Accenture Report Finds Perception Gap Between Workers and C-suite Around Work and Generative AI
- None.
- Two-thirds of executives lack the technology and change leadership expertise needed for the reinvention required to fully leverage gen AI.
To achieve the full potential of AI, organizations must reinvent work, reshape the workforce and prepare workers
To do this, leaders must commit to learning and leading in new ways that deliver economic value, drive business growth and benefit their people. Yet two-thirds of executives say they do not have the technology and change leadership expertise to drive the reinvention needed to fully leverage the transformative power of gen AI.
The report, “Work, workforce, workers: Reinvented in the age of generative AI,” highlights organizations’ conflicting views about how to achieve the promise of gen AI and reveals a critical gap in trust. While
The findings show the gap between workers’ and business leaders’ perceptions of the impact of AI in the workplace. While almost
Building on Accenture’s earlier research on unlocking human potential in the workplace, this latest report shows that leaving people “Net Better Off,” including supporting learning and well-being, is a clear pathway to building trust and a smoother adoption of gen AI. Among employees in the top quartile for feeling Net Better Off, people expressed greater comfort with the technology—particularly in terms of how they can apply it to their work.
“Success starts with leaders who are willing to learn and lead in new ways, to scale gen AI responsibly, to create value and ensure work improves for everyone,” said Ellyn Shook, chief leadership and human resources officer, Accenture. “It starts with asking a simple question: are people ‘net better off’ working here? This not only unlocks people’s potential and drives bottom-line growth, but also paves the way for workers feeling comfortable, trusting and ready to work with gen AI. What we’ve learned from the past as leaders is that what happens next is up to us. The best outcomes are ours to shape.”
‘Reinventors’ leading critical changes
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“Generative AI has a more profound impact than any technology that has come before it. Our research underscores the need for organizations to have a gen AI reinvention strategy that addresses the full value chain, not just roles and tasks where AI can augment or automate how we already operate,” said Paul Daugherty, chief innovation and technology officer, Accenture. “When we look at scaling AI it needs to be through a holistic lens that reimagines how work is done, how to lead a workforce through that change, and how it can be a better experience for all.”
As part of their reinvention strategy, leading organizations are working to build an agile workforce by investing in skills mapping and data integration, so they have the predictive insights to ensure the right mix of skills to grow their people’s capabilities and their business. They are twice as likely to invest in growing people’s soft skills, along with tech skills, and twice as likely to anticipate workforce productivity gains of
This agility must start at the top. For leaders to successfully bring a change of this magnitude into their organization, they must ensure that work—not only what they do, but how they do it—works for everyone. Nearly all workers surveyed (
As the future of work continues to evolve, people-centric approaches, including actively engaging employees to understand and act on concerns and build trust, will set leading organizations apart in both performance and culture.
To learn more about how organizations can position themselves, and their people, for growth as they scale gen AI, read the full report: Work, workforce, workers: Reinvented in the age of generative AI.
About the research
This report’s insights are anchored in two complementary research approaches: (1) economic modeling, data science and global surveys to understand the broader macro, labor and industry trends surrounding gen AI and work; and (2) experimental and ethnographic techniques to analyze the work experiences, mindsets and approaches happening at the individual employee and organization levels.
Collectively, these survey, interview and other ethnographic approaches yielded data points from over 7,000 C-suite leaders (CXOs) and 5,000 workers of large organizations (>
Please see the Research Methods section of the report for more information.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent- and innovation-led company with approximately 743,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible outcomes because of our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song. These capabilities, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240115827084/en/
Katy Rosati
Accenture
+1 917 452 6662
kathryn.rosati@accenture.com
Source: Accenture
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