I have just asked ChatGPT to give me a performance management strategy and policy for a 1000 employee organisation where high technical skills are important, engagement is falling, there are grumblings and conflict over WFH and profits are flat.

I received a very comprehensive strategy – a few things I would definitely disagree with, but about 80% credible and plausible.

What happens if the CEO of this (fictional) company does this and hands the policy to their HR leads saying ‘get on with it’?

The work has apparently been done, but it hasn’t actually been done at all.  No-one has bought into this strategy – not even the CEO.  No-one has thought about the implications of implementing the strategy: the push back, the benefits, who gains, who perceives they might lose.   The strategy has not been developed through engagement, so it will feel imposed.  Let’s be honest, it is being imposed.

To make this new strategy work, the HR team will have to unpick every element of the AI recommendations, consider the implications for the company from multiple perspectives, then go back to the Leadership Team with a comprehensive analysis of the ‘proposals’.  The Leadership Team will need to consider the proposals, the challenges, and then think about the budget of time, resources and cash to implement the changes.

In other words, the AI ‘solution’ has given some starting points for conversations, and if you dug deeper it might suggest ways to deal with potential difficulties – but what it cannot do is make the company leaders think about performance.

Indeed, the AI solution implies that they don’t have to think at all.  AI has done the thinking for them.   AI has come up with a well written, plausible scenario based on a few prompts.  Imagine if the HR Director arrived with a strategy written in that way – no engagement with leaders, no discussions with staff, just ‘based on my experience this is what I think’.  I suspect they would send that person away to do some serious engagement before considering their proposal.

Am I saying don’t use AI tools to help manage and improve performance?

Of course not!  I’m suggesting that outsourcing our thinking as people leaders is a bad idea.   By all means use AI as a starter for ten, but make sure you then fully engage as a Leadership Team.  Treat the proposals just as you would from a member of staff if you thought all they had done was copy something from the internet.  Interrogate, test, think.

If you would like to speak to us about the use of AI to support Performance Management in your organisation – the risks and rewards – drop us a quick email, and we can fix a short Teams call.

Hedda

01491 411 544

info@3cperform.co.uk