(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
If you’ve been anywhere on the planet over the past few years you have likely seen the countless predictions of how AI is going to take away jobs. Hundreds of millions of jobs globally according to some reports! How can people not be terrified of this? Well, they are. Your employees are terrified too. And it’s hard not to empathize.
AI is already replacing workers at tech companies, Wall Street firms and retailers and some fear greater job losses in the not too distant future. More companies like Microsoft and PayPal are now publicly admitting how they’re using this technology to reduce their headcounts. Other cost cutting measures – driven by AI and other technology advances – are leading big brands like Citi, Accenture, Tesla and Intel and other corporate giants to lay off tens of thousands of workers. Articles appear almost daily about the jobs most likely to go away thanks to AI. New job seekers are facing challenges finding work, not only because of a slowing economy but because of cutbacks fueled by technology.
So it’s understandable why your employees would be concerned. But – as business owners – we know that they really shouldn’t be. We need them. Especially the good ones. So here’s how you can prepare your workforce for the inevitable, unavoidable, inescapable impact that AI will have on your business and their livelihoods.
Drill Down On Your Software Vendors
Big brands are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build their own internal systems for writing code, interacting with customers and performing tasks behind the scenes. But what about smaller organizations? Most will not be writing their own AI applications. They’ll be leaning on the features introduced by their software vendors. As I write this, the technology firms that make accounting, customer relationship management, human resources, order entry, inventory management and other business applications are doing just that: investing millions in new AI capabilities for their platforms.
Owners and managers need to spend time with their most significant software vendors and understand what AI features and functionality they’re rolling out and then choose which of these functions will provide the most ROI for their companies. The reality is that AI isn’t going to impact all of a business. But it will impact certain parts where it makes the most sense. Those parts need to be determined. Why? Because people will be affected.
Train Your People. For Real This Time.
Let me guess: your business has Microsoft Office or Google Workspace and you’re using…what…20 percent of their features? Don’t make this mistake again and don’t do this with your AI investments. Once you choose which AI features you’ll be focusing on (see above) then spend the money on training your people for real this time and then lean heavily into those features. Not only is it critical for your business to leverage whatever automation tools are available but you’ll find it making a huge positive impact on your employees’ attitudes towards these technologies. Help your employees to become experts in AI for their jobs. They’ll gain confidence in themselves and a new appreciation for how AI will make their jobs easier and their lives better. Most fear is caused by uncertainty and ignorance. Training will remove those factors.
Understand Your Demographics
A recent study found that a staggering 85 percent of ChatGPT’s mobile users are male. Other studies have shown that older people use AI differently than younger generations. And more research has revealed that six in ten GenZers use AI for education and 30 percent of younger generations use it weekly. Meanwhile, most older generations rely on AI mainly for work and professional tasks like helping with emails. It’s important to tailor your training and your approach to AI based on who your people are.
Don’t advertise your intentions
Shopify’s CEO recently stated that his company won’t hire workers unless it can be proven that AI won’t do their job instead. Consumer financing firm Klarna boasted that their AI model would replace 700 customer service agents. The CEOs of Ford, JP Morgan and Amazon have all publicly stated that AI will be helping them to cut headcount.
To me, none of these announcements say “hey, we love our people.” Imagine working at at these firms. What would you think? You’d be afraid for your job. And that will impact your productivity and commitment. My advice: don’t be like these CEO’s. Whatever AI plans you have for your business, keep them close to the chest. It’s likely – as a small business owner – that these plans will not involve cutting headcount, only increasing productivity. But your employees won’t know that and could interpret your statements differently. And given AI’s rapid change, those plans can change. Even Klarna’s CEO walked back his claims after realizing that, depending on the issue, customers want to speak with humans. Duh!
Change your KPIs
Speaking of change, AI should cause you to change your Key Performance Indicators – or KPIs – that you’re likely using to measure your people. Your AI investments are intended to increase productivity and that’s what your metrics should be about. The whole reason why you’re investing in this stuff is not to get rid of people, but to help them do things quicker. Because of this, you should change your focus to KPIs that emphasize productivity like output per employee, revenue per employee, task completion rates, billable utilization rates and error rates.
Finally, be realistic and transparent
The narrative is that employers will leap at the opportunity to replace their workers with bots, fire their employees, save money and increase their profits. And there’s no denying that some jobs will be replaced. New technologies have a way of doing that.
But business owners like myself – and just about all of my clients – know better. There’s myth and there’s reality. The myth is that everything will be done by AI and few workers will be needed. The reality is that AI is in its infancy and it’s no where near the stage where we can rely on it to take away the core responsibilities that are being done by our very valuable employees.
But make no mistake: these tools will get better, more accurate and more reliable over time. AI agents will start assuming tasks behind the scenes. And employers will be using them to do the work that employees are now doing. Which means you have to be realistic and transparent with your people. If they don’t lean into these tools or their KPIs lag behind others, then you may have to make changes. You have a business to run. If an employee doesn’t adapt to other tasks and adjusts to this new reality then yes, they may be out of a job. This is just a fact.
But if you provide your people with the right training and context for your AI investments, your best workers will see the opportunity and step up to the plate. Those will be the ones who will not only help your business succeed but themselves will grow into better professionals.
