Bryan HayVisier, a leader in people analytics and workforce solutions, has unveiled global research highlighting managers’ need for better insights to perform their jobs effectively. The research points to strong enthusiasm for AI as a key solution.
The study reveals that 86% of UK managers (87% overall) are excited about the potential of generative AI tools to improve their roles as people managers.
Additionally, 94% of UK respondents (96% overall) believe that better access to people-related data would increase their decision-making confidence.
Ben Harris, vice president EMEA at Visier, said, “Nearly half of the survey respondents said their current decision-making process is greatly influenced by intuition and practical experience, rather than hard facts.
“Many managers also said that accessing data is time consuming and difficult, so relying on instinct is an everyday reality for most. It’s recognised that people managers in every sector are under severe pressure, and bearing in mind organisations are sitting on vast amounts of useful data, creating access to it – especially for those who aren’t data analysts – will help them with decision-making accuracy and align to overall organisational strategy.
“Through this research, managers said that better people-related data could inform their decisions on hiring, promotions, engagement, productivity and efficiency.”
Visier surveyed over 750 people managers in the UK, U.S., Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland. The results showed a clear belief in leveraging generative AI-powered tools to become better leaders.
52% of UK respondents have already used generative AI tools to support their role as a people manager, compared to 64% overall.
Additionally, 59% of UK respondents use it to help write performance reviews, compared to 49% globally. 93% of UK respondents (81% overall) said they would use a generative AI tool multiple times a week if it provided their desired use cases.
Time savings created by AI would allow 36% of managers to focus on team planning (31% in the UK), and 30% on coaching their team.
In the UK, 29% would use the time for personal learning and development. Trust is a challenge, with 33% of UK respondents concerned about data privacy and security, and 33% reporting their organisations do not allow the use of generative AI tools. Additionally, 15% of UK respondents do not trust generative AI tools.
Keith Bigelow, chief product officer at Visier, said, “Generative AI has the ability to democratise access, providing deep insights within the flow of work, and without the need to become proficient in analytics tools. But its benefits extend beyond the delivery of data to act as a personal coach to every employee, nudging them to ever higher performance, delivering real-time insights in a way that just hasn’t been possible or scalable to date.”
He added, “Managers’ approaches to decision-making should always involve a balance of data-driven insights and experience. The absence of either harms the organisation’s ability to align to strategy and ultimately maintain a competitive edge.”
