Since the pandemic, there has been more focus placed on mental health and wellness in the workplace. While the pandemic is long gone, and many industries have returned to the office, there is still priority being placed on the health and wellness of the team. 

This is to ultimately create a better work environment for teams, which is integral to the productivity and efficiency of staff.

More recently, the biggest proverbial spanner in the works has been the integration of AI tools. These tools being integrated into workflows has improved efficiency by a large margin. They are able to simplify most processes in an office space, including managing calendars, inventory management, and order automation, aiding and streamlining customer service, and even providing assistance with mental health efforts. 

While these technologies have reported an increase in workplace productivity, there are concerns surrounding overreliance on technology and replacing it with actual persons who can aid with progress. These are concerns that HR leaders need to keep an eye on to mitigate when the need arises to allay fears and help create balance in the work environment. 

How does this impact HR leaders

HR leaders are required to encourage a healthy work-life balance, with HR-focused AI-powered tools, they are to take actionable steps to help boost productivity while ensuring employees are getting suitable breaks. 

• For HR teams, the strategic shift to using AI-powered tools has allowed data-driven decision-making and long-term workforce planning. 
• More focus on the upskilling of all their team members to help them be on par with current industry standards.
• Enhanced employee experience, as HR teams can track engagement levels and related metrics using these AI tools. 
• Talent strategy and benefit administration is also another use of AI tools, which is able to improve the workflow of HR teams.

Trends relating to AI and Wellness

A little into the new year, and AI is already making some noise. This heralds the entrance of potential trends in the HR sector that need to be taken heed of. 

Cyber security

One of the biggest AI-related concerns would be cyber security. Many are speaking about data vulnerability and unauthorized access to sensitive information. This creates concerns for businesses, as leaks can reduce the trust that clients, partners, and stakeholders may have in their efforts. To mitigate this, there has been a renewed interest in employing robust security measures and enforcing access control to ensure that data remains secure. 

AI agents

Gaining immense popularity are wellness apps which are powered by AI. They provide wellness suggestions to users, and tailor recommendations to the needs of the immediate user. The intention of these apps is so that they can aid with burnout and stress levels, ensuring that employees lead healthy and balanced lives. Companies can partner with health institutions to provide a singular network for your teams. 

Burnout prevention

Sticking with the theme of wellness, AI-integration has pushed organizations to be more innovative with technology, so that they remain at the forefront of their industry. This creates undue pressure on staff, which can result in burnout. Active wellness and stress management resources need to be available to teams. Implementing an open-door policy allows teams to speak freely about their struggles and concerns, which can help leaders create actionable solutions to move forward in a healthier way. 

By monitoring your teams, you’ll be able to note unhealthy coping behaviors early on. According to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), 1 in 8 adults in the UK smoke and more than half of this number would like to eventually quit. 

Encouraging the smoking members of your team to move away from the habit will help reduce stress levels and potential burnout. Suggesting a holistic smoking cessation strategy, which can include prescription medication, counselling, lifestyle changes, and alternative stress management techniques, you can aid these employees on their quitting journey. This approach addresses smoking and the subsequent health issues, but also encourages a resilient and productive workforce. 

Workforce planning

This practice moves away from managing the staff headcount and shifting toward the idea of workforce planning. This helps optimize talent management and predict the skills needed by the company in the future, and accordingly prepare. This way, if an unexpected change in the hierarchy occurs, suitable candidates will be easily identified and equipped with the necessary skills to undertake the role.

Holistic wellness

These are wellness options that are comprehensive and include options for physical, mental, financial, and emotional well-being. The data obtained from these efforts help with creating wellness plans for staff and can play a role in detecting health issues. It helps them manage their income and prepare adequately for their future. This data can also help identify leave, sick days, and late timings to help curate lifestyle-related wellness challenges. Options can include daily step challenges, breaks, and hybrid workout sessions. 

Becoming more accustomed to the tools

Forbes magazine recently reported that more men are using genAI as opposed to women, and have indicated that there is a 20% gap between the two. While people are aware of the tools, they have indicated that they have not used them or have not used them in tandem with their day-to-day operations. This gap can be reduced by providing training on these tools and ensuring privacy and trust when they use them. As mentioned in the report, they claimed that women are more cautious about sharing data and the negative consequences that can arise from it. 

Leadership-driven wellness

AI at the leadership level can improve the organizational efforts of the company. These tools can help with efforts like role tracking and leadership engagement in accordance with wellness initiatives. 

Some Major AI concerns

From an HR perspective, there are many troubles that AI has given rise to in the form of employee stress and negative energies that emerged.

• Job Displacement: AI automation is said to replace the jobs of millions of workers by the end of the decade, which means job transitions, change of roles, and having to make accommodations for the use of these tools. 

Solution: To mitigate this, there needs to be a shift in focus, and training provided so that these tools can run with human oversight.

• Stress: Depending on the transition period, and adapting to using these tools can increase stress levels.

Solution: Plan your integration process out, including feedback loops and engagement surveys, to understand how the process felt from the perspective of the team. Make allocations for mistakes and errors so that teams can prepare for this and reduce the breaks in workflow.

• Psychological Impact: AI integration can lead to anxiety, panic, and a sense of foreboding that can negatively impact how they are efficient in the workplace. There is also an overall resistance to change, as many still prefer traditional methods.

Solution: Provide resources and information, and implement wellness programs to help manage their stress. Transparency is also important in ensuring that your teams are up to date with company procedures and changes. 

• Workplace relationships: Due to AI integration, there is said to be less human interaction with each other. The lack of casual interactions can impact the company culture negatively.

Solution: If AI integration is affecting day-to-day operations, companies should make more of an effort to encourage social interaction with teams through workshops, activities, and team-building sessions. 

• Skills gaps: There may be stark differences in the skills required for people to perform jobs suitably. 

Solution: Offer training and upskilling opportunities to teams to afford them the chance to grow and be suitable for high-skill job requirements 

• Ethics: This concern mainly surrounds data and potential discriminatory actions based on datasets that the system has been taught. 

Solution: Human oversight and revision of datasets will help with a more ethical and even approach to hiring using AI tools. 

Ways HR can help employees manage stress and pushback:

Employee wellness in the era of AI needs a little more of a human touch. While AI can provide tailored solutions to aid employees and help with managing workflows, there are more non-digital ways to offer support.

• Educational seminars that provide information and encourage more healthy habits. 
• Benefits for healthy behavior, this includes monetary or time off for employees who actively manage stress contributors.
• Engaging in mindful exercises during office hours. Like yoga or meditation and breathing exercises to prevent reliance on apps. 

With each new year, there will be new trends presented to the HR sector, this year is no different. The biggest trends expected for 2025 revolve mainly around AI tools. While the benefits are numerous, they can also lead to people management problems. Concerns like job displacement and overreliance are still quite big and cause much distress among the team. This is why wellness and health are some of the forefront trends among HR leaders.