Of the many benefits touted for rapidly evolving technology, improved workplace efficiency and productivity occupy top spots on the list. In this and other contexts, artificial intelligence (AI) is viewed as a game-changer across industries, and according to a recent McKinsey report, there’s a surge in adoption across industries to meet various business needs.
But if AI is being adopted so widely and improving efficiency so drastically, why do workers surveyed for a recent Eagle Hill report say they’re still bogged down in tedious work?
Here, we’ll dig into both reports —plus one from Deloitte — to take a look at evolving dynamics in the workplace and how AI fits in.
2025 Eagle Hill Consulting Workplace Efficiency Survey
Published March 2, the report from Eagle Hill Consulting revealed a number of interesting findings about how employees view their work and what they’d like to do about it. The 2025 Eagle Hill Consulting Workplace Efficiency Survey was conducted by Ipsos from January 16 – 22, 2025 and included 1,375 respondents from a random sample of employees across the U.S.
A majority of employees surveyed (68 percent) said they spend a lot of time on “low-value inefficient tasks” and have ideas about how to boost efficiency — but it seems no one is listening.
Key findings of the research include the following.
The majority of employees want to improve efficiency
- 78 percent of employees indicate they “regularly exchange ideas with colleagues on how to work more efficiently”
- 66 percent have “shared their ideas with their organization”
Employees have ideas, but some organizations aren’t tapping into them
- 56 percent of employees say their organization “doesn’t incentivize them to find ways to be more efficient”
- 41% say their organization “rarely or never seeks their ideas to make improvements”
- 44 percent say their organization “doesn’t support employee initiatives to improve efficiency”
Many organizations don’t have an effective process for submitting ideas
- 63% of employees report that their organization lacks a clear process to submit ideas for improvement
- 23% report their organization has no process at all
Employees at organizations with a “clearly defined process for sharing ideas” are about “two times more likely to also report that their organization is effective at improving productivity.”
Organizations often fail to implement the ideas they receive
- 38% of employees say it’s “unlikely their efficiency will be implemented”
- 42% percent don’t feel “empowered to implement changes based on their ideas”
- 83% say their organization “struggles to generate ideas for change”
- 48% find it “difficult to put ideas into practice”
- 39% say it is “difficult getting changes approved”
5 steps to improve efficiency
In the full report, Eagle Hill offers five steps to help employers “break old paradigms and tap into a goldmine of employee ideas on improving efficiency.”
- Explore engaging mechanisms to collect ideas. “Consider soliciting and incentivizing employees’ ideas using unconventional methods. …”
- Develop structures to submit and evaluate ideas. “Create clear and easy-to-follow processes for employees to share their ideas. …”
- Follow through on the best ideas and focus on value. “Show your commitment to top ideas by being transparent with employees about the evaluation and implementation process. …”
- Empower your teams. “Where possible, support employees in taking ownership of efficiency initiatives and piloting their ideas within their teams. …”
- Practice hands-on leadership to cultivate an ideas culture. “Model the behaviors that you want to see from employees. …”
In addition to ideas like these, findings from a recent Deloitte report indicate another factor that could boost both efficiency and employee satisfaction: AI.
Deloitte’s 2025 Global Human Capital Trends
Published March 24, the Deloitte report is based on a survey of nearly 13,000 business and human resources leaders across industries and sectors about “balancing short-term results versus long-term value.”
In the press release, the global consulting firm captures the challenges many organizations face.
“In an increasingly boundaryless world, leaders are being asked to address the complex tensions between business and human outcomes,” Deloitte explains. “At the same time, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping work — automating tasks, shrinking entry-level roles, and accelerating change.”
The firm says its 2025 Global Human Capital Trends report finds that “this new reality is creating worker, manager and organizational needs that are seemingly at odds — bridging the growing experience gap as entry-level roles disappear, supporting people and their development as middle management evolves, and ensuring that workers and organizations are able to fully realize AI’s potential.”
Realizing AI’s potential includes understanding its role in employee recruitment and retention, Deloitte says.
“As workers increasingly use AI, it’s changing their experience at work in unexpected and subtle ways,” the firm explains. “Human/AI collaboration is an increasingly important part of the modern ‘employee value proposition’ (EVP) — the reasons people choose to work for and stay at a company.”
Deloitte says an “updated EVP” holds value in that it can help organizations provide better support for their employees and “adapt to these changes.”
“Additionally, leaders who communicate AI’s role in job transformation, career growth, and work-life balance can help create workforce trust,” the firm adds, noting that:
- 52% of leaders “view the potential value of deeper human and machine collaboration as very or critically important”
- More than 70% of managers and workers are “more likely to join and stay with an organization if its employee value proposition helps them thrive in an AI-driven world”
“Focusing too much on short-term results can be to the detriment of creating long-term value,” says Karen Pastakia, global human capital practice leader and partner, Deloitte Canada. “Yes, organizations can leverage advances in AI to drive value and improve the bottom line. However, the organizations who effectively use it to identify and tackle emerging challenges, create a better quality of life for workers, and reimagine rigid management structures have the potential to unlock greater value for all of their stakeholders.”
To view the full report, visit Deloitte’s 2025 Global Human Capital Trends page.
The state of AI: How organizations are rewiring to capture value
Released March 12, McKinsey’s latest Global Survey on AI confirms the technology’s growing role in the workplace, revealing that organizations are:
- Beginning to take steps that “drive bottom-line impact”
- Working to “mitigate a growing set of gen-AI-related risks”
- Hiring for “new AI-related roles while they retrain employees to participate in AI deployment”
And organizations with “at least $500 million in annual revenue are changing more quickly than smaller organizations.”
“Overall, the use of AI—that is, gen AI as well as analytical AI—continues to build momentum: More than three-quarters of respondents now say that their organizations use AI in at least one business function,” McKinsey says. “The use of gen AI in particular is rapidly increasing.”
The online survey was conducted from July 16 to July 31, 2024, and received responses from 1,491 participants in 101 nations representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures.
For more, please see the full report.
