{"id":279487,"date":"2025-11-12T09:59:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T09:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/279487\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T09:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T09:59:13","slug":"ai-makes-measuring-work-performance-a-lot-trickier-how-do-companies-adapt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/279487\/","title":{"rendered":"AI makes measuring work performance a lot trickier. How do companies adapt?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Let\u2019s be honest, even just writing this sentence has meant engaging with some very basic artificial intelligence (AI) as the computer checks my spelling and grammar. <\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the quality and integrity of the finished article are a human responsibility. But the questions this raises go well beyond everyday word processing. <\/p>\n<p>Powerful AI is now changing what it means to be good at your work. The debate has moved from whether <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/stories\/2025\/08\/ai-jobs-replacement-data-careers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">robots are taking over our jobs<\/a> to who or what gets the credit for the work in a world of AI. <\/p>\n<p>Three-quarters of global knowledge workers are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/worklab\/work-trend-index\/ai-at-work-is-here-now-comes-the-hard-part\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">now using AI<\/a>, but many are uncertain about it. <\/p>\n<p>About half of all surveyed workers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/social-trends\/2025\/02\/25\/u-s-workers-are-more-worried-than-hopeful-about-future-ai-use-in-the-workplace\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">feel uneasy about the future use of AI<\/a>, and many say their organisations offer little guidance on responsible practice. Workers even hide their use of AI to avoid \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2025\/08\/29\/what-is-ai-shame-readiness-gap-training-artificial-intelligence\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AI shame<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>But for better or worse, we are learning to work with this powerful, fast and not always predictable new colleague. <\/p>\n<p>HR logic breaks down<\/p>\n<p>For decades, companies relied on one big idea: <a href=\"https:\/\/www3.weforum.org\/docs\/WEF_NES_HR4.0_Accounting_2020.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">people are their greatest asset<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hire the best, train them well and results will follow. This thinking gave the human resources (HR) department its strategic role and made \u201ctalent\u201d the key to success.<\/p>\n<p>But this logic is starting to fail. When a junior lawyer uses AI to draft a contract in minutes, a task that once took a senior partner years to master, how do you measure skill? <\/p>\n<p>The value is no longer in producing the first draft, but in the partner\u2019s judgement and ability to spot the one clause that could cause a problem.<\/p>\n<p>Performance reviews that evaluate <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/1992\/01\/the-balanced-scorecard-measures-that-drive-performance-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">individual productivity<\/a> or achieved targets can\u2019t see this kind of value. They miss the skills that now matter most: judgement, collaboration with machines, and ethical awareness.<\/p>\n<p>If AI can outperform us in speed, accuracy and recall, what still makes humans valuable? It comes down to three things.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/lee_2025_ai_critical_thinking_survey.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">BS Detector<\/a>. Knowing when an AI\u2019s confident answer is completely wrong for the real world \u2013 for example, a doctor who realises the system\u2019s diagnosis is technically correct but dangerously incomplete.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/pub.towardsai.net\/i-built-a-production-ready-ai-saas-in-a-weekend-this-is-the-exact-blueprint-71a8ef431078\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AI Whisperer<\/a>. Treating AI like a brilliant but naive intern. You don\u2019t just accept its work, you guide it, question it and know when to step in.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unesco.org\/en\/artificial-intelligence\/recommendation-ethics\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Moral Compass<\/a>. Having the courage to say \u201cthat\u2019s not right\u201d even when the algorithm says it\u2019s the most efficient choice.<\/p>\n<p>These are complex \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.library.hbs.edu\/working-knowledge\/why-soft-skills-still-matter-in-the-age-of-ai\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">soft skills<\/a>\u201d that blend technical awareness with human judgement, empathy and moral courage. <\/p>\n<p>Reviewing the wrong things<\/p>\n<p>Most workplaces are still grading people with outdated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aihr.com\/blog\/employee-scorecard\/#:%7E:text=in%20the%20workplace-,What%20is%20an%20employee%20scorecard?,to%20progress%20in%20the%20company\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">scorecards<\/a>. Employees are racing ahead with AI, but their organisations still evaluate them as if they are working alone.<\/p>\n<p>A performance review that fits the AI age should ask different questions: <\/p>\n<p>How did you use AI to make a better decision?<br \/>\nHow did you spot a bias or mistake in its output?<br \/>\nHow did you make sure the final result made sense to people, not just machines?<\/p>\n<p>Those questions get to the heart of the new workplace. Success now depends less on what individuals produce and more on how well they work in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ibm.com\/think\/insights\/ai-creative-partner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">partnership with AI<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>HR systems have rested on one assumption: performance can be improved by developing individuals. Train people, motivate them and reward them, and productivity will rise. That made sense when most work depended on human effort.<\/p>\n<p>But AI changes where capability resides. It spreads intelligence across humans and systems. Performance now depends on how effectively people and algorithms think together.<\/p>\n<p>Humans still matter<\/p>\n<p>AI doesn\u2019t just make us faster; it changes what \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/ai-automating-technical-skills-soft-skills-you-need-2025-9#:%7E:text=If%20hard%20skills%20are%20increasingly%20being%20automated%2C,king%2C%20but%20the%20tide%20may%20be%20turning\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">star worker<\/a>\u201d means.<\/p>\n<p>The future of HR won\u2019t be about managing people alone. It will be about managing relationships between people and intelligent systems.<\/p>\n<p>AI already helps <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41599-025-05607-z\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">screen job applicants<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/tarungalagali\/2025\/06\/30\/ai--the-future-of-performance-management\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">track performance<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ibm.com\/think\/insights\/how-does-ai-improve-efficiency#:%7E:text=AI%20in%20supply%20chain%20management,proactively%20and%20maintain%20smooth%20operations.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">flag inefficiencies<\/a>. Used well, it can make workplaces fairer and more consistent. Used blindly, it risks turning them into systems of surveillance and bias.<\/p>\n<p>This is why human judgement still matters. People bring context, empathy and conscience. They make sure decisions that look efficient on paper actually work in a complicated, human world.<\/p>\n<p>Machines can generate answers. Only people can make them meaningful. So when it comes to performance, maybe the question isn\u2019t \u201cwho gets the credit?\u201d \u2013<br \/>\nit\u2019s \u201chow well do we share the credit?\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s be honest, even just writing this sentence has meant engaging with some very basic artificial intelligence (AI)&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":["post-279487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}