Meg Dunphy
HR Policy & Engagement Manager, CIPD Ireland
Learn how organisations are leveraging AI to enhance skills, job design and employee wellbeing.
In Ireland, organisations are progressing at different paces in integrating AI into the workplace. Some, particularly small to medium-sized organisations, are still in the early stages, exploring initial AI applications and identifying opportunities for automating tasks and other digitalisation. In contrast, larger organisations have advanced further, leveraging generative AI to transform workflows and drive innovation.
Balancing AI with human-centric focus
While AI adoption offers significant benefits, it also introduces risks that need careful management. For HR and people management professionals, ensuring a human-centric approach to AI is crucial as it impacts the following key areas:
Skills and capabilities: As AI evolves, organisations must equip their workforce with the necessary digital literacy and adaptable skills to keep pace with technological advancements. Investment in upskilling, supported by appropriate policies and funding, will be vital to help workers.
Work and job design: AI presents an opportunity to enhance, not replace, jobs by designing roles that improve health, wellbeing and job satisfaction. A balanced approach to job design, considering both standardisation and autonomy, is essential for creating sustainable work environments that foster long-term employee engagement.
AI presents an opportunity to enhance,
not replace, jobs by designing roles that
improve health, wellbeing and job satisfaction.
People management: The digitalisation of workplaces is reshaping management roles, making skills like persuasion, stewardship and AI literacy increasingly crucial. As AI adoption grows, organisations must prioritise relational skills, ensure meaningful human interaction and provide training to prevent biases as well as maintain human oversight in decision-making.
Improving wellbeing: Employee wellbeing should be central to AI implementation. AI can be used to redesign jobs that reduce stress, improve mental health and alleviate physically demanding tasks. Engaging employees early in the process enables feedback and supports job redesign that enhances autonomy and overall wellness.
Importance of human-centric decisions
Organisations must understand how AI systems make decisions. When decisions affect people, a human-centred approach with oversight is essential. HR professionals must be prepared to explain the decision-making process, should a complaint be brought to the Workplace Relations Commission.
Collaborative AI integration for productivity
Recent insights from IDA Ireland highlight AI and digital transformation as critical tools for enhancing productivity and competitiveness across industries. Employers, HR and people management professionals, unions, employee representatives, educational institutions, technology providers and AI experts, government and policymakers need to take a collaborative approach to successfully integrating AI into the workplace.
