Empowering Your Workforce in the Age of AI

Generative AI is transforming the digital landscape, and with its rapid adoption, it brings unique challenges. Take ChatGPT, for example, which became one of the fastest-adopted products in history, amassing 100 million users in just two months, a feat that took Instagram two and a half years and Facebook four and a half years. The speed of technology spread leaves little time for users to learn from one another, and AI-enabled tools continuously evolve, making it necessary for employees to adapt almost every time they engage with them.

Through a three-year research project working with 10 knowledge-intensive companies at the forefront of AI use, I developed the STEP framework. This framework assists leaders in ensuring that AI plays a positive and productive role within their organizations. STEP comprises four interconnected activities:

1. Segmentation: Not all tasks are suitable for AI automation or augmentation. Employees need to categorize tasks into three buckets: those AI can't or shouldn't handle, those AI can augment, and those AI can fully automate.For example, HealthCo leveraged ChatGPT to aid junior staff, particularly in tasks related to compliance with federal policy and safeguarding company IP when working with external consultants. This segmentation allowed employees to free up valuable time for other tasks.
2. Transition: AI, whether augmenting or automating tasks, can change work dynamics. Companies can choose to either deepen roles, allowing employees to focus more on specific tasks, or upgrade roles, shifting responsibilities from tasks AI now handles.MarkCo adopted an LLM to assist junior associates in creating marketing collateral, granting them time for more value-added activities like competitor analysis and campaign evaluation.
3. Education: As AI evolves, employees must continuously acquire new skills, including understanding AI tools, training AI on proprietary data (fine-tuning), creating effective commands, and evaluating AI predictions. Leaders must foster a culture of learning and allocate time for ongoing education.HealthCo, MarkCo, and UrbanGov each embraced employee reskilling differently, but all recognized the need for continual learning.
4. Performance: Traditional performance evaluations based on speed, efficiency, creativity, and accuracy of tasks are no longer sufficient. With AI influencing the nature of work, performance evaluations should adapt as well. Companies in the study transitioned from annual reviews to quarterly evaluations to better align with the changing work dynamics.

Empowering your workforce with the STEP framework can unlock various benefits. Employees become active participants in shaping their new roles, leaders can redistribute tasks to create more value, and organizations adapt to the reality that technological change is now a continuous force. In this article, we'll explore how three anonymized companies—MarkCo, HealthCo, and UrbanGov—have effectively implemented the STEP framework to capitalize on AI, providing valuable insights for leaders looking to enhance their employees' experience and create new value for their organizations.