As organisations integrate more sophisticated
technology, their competitive advantage will come from leaders who know what to automate and what must remain human. When history looks back on this moment, Harris hopes it will see leaders who had the courage to shape work that is both more productive and more humane. In closing, she described what she called her “second
resume”. Her first is her profile on LinkedIn, while her second describes the personal struggles she has overcome. “This is the vulnerability moment,” she said, “and
returning us to what makes us human”. As machines take away repetitive work, that leaves more time to focus on work that has passion and purpose, and she reframed it as an opportunity to reclaim the human qualities organisations need most. “This is work that only humans can do, the vulnerability, compassion and care for employees,” she said. You are in a place to guide your organisations to automate what should be automated, while ensuring that they amplify what must remain human.” Harris presented a framework outlining how
organisations can map tasks to the right blend of automation and human judgment. At one end lies high- value automation: areas where human effort adds little value and drains time. Pipeline management, interview scheduling, and onboarding workflows fall squarely here. Next is technology augmentation, where systems
sharpen human decision-making. Tools that identify patterns in top-performers or expose inconsistencies in interview scoring exemplify this model. Technology spots the trend and then humans can interpret it. Then comes human essentials, which cannot be
automated and are more difficult to measure with software. Harris listed areas such as assessing cultural alignment, evaluating adaptability under pressure, and building meaningful relationships with candidates who have choice in the market as to where they are employed. The final element of the model is human-technology
partnership, where technology handles process and data, while humans apply judgment, intuition and context. “Use technology to handle the process, but rely on
humans to see the potential,” she said. “Automation isn’t the end of your work, it is the beginning of more human work.”
VULNERABILITY: LEADERSHIP’S MOST HUMAN SKILL Throughout her session, Harris acknowledged the immense benefit of automation in reducing errors, eliminating bias patterns and ensuring consistency. She gave an example from Rippling’s performance-pay alignment tools that show discrepancies in pay awards in order to make remuneration fairer and more equitable.
the best leaders are brave enough to share their second resume. It is a worn and stained piece of paper that reveals the human under the leader’s cloak. What that looks like for me is I was adopted, and I have suffered from extreme anxiety throughout my life, and I was in an abusive marriage. “When you have leaders who are brave enough to
share that story, it gives permission for people on your teams to share their second resume, and that is when you create the highest performing teams because we are humans, we are not machines. “The irony is, of course, that more and more companies
over the years have been trying to turn humans into machines, and now we are trying to turn machines into humans. But there is something that no machine can do and so technology doesn’t need us to act like machines.”
LOOKING AT BUILDING WORKPLACES FOR THE FUTURE Overall, the CIPD conference looked at ways to create a workforce that was psychologically safe for its employees, gave equal opportunity to people of all backgrounds, and was able to forge a productive and healthy relationship between people and machines. As Harris told her audience, now is an important time to think carefully about the role of AI and technology in our lives. We have the responsibility to create a future where human skills are valued and are used to augment functions that AI cannot perform on its own.
“ USE TECHNOLOGY TO HANDLE THE PROCESS, BUT RELY ON HUMANS TO SEE THE POTENTIAL. AUTOMATION ISN’T THE END OF YOUR WORK, IT IS THE BEGINNING OF MORE HUMAN WORK.” WENDY HARRIS, VP OF EMEA, RIPPLING
13
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
CIPD CONFERENCE – AI FUTURE OF WORK
Image credit: Cofotoisme
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