Culture Sets the Rules for AI Transparency

Employees are already using AI on the job, often without telling their managers, which creates blind spots for oversight, development, and collaboration. Several workplace experts in the WorkLife report point to fear, unclear rules, and low psychological safety as the drivers of this secrecy. Leaders are encouraged to normalize transparent use and open dialogue so teams can learn and improve together.

Crucial Learning’s Justin Hale says the issue is less about use and more about the willingness to talk about it. He recommends approaching conversations with curiosity and openness, using a “facts-story-ask” structure to ground the discussion and surface intentions. He also notes the risk of over-reliance on AI for tasks that should build employees’ own capabilities.

HR and payroll leader David Torosyan observes that many employees are trying to get ahead without getting in trouble, which is why they keep AI use quiet. He links secrecy to weak clarity and psychological safety, and argues that culture and policy need to remove that fear. ZipRecruiter’s Sam DeMase adds that leadership must define where AI is appropriate, where it is not, and communicate practical examples to reduce uncertainty.

Hale frames the leader’s job as creating a partnership mindset. As he puts it, “Your job is to suck fear out of the air so that people feel like they could bring up any question, any concern.” He also urges executives to improve their own AI literacy, suggesting daily reading to keep pace.

Translate interest into safe, productive routines with clear guardrails and habits:

• Publish a one-page AI use policy. List approved use cases, redlines, data-handling rules, and disclosure expectations. Keep it specific to common workflows in your team.

• Make disclosure a norm. Add a simple “AI used” note in docs and tickets, and ask for a two-line summary of how it helped. Treat disclosure as quality signal, not confession.

• Give managers a talk track. Start with observable facts, share intent, then ask open questions to understand how AI is being used, mapping to the facts-story-ask flow.

• Review work products, not tools. Evaluate outcomes for accuracy, tone, and risk, and coach when outputs drift from standards.

• Run short show-and-tell sessions. Let employees demo a real task they improved with AI, with peers offering guardrails and refinements.

• Level up leaders. Assign weekly readings and a rotating owner to brief the team on implications for your function.

• Measure adoption and impact. Track where AI saves time, where quality improves, and where errors appear, then update rules and training on a fixed cadence.

When leaders set clarity, invite disclosure, and coach to outcomes, AI becomes a shared capability instead of a hidden habit.

The $9.6 Trillion Cost of Ignoring Workforce Well-Being

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The Role of Informal Leaders in Workplace Culture

Informal leaders are influential employees who shape team dynamics, communication patterns, and cultural tone, regardless of their title.

Key Contributions:

• They stabilize morale during change

• They model values more consistently than policies do

• They connect peers across teams and functions

Risks of Failing to Recognize Them:

• Undetected cultural misalignment

• Resistance during implementation of new initiatives

• Missed opportunities for stronger change management

How to Engage Them Effectively:

• Identify informal leaders through peer feedback, not just tenure

• Involve them in onboarding, messaging, and rollout planning

• Offer leadership development that doesn’t require formal promotion

These employees already hold influence. Leading with them is more effective than trying to lead around them.