There is no organisation without an organisational culture. How is the rise of artificial intelligence turning this around? What can a company do to ensure that one doesn’t eat the other, that the benefits of AI are harnessed by employees and the threats are managed well?
The article by Dr. Ildikó Magura, Managing Partner of Flow Consulting was published on HR Portal (in Hungarian):
The importance of organisational culture cannot be overstated: there is no organisation without an organisational culture! The values, habits and behaviours of a company or institution are fundamental to its operation and success. Over the past decades, countless examples have shown that even the best-formulated strategy is worthless without a healthy, supportive organisational culture, or “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” But what about artificial intelligence? Does AI eat culture for “lunch”? Or, on the contrary, can AI shape organisational culture?
These are the questions we are now beginning to explore, to see if AI and culture can be at peace and in friendship, how AI affects organisational culture, and how the two can be brought into close cooperation.
Our belief as organisational developers is that they are/will be at peace and in friendship with each other, because what AI cannot do, human beings can do, and what humans cannot do (or not fast enough), AI will help.
The intersection of AI and organisational culture
The rise of artificial intelligence in the business world is inevitable. Its application is spreading rapidly in many areas – from data analytics, to customer service, to manufacturing process automation. However, the adoption of AI raises not only technological but also human issues. How are employees embracing the new technology? What impact will AI have on human relationships and communication in the workplace? How can AI be integrated so that it brings not only technological benefits, but also cultural development?
Indeed, AI also offers the opportunity to develop the internal values and behavioural norms of the organisation. In addition to supporting data-driven decision-making, it can also increase the efficiency of work processes and improve communication between employees. For example, AI-based analytics can help measure employee satisfaction, identify areas for improvement and design personalised improvement programmes.
AI can also help support organisational learning and development. Through intelligent training systems and virtual assistants, employees can continuously develop their skills and knowledge at their own pace and according to their preferences.
Tackling staff anxiety
However, the introduction of AI can also create anxiety and fear in employees. They may fear that AI will replace them or that they will not be able to keep up with technological advances. How to address these anxieties and fears – communicating the goals and benefits of AI implementation in an empathetic and supportive way – is therefore an important consideration.
It is important to make employees feel that AI is not against them, but for them. Monotonous, repetitive tasks performed by AI free up time for creative, strategic thinking tasks, which increases employee satisfaction and organizational engagement.
Inspired by success stories
The right way forward is to look for, read and study concrete case studies and practical examples of how AI and organisational culture can work together in reality. We can draw inspiration from examples of organisations with successful AI implementations, and learn how AI can be applied in a way that leads to real cultural change.
The relationship between AI and organisational culture is much deeper and more complex than you might first think. Their introduction to each other invites all professionals and stakeholders on an exciting and thought-provoking journey to explore together how AI can transform workplace culture and how technological advances can become a tool for developing organisational values and norms.
This will be discussed in more detail at the Training Roundtable Conference on 2 October:
Dr. Ildikó Magura will give her presentation at 1:30 p.m.
I’ve been working in HR field at companies for 27 years, 24 out of these as HR manager. I gained experience in companies of all types and sizes, from large American multinationals to large Hungarian companies, from FMCG to agriculture and the IT Telco sector.
Organization Development Consultant, Leadership Expert, Facilitator and Business Simulations Trainer. Partner and Consultant at Flow Group in Central Asia. Professionally helps people and organizations to reinvent and transform through changes to build lasting impact.
Co-Founder of FLOW Group International, I combine a passion for future trends and innovative approaches to life improvement, with expertise in People, Organizations and Culture Development.
Ian’s talent is translating complexity into simplicity. This applies especially well in his chosen areas of M&A, Leadership, Executive Coaching, Executive Team Alignment, Change Management & Strategy which he performs all over the world.
I am a qualified economist and have an MBA degree. After 7 years in HR consulting I spent 4 years in senior management positions working for ICT companies. I returned to consulting in the spring of 2005 as an associate managing director of Creanova; I work as a partner and senior consultant/trainer of the Flow Group.
Starting out at the University of Economics and most of all with the priceless experience AIESEC provided to me in as a student, I can now look back on a multifarious, colorful and successful career of 20 years.
Economist by education, Organization Development consultant by profession, one of the founding partners of Flow. I had my share of middle and top-level management exercise in multinational environment at the early years of my professional career. During the 35 years gained experience in the airline and courier industries, built a few successful consulting organizations, steered a school and a technology start-up. Experienced in leadership on the practical and the development sides as well. Recently I’ve enjoyed working in agile leadership and Organizational Network Analysis.
I am an organization development consultant, a senior trainer, a founding member and the managing partner of the Flow Group. I have been into organization development for 15 years and have 20 years of experience with running training courses.
Andrea Frenyo
