Is AI good for workplace culture? Turns out it depends on your manager

A whopping 99% of human resources leaders think AI is important to their organisation’s strategy, but only half are convinced that managers know how to use it.

According to a survey by Gallup, 50% of Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) say they aren’t very confident in their managers’ ability to help staff use AI at work.

And the numbers get worse. A quarter of staff at organisations that have rolled out the technology say culture has got worse. While 24% said it had improved, that’s hardly a resounding vote of confidence in the transformative power of AI on the workplace.

“These findings suggest that the introduction of AI alone doesn’t create a consistently better workplace,” Gallup suggested. “Instead, it acts as a catalyst for change, and employees experience that change differently depending on how it is introduced and integrated into their work.”

Importance of managers on AI workplace culture

It’s hard to unpick what is happening, but AI and automation sits at the heart of everything.

Nearly half (46%) of those who had seen change – for good or bad – at workplaces that had rolled out AI pinned that shift on AI, automation or robotics.

Those who had seen an improvement in workplace culture were more likely to say that their manager actively supports their AI use. Such positive support correlates with staff saying AI has transformed how work gets done.

“One factor consistently separates organisations where AI is making a positive difference from those where it isn’t: the manager,” Gallup said.

That fits with a previous study by monday.com, which last year showed staff wanted more of a say in how AI is rolled out at their workplace. It also showed user positivity towards the technology when it benefits them and, weirdly, less enthusiasm when they lose their jobs or are handed more work.

But why worry about workplace culture when AI might make office workers obsolete anyway?

How to improve management support for AI workplace rollouts

Companies rolling out AI best make sure middle management are on board, then. One way to do that is training: Gallup said 57% of companies polled are offering AI training to managers, while 62% said they are setting up “centres of excellence” or internal “AI champions”.

That said, the most popular “training technique” is peer learning or experimentation with AI – in other words, figure it out for yourself.

“These investments acknowledge managers’ role in AI adoption, but training alone is unlikely to be enough,” Gallup added. “Gallup’s research consistently shows today’s managers are carrying expanding responsibilities and broader spans of control already. Asking managers to lead AI transformation without considering their capacity and internal support risks turning a priority into another competing demand.”

We lack power (and perhaps water) to drive the AI transformation, but we might also lack managerial headspace. Does this mean AI might lead to the need for… more middle management?

Well, we always said that AI would create jobs.

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