AI can’t take management’s place

Does your work phone ring as often as it used to? Do your team members stop by to ask questions as frequently as they once did? If your answer is no, AI may be to blame.

According to recent research, employees are increasingly turning to AI for answers — instead of their managers and leaders. In a 2024 Adobe study, 68% of employees said they would rather seek solutions from an AI agent than their own manager. And if their question was sensitive or awkward, workers were found to be 17 times more likely to turn to AI than their own leadership.

While some may chalk these trends up to progress and applaud the time AI is saving us, I’m not convinced that the news is positive. A few of my concerns:

Why do employees feel uncomfortable going to their managers?

How do managers know when their employees are struggling or in need of support?

Are we losing opportunities for passing on organizational knowledge and sharing professional experience by sidestepping human interactions?

Admittedly, there are efficiencies to be gained by tapping into the power of AI first. There’s no doubt that both employees and their organizations are reaping benefits from the incredible technological advancements evolving in real time. At the organization I lead, HR Source, we already have myriad use cases that have streamlined our internal operations, boosted staff effectiveness, provided actionable business intelligence, and improved the service we provide to employers.

But none of these advancements would be as valuable without the behind-the-scenes, personal interactions that instigated and fueled the experimentation, testing, review, and implementation of each project. The work we’re leaning into AI for help with is linked to, and in tandem with, the goals, strategies, and tactics discussed in team meetings, individual conversations, and other personal interactions.

So, how can we encourage employees to feel more comfortable seeking answers from their managers?

First, we should regularly encourage employees to speak up. This can be as simple as informally asking employees what they’re working on and what they could use help with. More formally, regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings can make these discussions more comfortable and can boost the chance that employees will seek out guidance between meetings.

Second, we need to make ourselves available.

Following the COVID lockdown, when employers started implementing their RTO (return to office) policies, junior to mid-level employees who were back in the office and looking for help frequently complained that managers and leadership were not readily available. This was sometimes due to policies that exempted managers or longer-tenured team members from in-office requirements, or alternately, because those managers spent most of their day behind closed doors.

Then, as now, leadership separation has a chilling effect on employee engagement, effectiveness, and on organizational success overall.

By no means am I discouraging the use of AI in the workplace. A recent study by the Work AI Institute, powered by Glean Technologies, reported that 87% of us now use AI at work. That’s great news! But the disturbing downside is that 61% of those surveyed reported that AI helps them more with their day-to-day work than their manager does.

We can do better! While AI is fantastic at crunching data, summarizing information, and saving time, it’s not capable of providing context, lending a physical helping hand, or discussing a specific organizational decision. People are still at the heart of healthy organizations with personal interactions fueling connection and innovation. AI has a vital role to play, but people still need people to learn and grow.

• Mary Lynn Fayoumi is president and CEO of HR Source in Downers Grove.