Learning AI: A Second Job?

The manager felt like he was doing a different job than his teammates were. He had arranged a call to learn how people were using AI and to brainstorm ideas that could potentially be scaled across the organization. Some of his teammates had already tapped AI agents to handle schedules, emails, weekly client updates, and file searching. Others had marshaled the technology to provide daily summaries of meetings from adjacent teams. But he himself didn’t have much to contribute other than his own use of ChatGPT as a tool to find data and other information.

AI is weighing on the minds of employees everywhere, as more firms are pressing them to adapt to the technology. According to data compiled by LinkedIn, 51% of professionals feel that learning the skills needed for AI feels like having another job. The result can be a new level of stress. Indeed, the site has seen 82% more posts this year from people who are feeling overwhelmed by AI. “People are being bombarded by AI messaging, and it’s creating a very real feeling of anxiety,” says Todd Blaskowitz, a senior client partner on the AI strategy and transformation team at Korn Ferry.

To be sure, surveys have found that many employees are eager to get AI training. But the learning curve isn’t the same for everyone. Part of the problem, says Jamen Graves, global leader of CEO and enterprise leadership development at Korn Ferry, is that leaders, in their quest to justify the AI costs, may be trying to shift mindsets and behaviors too quickly. Indeed, some experts worry that something like “AI shame” is developing for a not insignificant segment of workers. LinkedIn data shows more than one-third of people admit to feeling embarrassed by how little they understand AI, as well as to being nervous about discussing it at work for fear of sounding uninformed. “Leaders are saying AI is going to change everything, but not sharing a vision for how that connects to people’s everyday work,” says Graves.

For her part, Laura Manson-Smith, global leader for organization strategy consulting at Korn Ferry, says that the elimination of middle managers has created a “translation gap” between what leaders want from AI and the day-to-day realities of those using it. “A CEO can have the best strategy in the world on paper, but if managers aren’t able to translate that into practical actions and priorities for workers, it will never get implemented,” she says.

Blaskowitz says leaders need to work to dispel the culture of embarrassment around AI adoption. “People have to be able to admit what they don’t know,” he observes. He suggests leaders serve as role models by conceding they don’t have all the answers when it comes to AI, either. Asking for help, he says, is nothing for workers to be ashamed of. “A lot of people are just pretending they know a lot about AI,” he says.

More importantly, experts say that changed mindsets, at least for employees, will come from small experiments that result in incremental gains. Some firms and leaders are incorporating AI updates, discussions, and informal get-togethers into internal communications to highlight use cases and build engagement and curiosity for employees. “That’s what will lead to the big, broad, transformational experiences,” says Blaskowitz. 

Learn more about Korn Ferry’s AI in the Workplace capabilities.

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