Read Our Blog On Culture Change

Workplaces love a good shortcut. Roles, departments, and reporting lines help to make sense of who does what. But there’s a different kind of shortcut that quietly works against inclusion: stereotypes. These sticky labels flatten people into one-dimensional characters and distort how we relate at work. The problem with stereotypes is not only that they’re inaccurate. It’s that they flatten curiosity.

There’s always one. The late arrival with their mic on, crashing into the call mid-sentence while asking, “Can you hear me?” The person eating cereal on camera, or the mystery participant whose name is “iPad (3)” and hasn’t said a word in 45 minutes. The well-meaning multitasker, typing furiously on another screen. Or the over-sharer who doesn’t know when to stop. If any of these sounds familiar, you’ve lived through Zoom Doom.

The potential for collaboration between humans and AI opens the door to a new category of roles - what some are calling super jobs. These roles emerge when technology transforms not just how we work, but the very nature of the work itself. They blend human judgment, creativity, and emotional intelligence with the power of intelligent machines, data, and algorithms. We’re getting better at identifying the tasks AI can take over.

All too often segmentation simply involves grouping employees into different levels of seniority or into functions. It’s far more effective to segment employees according to their attitudes towards whatever the engagement campaign is aiming to achieve. Gen Z, Millennials and Boomers are just generalisations based on people’s birth dates. Millions of people within each ‘segment’ can’t all be the same.

The amygdala is the part of the brain responsible for detecting danger and triggering fight-flight-freeze responses. When something seems threatening, the amygdala can bypass rational thought and act on instinct. This is useful when facing the danger of a predator in the wild but less helpful when we misinterpret an everyday work situation as an existential threat. Most employees still harbour an ever-present fear of losing their job.

As employers and employees embrace AI, many see it as a tool for handling repetitive, structured tasks that people would rather avoid. AI certainly adds value, from generating high-quality meeting notes to helping leaders summarise dense reports and extract key insights efficiently. Yet, for all its capabilities, AI cannot replace human judgment. Those who embrace AI as an enabler rather than a threat will be the ones who thrive.