The HR Reframe: Solving the Productivity Myth, Ethical Challenges and AI Hype in the Global Workplace

HR and People teams face increasingly demanding requests for rapid, yet effective and responsible resolutions to workplace issues. These issues can range from helping shore up an organization’s marketplace position or boost their reputation. What we didn’t expect, however, was how the conversations within an organization were often the wrong ones. What are these wrong conversations and how can organizations start having the right ones?

The Fake Productivity Crisis

The first ‘wrong conversation’ stems from priority one: ‘the ‘fake’ productivity crisis’. This is because there simply isn’t a crisis of employee productivity stemming from people ceasing to work in offices during the pandemic. This is a global media storm of damaged workforce performance, where misinformation and a ‘solution’ of blanket ‘return to work’ mandates could, in fact, be harmful, not helpful to your workforces' productivity.

So, what’s the real story? Data consistently and robustly shows that individuals do not need to work in a singular, nominated location to be productive. Moreover, pending that individual's role and needs, both academic and workplace studies are indicative of outcomes where performance can be harmed when mandates of ‘return to the office’ are enforced.

However, we are still adjusting to a post-pandemic world and tension between organizations and individuals is understandable, especially when our global context is increasingly uncertain. Also, we’ve been retrofitting our traditional ways of working into a digital world. So many people are now stuck daily in a train of online meetings, no matter what location they are physically working from, office included. When we then add in the numerous methods of comms available to us, from email to slack, to Teams and WhatsApp, people feel (rightly) overwhelmed and distracted away routinely from being able to do deep focused ‘productive work’.

Therefore, whilst we don’t disregard the need for organizations to have ways of working that reliably maintain workforce performance, these should not be shaped by media. Instead, from existing evidence, we know that when HR and People teams who are utilising data and cocreation become product led, they will meet workforce needs and contribute to organizational goals.

For example, a Spanish organization gave employees the choice of coming in any three days of the week, but some people then found themselves working in the office alone, making commutes feel pointless. So, they tested having fewer fixed days in the office but had no choice about which ones they were. This version helped improve productivity and frequency of collaborative working.

Following a few months of testing, the Spanish office decided to permanently adopt this approach as their hybrid working policy, even though it differed from the rest of the organization as the results clearly indicated this was the best fit for that team, therefore safeguarding productivity and employee satisfaction.

Ethical Emergency

The next ‘wrong conversation’ falls into our priority two: ‘Ethical Emergency’. This refers to the assumption that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is frivolous and/or, as some media outlets have led us to think, ‘obstructive to organizational performance’. This is an incorrect perception proving highly challenging for those navigating this within their organizations.

Whilst it's increasingly more difficult to feel safe and able to have ‘hard’ conversations, employeesare increasingly looking to their organizations above and beyond political, media and popular culture arenas to provide trustworthy information, so we must find ways to have these conversations.

So, what do we do?

Well, aside from the fact it remains morally imperative, organizations need to see its business value above and beyond simple reputational safeguarding. Draw from your own organization or access academic and workplace data sources that validate operating and managing DEI means your workforce may perform better than its rival. Build your case by complimenting it with external data that frames DEI as an aspect of organizational development and design at the nexus of improved organizational performance.

So not unlike debunking the myths of a supposed productivity crisis, using data here means we can also think, discuss and act appropriately regarding the role of DEI in our organization, we can literally take the heat out of conversations almost instantly.

Transparency, often identified as a variable influencing trust, is best done through factual presentation of tangible outcomes. In short, whilst having the ‘right’ conversations, can often mean these days having hard conversations, if you are working data-led we are well equipped to do so.

AI and Human Resources

The third ‘wrong conversation’ involves classing Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the silver bullet for organizations, replacing the HR workforce. This is a very wrong conversation.

We should not be solely focusing on AI and rapid adoption of it. Instead, the right conversation to have is how best to organize yourself and your teams to be working with AI and realize the potential of the co-intelligence on offer when this partnering takes place. The opportunities that come from use of AI are positively transformational for our HR and People community.

So, what needs to happen?

You must reframe the topic altogether. For instance, within HR, there is nothing AI can completely replace. In fact, it would be highly damaging for an organization to take an absolute approach, both in the lack of readiness to effectively handle the implications of AI usage, lack of appropriate policies and/or many human based skills are critical factors of how an organization’s performance might be influenced.

Next, consider classing AI as a partner to your working, one you have dialogue with the same way we might with other teams we work with in our organizations. In essence, this means working under the principle of co-intelligence.

Ultimately, don’t let any conversation on AI be wrong and short. Instead lean into experimentation, testing and learning and explore the outcomes. It isn’t simply about increasing the speed of working, in all honesty, the quality and depth of the work being done is what’s benefitted most.

Final Thoughts on Ethical Challenges, Fake Productivity, AI and Human Resources

Perhaps the key to these correct conversations is the debate on data. It can no longer only be the language of other teams, nor the only way to articulate their value. It must be ours too. Yes, for some this could be a big change, or complex, but the value of what we do as HR and people professionals is best articulated in the ‘what happened because of the activity’ versus ‘what we did’ or ‘what we need to do is x’ and if we speak in the former, our seat at the table not only gets stronger, but also becomes unquestionable.

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