Latest news with #Betterworks
Forbes
02-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
If You're A First-Time Bоss, 4 Tips Can Help You Lead Like A Pro
If you're a first-time boss, here are four leadership strategies that will garner you the corner ... More office. Gen Z is the future of work, expected to dominate the workforce by 2030. But truth be told, the rise of young bosses is already happening, and they're already in charge. There are over 6,000 Gen Z CEOs in the U.S. already, and 38% of the younger generation are aiming for leadership roles (more than any other group). Plus, Google searches for 'how to be a young bоss' are up 72% in recent months. If you're a first-time boss, here are expert leadership tips on how you can manage teams, earn respect and avоid first-time pitfalls. Caitlin Collins, organizational psychologist and program strategy director at Betterworks, declares that well-being comes first for this generation. She told me that Gen Z is willing to sacrifice a lot to protect their mental health at work--from lower salaries to forfeiting leadership positions. It's impressive how Gen Z is re-writing the rules of the workplace in 2025, updating and modernizing how work gets done. And they deserve credit for bringing flexibility and work-life balance to the forefront, an important mental health advantage that I've written about for years. Plus, they have popularized micro-shifts, micro-retirement and reverse mentoring where they're coaching older employees. Yet, they have been vilified as lazy, unprofessional and hard to manage. Collins explains why they haven't been given their due and their contributions have been interpreted as opposition to the current state of the workplace. 'The hustle-and-grind narrative that defined startup culture doesn't resonate with Gen Z," Collins explains. 'They're still builders, but they want to innovate from places of sustainability, not exhaustion. They're showing us that performance and well-being are not at odds; they're interdependent.' Referring to Gen Z, Collins says this generation is 1.7 times more likely to avoid traditional leadership roles, and she argues that it's not from fear but intentionality. "Gen Z wants impact without sacrificing their mental health, and they're challenging outdated systems that equate long hours with loyalty.' While the focus on mental health is a breath of fresh air, Avery Morgan, CHRO at EduBirdie, underscores four standard tried-and-true strategies that young bosses also need to lead with confidence--even if you're in your 20s: 'According to the American Society of Training and Development, 70% of managers struggle with delegation,' Morgan points out. 'It's especially hard early on, as fear of losing control or quality gets in the way. However, this skill is key to leadership. Teams that feel trusted are 36% more likely to take ownership of results, and companies that empower employees see 26% more prоfit per head.' Morgan suggests that you start small and find a minor but impactful task to delegate each week, like which metric to feature in the next report. If it seems impossible, she recommends that you imagine there's an emergency, and ask yourself, 'What would you hand оff, and to whom?' Morgan's point is that, instead of just assigning tasks, you give your team the authority to make decisions and be clear about expected outcomes, not just the job to be done. Morgan emphasizes that you don't avоid tough conversations. 'Poor communication causes one-third of projects to fail,' she says. 'Meanwhile, teams that communicate well hit 80% of their goals on time and on budget.' It's important to spot miscommunication early, so you must look out for repeat questions, recurring mistakes, mismatched expectations and passive or vague responses," she advises. 'If someone says, 'Yeah, аll good,' but you're not sure, ask them to recap the next steps. Add a weekly 15-minute 'challenge check-in' meeting to your calendar--no formal agenda, just a safe space where the team can talk about their concerns and identify problems early. And don't try to fix everything immеdiately. Listen, take notes and follow up later.' 'Grеat leaders are often seen as confident, extroverted and commanding,' Morgan notes. 'And while Gen Z rejects toxic workplace culture, the 'tough bоss' stereotype still sticks around, making it feel like chill = weak. Spoiler: it doesn't.' So, how can you strike the right balance? For starters, Morgan advises that you don't try to overcompensate for your insecurities by mimicking what she calls the 'bоss from the book.' Instead, she stresses that you embrace your authentic self and lead by example, not ego. 'Encourage your team to reflect before reacting. Teams led by leaders who prioritize reflection over rushed discussions are 28% more productive. Quiet leadership isn't passive, but powerful.' Morgan points out that Gen Z often gets labeled as 'bad at taking feedback.' But she insists the good news is that top performers don't just ask for feedback, they ask for advice. She cites a study by Harvard researchers, who found that when people are asked to give advice (instead of feedback), they offer 34% more areas for improvement and 56% more actionable suggestions. 'Embrace not having аll the answers,' she suggests. 'It doesn't hurt your authority—it boosts your judgment and opens you up to fresh perspectives. Find mentors, advisors or business coaches who can challenge your thinking. And don't overlook your team—asking for their input builds trust, shows respect and creates a culture where people care deeply about the work.' We often hear people say that good first-time bosses are hard to find, and that may be true, especially when it comes to employee mental health. One of the biggest criticisms of seasoned managers is that they have put the organization and profit before employee wellness. Gen Z is changing the workplace by putting their mental health at the forefront. These young, first-time bosses already possess the top qualities of a great manager: the desire to create "employee-centric" workplace cultures where employee flexibility and work-life balance are top priorities. As a first-time boss, when you prioritize employee mental health and lead with confidence, openness to feedback, clear communication and strong personal connections with employees, age doesn't have to be as big a factor in your leadership abilities.
Forbes
27-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
IBM Replaces Hundreds With AI As HR, L&D Leaders Rethink Roles
Putting the pieces together with AI. IBM has replaced hundreds of workers with AI, and now reports that 94% of routine human resources (HR) tasks are handled by artificial intelligence. However, IBM CEO Arvin Krishna says that AI has allowed the company to expand, not shrink. 'Because AI gives you more investment to put into other areas,' he tells the Wall Street Journal. The company's CTO, Ji-eun Lee, says that the company saw a 'productivity improvement' of over $3.5 billion in the last two years across 70 business units, due to AI. For HR pros, and learning and development (L&D) leaders, this shift towards automation has caused a rethinking of roles - not just a reduction in force. What does it mean to be a leader in HR, as the future of work integrates even further with AI? Nickle Lamoureux, Chief Human Resources Officer at IBM, tells Josh Bersin that AI agents write performance reviews, create development plans and coach managers and senior leaders on multiple performance-based decisions. Bersin, an industry pundit and consultant in HR, forecasts a 20-30% reduction in headcount (per employee) in human resources due to AI advancements, including learning and development, training, and other key functions. Jamie Aitken, VP of HR Transformation at software company Betterworks, calls for a rethinking of what HR really means. "This is the moment to elevate HR from a collection of administrative tasks to a strategic, data-powered driver of business success." A structured, process-oriented approach (with AI as a foundation) is what Aitken advocates. "HR is uniquely positioned to decode what people need to grow, stay, and succeed. That's the power of a systemic approach: better retention, stronger performance, and a culture ready to innovate and adapt.' 'Some tasks will be easily handled by AI,' according to Rasmus Holst, CEO of Zensai, a learning and development software platform company based in Denmark. 'Working alongside AI is the new normal. But bringing on an AI agent is not necessarily a 'senior hire'. The setup and orchestration of AI agents, assigning tasks, and monitoring performance - these things will be guided by humans for a long time to come." Aaron Levie agrees - and he's even more bullish on the power of AI. Levie, the CEO of Box, shared his viewpoint on the Masters of Scale podcast with Bob Saphian. He talks about what AI does best - and how companies can maximize the role of AI agents. Regarding the rise in capabilities of programs like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, he shares, 'The deep research moment of this paradigm is much longer answers in terms of the amount of content you get, takes about five or 10 minutes of kind of thinking time for these AI models, and they're going across the entire up-to-date corpus of the world, which is the internet, to go get the answer.' He emphasizes that AI's role in the enterprise is to augment human capabilities, not replace them. AI agents, he says, will be focused on the tasks that require significant human effort (like deep research and analysis, or responding to basic boilerplate HR questions). The future of work belongs to those who can interact effectively with these AI agents, across all parts of the organization. 'When you have more trivial tasks handled by agents, you need the best people making decisions for you," Holst shares, as he reflects on how humans and AI can work together. "Recruiting and retention becomes even more important, mapping skills between what agents do and what humans do,' he says. 'Our stance is that making humans better is what AI does best,' according to Zensai's Chief Business Officer, Robin Daniels. He shares that the company is focused on Human Success, a rising new initiative among HR pros that focuses on data-driven results and goals. Daniels describes the movement towards Human Success as an 'individual journey to become the best you can be every day, fueled by growth, joy and fulfillment," with technology (metrics) at its foundation. Empower the individual and you empower the organization, according to Daniels. Fostering human success is the prime directive for AI. For HR directors and leaders, understanding how to integrate artificial intelligence is an exercise in collaboration. For HR leaders today, real-time listening, taking action on feedback, and gathering a statistically significant picture around corporate culture is vital to engagement - and strategic relevance. For HR leaders and L&D pros, looking to have a more important seat at the table, the outsourcing of basic functions to AI is evidence of a powerful shift in the future of work. 'Instead of getting stuck in a cycle of fear, HR leaders should view this as a clarion call to rethink the purpose and structure of their organizations," Betterwork's Aitken says. In the age of AI, everyone's role is shifting - and HR leaders are rethinking how collaboration can shape the future of work.
Forbes
04-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Meet Your Digital Teammates That Reason, Act And Collaborate With You
As AI transforms how we work, the American workforce is worried that it will replace them, taking over decision-making and eliminating jobs. According to Gartner, 'Agentic AI offers the promise of a virtual workforce that can offload and augment human work.' And you might soon meet your digital teammates as agentic AI systems move from promise to practice this year. The Pew Research Center finds that 52% Of U.S. employees fear AI could take their jobs. But recent studies show that AI is helping, not hindering productivity. Even in situations where it's eliminating jobs, it's simultaneously creating new ones. In January 2025, AI eliminated over seven thousand jobs from 31 major tech companies, but it was good news in disguise. Laid-off tech workers pivoted careers amid ongoing AI-driven layoffs and found six-figure salaries, flourishing in careers in unexpected sectors. A recent study shows that 61% of business leaders say AI's automated tasks have improved their work-life balance, doing their busywork and freeing their time to focus on more important tasks. The Betterworks 2025 Global HR Research Report also reveals that 75% of employees want to use AI to support their career growth, while 96% insist it can help them advance internally. Jamie Aitken, vice president of HR transformation at Betterworks argues that AI helps managers be more human. This is where AI-powered performance management makes a real impact," Aitken states. 'By enabling the kinds of conversations that lead to skill and career development, AI tools can help managers deliver more timely and personalized conversations, as well as more actionable feedback, making it easier to talk about growth and not just performance.' I wanted to know more about the new technology called agentic AI systems or what experts describe as 'your digital teammates.' I spoke with Kevin Frechette, co-founder and CEO at Fairmarkit, who is at the forefront of applying agentic AI. He tells me that 2025 is the year HR will evolve from autonomous AI that simply assists to agentic AI systems that act independently as teammates to help organizations operate on a global scale. Frechette explains that autonomous AI usually focuses on completing a single task without human involvement, unaware of how that task fits into the bigger picture, whereas Agentic AI is workflow-aware and business-aware. 'You've got a network of agents that collaborate, adapt and pass tasks to one another, all while aligning with broader business objectives' he clarifies. 'It's not just about automating a single step. It's about automating the whole job, with people involved when and where they're needed. That's a huge shift. Autonomous and agentic AI both improve efficiency, but agentic AI brings a deeper level of context, coordination and scale.' He describes how agentic AI systems are made up of multiple AI agents--all working together independently reasoning, acting and collaborating. 'At its core, it's a system of autonomous AI agents designed to handle complex, multi-step workflows, not just single tasks,' he points out. 'These agents can make decisions, coordinate with one another, adapt to real-time inputs and escalate to a supervisor agent when needed. Think of it as a digital team built to move faster, scale smarter and work alongside your human workforce, with people still in control.' To describe how your digital teammates might function, Frechette gives the example of procurement where one agent handles sourcing, another manages vendor compliance and another negotiates pricing. He describes how they're all syncing with each other in real time. 'The real value shows up when these systems operate seamlessly behind the scenes, reducing the manual lift for teams and speeding up execution without sacrificing control or transparency. At Fairmarkit, we're seeing this play out in sourcing, where agents are actually handling work that used to take days in just minutes.' Predictions are that by 2028, your agentic AI digital teammates will make at least 15% of day-to-day work decisions autonomously. Frechette believes HR leaders will be one of the earliest winners with less time spent on manual, administrative tasks and more focus on strategic, people-first workplace initiatives. He lists four major advantages that your digital teammates bring. 1. Speed execution. 'AI agents can complete tasks in seconds that would otherwise take hours, from processing requests to generating reports to triggering follow-ups. This helps teams move faster, clear backlogs and boost performance. AI agents can sift through thousands of resumes, conduct initial interviews and synthesize feedback so hiring teams can handle second-round interviews and onward.' 2. Improve coordination. Agentic AI improves coordination across systems and functions. 'Instead of relying on people to move information from tool to tool, agents talk to each other, hand off tasks and keep workflows moving without delays or dropped steps. On-boarding, for example, usually involves multiple workflows and hand-offs. Agentic AI can autonomously manage each step and ensure all the agents involved are communicating, so nothing gets lost in translation.' 3. Allow autonomy. Agentic AI introduces true autonomy, according to Frechette, 'not just automating tasks but understanding context, making decisions and escalating when needed. That's a game-changer for businesses looking to scale without losing control. AI agents that 'talk' to each other can guide employees across their entire lifecycle--from training to benefits to internal mobility--without added lift from HR teams.' 4. Lengthen human bandwidth. 'Now, even small teams can mobilize a large number of agents to tackle work in parallel, turning a team of five into the output of fifty. That opens up entirely new possibilities for innovation, responsiveness and scale.' Frechette predicts that looking ahead, your digital teammates of agentic AI will shift how companies operate across the board. 'It makes advanced automation accessible to teams that don't have big IT budgets or technical expertise,' he explains. 'But it also raises new questions about ethics, oversight and accountability. That's why the companies that invest in thoughtful design, transparency and human-in-the-loop controls will be the ones that lead the way when it comes to agentic AI.' With AI agents working in sync, Frechette concludes that in a world where one employee can have 20 or 100 AI agents working in sync, you're unlocking an entirely new level of productivity and execution. He insists that your digital teammates are more than automation--they're your digital workforce.
