Want a real-world look at how AI is reshaping work without the hype? Dr. Mary Hayes joins us to explore what employees actually feel about AI, why optimism varies across countries and roles, and how leaders can turn uncertainty into momentum through honest, practical communication. We dig into ADP Research findings that reveal a surprising truth: many executives admit they don’t yet know how AI will change their jobs, and that vulnerability can be the key to building trust when paired with clear use cases and feedback loops.
We break down where AI helps today—automating repetitive Q&A, speeding data analysis, and freeing people to handle nuanced conversations—and where it still falls short in creativity, common sense, and emotional intelligence. You’ll hear a simple framing that sticks: AI won’t necessarily replace you, but someone using AI might. The path forward is to make the technology a tool for every employee and to design learning experiences that meet people at different stages of their careers.
Dr. Hayes shares a practical blueprint for upskilling across three role types—knowledge workers, cycle workers, and skilled task workers—highlighting how each group perceives readiness and investment differently. We talk about bridging soft-skill gaps in communication and critical thinking, especially after years of disrupted education, and we offer ideas for peer coaching that pairs digital fluency with deep domain judgment. Expect concrete steps: start with focused pilots, publish what works, measure time saved and quality gains, and keep the conversation open so adoption feels collaborative, not imposed.
If you’re leading teams through AI change or figuring out where to begin, this conversation will help you craft transparent messages, pick high-value use cases, and build durable skills that machines can’t imitate. Listen, share with your team, and tell us: what’s the first workflow you’ll pilot with AI? Subscribe, leave a review, and join us at HRGazette.com for more research and episodes.
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Episode Transcript
Welcome to the HR Chat Show, one of the world's
most downloaded and sharedpodcasts designed for HR pros,
talent execs, tech enthusiasts,and business leaders.
For hundreds more episodes andwhat's new in the world of work,
subscribe to the show, follow uson social media, and visit
hrgazette.com.
SPEAKER_02 (00:26):
Dr.
Mary Hayes, welcome to the HRChat Show.
Thank you very much for being myguest today.
SPEAKER_03 (00:31):
It is my honor, Bill.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (00:33):
As we always do on this show, why don't you start
by taking a couple of minutesand uh telling our listeners a
bit about your academic andcareer background?
SPEAKER_03 (00:42):
My career started actually in theater years and
years ago.
And it wasn't until uh later inlife that I realized that I
loved math and I loved research.
And so I went back to school andgot my master's degree in
educational psychologymeasurement, qualitative and
(01:05):
quantitative measurement, um,and also found a love for survey
research methodology.
My doctorate is in leadership,and my love for HR is really
giving the voice to theemployees so that we as
professionals can help themalong the journey of it's not
(01:30):
just a job, but it becomes a joyfor them.
And I've been doing this forroughly 20 years.
SPEAKER_02 (01:40):
Wonderful.
Thank you very much.
So is that empowering employeepiece, the uh giving employees a
voice?
Is that is that the reason whyyou get up in the morning?
SPEAKER_03 (01:50):
Yes.
Um, I think there are timeswhere we dread going to work.
And for me, that is never thecase.
I get up and I want to tell thestories.
I want to help workers navigatethe world of work through
(02:14):
positive, strengtheningactivities.
And if I can do that throughgiving them a voice and helping
HR know what employees arefeeling and will be doing if
they do have that opportunity tosucceed at work.
SPEAKER_02 (02:32):
One of the key findings from ADP Research is
People at Work 2025 report on AIfound that 17% of workers
globally, 15% of workers in theUS, and 12% of workers in Canada
believe that AI will positivelyimpact their job.
For organizations, Dr.
Mary, looking to uh to implementAI within their workforce, what
(02:57):
are some of the benefits orpositive impacts their employees
may encounter when when tryingto get the most from AI?
SPEAKER_03 (03:04):
Well, AI presents significant opportunities for
efficiency, innovation, but italso should give us pause and
allow us to carefully considerthe impact on the workforce.
Um it can be transformative, butit can also be scary.
(03:29):
Um the global survey that wejust ran in uh July to August of
last year, we asked theemployees about their feelings
about um the positivecontribution of AI, openness and
understanding of it, and askedthem if they feared it uh for
(03:50):
losing their jobs to technology.
What we found is that fororganizations, transparency and
communication need to be key.
They need to allow workers tosee in behind the curtain, to
(04:10):
say, this is why we're tryingthis, this is why we believe
it's going to be beneficial.
Um AI can automate tasks, makepredictions, analyze data at
lightning speed, but AI haslimitations in creativity,
emotional intelligence, as wellas common sense.
(04:33):
So employers need to helpworkers understand the business
need and how it will help themin the future.
SPEAKER_01 (04:43):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the HR Chat
Podcast.
If you enjoy the audio contentwe produce, you'll love our
articles on the HR Gazette.
Learn more at HRGazette.com.
And now back to the show.
SPEAKER_02 (04:59):
Let's uh, as we like to see on this show, offer some
tangible takeaways for ourlisteners then.
What are a couple of things thatleaders can do to better
communicate the value of AI, theuse cases of AI, how it's going
to augment and help employemployees' roles?
You know, what what what aresome things that you've seen
that work?
SPEAKER_03 (05:18):
One of the when we began this this line of research
with the global study, I Ipaused and thought, what would
the worker know about AI?
What what voice could I give tothe worker?
(05:38):
And in that we sought tounderstand their perspectives
because AI is so diverse, wedidn't necessarily define it for
them.
So, how organizations implementAI through a tool that helps to
(06:01):
mine data?
Um, one of the things that I'veseen lately is they take um
frequently asked questions, andinstead of the worker having to
go find the responses, they theymine what has been provided to
employees before on umhealthcare issues or questions.
(06:25):
That used to be someone's job isto provide all those answers.
Now workers can go that one stepfurther and provide um the more
complex answers that couldn't besolved through AI.
So one of the things that ourstudy find was our study found
(06:48):
was that workers in the C-suiteand upper management were the
most likely to strongly agreewith the statement.
Currently, I have no idea abouthow AI will change my job.
And an important part of thetransparency for leaders is
admitting that they don't haveall the answers yet, and that
(07:08):
we're in it to discover ittogether.
SPEAKER_02 (07:13):
Excellent.
Thank you very much.
Um, so the AI report found thatthe younger the worker, the more
likely they were to showoptimism about the future of AI
in the workplace.
Um, that makes sense for a fewreasons.
How can employers leverage thatenthusiasm and upskill their
younger employees so they theyknow what AI tools to use to
(07:37):
help them with their jobs?
But also, of course, how canthose employers make sure and uh
and encourage older generationsso they don't feel like they're
being left behind?
SPEAKER_03 (07:48):
Absolutely.
So younger workers are at thebeginning of their careers,
those under 40, and what we seeacross a lot of the sentiment is
that they are open to thepossibilities and are positive
(08:08):
in their outlook of what's tocome in the world of work.
If we think about it, theinternet was invented just 40
years ago, and the youngermembers of our workforce have
had computers in their livesfrom the beginning.
The need to upskill might bemore of a you already know how
(08:33):
to do it, let's refocus thatinto how it works in the world
of work.
As for older workers, some of usare keen to the the
possibilities of AI and um cansee the benefits, but some of
the workers at the end of theircareers need to understand how
(08:58):
it can benefit them as well.
Um even as simple as learningthe process and helping navigate
for customers and consumers ofwhatever product or service
they're using, help the olderworker, help the older user of
(09:21):
the system by using their ownknowledge of how they gained uh
access to the AI in the firstplace.
SPEAKER_02 (09:31):
Okay, very good.
Thank you very much.
As I like to do on this showsometimes, I'm gonna mix it up
now and I am gonna challengeyou, maybe to summarize some of
the things you just mentionedthere.
But um between the research fromthe People at Work 2025 AI
report and today's discussion sofar, in 60 seconds or less, Dr.
Mary, what is the main thing,the number one thing that
(09:54):
employers and business leadersshould be excited about when it
comes to AI and how that's goingto impact the world of work?
SPEAKER_03 (10:02):
It's not necessarily going to replace you, but
someone will replace you usingAI.
That it's another tool in thetoolbox of the worker that if I
know how to do it, similar to ifyou know how to use Excel,
you're gonna be heads and tailsabove someone who's doing hand
(10:26):
calculations.
So we just need to realize thatthe workforce is at a place
where they have a contradictoryset of emotions, excitement
about the potential, but fear ofthe ultimate impact.
And part of the contradictioncan be attributed to anxiety
(10:47):
about the unknown.
So it varies by sector, itvaries by country, um, even the
idea of positive impact.
Countries like Egypt are at thetop of positive impact, and the
US and and Canada are in thebottom third of the 34 markets
(11:07):
that we looked at.
So talk about it with youremployees, decide what benefit
it has, and communicate that sothat they're not ready to walk
out the door just because theydon't feel like they fit in.
SPEAKER_02 (11:23):
A lot of reports though are suggesting that up to
30% of jobs globally will bewill be lost, will be replaced
by 2030.
So you do understand why a lotof people are fearful, but I
think there's also a hugeopportunity for people if they
do upskill and uh and they geton board.
The reports on AI is part of thelarger People at Work 2025
(11:46):
series, of course, whichfeatures data-driven workplace
insights from ADP research.
Could you now discuss some ofthe key findings from the People
at Work 2025 reports on skillsdevelopment and engagement in
the workplace and how employerscan look at these points to
drive more progress within theirorganizations?
SPEAKER_03 (12:07):
For skills, we wanted to know if they felt the
worker felt ready, and if therewas a disconnect between
employers investing in them, intheir skills.
And again, we see youngerworkers feel that they are ready
(12:29):
for the next three years of thechallenge.
Um, but in particular, knowledgeworkers.
So we separate our workers intothree groups.
We have knowledge workers, andwe define that as they have a
level of freedom to use theirexpertise to create something
new.
Um, a cycle worker, which is asomeone who does similar
(12:50):
repetitive tasks every day.
And then in the middle of thosetwo is the worker who uses their
expertise to solve similarproblems every day.
So they're doing the same thingevery day, but they have a
higher level of expertise.
So we could think of them asnurses and and practitioners.
(13:12):
Well, knowledge workers feelmuch more prepared for the next
three years than psycho workers,and skilled task workers fall
somewhere in between.
The truth is that they theknowledge worker also feels that
their employer is ready toinvest in them, and the cycle
(13:37):
worker is at about eight percentfeel that their organization is
investing in them.
Skills development is again oneof those larger um constructs
where we think about what doesskills development mean for a
cycle worker versus a knowledgeworker?
(13:59):
The the track or the ability toum navigate that teachings or
learnings is employer dependent.
So we wanted to know is uheducation a factor in skills
development?
And we did find that those withhigher education felt more um
(14:22):
ready for the future, but noteveryone, right?
So um 24% of them wereconfident, so that still left a
whole bunch that weren't asconfident about the next three
years.
So as AI takes off and skillsare necessary, organizations
(14:45):
need to think about what is thisbeing taught in education or do
I need to teach it?
Are skills around communicationand email communication being
taught in schools?
I have I I have some someyounger uh children, um they
(15:07):
would fight mean that they'reyoung, they're 20 something.
Um they f their friends thinkthat using punctuation is angry
or aggressive.
So when I reply to their textswith full sentences, they think
that I'm I'm irritated or upset.
(15:29):
We need to help workers who havebeen doing things um shorthand,
not using punctuations,transition into learning how to
communicate in the businessworld.
These are the things that gounsaid, but are very important.
Being able to critically think,those are those are skills that
(15:54):
might not have been taught.
We also have a a group ofindividuals who have lost five
years of their education or ortwo to three years because of
the recent pandemic.
We need to meet them where theyare and help bridge that gap of
(16:15):
those soft skills as well ashard skills that they need to
learn.
SPEAKER_02 (16:20):
Okay, very good.
I would just add that um I don'tthink it would be terrible if
your average leader learned afew more emojis uh and and added
that to the to our conversationfrom time to time and uh you
know came down to the level ofuh of their employers too when
it comes to the two-way streetthere.
Um okay, before we wrap up fortoday, Dr.
Mary, how can our listenersconnect with you and learn more
(16:41):
about all of the amazingresearch that you and your team
get up to?
SPEAKER_03 (16:46):
The institute, now known as ADP Research, um, is
online and all of the work thatwe've done over the years is
available um as well as there'sa place where that you can sign
up and and become a um consumerof our our information.
We do have email campaigns.
(17:08):
We're also on LinkedIn as wellas um Instagram and X, I think
it is.
Um, but for the most part, go tothe website and you can download
all of the research um and learnmore.
And there's also a place whereyou can ask questions.
So feel free to reach out ifsomething is is that we haven't
(17:33):
covered is something that youwant us to look at, as long as
it's in the wheelhouse of theworld of work.
SPEAKER_02 (17:40):
Excellent.
And I personally have just sentyou a LinkedIn connection
request because I think you'recool.
Um very good.
That just leaves me to say fortoday.
Dr.
Mary, thank you very much foryour time.
SPEAKER_03 (17:49):
Thank you so much, Bill.
You have a great afternoon,evening, or whatever it is where
you are.
SPEAKER_02 (17:55):
And listeners, as always, until it's afternoon, by
the way.
Uh as always, until next time.
Happy working.
SPEAKER_00 (18:05):
Thanks for listening to the HR Chat Show.
If you enjoyed this episode, whynot subscribe and listen to some
of the hundreds of episodespublished by HR Gazette?
And remember, for what's new inthe world of work, subscribe to
the show, follow us on socialmedia, and visit hrgazette.com.
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