AUTHOR | NATALIE ALVAREZ
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, organizational leaders are dealing with challenges associated with integrating artificial intelligence (AI) on top of generational diversity issues. This week’s blog post explores the impact of AI on the workplace and the new debate on “quiet quitting”, based on recent data collected through surveys conducted in the workplace as part of graduate research. We’ll also share strategies for achieving a work-life balance and the skills employees should master to succeed in a workplace that relies on AI.
AI in the Workplace: Generational Perspectives
In today’s business world, employees are familiar with the concept of AI. While Gen Z, the youngest generation, is the most familiar with the tool, surprisingly, Millennials are the least familiar with AI. This discrepancy may be due to Millennials increased familiarity with technologies that emerged before AI. Despite the lower awareness of AI, Millennials do sometimes use AI for work. Baby Boomers and Gen X, despite the familiarity with AI, rarely use the tool in the workplace.
As AI is used more frequently in the workplace, employees are discovering these benefits:
Increased efficiency and productivity: to automate repetitive tasks to free time for strategic work while reducing errors and streamlining processes.
Enhanced creativity and improved writing and workplace communications.
Learning tool: AI can facilitate research and learning and provide alternate perspectives.
However, employees are hesitant to use AI due to these potential drawbacks:
Loss of human skills (critical thinking, creativity) and the authenticity of human communications
Inaccurate information and the need for additional verification
Ethical and social concerns surrounding privacy, a lack of transparency, and a biased system.
Critical Thinking, Adaptability, and AI Literacy: Key Skills for the Future of Work
So, what can current employees and Gen Z individuals entering the workplace learn to set themselves up for success?
Foundational skills including:
Critical thinking: Analyzing information, problem-solving, and decision-making remain essential.
Adaptability: The ability to learn new technologies and adjust to evolving work processes is key. The work of the future may look vastly different than today’s workplace.
AI-Specific skills to effectively leverage AI including:
AI literacy: Understanding the capabilities and limitations of AI, and how to use it ethically and responsibly.
Prompt engineering: Knowing how to effectively interact with and guide AI systems to get desired outputs.
Data analysis: Interpreting data and insights generated by AI to make informed decisions.
Soft skills including:
Emotional intelligence: Empathy, self-awareness, and strong interpersonal skills are crucial for navigating an AI-dependent workplace.
Creativity: Human creativity remains essential for innovation and problem-solving.
Communication: Clear and effective communication remains vital for collaboration and conveying ideas.
Collaboration: Working effectively with both humans and AI systems requires strong collaboration skills.
Initiative: Proactively identifying opportunities to contribute to the team's success.
Employees who can combine these skills will be the most likely to thrive in an AI-dependent workplace.
Flexibility is Key: Achieving Work-Life Balance
Overall, survey respondents expressed satisfaction with their current work-life balance. However, younger employees (Millennials and Gen Z) expressed lower levels of contentment with their current work-life balance.
For older generations, it is important to go above and beyond to show dedication and learn as much as possible in the workplace. But this is not true for Gen Z, who are neutral on the subject. Therefore, the survey data suggests that Millennials are not satisfied with their work-life balance as they put in longer hours at work, while Gen Z may still be figuring out what work-life balance means for them.
Our survey respondents highlighted the below keys to a successful work-life balance. Hint: it all starts with flexibility at work!
Flexibility, including hours, days, and hybrid options allow employees to manage their time and schedules.
Sustainable workload: a work-life balance is only possible with reasonable work expectations and manageable hours.
Clear Boundaries: A defined separation between work time and personal time allows employees to manage their time for their well-being, whether establishing time for family, friends, exercise, or hobbies outside work.
Quiet Quitting – Good or Bad for the Workplace?
This new workplace trend, defined as doing the minimum amount of work required, has generated strong opinions amongst employees. While initial assumptions and research led me to believe this trend was established with Gen Z, among our survey respondents, Gen X and Millennials stated they were more familiar with the trend than Gen Z and Baby Boomers.
While opinions were mixed, the workforce sees this trend as somewhat negative overall. However, the perception improves across generations, with Baby Boomers seeing the trend as most negative and Gen Z displaying some positivity towards this style of work.
When asked why they believed that staff may be engaging in quiet quitting, survey respondents highlighted several key challenges. While the trend of quiet quitting may be new, the reasons why employees may do it are common workplace challenges. Employees who feel a lack of recognition or appreciation at work, are burned out, find limited opportunities for advancement, lack passion about their work, or have a poor work-life balance may engage in doing the minimum amount of work required.
Employees acknowledged this trend is a real response to subpar work environments or an individual’s specific situation. However, they shared the potential negative implications for an unprofessional workplace, including:
Team imbalance – other employees picking up the slack and increasing their workload unfairly
Limited growth – hinders personal and organizational growth
Commitment issues – fosters an environment where employees are not dedicated to the work.
Beyond the challenges associated with the trend, respondents also highlighted the need for communication to address the underlying causes, which may differ for each employee.
Setting Healthy Boundaries: Five Best Practices for Employees
Whether you are a dedicated employee, looking to improve your work-life balance, or improve your empathetic leadership, I’m excited to share the top five boundaries that employees successfully set in the workplace. There remain generational differences in these boundaries, which highlight changes in work styles over time. Reflect on your own working practices to discover if any of these boundaries resonate with you, or if there are any you would add to your toolbox.
Five Best Practices For Improved Work-Life Balance
Take all your vacation time.
Don’t check emails or messages outside of work hours.
Take breaks throughout the day.
Leave work on time.
Communicate your preferred work hours clearly.
The Future of Work: A Collaborative Approach to Success
In an AI-dependent workforce, employees remain a valuable resource within organizations. By addressing the challenges and opportunities driven by AI and harnessing the value of generational diversity, leaders can foster a collaborative and efficient workplace. For employees to succeed, they must embrace AI literacy and focus on upskilling opportunities, while honing critical skills including critical thinking, creativity, and emotional intelligence. Leaders must also address underlying cultural issues leading to quiet quitting through empathetic leadership practices and focusing on work-life balance for their employees. Let's unlock the full potential of our workforce.
Author's Bio
Natalie is a proud San Diego native and currently works as a Senior Financial Analyst for Turner Construction Company. Her expertise in construction management includes engineering, project management, preconstruction, and finance. Natalie’s project experience spans the
aviation, commercial and K-12 education market segments in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Building on her leadership experience across California, Natalie founded the Turner - San Diego Young Professionals group, with the goal of creating a cohesive community of engineering leaders who will become the champions and agents of change for San Diego’s growing market. Through the Young Professionals group, Natalie co-organized a virtual executive coaching session for Turner West Coast staff. Guided by her core values of integrity and equity, Natalie is actively involved in Turner’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives through study action teams, training, and college recruitment efforts. She is passionate about mentoring future engineers and exposing underrepresented students to the industry.
Natalie was recognized by the San Diego Business Journal as a Woman of Influence in Engineering (2021). She serves on the Board of Governors for the USC Alumni Association and is also a board member for The Bishop’s School Alumni Association.
Natalie holds a bachelors and master’s degree in engineering from the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, and a MBA from the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego. In her spare time, she enjoys watching sports, reading, knitting, traveling, and playing golf.
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