Some of our managers are starting to use AI to write difficult performance reviews and draft delicate feedback emails to underperforming employees. How do we draw a firm operational boundary that keeps our people management and core values alignment strictly human?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

While AI can draft emails and summarize data, using it to manage your people is a recipe for operational failure. Performance reviews, feedback sessions, and core values alignment must remain entirely human.

If a manager uses an AI tool to write a difficult performance review, the feedback becomes sterile and disconnected. Employees can sense when communication is disingenuous, which erodes trust and damages your company culture. Managing people requires empathy, context, and human judgment that machine learning cannot replicate.

Keep your people management human by establishing a clear rule on your Accountability Chart. Any seat responsible for managing people must GWC, which stands for get it, want it, and have the capacity to do the job. A core part of that capacity is having direct, honest, and human conversations with team members.

You can use AI to summarize objective performance data, such as scorecards or completed tasks, to prepare for a review. However, the actual evaluation, the feedback delivery, and the coaching must come directly from the manager.

Drawing this boundary protects your culture and ensures your team remains aligned around your core values. It keeps your operations human-centric while allowing automation to handle the administrative burdens.