This blog was written by Olga Potaptseva, Founder of ECC and CXPanda.
In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming landscapes across industries, the role of purpose-driven leadership shifts to orchestrating harmony within organizations. Crafting operating models that harmonize the business is a nuanced art of aligning technology, people and processes to create profitable, sustainable, empathetic and inclusive organizations.
A global study from the IBM Institute for Business Value indicates that 40% of the workforce will need reskilling due to AI and automation impacts within the next three years. Moreover, 87% of surveyed executives believe that AI will augment (rather than replace) jobs, affecting various job functions differently.
This article explores effective methods that leaders can use to achieve a harmonious balance, highlighting AI’s transformative power when guided by a clear, purpose-driven vision.
The Rise of Purpose-Driven Leaders and Empathetic Organizations
All organizations are created for a reason: to accomplish goals that we, as individuals, cannot accomplish by ourselves. Plenty of research proves that profit alone is a poor motivator, with a recent paper in “The Journal of Business Ethics” showing that the motivation of employees improves between 17-33% when profit isn’t the organization’s primary objective. Nothing is more inspiring than collaborating to achieve a purpose like Patagonia’s motto: “We’re in business to save our home planet” or Southwest Airlines aim “To connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable and low-cost air travel.”
Purpose-driven organizations attract the best talent and customers.
Purpose-driven leadership is a style in which a clear, meaningful purpose guides the leader’s actions and decisions. This type of leadership is characterized by empowerment, collaboration, transparency and empathy — and it sits well with the employees of the future. According to our research on employee experience innovation, trust, social cohesion, purpose, professional development, empathetic leadership and inclusivity top the list of employee needs. Also notable needs would be an appropriate environment that supports flexibility and productivity and wanting to feel valued and have a say in the organization.
Only with a synergy of advanced technology and organizational empathy can you craft a dynamic workplace landscape, where every voice counts and productivity is a given.
Organizational empathy refers to the capacity of a company and its employees to understand, relate to and share the feelings of its customers and each other. It involves recognizing emotions, using them to facilitate communication and responding to challenges with emotional intelligence.
In practice, it can mean creating a culture of empowerment and collaboration, as exemplified by a strong leadership approach. AI amplifies purpose-driven leaders’ abilities to communicate their vision, listen proactively, enable people and orchestrate harmony.
Implementing Strategies for Business Harmony
Purpose-driven AI propels one of the biggest banks in the UAE to banking excellence while prioritizing people. The bank aims to create opportunities for prosperity. Its ambitious vision to be the most innovative bank for its customers, people and communities can undoubtedly put a lot of pressure on software developers, workplace productivity and collaboration practices.
To support its employees in coping with the pace of change, being resourceful, creative and taking ownership, the bank pioneered the use of generative AI to redefine its operations.
Software development: The bank has deployed an AI copilot to enhance coding efficiency among its developers. This AI-powered tool suggests code snippets and functions, boosting development speed and software quality.
Workplace productivity: Generative AI capabilities are being tested to automate repetitive tasks and assist with content generation and decision-making, aiming to create a more agile and intelligent workplace.
Customer and internal communications: ChatGPT is used across various departments, including customer support and compliance, improving responsiveness and personalization in customer interactions while streamlining internal communications.
The results have been transformative. The use of these AI tools has not only streamlined operations but also enhanced customer service and internal innovation. The bank’s proactive approach demonstrates the power of purpose-aligned AI in redefining traditional banking processes and enhancing both employee and customer experiences.
Supportive Talent Management
Generative AI tools will likely augment 87% of roles, enhancing job functions rather than substituting them. This was the case for the Talent Management team at one company; it aimed to achieve better employee development practices, offer timely help and support, and reduce hiring biases. The deployment of AI in HR, when aligned with empathy and DEI principles, not only enhances operational efficiency but also plays a crucial role in building a supportive, inclusive and forward-looking workplace culture.
Let’s look at an imaginary, yet relatable, case study. Emily, the HR manager at ACME Corp., cannot fully immerse herself in analyzing 50-plus emails she had been copied on daily. With her workload, she could easily miss this one, coming from a slightly discouraged employee to their team:
Dear Team,
As I reflect on our collective journey here at ACME Corp., I find myself pondering the significance of inclusion and value within our workplace. Each day, we come together, driven by shared goals and aspirations, yet I can’t help but feel that some voices, perhaps including my own, may not always feel fully heard or acknowledged.
In our quest for excellence, it’s crucial that every member of our team, even the junior ones, feels valued and included, their perspectives appreciated, and contributions recognized. After all, it’s the diversity of ideas and experiences that enriches our collective efforts and propels us toward success.
Thank you,
Darren
Had Emily had intelligent sentiment analyzer tools, it would have helped her detect emotions and social tendencies in written text, more comprehensively alerting her to Darren’s sentiment and enabling her to address concerns related to workplace culture and inclusion.
Ethical AI tools can greatly support People Leaders in identifying DEI issues, sustainability concerns, skill augmentation needs, career progression opportunities, talent retention risk management, and bias identification and mitigation in recruitment. With 25 potential ethical risks identified by Princeton University interdisciplinary EI and Ethics workshops, AI must be implemented with extra care and consideration for potential issues in privacy, fairness, diversity, democracy, inequality, paternalism, transparency, censorship and others.
Harnessing AI’s Potential to Create Harmony
From everything discussed, can we say AI is a threat to empathy and humanity in organizations? Of course not.
Purpose-driven leaders are uniquely positioned to harness AI’s potential to create harmonious business environments. By integrating AI thoughtfully and ethically, these leaders can enhance productivity, innovation and inclusivity, as demonstrated by forward-thinking organizations. When aligned with a clear and human-centered vision, AI augments human capabilities and ensures that every voice within the organization is valued.
In essence, technological advancements don’t pose a threat capable of replacing or devaluing the human element in organizations. Instead, they merely alter and challenge operational models and styles, prompting leaders to adopt a mindset centered on harmony.
Want to learn more about how to align people, technology and processes for sustainable success? Visit European Customer Consultancy online today or contact us.
