Managers try AI, staff lag behind: HR urged to help
- Reference: 1772654538
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/04/gartner_ai_hr_help/
- Source link:
IT consultancy Gartner says as much in its [1]recent report "Guide Managers to Effectively Integrate AI Into Employees' Work."
The enterprise whisperer says that its July 2025 survey of nearly 3,000 employees showed that 46 percent of managers are experimenting with AI to improve their work, compared to just 26 percent of employees.
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A separate survey conducted at the same time found that just 14 percent of managers said that they didn't face any challenges encouraging their teams to use AI. AI tools, in other words, don't sell themselves (except perhaps in software development).
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From this, Carmen von Rohr, senior principal in Gartner's HR practice, concludes that chief human resource officers have relied too much on employees to integrate AI tools into their jobs. To improve AI adoption, CHROs are advised to focus on supporting managers to undertake the organizational change necessary to meet the expectations of senior leadership.
More than any prior technology, Gartner argues, AI implementation requires change management.
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In other words, HR leaders need to focus on communication and sensitivity to employee needs. If managers rush to implement business transformation plans, they risk creating "operational and emotional resistance" among employees. Just as asking IT professionals to train their overseas replacements risks rebellion, urging employees to embrace AI coworking can create pushback, especially if accompanied by layoffs.
Given that 46 percent of US voters believe AI will hurt the economy, according to a recent [6]Data for Progress poll , some forethought seems advisable.
[7]AI doctor's assistant is easily swayed to change prescriptions, give bad medical advice
[8]AWS-hosted tech providers urge Middle East customers to fail over now
[9]OpenAI says its latest model is less likely to beat around the bush
[10]Google feels the need for security speed, so will ship Chrome updates every two weeks
Gartner would have CHROs help managers with their AI integration efforts by looking at the needs and expectations of different teams in terms of AI training and support. HR leaders should also prepare managers for potential emotional resistance from employees and for communicating effectively with senior leaders who may not have realistic expectations.
In addition, the consultancy sees a role for HR leaders in clarifying how potential AI-related productivity gains should be allocated – a return on investment that [11]the majority of CEOs still haven't seen .
That recommendation follows from a July 2025 Gartner survey of 114 HR leaders that found a mere 7 percent of organizations offer guidance about how one should use time savings derived from AI tools.
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And before that question can even be answered, companies need to settle internal disagreements about how projected time saved should be allocated. Based on the survey, 55 percent of HR leaders preferred to see saved time applied to projects outside of core job roles, compared to just 28 percent of managers.
Debating how AI's supposed productivity bounty will be spent seems premature, however, when organizations are still struggling to sell their workers on AI. ®
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[1] https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-3-4-gartner-hr-survey-reveals-45-percent-of-managers-report-ai-has-lived-up-to-their-expectations
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aai5ks83fUqKMiMkGKPqKQAAA9c&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aai5ks83fUqKMiMkGKPqKQAAA9c&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aai5ks83fUqKMiMkGKPqKQAAA9c&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aai5ks83fUqKMiMkGKPqKQAAA9c&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2026/3/4/voters-increasingly-think-artificial-intelligence-will-hurt-the-economy
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/04/ai_doctor_easily_swayed/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/04/aws_saas_middle_east_customer_warnings/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/04/openai_dow_reset_gpt53_instant/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/04/google_speeds_chrome_release_cadence/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/20/pwc_ai_ceo_survey/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aai5ks83fUqKMiMkGKPqKQAAA9c&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Clarification needed
In English, get HR to help managers automate webinar workloads.
HR leaders
In other words, HR leaders need to focus on communication and sensitivity to employee needs.
This has not been my experience of HR leaders 'skillset', hopefully they have improve in the few years since I retired. Maybe I do them a disservice. The article has a lot of things for HR managers to do, few if any of which skills were evident when I was working. I wonder whether the Gartner team asked their own 'HR managers' how they would tackle this issue?
Re: HR leaders
If the majority of workers aren't using AI, maybe it's because it simply isn't useful in their work.
I can't see how HR would have the ability to make it useful.
But, hey, this is Gartner we're talking about.
Re: HR leaders
> This has not been my experience of HR leaders 'skillset'
Yeah, my more current experience from today also disagrees.
> I wonder whether the Gartner team asked their own 'HR managers' how they would tackle this issue?
They probably have ... then HR went through a WFR excecise, laid them off and had the report been written by AI.
Let's face it: There's simply no other way to explain the laid out fantasy of the heroes of HR carefully steering AI roll-outs to the hesitating, confused and unwashed masses on the company's payroll, applying their intriguing and delicate skill-set to the best of mankind - other than heavy prompting orgies by HR into a clue- and defenseless AI model...
Re: HR leaders
HR's skillset is nail-painting, gum-clacking, and pitying looks.
While applying ass-covers and licking boots.
Their only knowledge of any job is a list of things they don't understand.
Managers are prone to list-fidelity as well.
When this disease descends into a life-and-death situation, retirement is an easy decision. Let the list-mongers put out fires.
AI helps greatly in this decision, it's probably the best thing it does.
Misaligned incentives
The problem here is the incentives aren't aligned. Embracing AI as an employee comes with risks of cost reductions on one side and a lot more work in the more optimistic view.
What it doesn't come with is less work across the same people or a pay rise for the same work over fewer people. So what's the grunt level logically going to do? Slow walk AI.
"46 percent of managers are experimenting with AI to improve their work, compared to just 26 percent of employees."
No surprise. Employees are expected to get things right. Managers?
So perhaps we just need HR-AI
HR doesn't seem to be a skilled job anymore.
I'm sure that a AI will be just as good at rejecting applicants.
Probably better at checking references.
And (this is why it won't happen) making sure that all legal responsibility is actually taken.
Clarification needed
"CHROs are advised to focus on supporting managers to undertake the organizational change necessary to meet the expectations of senior leadership."
WTF does this even mean?