Work Life AI
Managers replaced by… algorithms? consulting firm Gartner, about 87% of employees think algorithms would give fairer feedback than their managers. And 57% believe AI would make fairer decisions about pay than their “more biased” By Jason Walsh
management, it usually still relies on the judgment of managers who have personal relationships with employees, unconscious biases as all humans do, and inconsistent perceptions of what good performance looks like,” Gartner analyst Laura Gardiner writes at gartner.com . “If carefully applied, there is potential for AI to reduce human bias within the performance management process by applying a standard, non- human, unbiased first look at performance data/feedback.” This doesn’t mean Amazon Alexa will be the one approving or rejecting an employee’s request for a raise, of course. But AI could serve as an objective first look at performance and other achievement- related questions, allowing managers to make the final calls.
Watch your step, supervisors—sets of problem-solving computer instructions are vying for your jobs. While the use of AI to replace workers at the office continues to be hotly debated, there’s one place employees overwhelmingly support its takeover: management. Especially when it comes to making compensation decisions. According to a recent study by business-
human counterparts. The studies surveyed between 3,300 and 3,500 employees in 2024. “Although many organizations have worked hard to reduce bias in performance
Common management biases
employee, when limited, typically non-relevant information shapes a perspective n Recency bias: When a manager’s focus is unfairly weighted in favor of an employee’s most recent activities n Spillover bias: Perspective held over by a prominent episode in the employee’s past activities that dominates the manager’s thoughts about that employee n Negative bias: When both positive and negative information is presented, one is
prone to give more thought to the negative information n Ingroup bias: Those who, for whatever reason, have been accepted in the manager’s “in” circle receive special positive judgments, while others do not n Similarity bias: The human tendency to focus on ourselves and prefer those who are like we are
8 ways performance evaluations can be compromised by natural human tendencies, according to management consulting firm Lumen: n Stereotypes: Being influenced by a person’s gender, ethnicity or other background n Confirmation bias: Only paying attention to a portion of the information available; aka selective perception n First impressions: Giving too much weight to initial judgments about an
18 NorthBaybiz
April 2025
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease