A few weeks ago, I found myself reflecting on the fact that despite all the progress that HR departments have made through technology and artificial intelligence employees are still becoming increasingly disconnected.
I am becoming more and more convinced that the next workplace crisis will not be another talent shortage or another wave of resignations. It will be because people have stopped caring.
Employees are still logging into meetings. They are still completing assignments. Performance targets may even be met. But those same employees may have already checked out. The lights are on but there’s no one home.
Let’s face it. The pressure started with the pandemic and shifted into high gear from there. Over the past five to seven years we have been put through the wringer with challenges like the threat of AI eliminating jobs plus the shifting priorities of large countries. Add to that digital overload, and continuous change and transformation. Moreover, I am sure that many of us are up to our ears with the pressure to do more with less.
The cumulative effect is emotional fatigue and emotional fatigue eventually becomes disengagement.
For me and my fellow HR leaders, for years, our profession has worked tirelessly to become more strategic and rightly so. We have embraced analytics, digitized almost every HR process, and earned a stronger voice in executive decision-making. These advances have strengthened our credibility and increased our organizational impact. But strategy without humanity creates distance and efficiency without empathy creates indifference.
So what’s the answer? The answer is to rescue the human in Human Resources and that, dear readers will be the topic in this Week’s Corner Office.
Two years ago, in the Corner Office, I wrote about human-centered leadership and recalled one of the finest managers I have ever worked for. During one particularly demanding period of my life, as a young mother trying to balance work and family, he noticed that I was struggling. Before I ever asked for help, he saw the signs, listened without judgment, and responded with compassion.
What made him exceptional was not charisma or authority. It was the attention and the caring. Today that may be the rarest leadership competency of all.
In many organizations, leaders have become managers of processes instead of stewards of people. Calendars are full, inboxes never empty, and conversations increasingly occur through Teams chats and emails rather than genuine human interaction.
What we need in our workplaces today are leaders who notice when someone’s behavior changes and asking questions before problems escalate.
Remember leadership by walking around? Why not bring that back. You can be impactful by simply walking the floor or joining a virtual coffee chat simply because you want to check in and make sure your team member is ok. This is extremely important in geographically dispersed teams. And most importantly, it means making employees feel seen.
The research on engagement has been remarkably consistent for decades. Employees stay where they feel respected and they contribute where they feel trusted.
These are very human-effort actions so is technology the culprit? Not really but we need to put things in perspective. AI can predict who may leave but the flip side is that only a manager can convince them to stay. Ironically, the more sophisticated our technology becomes, the more valuable distinctly human leadership becomes.
This represents an extraordinary opportunity for HR. As the guardians of human connection inside increasingly digital organizations, our responsibility is to humanize work. That means designing organizations where technology handles transactions while leaders invest in relationships such as coaching, mentoring, and meaningful conversations. Because if employees become emotionally disconnected, no amount of technology will reconnect them.
We often say that “people are our greatest asset”. But these are just words. Our employees are expecting us to demonstrate this visibly. HR therefore needs to help leaders become relentlessly, intentionally, and consistently present for their people.
The organizations that flourish over the next decade will almost certainly be those that combine cutting-edge technology with deeply human leadership. Keep in mind that every employee experience is, ultimately, a human experience so the future of HR is not a choice between artificial intelligence and human connection. It demands both.
If we get the balance wrong, we risk creating highly efficient organizations filled with profoundly disengaged people. Therefore rescuing the human in Human Resources may therefore be the most important strategic challenge facing our profession.
Three actions HR can take today
- Redesign the manager’s role around human connection
Managers are the single greatest determinant of employee engagement, yet many spend more time managing processes than people. HR should redefine leadership expectations by making regular one-on-one conversations, coaching, mentoring, and wellbeing check-ins part of every manager’s job. If it isn’t expected, measured, and rewarded, it won’t happen.
- Use technology to create time for people
Every HR technology investment should answer one simple question: Will this give managers and HR professionals more time to spend with employees? Automate transactions, not relationships. Let AI handle administrative tasks, policy questions, and reporting so leaders can focus on the conversations that build trust, strengthen engagement, and retain talent.
- Measure human leadership in addition to organizational results
Most organizations measure productivity, turnover, and financial performance. They should also measure the quality of leadership. Incorporate indicators such as coaching frequency, quality of manager-employee conversations, psychological safety, team engagement, and employee trust into leadership performance. What gets measured gets managed, and if human connection is strategic, it deserves to be treated like any other key performance indicator.