to leading and managing. The truth is, what it takes to lead during difficult times is no different than what it takes in “normal” times.

Whatever the outside environment is, there are three requirements for effective leadership.

Vision

Without a vision to inspire others, leadership simply doesn’t exist. Early in my career, I worked for a company whose slogan was “A New York Stock Exchange Company.” Not “We build quality homes” or “We make great communities” — just a reference to the NYSE. Where’s the vision?

When I think of leadership vision, I think of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” speech. In this speech, King painted a picture of a future that anyone listening would want to be a part of, helping to build. That is a clear and inspiring vision.

This is what I had in mind when I started my company. Our vision statement was simple: “T.W. Lewis Company will become the best homebuilding organization in America as measured by product quality, customer satisfaction and profitability.” This vision underpinned my leadership — a vision that expressed my dream, values and personal journey — and it also inspired all of our employees.

Related: How to Develop a Company Vision and Values

Trustworthiness: Can I trust you?

Think of someone you really admire and respect. My guess is that that person is trustworthy. They exhibit trustworthiness through both their intentions and their competence. They do what they say they will do. The same is true when it comes to leadership. Real leaders are trustworthy. They do what they say they will do.

One of the more recent examples of a “leader” who has failed in this department is Adam Neumann, WeWork’s ousted CEO. From questions about using the company’s funds to including family members in the business, numerous concerns were voiced about Neumann’s trustworthiness. Ultimately, he was removed because his followers did not trust him.

Do you care about your followers?

Leadership demands compassion – compassion for your employees and compassion for your customers. This means understanding and appreciating other people’s points of view and demonstrating “compassion with action” — empathy, caring and kindness for others.

While this is critical at all times, compassionate leadership is more important than ever. Get into the details. Deal with individuals. Solve problems. Make exceptions to the rules, and do the right thing.

Related: 5 Traits You Must Have to Create More Leaders

The four fundamentals of management

You also need to be a good manager. Throughout my long career, I’ve witnessed both successful and unsuccessful managers. My takeaway is that there are four fundamentals when it comes to management: planning, organizing, motivating and measuring. While leadership demands the above attributes, leadership alone is insufficient to keep your business going.

1. Planning

Whether you’re in the C-Suite or are a middle manager, you need to plan before moving forward. That is, start with your vision and create concrete steps for working toward it.

Another way to be a better planner involves goal-setting. You won’t achieve goals until you identify them and make a game plan for attaining them. I’ve learned it’s best to set goals for different time frames: daily, monthly, annually. Daily goals are important because they emphasize the importance of today. Monthly and annual goals are good because they help you focus on what is really important versus urgent.

Once you know what the goals are, you can make a plan for reaching them. What do you have to do? What does your team need to do? What role does each of your direct reports play?

Related: The 4 Pillars of Leadership Success

2. Organizing

When I was running my company, I was constantly looking at our organizational chart, asking myself if there was a better way to organize around our goals. Who is reporting to who? Do we have enough people working on X? Do we have too many people focused on Y?

Good management means a good organization of internal resources – both human and financial resources.

3. Motivating

Motivation is closely related to having a leadership vision. The best way to motivate your people is with an inspiring vision or a worthy ideal. If you’re a supervisor, think of yourself as the leader of your three, five or fifteen direct reports. How can you express a vision that will motivate them to be the best that they can be?

Show you care. People respond to personal encouragement. They also want to know that you’re listening to them and that you value and use their opinions.

4. Measuring

Without metrics acting as guardrails, you’ll have no way of knowing if your processes and systems are working as planned. Regular measurement will show you when your goals have been accomplished and when you can move on. If you haven’t met your metrics, you can then figure out what’s not working and get things back on track.

At my company, we carefully measured customer satisfaction to a minute detail throughout the sales process. When we saw something customers weren’t entirely happy with, we focused on it and figured out how to improve it.

Although our world may not be normal in many ways, effective leadership and management haven’t changed. Now is the time to get back to basics and ensure you’re doing all you need to guide your team and organization into a new future.

Source link

Compassionate leadership involves understanding and appreciating others' perspectives, demonstrating empathy, caring, and kindness, especially in difficult times.

Title:

Content: July 16, 2024

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

As economic uncertainty plagues our communities, strong and authentic leadership is crucial. Effective leaders are needed at all levels of society to create a clear and inspiring vision, earn trust and demonstrate compassion.

Having built an award-winning company that employed over 100 people and built more than 6,000 houses, I’ve given much thought to leading and managing. The truth is, what it takes to lead during difficult times is no different than what it takes in “normal” times.

Whatever the outside environment is, there are three requirements for effective leadership.

Vision

Without a vision to inspire others, leadership simply doesn’t exist. Early in my career, I worked for a company whose slogan was “A New York Stock Exchange Company.” Not “We build quality homes” or “We make great communities” — just a reference to the NYSE. Where’s the vision?

When I think of leadership vision, I think of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” speech. In this speech, King painted a picture of a future that anyone listening would want to be a part of, helping to build. That is a clear and inspiring vision.

This is what I had in mind when I started my company. Our vision statement was simple: “T.W. Lewis Company will become the best homebuilding organization in America as measured by product quality, customer satisfaction and profitability.” This vision underpinned my leadership — a vision that expressed my dream, values and personal journey — and it also inspired all of our employees.

Related: How to Develop a Company Vision and Values

Trustworthiness: Can I trust you?

Think of someone you really admire and respect. My guess is that that person is trustworthy. They exhibit trustworthiness through both their intentions and their competence. They do what they say they will do. The same is true when it comes to leadership. Real leaders are trustworthy. They do what they say they will do.

One of the more recent examples of a “leader” who has failed in this department is Adam Neumann, WeWork’s ousted CEO. From questions about using the company’s funds to including family members in the business, numerous concerns were voiced about Neumann’s trustworthiness. Ultimately, he was removed because his followers did not trust him.

Do you care about your followers?

Leadership demands compassion – compassion for your employees and compassion for your customers. This means understanding and appreciating other people’s points of view and demonstrating “compassion with action” — empathy, caring and kindness for others.

While this is critical at all times, compassionate leadership is more important than ever. Get into the details. Deal with individuals. Solve problems. Make exceptions to the rules, and do the right thing.

Related: 5 Traits You Must Have to Create More Leaders

The four fundamentals of management

You also need to be a good manager. Throughout my long career, I’ve witnessed both successful and unsuccessful managers. My takeaway is that there are four fundamentals when it comes to management: planning, organizing, motivating and measuring. While leadership demands the above attributes, leadership alone is insufficient to keep your business going.

1. Planning

Whether you’re in the C-Suite or are a middle manager, you need to plan before moving forward. That is, start with your vision and create concrete steps for working toward it.

Another way to be a better planner involves goal-setting. You won’t achieve goals until you identify them and make a game plan for attaining them. I’ve learned it’s best to set goals for different time frames: daily, monthly, annually. Daily goals are important because they emphasize the importance of today. Monthly and annual goals are good because they help you focus on what is really important versus urgent.

Once you know what the goals are, you can make a plan for reaching them. What do you have to do? What does your team need to do? What role does each of your direct reports play?

Related: The 4 Pillars of Leadership Success

2. Organizing

When I was running my company, I was constantly looking at our organizational chart, asking myself if there was a better way to organize around our goals. Who is reporting to who? Do we have enough people working on X? Do we have too many people focused on Y?

Good management means a good organization of internal resources – both human and financial resources.

3. Motivating

Motivation is closely related to having a leadership vision. The best way to motivate your people is with an inspiring vision or a worthy ideal. If you’re a supervisor, think of yourself as the leader of your three, five or fifteen direct reports. How can you express a vision that will motivate them to be the best that they can be?

Show you care. People respond to personal encouragement. They also want to know that you’re listening to them and that you value and use their opinions.

4. Measuring

Without metrics acting as guardrails, you’ll have no way of knowing if your processes and systems are working as planned. Regular measurement will show you when your goals have been accomplished and when you can move on. If you haven’t met your metrics, you can then figure out what’s not working and get things back on track.

At my company, we carefully measured customer satisfaction to a minute detail throughout the sales process. When we saw something customers weren’t entirely happy with, we focused on it and figured out how to improve it.

Although our world may not be normal in many ways, effective leadership and management haven’t changed. Now is the time to get back to basics and ensure you’re doing all you need to guide your team and organization into a new future.

Source link

Trusted employees are more engaged, active, and productive.

Title:

Content: With the change in the work system...
It's time to talk about new leadership skills.
If employees feel confident, they are more engaged and active at work, and don ’ t feel the same amount of pressure, resulting in a better payoff.
Future teams will include members from around the world, including temporary employees, who are expected to make up half of the U.S. workforce in the next decade, and the rise of remote work will increase demand for work-life balance.
In a report published by Forbes magazine, Larry English said that current leadership models will lose their effectiveness if they do not keep pace with the changes currently taking place, and leaders who insist on an outdated hierarchical management style will not be able to compete and get the best talent.
This is confirmed by the results of recent global surveys, which showed that most employees want a flexible workplace with a mixed work system.
The author touched on a number of key skills that leaders must develop to succeed in the current developments:
Reveal Your Personality to Build Confidence
Remote employee monitoring is based on a different foundation than what is typical within the office; using old methods of monitoring undermines the most important rule of effective virtual leadership: building trust.
First, you need to hire skilled employees you trust to get the job done, and then rate their performance based on what they ’ ve achieved, not how many hours they ’ ve stared at their screens.
If employees feel confident, they become more engaged and active at work, and do not feel the same amount of pressure, which in turn leads to better profitability.
Instead of tracking every move your employees make remotely, set metrics to calculate their output, and conduct periodic reviews to assess their output.
Building trust not only avoids the temptation to remotely track employees ’ work, but requires leaders to be emotionally open to their employees, take a human approach to work and share their personalities, emotions, and mistakes with them.
As such, trust is quickly built between the team, and employees will follow their leader ’ s lead, forming deeper and closer relationships.
Enhancing Connectivity
When all the employees are in the office, there is a lot of opportunity to get to know the rest of the team and build relationships with those around you, but that opportunity will not appear on its own under virtual work.
As a leader, your job is to bridge this gap and change the way you work to encourage communication and prevent remote workers from feeling lonely and separated.
Set aside time at the beginning of virtual meetings for a friendly, non-work-related conversation.
Check in with your employees regularly – one-on-one meetings with your employees are more important than ever, to see if they feel connected and inspired at work, how their lives are going outside of work, and what their achievements and problems are.
Encourage team members to communicate with each other through a group of online conversations, for example.
• Try to involve freelancers in the above activities so that they feel like equal and valuable members of your organization.
Design interactive, one-on-one meetings that are meaningful from time to time to strengthen virtual relationships, and focus on fostering a work culture and employee commitment to your company ’ s mission.
Moreover, it ’ s important to make sure that remote and office workers have the same experience and opportunities for advancement, because you don ’ t want to inadvertently create two different categories of employees.
Be the model employee
One of the reasons employees love working remotely is that it gives them control over their schedule and a better balance between their professional and private lives.
However, many people working remotely overwork to the point where the boundaries between work and their private lives blur.
As a leader, it ’ s your duty to be a role model in how to reconcile your work and personal life, and to show employees that it ’ s okay to take breaks, and that they ’ re not expected to respond to emails and conversations at all hours of the day.
Unleash Exceptional Effort
Exceptional effort is when employees perform tasks that go beyond the core duties of the job. This is what happens when employees feel passionate about their work and the company. Exceptional effort helps identify weak teams from outstanding teams.
The biggest mistake companies make is treating anyone who doesn ’ t work full-time as a non-essential employee.
Instead, companies should provide significant support to freelancers and hourly employees, equipping them with the tools to perform their tasks and recognizing their efforts, just as if they were working full-time.
It ’ s also important to connect all employees, regardless of their status, to the company ’ s core mission.
When employees feel that their work makes sense, they put in more effort, and feel more satisfied with their jobs, resulting in increased productivity and retention of their jobs.
Invest in quality tools
The author stressed the importance of using the right tools to improve efficiency, enable asynchronous work and enhance culture, and the job of a leader does not end with investing in these tools, but must also be an example in using them.
For example, you should make yourself available on chat platforms as a sort of virtual “open dialogue door. ”
If you don ’ t see your teams in person every day, it can be difficult to spot issues early.
Leading distributed teams remotely requires a new model of leadership, based on trust, real relationships, maintaining communication, inclusiveness, and work-life balance.
In contrast, leaders who do not actively pursue the skills needed for the new world of work will not be ready to inspire their teams for future success.
Source: American Press
About this story
More leadership.
Most Read

Building trust with employees requires virtual leaders to be open and transparent.

Title:

Content: With the change in the work system...
It's time to talk about new leadership skills.
If employees feel confident, they are more engaged and active at work, and don ’ t feel the same amount of pressure, resulting in a better payoff.
Future teams will include members from around the world, including temporary employees, who are expected to make up half of the U.S. workforce in the next decade, and the rise of remote work will increase demand for work-life balance.
In a report published by Forbes magazine, Larry English said that current leadership models will lose their effectiveness if they do not keep pace with the changes currently taking place, and leaders who insist on an outdated hierarchical management style will not be able to compete and get the best talent.
This is confirmed by the results of recent global surveys, which showed that most employees want a flexible workplace with a mixed work system.
The author touched on a number of key skills that leaders must develop to succeed in the current developments:
Reveal Your Personality to Build Confidence
Remote employee monitoring is based on a different foundation than what is typical within the office; using old methods of monitoring undermines the most important rule of effective virtual leadership: building trust.
First, you need to hire skilled employees you trust to get the job done, and then rate their performance based on what they ’ ve achieved, not how many hours they ’ ve stared at their screens.
If employees feel confident, they become more engaged and active at work, and do not feel the same amount of pressure, which in turn leads to better profitability.
Instead of tracking every move your employees make remotely, set metrics to calculate their output, and conduct periodic reviews to assess their output.
Building trust not only avoids the temptation to remotely track employees ’ work, but requires leaders to be emotionally open to their employees, take a human approach to work and share their personalities, emotions, and mistakes with them.
As such, trust is quickly built between the team, and employees will follow their leader ’ s lead, forming deeper and closer relationships.
Enhancing Connectivity
When all the employees are in the office, there is a lot of opportunity to get to know the rest of the team and build relationships with those around you, but that opportunity will not appear on its own under virtual work.
As a leader, your job is to bridge this gap and change the way you work to encourage communication and prevent remote workers from feeling lonely and separated.
Set aside time at the beginning of virtual meetings for a friendly, non-work-related conversation.
Check in with your employees regularly – one-on-one meetings with your employees are more important than ever, to see if they feel connected and inspired at work, how their lives are going outside of work, and what their achievements and problems are.
Encourage team members to communicate with each other through a group of online conversations, for example.
• Try to involve freelancers in the above activities so that they feel like equal and valuable members of your organization.
Design interactive, one-on-one meetings that are meaningful from time to time to strengthen virtual relationships, and focus on fostering a work culture and employee commitment to your company ’ s mission.
Moreover, it ’ s important to make sure that remote and office workers have the same experience and opportunities for advancement, because you don ’ t want to inadvertently create two different categories of employees.
Be the model employee
One of the reasons employees love working remotely is that it gives them control over their schedule and a better balance between their professional and private lives.
However, many people working remotely overwork to the point where the boundaries between work and their private lives blur.
As a leader, it ’ s your duty to be a role model in how to reconcile your work and personal life, and to show employees that it ’ s okay to take breaks, and that they ’ re not expected to respond to emails and conversations at all hours of the day.
Unleash Exceptional Effort
Exceptional effort is when employees perform tasks that go beyond the core duties of the job. This is what happens when employees feel passionate about their work and the company. Exceptional effort helps identify weak teams from outstanding teams.
The biggest mistake companies make is treating anyone who doesn ’ t work full-time as a non-essential employee.
Instead, companies should provide significant support to freelancers and hourly employees, equipping them with the tools to perform their tasks and recognizing their efforts, just as if they were working full-time.
It ’ s also important to connect all employees, regardless of their status, to the company ’ s core mission.
When employees feel that their work makes sense, they put in more effort, and feel more satisfied with their jobs, resulting in increased productivity and retention of their jobs.
Invest in quality tools
The author stressed the importance of using the right tools to improve efficiency, enable asynchronous work and enhance culture, and the job of a leader does not end with investing in these tools, but must also be an example in using them.
For example, you should make yourself available on chat platforms as a sort of virtual “open dialogue door. ”
If you don ’ t see your teams in person every day, it can be difficult to spot issues early.
Leading distributed teams remotely requires a new model of leadership, based on trust, real relationships, maintaining communication, inclusiveness, and work-life balance.
In contrast, leaders who do not actively pursue the skills needed for the new world of work will not be ready to inspire their teams for future success.
Source: American Press
About this story
More leadership.
Most Read

Leaders should evaluate employees based on output, not hours worked.

Title:

Content: With the change in the work system...
It's time to talk about new leadership skills.
If employees feel confident, they are more engaged and active at work, and don ’ t feel the same amount of pressure, resulting in a better payoff.
Future teams will include members from around the world, including temporary employees, who are expected to make up half of the U.S. workforce in the next decade, and the rise of remote work will increase demand for work-life balance.
In a report published by Forbes magazine, Larry English said that current leadership models will lose their effectiveness if they do not keep pace with the changes currently taking place, and leaders who insist on an outdated hierarchical management style will not be able to compete and get the best talent.
This is confirmed by the results of recent global surveys, which showed that most employees want a flexible workplace with a mixed work system.
The author touched on a number of key skills that leaders must develop to succeed in the current developments:
Reveal Your Personality to Build Confidence
Remote employee monitoring is based on a different foundation than what is typical within the office; using old methods of monitoring undermines the most important rule of effective virtual leadership: building trust.
First, you need to hire skilled employees you trust to get the job done, and then rate their performance based on what they ’ ve achieved, not how many hours they ’ ve stared at their screens.
If employees feel confident, they become more engaged and active at work, and do not feel the same amount of pressure, which in turn leads to better profitability.
Instead of tracking every move your employees make remotely, set metrics to calculate their output, and conduct periodic reviews to assess their output.
Building trust not only avoids the temptation to remotely track employees ’ work, but requires leaders to be emotionally open to their employees, take a human approach to work and share their personalities, emotions, and mistakes with them.
As such, trust is quickly built between the team, and employees will follow their leader ’ s lead, forming deeper and closer relationships.
Enhancing Connectivity
When all the employees are in the office, there is a lot of opportunity to get to know the rest of the team and build relationships with those around you, but that opportunity will not appear on its own under virtual work.
As a leader, your job is to bridge this gap and change the way you work to encourage communication and prevent remote workers from feeling lonely and separated.
Set aside time at the beginning of virtual meetings for a friendly, non-work-related conversation.
Check in with your employees regularly – one-on-one meetings with your employees are more important than ever, to see if they feel connected and inspired at work, how their lives are going outside of work, and what their achievements and problems are.
Encourage team members to communicate with each other through a group of online conversations, for example.
• Try to involve freelancers in the above activities so that they feel like equal and valuable members of your organization.
Design interactive, one-on-one meetings that are meaningful from time to time to strengthen virtual relationships, and focus on fostering a work culture and employee commitment to your company ’ s mission.
Moreover, it ’ s important to make sure that remote and office workers have the same experience and opportunities for advancement, because you don ’ t want to inadvertently create two different categories of employees.
Be the model employee
One of the reasons employees love working remotely is that it gives them control over their schedule and a better balance between their professional and private lives.
However, many people working remotely overwork to the point where the boundaries between work and their private lives blur.
As a leader, it ’ s your duty to be a role model in how to reconcile your work and personal life, and to show employees that it ’ s okay to take breaks, and that they ’ re not expected to respond to emails and conversations at all hours of the day.
Unleash Exceptional Effort
Exceptional effort is when employees perform tasks that go beyond the core duties of the job. This is what happens when employees feel passionate about their work and the company. Exceptional effort helps identify weak teams from outstanding teams.
The biggest mistake companies make is treating anyone who doesn ’ t work full-time as a non-essential employee.
Instead, companies should provide significant support to freelancers and hourly employees, equipping them with the tools to perform their tasks and recognizing their efforts, just as if they were working full-time.
It ’ s also important to connect all employees, regardless of their status, to the company ’ s core mission.
When employees feel that their work makes sense, they put in more effort, and feel more satisfied with their jobs, resulting in increased productivity and retention of their jobs.
Invest in quality tools
The author stressed the importance of using the right tools to improve efficiency, enable asynchronous work and enhance culture, and the job of a leader does not end with investing in these tools, but must also be an example in using them.
For example, you should make yourself available on chat platforms as a sort of virtual “open dialogue door. ”
If you don ’ t see your teams in person every day, it can be difficult to spot issues early.
Leading distributed teams remotely requires a new model of leadership, based on trust, real relationships, maintaining communication, inclusiveness, and work-life balance.
In contrast, leaders who do not actively pursue the skills needed for the new world of work will not be ready to inspire their teams for future success.
Source: American Press
About this story
More leadership.
Most Read

Regular check-ins and virtual meetings help build trust and connection among team members.

Title:

Content: With the change in the work system...
It's time to talk about new leadership skills.
If employees feel confident, they are more engaged and active at work, and don ’ t feel the same amount of pressure, resulting in a better payoff.
Future teams will include members from around the world, including temporary employees, who are expected to make up half of the U.S. workforce in the next decade, and the rise of remote work will increase demand for work-life balance.
In a report published by Forbes magazine, Larry English said that current leadership models will lose their effectiveness if they do not keep pace with the changes currently taking place, and leaders who insist on an outdated hierarchical management style will not be able to compete and get the best talent.
This is confirmed by the results of recent global surveys, which showed that most employees want a flexible workplace with a mixed work system.
The author touched on a number of key skills that leaders must develop to succeed in the current developments:
Reveal Your Personality to Build Confidence
Remote employee monitoring is based on a different foundation than what is typical within the office; using old methods of monitoring undermines the most important rule of effective virtual leadership: building trust.
First, you need to hire skilled employees you trust to get the job done, and then rate their performance based on what they ’ ve achieved, not how many hours they ’ ve stared at their screens.
If employees feel confident, they become more engaged and active at work, and do not feel the same amount of pressure, which in turn leads to better profitability.
Instead of tracking every move your employees make remotely, set metrics to calculate their output, and conduct periodic reviews to assess their output.
Building trust not only avoids the temptation to remotely track employees ’ work, but requires leaders to be emotionally open to their employees, take a human approach to work and share their personalities, emotions, and mistakes with them.
As such, trust is quickly built between the team, and employees will follow their leader ’ s lead, forming deeper and closer relationships.
Enhancing Connectivity
When all the employees are in the office, there is a lot of opportunity to get to know the rest of the team and build relationships with those around you, but that opportunity will not appear on its own under virtual work.
As a leader, your job is to bridge this gap and change the way you work to encourage communication and prevent remote workers from feeling lonely and separated.
Set aside time at the beginning of virtual meetings for a friendly, non-work-related conversation.
Check in with your employees regularly – one-on-one meetings with your employees are more important than ever, to see if they feel connected and inspired at work, how their lives are going outside of work, and what their achievements and problems are.
Encourage team members to communicate with each other through a group of online conversations, for example.
• Try to involve freelancers in the above activities so that they feel like equal and valuable members of your organization.
Design interactive, one-on-one meetings that are meaningful from time to time to strengthen virtual relationships, and focus on fostering a work culture and employee commitment to your company ’ s mission.
Moreover, it ’ s important to make sure that remote and office workers have the same experience and opportunities for advancement, because you don ’ t want to inadvertently create two different categories of employees.
Be the model employee
One of the reasons employees love working remotely is that it gives them control over their schedule and a better balance between their professional and private lives.
However, many people working remotely overwork to the point where the boundaries between work and their private lives blur.
As a leader, it ’ s your duty to be a role model in how to reconcile your work and personal life, and to show employees that it ’ s okay to take breaks, and that they ’ re not expected to respond to emails and conversations at all hours of the day.
Unleash Exceptional Effort
Exceptional effort is when employees perform tasks that go beyond the core duties of the job. This is what happens when employees feel passionate about their work and the company. Exceptional effort helps identify weak teams from outstanding teams.
The biggest mistake companies make is treating anyone who doesn ’ t work full-time as a non-essential employee.
Instead, companies should provide significant support to freelancers and hourly employees, equipping them with the tools to perform their tasks and recognizing their efforts, just as if they were working full-time.
It ’ s also important to connect all employees, regardless of their status, to the company ’ s core mission.
When employees feel that their work makes sense, they put in more effort, and feel more satisfied with their jobs, resulting in increased productivity and retention of their jobs.
Invest in quality tools
The author stressed the importance of using the right tools to improve efficiency, enable asynchronous work and enhance culture, and the job of a leader does not end with investing in these tools, but must also be an example in using them.
For example, you should make yourself available on chat platforms as a sort of virtual “open dialogue door. ”
If you don ’ t see your teams in person every day, it can be difficult to spot issues early.
Leading distributed teams remotely requires a new model of leadership, based on trust, real relationships, maintaining communication, inclusiveness, and work-life balance.
In contrast, leaders who do not actively pursue the skills needed for the new world of work will not be ready to inspire their teams for future success.
Source: American Press
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Organizations can measure trust-building strategies with resistant supervisors using metrics like employee engagement rates.

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Is Your Hybrid Model Actually Working? Use These Success Metrics to Find Out.

How should a leader evaluate whether the model they adopted is optimal for their company's needs — or whether those needs require refinement?

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

With 74% of U.S. companies transitioning to a permanent hybrid model, leaders are turning their attention to measuring the success of their hybrid work model. That's because there's a single traditional office-centric model of Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 in the office, but there are many ways to do hybrid work. Moreover, what works well for one company's culture and working style may not work well elsewhere, even within the same industry. So how should a leader evaluate whether the model they adopted is optimal for their company's needs — or whether those needs require refinement?

The first step involves establishing clear success metrics. Unfortunately, relatively few companies measure important aspects of the hybrid work transition. For example, a new report from Omdia suggests that 54% of organizations find that productivity improved from adopting a more hybrid working style, but only 22% of organizations established metrics to quantify productivity improvements from hybrid work.

Related: They Say Remote Work Is Bad For Employees, But Most Research Suggests Otherwise — A Behavioral Economist Explains.

Hybrid work is a strategic decision

From my experience helping 21 organizations transition to hybrid work, it's important for the whole C-suite to be actively involved in formulating the metrics and for the board to approve them. Too often, busy executives feel the natural inclination to throw it in HR's lap and have them figure it out.

That's a mistake. A transition to a permanent hybrid work model requires attention and care at the highest levels of an organization. Otherwise, the C-suite will not be coordinated and fail to get on the same page about what counts as "success" in hybrid work and find themselves in a mess six months after their hybrid work transition.

It's a best practice for the C-suite to determine the metrics at an offsite where they can distance themselves from the day-to-day bustle and make long-term strategic choices. Prior to the offsite, it's valuable to get initial internal metrics, including getting a baseline of quantitative and objective measures. While there are plenty of external metrics on hybrid work, each company has a unique culture, systems and processes and talent.

Which success metrics matter in the hybrid work transition?

Based on the experience of my clients, companies focus on a variety of success metrics, each of which may be more or less important. Each of these metrics should be measured before establishing a permanent hybrid work policy, to get a baseline. Then, the metrics need to be evaluated every quarter, to evaluate the impact of refinements to the hybrid work policy.

Retention offers a clear-to-measure hard success metric, one both quantitative and objective. A related metric, recruitment, is a softer metric: it's harder to measure and more qualitative in nature. External benchmarks definitely indicate offering more remote work facilitates both retention and recruitment.

Thus, if the C-suite chooses to adopt a more flexible policy, I recommend my clients put it on their website's "Join Us" page, as did one of my clients, the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute. HR will inevitably find they get an uptick in inquiries from job applicants referencing this policy, as well as, potential hires showing enthusiasm for it in interviews. That enthusiasm is something that can be measured.

A key metric, performance, may be harder or easier to measure depending on the nature of the work. For instance, a study published in the National Bureau of Economic Review reported on a randomized control trial comparing the performance of software engineers assigned to a hybrid schedule vs. an office-centric schedule. Engineers who worked in a hybrid model wrote 8% more code over a six-month period. If there is no option to have such clear performance measurement, use regular weekly assessments of performance from supervisors.

Collaboration and innovation are critical metrics for effective team performance, but measuring them isn't easy. Evaluating them requires relying on more qualitative assessments from team leaders and team members. Moreover, by training teams in effective hybrid innovation and collaboration techniques, you can improve these metrics.

Several hard-to-measure metrics are important for an organization's culture and talent management: morale, engagement, well-being, happiness, burnout, intent to leave and quiet quitting. Getting at these metrics requires the use of more qualitative and subjective approaches, such as customized surveys specifically adapted to hybrid and remote work policies. As part of doing the survey, it's helpful to ask respondents to opt into participating in focus groups around these issues. Then, in the focus groups, you can dig deeper into the survey questions and get at people's underlying feelings and motivations.

One way to measure the wellbeing and burnout of your employees involves a hard metric: employees taking sick days. By measuring how that changes over time — seasonally adjusted — you can evaluate the impact of your policies on employee mental and physical health.

Related: You Should Let Your Team Decide Their Approach to Hybrid Work. A Behavioral Economist Explains Why and How You Should Do It.

Diversity, equity and inclusion represent an often overlooked but critically important metric impacted by hybrid work. We know that underrepresented groups strongly prefer more remote work. Thus, my clients who chose to have a mostly office-centric schedule had to invest substantial resources into boosting their DEI to compensate for the inevitable loss of underrepresented talent.

Measuring DEI is quite easy and objective: look at the retention of underrepresented rank-and-file staff and leaders as the hybrid work strategy gets implemented. Also, make sure that your surveys allow staff to self-identify relevant demographic categories so that you can measure DEI as it relates to engagement, morale, and so on.

Last, but far from least, my clients also consider professional and leadership development and onboarding and integration of junior team members. A Conference Board survey finds 58% of employees would leave without adequate professional development, and that applies even more so to underrepresented groups. Leadership development is critical to the long-term continuity of any company. And onboarding and integration of junior staff is a fundamental need for success. Yet most companies struggle with figuring out how to do these well in a hybrid setting.

Measuring professional development is best done through more subjective tools, such as surveys and focus groups. You can also assess how much staff improve in the areas where they received professional development and compare in-person vs. remote modalities of delivering learning. Evaluating leadership development is easier and more quantitative and objective. Assess how well your newly-promoted leaders succeed based on performance evaluations and 360-degree reviews. Onboarding and integrating new staff involves performance evaluations by supervisors and measurements of their productivity.

Conclusion

Once you have the baseline data from these diverse metrics, at the offsite the C-suite needs to determine which metrics matter most to your organization. Choose the top three to five metrics, and weigh their importance relative to each other. Using these metrics, the C-suite can then decide on a course of action on hybrid work that would best optimize for their desired outcomes. Next, determine a plan of action to implement this new policy, including using appropriate metrics to measure success. As you implement the policy, if you find the metrics aren't as good as you'd like, revise the policy and see how that revision impacts your metrics. Likewise, consider running experiments to compare alternative versions of the hybrid policy. For instance, you can have one day a week in the office in one location and two days in another, and assess how that impacts your metrics. Reassess and revise your approach once a month for the first three months, and then once a quarter going forward. By adopting this approach, my clients found they can most effectively reach the metrics they set out for their permanent hybrid model.

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Measuring the ROI of leadership training is essential for justifying investments and driving improvement.

Title:

Content:     The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    Measuring the ROI of Leadership Training Programs

    Synopsis

    Organizations that invest in leadership development and can demonstrate a positive ROI are more attractive to top talent. This not only helps in retaining current leaders but also in attracting future leaders who seek personal growth and development opportunities.

    Investing in leadership development is a strategic decision that organizations make to nurture their talent pool and drive business growth. However, for these investments to be justifiable and sustainable, organizations must measure the return on investment (ROI) of their leadership training programs. This article explores the significance of measuring ROI in leadership training programs, the challenges associated with it, and effective strategies for conducting ROI evaluations.

    Best Professional Courses on Leadership

    Offering CollegeCourseWebsite
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    Leadership training programs aim to enhance leadership skills, improve decision-making, and foster a culture of innovation and collaboration within an organization. While these goals are admirable, they can be challenging to quantify in financial terms. This is where measuring ROI becomes crucial. Here are some key reasons why ROI measurement is essential for leadership training programs:

    1. Justification of Investment: Leadership training programs often require significant financial resources. Measuring ROI helps organizations determine whether these investments are yielding tangible benefits. It helps answer the question: Is the money spent on leadership training delivering a positive impact on the organization's performance?
    2. Continuous Improvement: ROI measurement provides valuable feedback on the effectiveness of leadership training initiatives. By analyzing the ROI, organizations can identify areas that need improvement and refine their training programs accordingly. This iterative process ensures that the training remains relevant and impactful.
    3. Resource Allocation: Knowing the ROI of leadership training allows organizations to allocate their resources more effectively. They can focus on programs and initiatives that have proven to deliver a higher return, thus optimizing their training budget.
    4. Competitive Advantage: Organizations that invest in leadership development and can demonstrate a positive ROI are more attractive to top talent. This not only helps in retaining current leaders but also in attracting future leaders who seek personal growth and development opportunities.

    However, measuring the ROI of leadership training programs is not without its challenges. Here are some common hurdles organizations face:
    1. Defining Measurable Objectives: The first step in measuring ROI is to establish clear, measurable objectives for the training program. These objectives should align with the organization's overall goals. Often, organizations struggle to define specific, quantifiable outcomes for leadership training.
    2. Data Collection: Gathering data to measure ROI can be complex. It involves tracking changes in leadership behaviour, employee performance, and other relevant metrics over time. Organizations may not have the necessary tools and processes in place to collect this data effectively.
    3. Attribution: Determining the extent to which improvements in leadership skills are directly attributable to the training program can be challenging. Many factors can influence leadership performance, and isolating the impact of training can be difficult.
    4. Costs: Calculating the costs associated with a training program can be straightforward, but determining the benefits is more intricate. Some benefits may not be immediately apparent or may emerge gradually over time, making it challenging to assign a specific value to them.

    To overcome these challenges and effectively measure the ROI of leadership training programs, organizations can follow these strategies:
    1. Set Clear Objectives: Define specific, measurable objectives for the training program. For example, you might aim to increase employee engagement by a certain percentage or reduce turnover among leadership positions. Having clear objectives makes it easier to track progress and measure ROI.
    2. Use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Identify relevant KPIs that can help gauge the impact of leadership training. These may include employee satisfaction scores, productivity metrics, or revenue growth. Regularly collect and analyze data on these KPIs before and after the training program.
    3. Control Groups: To isolate the effects of leadership training, consider using control groups. Compare the performance of leaders who have undergone training with those who have not. This can help attribute changes in performance more accurately to the training program.
    4. Calculate Costs and Benefits: Calculate both the costs and benefits associated with the training program. Costs include expenses related to design, delivery, and materials, while benefits encompass the value of improved leadership skills, such as increased revenue or reduced turnover. Use conservative estimates when assigning values to benefits.
    5. Conduct Follow-Up Evaluations: ROI measurement should not be a one-time effort. Conduct follow-up evaluations at regular intervals to assess the sustained impact of leadership training. This ensures that improvements are not short-lived.
    6. Qualitative Feedback: Don't rely solely on quantitative data. Collect qualitative feedback from participants and their supervisors to gain insights into the program's effectiveness and areas for improvement.
    7. Benchmarking: Compare your organization's ROI with industry benchmarks or best practices. This can provide context and help you gauge the relative success of your leadership training program.

    Measuring the ROI of leadership training programs is essential for organizations to justify their investments, drive continuous improvement, and compete for top talent. While challenges exist in quantifying the impact of leadership training, a thoughtful approach that includes clear objectives, relevant KPIs, control groups, and regular evaluations can help organizations overcome these obstacles. By demonstrating the tangible benefits of leadership development, organizations can ensure that their investment in leadership training is not only valuable but also a strategic imperative for long-term success.

    FAQs
    What is ROI in the context of leadership training programs?
    ROI, or Return on Investment, is a measure of the financial or strategic benefits gained from an investment in leadership training programs compared to the costs incurred. It helps assess the effectiveness and value of these programs.

    Why is it important to measure the ROI of leadership training programs?
    Measuring ROI helps organizations determine if their investment in leadership training is providing a positive impact. It ensures resources are allocated wisely and helps make informed decisions about future training initiatives.

    What are the key components of calculating ROI for leadership training?
    To calculate ROI, you need to consider the program's costs (e.g., training materials, instructor fees, participant time) and the benefits (e.g., increased productivity, improved employee retention, reduced turnover). The formula is (Benefit - Cost) / Cost x 100%.

    Also Read:

    Disclaimer: This content was authored by the content team of ET Spotlight team. The news and editorial staff of ET had no role in the creation of this article.
    Experience Your Economic Times Newspaper, The Digital Way!

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If Elon Musk’s contentious purchase of Twitter has taught us anything, it’s that leadership style and how it affects company culture (not to mention benefits and workplace policies) has a huge impact on employee engagement, retention and performance.

And while Musk’s polarizing methodologies aren’t typical of the majority of CEOs, a new study by Gallup has found that the vast bulk of leaders are losing trust with their employees.

Today, only 21 percent of American workers strongly agree that they trust the leaders of their organization, down from 24 percent in 2019.

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While the pandemic and work from home orders allowed employees to see a more human side to their employers, the uncertainty that started to infiltrate remote workplaces as Zoom fatigue set in directly correlates with how well leaders were able to communicate with their staff.

This disconnect—both physical and metaphorical—made it harder for leaders to offer reassurance on the future state of play and in turn, led to employee disengagement.

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If Elon Musk’s contentious purchase of Twitter has taught us anything, it’s that leadership style and how it affects company culture (not to mention benefits and workplace policies) has a huge impact on employee engagement, retention and performance.

And while Musk’s polarizing methodologies aren’t typical of the majority of CEOs, a new study by Gallup has found that the vast bulk of leaders are losing trust with their employees.

Today, only 21 percent of American workers strongly agree that they trust the leaders of their organization, down from 24 percent in 2019.

And these figures, which coincide with the start of the pandemic versus where we are today, highlight how new ways of working—and their shortcomings—have undoubtedly played a part in triggering these feelings of distrust. So how can leaders work to regain the confidence of their workforce?

Cultivating a culture of trust

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It argues that when these three elements are in place, 95 percent of workers trust their leaders.

While the pandemic and work from home orders allowed employees to see a more human side to their employers, the uncertainty that started to infiltrate remote workplaces as Zoom fatigue set in directly correlates with how well leaders were able to communicate with their staff.

This disconnect—both physical and metaphorical—made it harder for leaders to offer reassurance on the future state of play and in turn, led to employee disengagement.

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In fact, high employee engagement has been proven to improve productivity, reduce turnover and boost revenue—it’s estimated that low employee engagement costs the global economy $8.1 trillion per year.

That being said, creating a sense of belonging and an environment where employees can thrive doesn’t come easy.

Employers must actively work towards generating opportunities for meaningful work, pioneer real flexibility in the workplace and open up channels for dialogue that allow for two-way feedback.

And if these kinds of measures aren’t put in place and you’re struggling with a leader who continues to fail in their endeavors, it could be time to reconsider your current position and look towards a company that champions a more inclusive approach.

If this is the case, The Hill Job Board has thousands of openings across the country, like the three below.

Senior Representative, Federal Relations, CFC, Sterling

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Today, only 21 percent of American workers strongly agree that they trust the leaders of their organization, down from 24 percent in 2019.

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Cultivating a culture of trust

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It argues that when these three elements are in place, 95 percent of workers trust their leaders.

While the pandemic and work from home orders allowed employees to see a more human side to their employers, the uncertainty that started to infiltrate remote workplaces as Zoom fatigue set in directly correlates with how well leaders were able to communicate with their staff.

This disconnect—both physical and metaphorical—made it harder for leaders to offer reassurance on the future state of play and in turn, led to employee disengagement.

The real cost of bad leadership

While there are many reasons why employees become disengaged and halt their personal investment in a job or organization, the overwhelming takeaway is that leaders must gain back trust in order to tackle this issue head on.

In fact, high employee engagement has been proven to improve productivity, reduce turnover and boost revenue—it’s estimated that low employee engagement costs the global economy $8.1 trillion per year.

That being said, creating a sense of belonging and an environment where employees can thrive doesn’t come easy.

Employers must actively work towards generating opportunities for meaningful work, pioneer real flexibility in the workplace and open up channels for dialogue that allow for two-way feedback.

And if these kinds of measures aren’t put in place and you’re struggling with a leader who continues to fail in their endeavors, it could be time to reconsider your current position and look towards a company that champions a more inclusive approach.

If this is the case, The Hill Job Board has thousands of openings across the country, like the three below.

Senior Representative, Federal Relations, CFC, Sterling

National Cooperative Services Corporation, or NCSC, located in Dulles, Virginia, is a privately funded, member-owned cooperative providing specialized financing services to electric cooperatives since 1981. NCSC is an affiliate of National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC). It currently has an opportunity for a Senior Representative to lead advocacy efforts and liaise with the electric cooperative industry trade association on legislative and regulatory matters of importance to National Cooperative Services Corporation (NCSC) and affiliated organizations and provide representation where needed. This position is also responsible for providing support for the advancement of the National Cooperative Services Corporation and its affiliated organizations’ positions with Federal agencies and Congress. View more details here.

Senior Domestic Policy Analyst, Bread for the World, Washington

Bread for the World is a Christian advocacy organization urging U.S. decision makers to do all they can to pursue a world without hunger. Its mission is to educate and equip people to advocate for policies and programs that can help end hunger in the U.S. and around the world. As Senior Domestic Policy Analyst you will provide organizational leadership, strategic advice and implementation strategies on domestic policies and legislation affecting people living in poverty and hunger in the U.S. This includes raising Bread’s profile and amplifying the voices of persons impacted by hunger on Capitol Hill; serving as a liaison for Bread’s work at the federal government level; and Identifying emerging trends on relevant policy issues. See the full job description here.

Transit & Mobility Planner, ICF, Buffalo

ICF is a global consulting firm and its transportation portfolio specializes in addressing complex planning, policy, and program issues at the nexus of transportation and the environment, energy, and communities. As Transit & Mobility Planner you will be responsible for supporting and leading project tasks related to public transportation agencies in New York State and across the Northeastern U.S. Examples of transit planning efforts will include coordinated rural transit planning, Mobility On Demand integration with traditional transit service planning, First and Last Mile connectivity to transit planning, statewide transit coordination support, advisement to transit agencies and consulting partners on transit data standards development and implementation, trip planning tools, and data analysis. Get more information about this opening here.

For more roles in companies that successfully lead their employees visit The Hill Job Board today

Tags Elon Musk

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Low employee engagement costs the global economy an estimated $8.1 trillion per year.

Title:

Content: Lobbying

Only 21% of U.S. Employees Trust The Leadership At Work

If Elon Musk’s contentious purchase of Twitter has taught us anything, it’s that leadership style and how it affects company culture (not to mention benefits and workplace policies) has a huge impact on employee engagement, retention and performance.

And while Musk’s polarizing methodologies aren’t typical of the majority of CEOs, a new study by Gallup has found that the vast bulk of leaders are losing trust with their employees.

Today, only 21 percent of American workers strongly agree that they trust the leaders of their organization, down from 24 percent in 2019.

And these figures, which coincide with the start of the pandemic versus where we are today, highlight how new ways of working—and their shortcomings—have undoubtedly played a part in triggering these feelings of distrust. So how can leaders work to regain the confidence of their workforce?

Cultivating a culture of trust

Gallup’s data suggests that in order to foster or reinstate trust, leaders need to adopt a three-pronged approach: communicate clearly, inspire confidence in the future, and lead and support change.

It argues that when these three elements are in place, 95 percent of workers trust their leaders.

While the pandemic and work from home orders allowed employees to see a more human side to their employers, the uncertainty that started to infiltrate remote workplaces as Zoom fatigue set in directly correlates with how well leaders were able to communicate with their staff.

This disconnect—both physical and metaphorical—made it harder for leaders to offer reassurance on the future state of play and in turn, led to employee disengagement.

The real cost of bad leadership

While there are many reasons why employees become disengaged and halt their personal investment in a job or organization, the overwhelming takeaway is that leaders must gain back trust in order to tackle this issue head on.

In fact, high employee engagement has been proven to improve productivity, reduce turnover and boost revenue—it’s estimated that low employee engagement costs the global economy $8.1 trillion per year.

That being said, creating a sense of belonging and an environment where employees can thrive doesn’t come easy.

Employers must actively work towards generating opportunities for meaningful work, pioneer real flexibility in the workplace and open up channels for dialogue that allow for two-way feedback.

And if these kinds of measures aren’t put in place and you’re struggling with a leader who continues to fail in their endeavors, it could be time to reconsider your current position and look towards a company that champions a more inclusive approach.

If this is the case, The Hill Job Board has thousands of openings across the country, like the three below.

Senior Representative, Federal Relations, CFC, Sterling

National Cooperative Services Corporation, or NCSC, located in Dulles, Virginia, is a privately funded, member-owned cooperative providing specialized financing services to electric cooperatives since 1981. NCSC is an affiliate of National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC). It currently has an opportunity for a Senior Representative to lead advocacy efforts and liaise with the electric cooperative industry trade association on legislative and regulatory matters of importance to National Cooperative Services Corporation (NCSC) and affiliated organizations and provide representation where needed. This position is also responsible for providing support for the advancement of the National Cooperative Services Corporation and its affiliated organizations’ positions with Federal agencies and Congress. View more details here.

Senior Domestic Policy Analyst, Bread for the World, Washington

Bread for the World is a Christian advocacy organization urging U.S. decision makers to do all they can to pursue a world without hunger. Its mission is to educate and equip people to advocate for policies and programs that can help end hunger in the U.S. and around the world. As Senior Domestic Policy Analyst you will provide organizational leadership, strategic advice and implementation strategies on domestic policies and legislation affecting people living in poverty and hunger in the U.S. This includes raising Bread’s profile and amplifying the voices of persons impacted by hunger on Capitol Hill; serving as a liaison for Bread’s work at the federal government level; and Identifying emerging trends on relevant policy issues. See the full job description here.

Transit & Mobility Planner, ICF, Buffalo

ICF is a global consulting firm and its transportation portfolio specializes in addressing complex planning, policy, and program issues at the nexus of transportation and the environment, energy, and communities. As Transit & Mobility Planner you will be responsible for supporting and leading project tasks related to public transportation agencies in New York State and across the Northeastern U.S. Examples of transit planning efforts will include coordinated rural transit planning, Mobility On Demand integration with traditional transit service planning, First and Last Mile connectivity to transit planning, statewide transit coordination support, advisement to transit agencies and consulting partners on transit data standards development and implementation, trip planning tools, and data analysis. Get more information about this opening here.

For more roles in companies that successfully lead their employees visit The Hill Job Board today

Tags Elon Musk

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

See all Hill.TV See all Video

Most Popular

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Video

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Although 54% of organizations see productivity gains from hybrid work, only 22% track related metrics.

The C-suite should formulate metrics to evaluate a hybrid work model's success, rather than delegating to HR.

Internal metrics should be gathered before establishing a hybrid work policy.

Hybrid work success metrics should be evaluated quarterly.