Valuing human connection in our fast-changing work landscape

I could have used AI to help me write this – to be clear, I don’t have an issue doing that and it’s likely it would have been really good! The reason I didn’t on this occasion is because this [article? Paper? Blog?] is about the even greater importance right now for real human connection and it felt right for me (I’m human!) to connect directly to you to say it.

We all know all about AI now, of course. You may fully celebrate it, or maybe you really don’t like it but it’s most likely you will have feelings somewhere in between; a sense of indignation about the impact it’s having on the world, jobs and opportunities for development, whilst at the same time being amazed at the great things it can do and the time it saves you. Right now, the conversation about the use of AI is one that is sometimes framed around the positives and the opportunities, sometimes the not so positive, and the risks. Again, the fact that there are these opposing views pulling us in different directions is familiar now.

However, within all of this focus, are giving enough attention to the need to keep – or should we now be saying get back – that human connection that is becoming ever more distant in our working lives?

It’s argued that one of the risks from AI is that it can weaken critical thinking, reduce junior learning opportunities, or impact the nuance of understanding from a routine interaction (it may not happen all of the time, but it will certainly happen some of the time) and then that’s when managers and leaders need to be able to step in and connect with their teams. That requires human one-to-one connection for conversation, feedback and coaching – especially when informal learning by osmosis has been reduced.

If organisations are thinking about what can be gained from the advancement in AI but aren’t thinking about how to create these opportunities for human connection that are being lost, then could there be problems coming down the line?

A lot of the work we are doing at Steps at the moment seems to be picking up on some of those themes, although it may not be a fully conscious connection from clients at this stage. There are questions being asked about how leaders can best work with their teams, considering things like generational differences and what it means to behave ‘professionally’ in today’s workplace. There are issues related to maintaining the right culture and having the quality conversations. None of these are themes that in themselves are new, but because of the gap in connection from the way we now work and with the inclusion of AI, it seems to be harder to deal with them than ever before.

In our experience, and in our view, organisations must connect the dots and find ways to have real, human, interactions – preferably in real rooms even! – as this stuff becomes ever more engrained in the ways that we work.