Imperfect Marketing
Imperfect Marketing
AI Work Slop And How To Stop It
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Work Slop: Why AI Shortcuts Are Costing Teams More Than They Save
Ever get an email, doc, or deck from someone and instantly think, “This is… not it”? In this episode, we’re digging into the rise of work slop—the vague, messy, low-quality output that shows up when AI is used as a replacement for thinking instead of a tool for support.
Kendra sits down with Sue Justice, founder of Emory HR, to talk about why this isn’t just an AI problem—it’s a performance, communication, and leadership problem that businesses can’t afford to ignore.
We explore:
What “Work Slop” Is (and Why It’s Growing)
- How AI-generated work becomes unclear, incorrect, or incomplete
- Why “slapping something together” shifts work to the next person
- The difference between using AI as an assistant vs. letting it do the job
This Isn’t a Tool Issue—It’s a Behavior Issue
- How people have always “phoned it in,” but AI makes it faster and more visible
- Why audiences and teammates can sense when work lacks human touch
- The real question leaders must ask: workload problem or character problem?
What Leaders Should Do About It
- When to coach and when to treat it as a performance issue
- Why a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) matters before cutting ties
How industry risk, trust, and legal exposure shape your response
Where AI Helps—and Where It Shouldn’t Lead
- Using AI for brainstorming or templates vs. high-stakes decisions
- Why contracts and policies need human tone, context, and accountability
- The risk of letting AI output become “authority” without review
Sue’s Biggest Marketing Lesson
- Why business owners shouldn’t try to do everything themselves
- How doing the wrong work wastes more time than it saves
- The sustainability link between delegation and quality
Whether you’re leading a team, outsourcing work, or using AI in your own business, this episode is a clear reminder: AI can save time, but only if humans own the standard. If the quality drops, the cost doesn’t disappear—it just lands on someone else.
“AI is meant to be an assistant… not the end-all ‘I’ll do it for you’ solution.” – Sue Justice
00:00:00
Introduction to Sue Justice and why HR belongs in this conversation
00:02:06
What “work slop” is and how it shows up at work
00:03:39
Why AI misuse is really a people/performance issue
00:06:53
Skill gap vs. character flaw: how to tell the difference
00:09:57
When work slop becomes a firing-level problem
00:13:05
Transparency, AI policies, and setting clear standards
00:19:01
AI adoption is everywhere—whether companies admit it or not
00:23:04
Sue’s biggest marketing lesson as a business owner
Connect with Sue Justice:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanajustice/
Website: https://emeryhr.com/
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Hi, I'm Kendra Corman. If you're a coach, consultant, or marketer, you know marketing is far from a perfect science. And that's why this show is called Imperfect Marketing. Join me and my guests as we explore how to grow your business with marketing tips and, of course, lessons learned along the way. Hello and welcome back to another episode of Imperfect Marketing. I'm your host, Kendra Corman, and today I am joined by my good friend Sue Justice. Sue is the founder of Emery HR, which is an HR consulting, HR outsourced type organization, right? You can outsource your whole HR. You can also find specialties within Emery HR. And it's customizable to what a company is looking to do within the world of HR. So thank you so much for joining me, Sue. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me, Kendra. All right. So you're probably thinking, why on earth does Kendra have an HR person on a marketing podcast? What is going on? And the thing is, this one topic that um Sue and I actually have talked about quite a few times, and that is the issue of work slop. And so we are going to be talking about the junk that AI creates that people are handing off that's actually costing companies money. Like we're always talking about how AI saves time and saves money and saves resources, and it's an amazing tool. There's the bad side. And this is it. So before we get into defining work slot and everything, how did you get into HR, AI, all the things?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I guess I shouldn't go back 30 years, but it just found my passion over the years of you know HR becoming what it is today. And I just really found out that I love working with people. I see everybody looking at me like you gotta be kidding me, but I do like working with people. I do like policy, also helping businesses to work efficiently, which then hence the AI thing. I think it's very useful in uh the capacity the capacities that it's meant for. But as you were saying, as we get into it, sometimes and many times we're finding it's costing us more than it's helping.
SPEAKER_01:So what is work slop? Work slop. I love the word, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00:It's like, oh, it describes it describes it perfectly. Um sloppy. You know, AI makes work sloppy. And that goes into production. So people may be working faster, but the quality of work is going down by a few ways. So whether the information isn't clear, isn't correct, maybe not complete. So that work, just say using it in your own team situation. So team members, instead of communicating and brainstorming and all of that, they're just slapping the work together. They go to AI, they get some answers, they put it in email and off it goes. And then whoever gets it, if it's not clear, it's not correct, they are finding themselves having to go back and clean it up themselves. So now one individual may decide themselves a lot of time, but whoever's getting the work now is spending even more time cleaning it up or, you know, correcting it or what have you. So that's where a lot of the issues are coming from, is just isn't used for what it's meant for. It's meant to be an assistant to help look for information, not be the end all clear, I'll do it for you, kind of.
SPEAKER_01:The part that I'm struggling with is so I hear what you're saying, people are phoning it in and they're using AI to do it. I feel like this isn't an AI issue. This is a people issue because if people aren't using it correctly, they're not doing their job, they're speeding through things, they're phoning it in and they're sending stuff off that's not good. Like, weren't they doing that before?
SPEAKER_00:I think to a different extent or a different way. Yes, we've always had people or employees copying information. You know, they Google it, they find something in a book, they find an article and they use it. I think it's just more prominent now because AI and most people are realizing how what AI looks like when you AI generates something, there's certain tell time that show you that when you look at it, that you can tell it's AI. Whereas before, unless you knew the article or the book that they took it from, AI is there. It's just how they word it, right? That's what you specialize in is as far as helping people see AI and recognize AI. I think that's where the frustrating part is, is because I don't know. For an example, I had a colleague ask me, loved my article. And he goes, Did you write it? And I looked at him, because actually I didn't write it. Um, my marketing person wrote it. And he goes, Don't tell me it's AI. And it is looked at this face and I said, No, actually, my marketing person who uh I gave the information from well, a fabulous article, but um, it is immediately go to was it AI? They're looking for that human touch. And if they don't see it, automatically that's where the assumption goes. Let me ask you about this.
SPEAKER_01:So we have people phoning in their jobs, right? And there's people who've been phoning in their jobs for decades and probably since the start of time, right? It's easier, I think, and more accessible to do it now with with AI. And I think that that's part of the problem. And that's, and I think very much what you're saying about it being more visible because people know what it is now. Is this a behavior issue? And what what type of action do you need to be taking? Because there's the person that has too much on their to-do list, and so this is at the bottom, and they're just getting it done that's creating it, right? And then there's the person that this is the way they're gonna work. They're just inherently lazy or not qualified, or they just don't care anymore. How do you handle these situations? Because I don't want work slop, right? I know I've created work slop on my own too. I hate to admit that, but I have, right? When I'm rushing and getting things done and it's happened before.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, exactly. It's uh good for certain purposes, right? And we kind of talked a little bit about that of when it's appropriate and when it's not. So what you're referring to is more falls into performance issues. Um, and obviously, character speaks to that person's integrity and obviously in a team building, uh, what their place is on the team and their qualifications. And so all of that, when you're dealing with that as a team lead or as a coworker, and you're starting to see somebody fall behind, uh, not pulling their weight, it goes back to the same things that we were looking for. If it wasn't AI, uh the certain situations that, you know, they're not turning things in on time or it's half done, um, where now they just use AI to fill in those blanks, but it's still there and you still notice it. So there's a few different ways, you know, obviously come from HR of how we can help or our our team members, our management coworkers or what have you to deal with it, but also as a company as a whole. You know, the company, a company wants to look at, say, well, what's our policy on this? How do we want to deal with it? So obviously, one is creating a policy, however it is, dependent, and that's gonna depend on obviously what the uh your industry, what you're doing, and how detailed that is. But once you get that, then you need to communicate. You really want to be transparent. You want to be talking about this, you want to educate the employees. Don't assume that they understand all the things that even you and I just talked about. Put in some human controls, some human oversight. So, you know, we have to do this in HR, absolutely. Uh, because we can get into really big trouble of, you know, somebody on my team decides that they're gonna do uh go to AI for a policy that we're gonna, no, we we we no, that's not a go-to. And yes, that would absolutely be a character issue uh flaw, and probably even more so than just even a performance issue. Looking at that, and then also I think that you mentioned if a somebody, there is an employee that you notice that's using a lot, is there a skills issue? Is there a gap that they are not sure of how to move forward? Uh so that's where that human uh oversight might help as far as looking at that maybe we can fill in a gap. We really like this employee, they're they're a great performer any other time. Uh, but let's address this and make sure that it's not uh a character issue or like you were saying, is it uh a workload issue, that they just really need to get some things off the desk uh and to move forward. And then, of course, is there any technical type issues that you can you can deal with and tighten those up as far as using the AI?
SPEAKER_01:My husband has some creative names sometimes for like how he describes my personality at times. I'm very direct, it's you know. Um, I I just want to fire them. Why, why shouldn't that be? And I'm not saying like the really good performer that's phoning in the one thing, I get it. I that I can live with, but the one that this is their character, or they're done, or they're just tired of their job. Like, I just want to get rid of them. Why, why should or shouldn't I? What are you gonna tell me? Because I really just want to say, thank you so much. It's been fun. I'll see you later. Right.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you know, I'll start with though Michigan isn't at well state. However, so we go right from there. So, you know, if you're an owner, business owner, and you want to just get room, I wouldn't recommend it. Uh, so there's things that you would take. Um, obviously, outside of yes, they're a really good worker, you're realizing that they're not so much. Uh, usually we would put them on a performance improvement plan. So you bring them in, you talk to them and say, this is what's going on, and these are the ways to improve it. And if this doesn't happen, you know, this is how it's gonna go. And then you follow up with it and you follow through the process. And if they don't improve, you know, there's a chance that they're like going, oh, busted. Okay, I shouldn't have done that. It was a mistake. You know, I wasn't thinking at the time I was tired, whatever. But if it continues, yes, you you address the the issues and you move forward with it. And then yes, if it doesn't work out, you let them go. Okay. How long is that process? Uh it's up to you. Name it as long as you put it in that performance review and you say exactly you've gotten till this day, or the next project, if we see it again, this is what's gonna happen. So, and it's up to you as the employer to decide how much leeway you want to give that, you know. And again, some of that's just your industry and exposure or um that abrasion company by them doing this. You know, is there a legal ramification? Is it, you know, is it uh an issue with, you know, your client's trust or what have you that might be um infringed on to because the employee is not using AI appropriately.
SPEAKER_01:I want to go back to something that you talked that you mentioned beforehand, and that's transparency, right? You said you have to be transparent about AI and about the use of AI. And I think that's so important and such a big issue, right? So as we move forward, my clients know I use AI. Um, my clients also know nothing's going out without me reviewing it and editing it, sometimes heavily, sometimes less heavily, right? It's always human reviewed. And that is my that is my promise to them. Um, I'm if I create work swap, it's only in my own business. Right. Exactly. Not going anywhere. Um, but talking about this transparency, I think one of the things that people are struggling with is AI is encouraged or AI is endorsed, and then somebody uses it incorrectly. And that's what's creating the work slop. How are we dealing with the transparency issue? You you said a policy, right? So if the policy is yes, AI can be used as long as you don't use any PII or personally identifying information of any of our customers, members, whatever it happens to be, then have at it, right? Or confidential information. Or if you have Microsoft Copilot, they're allowing you to use it with your data. Where do you communicate that expectation of standards? I mean, I feel like it should be just common sense, but it sounds like to me that that might be part of this transparency, or is that something totally different?
SPEAKER_00:Obviously, the a well-witten policy is great, right? But it's just like your handbook. It doesn't do you any good if you don't use it. So I think uh it's important for leaders, management to uh put together a very comprehensive policy and then communicate it. Yes, I think that is one of the things that uh it just in human nature communication or lack thereof. And part of it is as well, if we understand it, we assume everybody else does, right? And it's amazing how much just in HR, what we deal with, you know, conflict. And most of the conflict obviously is communication, and we assume or it is assumed that people think just like us. And so when we say something, we assume that person understands it, right? So we're saying this is common sense, not so much. And you know, depending on where you come in on in generations and how much you grew up with technology, that's a big tell all or issue in the process. So why that policy has to be written very clearly, dumbed down, so to speak, to have to make sure you're addressing it all. And then the transparency is obviously then communicating it in every part of the processes that you go through as an employer. So it's not just in the meeting, it is uh bringing it up in team meetings, bringing it up uh you know, when we're doing reviewing work or conversations, what have you. So, and then sharing that work, right? So when there's an example there, you can say, hey, you know, with a team, this is an example that uh would be AI misused. And uh perhaps also putting in some you know technical uh processes that will also help the employer or the team track that type of information.
SPEAKER_01:So going back to one of the things that you said is that you shouldn't be using AI to create policies. And I think that there's been a lot of talk about AI shouldn't be used to write contracts. If it's being reviewed, why does it matter?
SPEAKER_00:AI is good to help write those, right? So it's not just being reviewed. Is it you take it to the next level of does this have uh does it include my personal, you know, uh tone, talk? Because I will tell you, if you know me and then you read AI, it is very clear whether or not it's me. I am not that polished. So, you know, I have to, I do have to go through and say, okay, this is a great idea. How would I say it? Or there's other things that I'd use it for is, you know, I do have a very difficult situation. I want some ideas on how to handle it. So how can I put that in my tone, in my way of thinking um or speaking? So it's good to use, like you say, as brainstorming ideas, what have you, but then it's not just the human oversight looking at it and saying, oh, that's great, that works perfectly. It's also creating it and uh using it as a template, I guess, to communicate and start what you actually want done, if that makes sense. Uh so it's not it's a little bit more than just oversight, right? It's you know, making it your own and adding what you need to.
SPEAKER_01:So let's talk a little bit about that oversight, right? How are you seeing companies do this well or not do it so well?
SPEAKER_00:Well, for the emplo the employers, I actually see that addressing it. I will say I do see that it's not even being talked about. It's not even being addressed. They're not really aware of it, or they just never thought about it. You know, within their their practices, their companies, what have you. It's just they know it's there, but again, it's not going much farther than that. I am trying to think of a situation that actually I don't have an example right off the top of my head as far as getting past um, let's start at zero, you know, and actually having that conversation with them, you know, and it usually does start, hey, do you have an AI policy? And it's usually, do I need one? And then you have to go through the examples of how this actually could be happening and they are a place of business. Everybody's got a phone, like you said.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I remember, like, I was just talking to someone two years ago. The first question in a presentation on AI is who's using AI? And less than half the hands in the room would go up. Now people are saying, How are you using AI? And they're asking questions and or what AI tools are you using? There's an assumption at this point that everybody's using it. I mean, the adoption has skyrocketed in, I'd say even just the last year.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think that yes, like you were saying, Copilot and Gemini, all those come out there and they're now integrated into the internet and things that we're always using. So it's tempting. You know, it's on Outlook, it's on everything that, oh wow, I can get help with this email. And I, you know, the more you talk about it, I have had clients, um, employees talk about their teammates or something they got from a client that just is there. It's really vague. It's not the person you're like, where did this come from? Uh so in that sense, I think that's where it is not being used well, is again somebody's just cutting and pasting and putting it in an email. And something gets lost in that. Like you're saying that uh it's done, they do a presentation. Now, this is kind of a little bit more outside of within my business and clients, but on the outside is you've ever sit through a presentation or an event and there's multiple speakers, what have you, and you see a presentation. Now, again, not bad to use it, you know, to set up the slides. I do that. You set up the slides, you get some ideas, what have you. But then the point is that you come in and you make it your own. And sometimes you say and you see it, and it's like, that wasn't really that, you know, there's just, I don't know what that is. You know, it's just a bunch of stuff put on slides. And there's no, um, and a lot of times I see that there's no cohesion, there's no process or uh uh to follow through the presentation. Um, so I'm gonna go with that one as far as where I see that happen the most in my world, uh, just being, you know, a suit justice and you know, seeing in the professional world what I've experienced.
SPEAKER_01:No, I think that that's great. And I think that pointing out that companies are just not having this conversation and they're not talking about AI, and sometimes they're sticking their head in the ground and just making the assumption that AI isn't being used. It is. Because, like you said, everybody has a phone, and if they can't use it on their regular stuff, they're using it on their phones. So I think that that's just so important to acknowledge. This has been awesome. I think some of the big takeaways that I have is one, talk about it. Two, have a policy that you talk about and enforce, right? Um, three, if it's a character issue, I think build the documentation to get rid of the person because this is not the type of person that you want to have on your team, right? And as a lot of us are, you Know, lean and mean, right? As we go through things, we don't have the time to do that. We can't have somebody's phoning in their job, not knowing how to do it, you know, and sending us stuff that we have to redo. We just don't have the time for that. And I think it's really, really important to acknowledge that and to figure out how we're going to move forward with that. So love it. I think that that's fantastic. So thank you so much for sharing all of that. Before I let you go though, I do have to ask you the question that I ask all of my guests. And that is that this show is called Imperfect Marketing, because marketing is anything but a perfect science. So I know that you own your own company. And so what's been your biggest marketing lesson learned over the years?
SPEAKER_00:Not to do it myself. I sometimes think, yo, I'm a business owner. I, you know, think I can do everything. Sometimes I have to do everything. I am definitely not a marketer. You know, it's kind of that same thing. What you put out there, um, if it's not anyway, whatever. I don't have to say, but yeah, I um probably have no business doing my own marketing.
SPEAKER_01:So that's no, but I think that that's it's more than imperfect.
SPEAKER_00:It's just really bad.
SPEAKER_01:No, I but I think that that's such an important lesson to learn and to identify is that you can't always do everything alone or on your own. So I have a bookkeeper and one of my friends that I encourage to get to get uh to become a certified bookkeeper and stuff like that. She's like, well, doesn't it do most of that your itself and you know, QuickBooks with like automatically coding and stuff like that? And I was like, yes and no, no, not not a lot. And she's like, well, can't you do it? And I'm like, I can. I I won't. Right, right. It's never getting done. It's never getting done. I'm like, I'm gonna have my books done at, you know, in March before I have to send it to the accountant, and I'll have no idea where anything was at. Right. And so I would be very happy with you. So it's, you know, because I'd have to spend a whole weekend just doing the books. Because that's not where I find my joy. That's not what I what I like to do. And I think acknowledging that is is huge. It's not that you're not capable of it. It's not that I'm not capable of using QuickBooks and coding things and all the fun things. I I don't wanna at all. And I'm not gonna.
SPEAKER_00:But you also think because you it's not what we do. So when we do it, it takes us so much more time, right? You're thinking about and say, wow, what could I have done? You know, spent my day with to do. You know, how much more, you know, as a business owner, um, what I could have, you know, I'm not working on my business, working in my business, whatever. I am doing things that I am really honestly not trained or like to do, like you said. It's just not anyway, what have you? But yes, it's one of those things, yes, you're doing it. And now somebody else is probably gonna have to redo it.
SPEAKER_01:And that goes for HR and people issues too, because I'm glad you like to deal with people. I was actually just telling someone earlier this morning that um I I'm done peopling for the week. I I have two more, I have two more events this week. This is just so you guys know, we're recording this on a Thursday. It's gonna be released on a Thursday. I still have two more events this week on Friday and Saturday. And um yeah, I I'm peopled out. Like I have no interest in doing that. And again, my first when we had the character issue, um, my first gut reaction was to um fire the person, really. So thank you so much for joining me today. I really, really appreciate it. I think that people will get a lot of information out of this episode. And then we'll have ways to connect with Sue down below so that if you want to have her come speak or are interested in getting some help with your HR efforts, um, definitely check that out. Until next time, have a great rest of your day.
