Key facts
- Companies are increasingly incorporating AI usage into employee performance reviews.
- Gusto categorizes employees into five AI archetypes, from 'observers' to 'amplifiers'.
- Some firms have abandoned leaderboards or specific metrics for AI use, focusing instead on broader impact.
- Meta faces a lawsuit alleging AI productivity rankings were used for layoffs.
- Experts caution against rewarding AI use without clear benchmarks or understanding its true impact.
- Nearly half of US and UK business leaders surveyed by General Assembly include AI in reviews.
Companies are increasingly incorporating the use of artificial intelligence into employee performance reviews, seeking to standardize its adoption and understand its impact on productivity. Some organizations are developing specific frameworks to evaluate AI fluency, while others are grappling with the subjective nature of assessing AI's contribution.
Gusto, for instance, categorizes employees into five AI archetypes, ranging from 'observers' who are new to AI, to 'amplifiers' who innovate with the technology and share their knowledge. Scott Helmes, Gusto's chief people officer, stated the goal is to facilitate coaching conversations and establish a consistent way to discuss AI fluency across the organization.
However, not all attempts to quantify AI use have been successful. Companies like Amazon and Uber have moved away from AI usage leaderboards, and Duolingo has withdrawn plans to evaluate AI in performance reviews. Meta is facing a lawsuit from former employees who allege the company used AI to rank productivity, including AI tool usage, for layoffs, without fully accounting for leaves of absence.
Experts like Richard Landers, a professor of industrial-organizational psychology, highlight the challenges in fairly evaluating AI performance, noting that it's difficult to establish benchmarks when the technology's use and impact vary significantly across different jobs. He cautions against rewarding AI use without a clear understanding of its goals or outcomes.
A survey by tech skills provider General Assembly found that nearly half of business leaders in the US and UK have integrated AI into employee reviews, focusing on usage, performance improvements, and efficiency gains. However, unlike previous software implementations, many companies expect employees to lead the way in discovering AI's potential, often without formal training.
Some managers are looking at speed and output. Stefan Camilleri, VP of engineering at Typeform, asks engineers how much faster they complete tasks with AI, expecting more ambitious results. Shensi Ding, CEO of Merge, reviews employees based on the quality of their AI use and their willingness to teach colleagues, seeing knowledge sharing as a significant multiplier.
Larger companies are also formalizing AI's role in reviews. Meta has added 'AI driven impact' as a core component, and Accenture has reportedly monitored AI logins for promotions. Google also permits managers to evaluate AI proficiency, though it's not mandatory. Travelport is developing tools to analyze engineers' AI code usage to inform performance discussions.