Strategy and Trust: How to Ease Job Anxiety in the Era of Generative AI

“We value our employees.”

“We stand committed to our people.”

“We want to use AI to enhance what our teams can do, not get rid of them.”?

Put yourself in your employees’ shoes: What would it be like to hear this kind of clear, value-focused messaging from leadership??

I’ve fielded a lot of concerns recently about the impact of generative AI on jobs, and it’s clear that people are worried. Their questions are consistent: How is AI going to change my job? What does AI mean for my future? What does it mean that AI will do my job better than I can?

In talking with friends and family over the holidays, I noticed an additional commonality: a need for leadership messaging around these concerns.??

A recent poll by CNBC SurveyMonkey revealed that 42% of respondents said they are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about AI's impact on their jobs. As we might expect, that concern varies depending on where employees sit within the company.?

Individual contributors were much more likely to express concern than their senior counterparts. This makes sense, partly because those senior roles are not being automated to the extent that individual contributors are.?

Why Employees Are Worried

As someone who has studied disruption for a long time now, I can confidently say that workers are concerned because they are feeling disrupted.?

We feel disrupted when we do not know our place in the world. We see things are changing, and we don’t know how we fit into the new landscape or where we will end up.?

What results is a messy, liminal space that feels directionless. It’s uncomfortable and frightening, made more intense through user exposure. Those individual employees CNBC polled likely have hands-on experience with how AI automates tasks, either through their work directly or through other touchpoints. Because AI is so decentralized, those individuals can see for themselves how their jobs might change.?

Decentralized disruption understandably triggers fear and anxiety, and it requires direct, frequent communication from the highest levels within an organization.?

Whether or not your company has a formal approach to incorporating AI, you must prioritize addressing employee concerns and communicating clearly and honestly with your people.?

The hard part? You might not know where you’re headed.?

So what do you say? How do you reassure your people and shore up as a leader??

Addressing Employee Concerns?

First, let’s debunk the myth that AI will take away jobs. It’s not that cut and dry.?

Consider this visual:

This flow is far from comprehensive, but it helps remind us of the benefits of AI and the real opportunities it offers. Some of the tasks we've had to do in the past—many of them very mundane and tedious—will go away because we can automate them.?

As a result, jobs will change. We’ll have new opportunities. And while some jobs may be eliminated, my conversations with people whose jobs have been directly impacted have shown me this: jobs are getting better.

People have shared that they're enjoying their jobs more. AI can streamline a lot of that heavy lifting, freeing them up to tackle new challenges they may have needed more time to address.?

With this framework in mind, leaders will want to:?

1. Develop a generative AI strategy.?

I’ll say this over and over again: you have to have a plan. It’s okay if that strategy is messy and incomplete at this point. Write it in pencil. Adjust as you go. The important thing is that you have one. Your strategy should:

• Acknowledge the threats and opportunities posed by AI. If we see generative AI only in a negative light (“AI is going to take away jobs!”), we're not looking at the complete picture. Remember the above framework, and adjust your thinking.
• Develop a direction based on values. Remember the quotes that I shared at the start of this newsletter? I lifted that language from organizations that adopted AI more than a year ago. They recognized that AI would change how we work, implemented their rollout thoughtfully, and expressed commitment to their people.?
• Build on existing business strategy. The most successful organizations know their business strategy and build generative AI into it. They take the long view and consider leveraging their talent to be more productive in new areas of revenue generation and profits that they couldn’t do before.?
• Involve HR to map out workforce impact, guidelines, and governance. If you missed it, check last week’s livestream on why HR needs a seat at the AI table.

2. Cultivate a culture of transparency and trust.

Here’s a hard truth: if you do not acknowledge AI’s disruption, you erode trust. You have to discuss it with your teams, ensuring you emphasize your purpose and values as an organization. You’ll want to:

• Listen and offer honest feedback. Ask your employees about their concerns. Acknowledge you might not have all the answers. For them, knowing you are listening and working on your strategy is a huge step in establishing trust.?
• Commit to your people by offering tangibles. Timelines or educational offerings that upskill or reskill are great places to start. Or begin with foundational courses focused on helping your teams better understand generative AI and what it might look like inside the company. Explore LinkedIn and Coursera, and know you can also use AI to create custom courses for your organization!?
• Upskill your leaders. I wrote about this last week , but it bears repeating: the top 100 leaders in your organization need to get up to speed on how to use generative AI and how it will impact their teams. Then, they need to communicate that knowledge back to their people. It’s time to step up!
• Unleash knowledge workers to redefine their tasks. How can AI make their jobs better? Bring them into the conversation.??
• Communicate consistent messaging from the highest parts of the organization. A message like “We don’t have all the answers yet, but we have a general direction” will go a long way. Your employees need to know you see and hear them.?

Your Turn

How are you communicating with your teams and employees about the impact of generative AI on their jobs? How does it impact the way they do those jobs? How are you addressing job anxiety?