Europe is at the brink of a massive opportunity.
European workplaces have a world of potential to tap into. According to Gallup, just 13 percent of European employees are fully engaged at work. While that’s 10 percentage points behind the global average of 23 percent – the avenues to hurdle the challenge are immense too. I say this with confidence, based on another fact. A recent BCG report highlights that while 72% of professionals worldwide use AI regularly, frontline adoption has stalled globally at 51% consistently, and key European nations still lag behind regions like India (92%) and the Middle East (87%) in overall usage. This suggests a comparatively less enthusiastic or slower broad uptake.
Unlucky coincidence? I prefer to think of it as a likely correlation considering that AI usage has been linked to better employee engagement in organizations around the world.
This also means that working to fix the AI lag among European employers, by facilitating improved gen AI adoption, along with reskilling and literacy initiatives is the need of the hour and the opportunity to create more engaging workplaces is both undeniable and exciting. In addition, Europe, perhaps is best equipped to counter the many valid concerns over AI risks – after all, Europe is the leader in data & AI regulation, the very foundation of responsible AI adoption.
Here are some things to consider when setting out to improve engagement:
AI’s impact on engagement
AI, integrated within enterprise learning platforms, is enabling highly personalized learning by identifying the unique needs and career aspirations of individual employees and curating a bespoke training program to match, in real-time. Employees can determine their own pace, path and method of learning, and based on their progress, AI adapts the program to keep it dynamic and contextual.
This evolution of learning into an adaptive, employee-centric experience means greater ownership and autonomy – two powerful drivers of engagement. Not only does an AI-powered platform integrate learning within work processes, but it also comes to the employees’ aid without being asked – for example, sensing a case of coder’s block, the platform activates a bot to move things along. By engaging employees in regular conversation, or using gamification, the platform enhances motivation and engagement. Moreover, it ensures that training is no longer siloed or periodic – it becomes a seamless, continuous process embedded in everyday workflows.
AI’s role in the remote office
A recent study by BCG exploring work preferences among young workers found that 42 percent of European job seekers would reject an employer that did not offer a remote working option. European employers are acquiescing, with Littler reporting that 58 percent allowed hybrid work in 2023.
The point to note is that in a hybrid work environment, the need for AI is even greater. Deprived of social connection and office camaraderie, and fearing “proximity bias” – a preference for “visible” in-office workers – remote workers can feel isolated and unappreciated. When flexible hours stretch beyond reasonable limits, it can drive employees to burnout. AI can spot signs of disengagement or mental health issues early, and even gently intervene for example, it can monitor employee well-being by analysing data from fitness trackers and issue timely reminders to take a break, exercise, and maintain healthy diet and sleep habits.
It can also streamline individual employee workflows and automate mundane jobs – doing administrative tasks, triaging email, writing meeting summaries – to lighten the burden of remote workers so they can focus on work that tests their creative, strategic, problem solving and communication skills. Odin AI+Asana, a tool for project collaboration and resource management, also allows employees to take charge of their workday, organizing it to suit their preferences.
To some extent, AI-powered collaboration solutions can mitigate the disparity between in-office and remote work environments by providing document sharing facilities and virtual whiteboards so that remote employees can also work in teams, attend meetings, and brainstorm online.
Remote workers, who may not have immediate access to company resources or senior colleagues in time of need, can turn to AI for decision support. Even the practical disadvantages of home office spaces, such as poor connectivity, low light, or background noise, can be overcome with the help of AI-enhanced videoconferencing.
On the bright side
A 2023 study by MIT’s Sloan Management School found that when highly-skilled workers used generative AI within the limits of its capabilities, their performance went up by nearly 40 percent compared to non-users. When workers crossed that boundary, however, their performance slipped by 19 percent. Bound, but also secured, by some of the toughest AI regulations in the world, organizations in Europe are cognizant of AI’s perils.
This presents a unique strength. Rather than shunning innovation, European enterprises can lean into their regulatory framework as a competitive advantage – offering employees safe and well-defined parameters in which to innovate.
It’s up to us AI leaders to help them take greater note of its benefits and steer them as they navigate their next. In doing so, we must ensure that technology does not remain the purview of IT departments but becomes part of the cultural DNA of organizations. From onboarding to leadership training, AI can play a foundational role in shaping engaging, future-ready workplaces across Europe.
