Despite productivity crisis, UK businesses are slow to adopt AI: Research

New research from Slack has found that UK businesses are less productive than their global counterparts, due to a misplaced focus on performative work over impactful tasks that ultimately contribute to a company’s goals.

Based on findings from 2,000 desk workers in the UK, the survey also highlighted that although workers are optimistic that AI can help solve these challenges, UK businesses are losing out in the adoption race.

Only 21% of respondents said their company was using AI tools to improve productivity, compared to 75% in India, 35% in Singapore, 29% in Germany, and 23% in France.

One of the main challenges facing office-based workers in the UK is that their productivity is often measured in visibility rather than by impact. Of those surveyed by Slack, 37% said their productivity is measured by the hours spent in the office or online, resulting in 30% of their average working day being lost to performative work that doesn’t contribute to company goals but is simply done to appear productive.

This misplaced focus is likely a result of managers still figuring out their approach to hybrid work, with 40% of executives surveyed by Slack stating that their biggest concern regarding the provision of flexible working is a decline in productivity.

However, this is at odds with the wants of their employees, as 39% of those surveyed said they were more productive when they were able to choose the hours they work.

There are so many tasks like pruning timesheets or approving holidays that just don’t contribute anything to overall business goals and are ultimately driving down productivity, said Slack’s head of customer success Chris Mills, talking about the research during Salesforce’s World Tour event in London last week.

“Then, when you add to that the fact that we’ve all moved to a hybrid work environment, we’ve now got these productivity challenges around people spending too much time in meetings, responding to emails, or just undertaking performative tasks to show they’re still working when remote,” Mills said, adding that companies are still struggling to adopt the right technologies that can help drive productivity.

Another challenge facing UK-based workers is a lack of motivation at work, which 38% of respondents cited as being their top barrier to productivity. As a result, international comparisons show that UK employees produce around one-sixth less work than the US, France, and Germany per hour.

Can AI solve the productivity puzzle?

Since generative AI exploded into the global consciousness at the start of 2023, vendors across the technology industry have been scrambling to add AI capabilities to their platforms and help workers automate their most mundane tasks.

“I think that AI has a huge role to play in freeing up time that isn’t spent focusing on aspects of work that require a lot of judgment and brain power,” said Alexandra Dobra-Kiel from behavioral consultancy Behave, speaking at the same event. “I wouldn’t see AI as being this assertive, competitive force against humans, it’s just a tool that can drive proficiency and one that generally, we are more keen to use.”

AI will also allow society to rethink some jobs and help individuals regain dignity at work because they can now feel like that their time is spent producing something useful, she said.

While the capabilities are still in their infancy, the potential benefits of AI are being welcomed by workers, with 47% of respondents to Slack’s survey saying that AI will help them to boost productivity.

Additionally, 59% of respondents said AI could help them achieve more with less time and resources, while 42% believe the widespread adoption of AI will help them focus on tasks that have more impact and 25% said it would improve their engagement at work.

Respondents to the survey also noted that the technology could have an impact outside of work too, with 32% saying that AI adoption could help improve their work-life balance.

However, despite a recognition of the benefits, only 26% of respondents would classify their workplace as an “early adopter” of AI, with 52% describing their organizations as “less tech-savvy” when it comes to implementing new technologies, in particular AI.

“We’re just dipping our toes into what could happen [with AI] and I think it’s important that what comes next continues to drive productivity and efficiency, and further automate some of those tasks that perhaps are just mundane,” Mills said.