A new report from Pipedrive, an intelligent revenue platform for small businesses, has suggested AI is directly correlated with happier workers and better working experiences, including the work-life balance.
The report surveyed 948 respondents from 85 countries. Within respondents, AI adoption has grown at pace with 35 per cent are using AI tools in the workplace already and, says Pipeline, AI tools are being used more by smaller companies. 42 per cent of those companies with up to 10 employees have adopted the technology, versus 37 per cent of those with 11-100 employees and 23 per cent for those with over 100 employees. A quarter of all respondents have introduced AI-based approaches to their sales process.
AI tools enable happier employees & healthier revenues – but not all tech is created equal
Workers who use automation feel happier and have a better work-life balance. On a 5-point scale of happiness (5 being very happy and 0 being very unhappy) those who use automation tools on average were 3.8/5 Vs 3.5/5 who don’t for workplace happiness. That equates to a 6 per cent happiness lift. Similarly, those who use CRM software on average claimed 3.8/5 vs 3.6/5 for those who don’t use CRM software.
And the findings divulge how automation is not only contributing to office morale but also the business bottom line; 82 per cent of respondents who like the tools they use hit their sales KPIs, vs 62 per cent of those who don’t like them.
Over three quarters of respondents (76 per cent) were optimistic about AI’s possible impact on their future professional life. Only 8 per cent fear AI could shrink their teams. But a majority, 83 per cent, believe there are areas where AI will have less importance. These include building relationships with customers (59 per cent), selling (34 per cent) and team management (33 per cent). Only 7 per cent would entrust AI to relationship building and team management at present.
78 per cent of respondents said their workplace offers remote working opportunities and 72 per cent offer flexible working hours. Of those that do, 68 per cent claimed that since flexible work models had been rolled out their mental well-being had improved (28 per cent stayed the same; 2 per cent declined). Women felt this impact most strongly (74 per cent vs 66 per cent). 77 per cent said this flexibility also boosted their performance.
Of all the company wellbeing offerings –-such as team building activities, access to fitness classes, employee assistance programmes, and so on–- remote working and flexible work hours far outstrip the value to employees than any others.
“We’ve all been hearing how AI will make teams more productive, more accurate and more insightful – so it’s fantastic to unveil our latest findings which reveal the technology’s positive impact on employee happiness,” said Dominic Allon, CEO of Pipedrive. “Companies should also sit up to the fact that automation has a significant positive correlation to the worker’s ability to hit their KPIs. But it’s important to note that not all tech is good tech. There is a 20 per cent difference between workers hitting their professional goals from those who like their tech and those who don’t. In today’s climate many businesses are reducing budgets; leaders would do well to understand exactly the sentiment of their tech investments from those that use them daily to ensure smart spending.”
