Employees around the world are still not happy at work.
The latest HP Word Relationship Index (WRI) reveals that just 28% of knowledge workers have a healthy relationship with work, a one-point increase compared to last year’s findings.
However, new findings hone in on two potential solutions to improve relationships with work: AI and personalised work experiences.
“We know employer and employee expectations have evolved and we believe smart technology is key to meeting the needs of today’s workforce,” says Enrique Lores, president and CEO of HP Inc. “The future of work will be unlocked by using the power of AI to create solutions and experiences that drive business growth and enable individuals to achieve personal and professional fulfillment.”
In its second year, the study continues to analyse aspects of people’s relationships with work, including the role of work in their lives, their skills, abilities, tools, workspaces and their expectations of leadership. This year, WRI reveals a major universal need from knowledge workers: personalised work experiences.
At least two-thirds of workers expressed a desire for personalised work experiences, including tailored workspaces, access to preferred technologies and flexible working environments.
These experiences are crucial for improving relationships with work, and have positive implications for both employees and businesses:
- 64% of knowledge workers say if work was tailored or customised to personal needs and preferences, they would be more invested in their company’s growth.
- 69% of knowledge workers believe it would enhance their overall well-being.
- 68% of knowledge workers stated it would incentivise them to stay with their current employers longer.
This desire for personalisation is so strong that 87% of knowledge workers would be willing to forgo part of their salary for it. On average, workers would be willing to give up to 14% of their salary with Gen Z workers giving up as much as 19%.
AI usage among knowledge workers has surged to 66% in 2024, up from 38% last year. Workers who use AI are seeing the benefits, including a healthier relationship with work:
- 73% feel that AI makes their jobs easier, and nearly seven in 10 (69%) are customising their use of AI to be more productive, indicating AI could be an ingredient to unlocking a more personalised work experience.
- 60% state that AI plays a key role in improving their work-life balance.
- 68% say AI opens up new opportunities for them to enjoy work.
- 73% agree that a better understanding of AI will make it easier to advance their careers.
In addition, knowledge workers who use AI are +11-points happier with their relationship with work than their colleagues who don’t. This indicates an urgency to get AI into the hands of workers sooner rather than later as non-AI users have shown increased fear of job replacement by AI, with 37% expressing concern, a +5-point increase from last year.
While at the global scale the index highlights little change, countries that saw an increase in their individual work relationship index saw slight improvement across the six key drivers of a healthy relationship with work – most notably the Leadership and Fulfillment drivers.
This year’s index revealed that trust in senior leadership remains a critical factor in a healthy work relationship, but there is a disconnect between the recognition of the importance of human skills (for example mindfulness, self-awareness, communication, creative-thinking, resilience, empathy, emotional intelligence) and leaders’ confidence to deliver:
- While more than 90% of leaders acknowledge the benefits of empathy, only 44% feel confident in their human skills.
- Only 28% of workers consistently see empathy from their leaders, despite 78% valuing it highly.
However, this year’s research uncovered a bright spot: female leaders. On average, female business leaders are +10-points more confident in their hard skills (technical, computer, presentation, etc), and notably +13-points more confident in human skills than their male counterparts.
Additionally, female business leaders’ confidence in both skills grew over the past year (+10 points in human skills, +4 points in hard skills), while confidence among male business leaders remained stagnant in human skills and decreased in hard skills (-3 points).