Download a printable version of this Hermie the HR Hermit Crab Cartoon.
Panel 1:
Kat: Alright boys, time to meet your new “colleague,” HAMMIE-2000.
Non-bearded gerbil: What the heck is that?
Whiskers: You’re bringing in a robot?
Panel 2:
Kat: Yep, a robot. HAMMIE, Say hi to your new colleagues.
HAMMIE-2000: Hello underlings. It’s nice to replace you.
Hermie: Umm, Kat? Have you talked to the union about this?
Panel 3:
Non-bearded gerbil: So it’s come to this, replaced by a robot.
Whiskers: I can’t believe it!
Panel 4:
Hermie: Hi, guys! Sooo, what do you think about HAMMIE-2000?
Whiskers: We’re not even going to get a goodbye party, are we?
Hermie: Uhhh, let me ask the Boss…
Robots, Rumors, and Workplace Reality
In the latest Hermie the HR Hermit Crab cartoon, Kat introduces the team to their new “colleague,” HAMMIE-2000. The robot immediately announces, “Hello underlings. It’s nice to replace you.”
Not exactly a best-practice change communication.
The gerbils do what most employees would do in that situation. They panic. They assume the worst. They start processing the emotional reality of being replaced before anyone has explained what the robot is actually there to do.
Hermie, as usual, tries to bring a little HR sense into the moment by asking whether anyone has talked to the union. Later, when he checks in with the team, one of the workers asks the most painfully human question in the whole cartoon:
“Are we not even going to get a goodbye party?”
Funny? Yes.
A little too close to home? Also yes.
As artificial intelligence, automation, robotics, and digital tools become more common in the workplace, many employees are asking the same basic question in different words:
Where do I fit now?
AI Adoption Is a People Issue
Organizations often talk about AI and automation as technology initiatives. Leaders focus on the platform, the tool, the implementation timeline, the vendor, and the projected efficiency gains.
Those things matter.
But employees experience technology change differently. They wonder:
- Will my job still exist?
- Will I be trained?
- Will this make my work better or worse?
- Will leadership tell us the truth?
- Will this tool help us serve customers, or will it simply track us, replace us, or make our jobs more frustrating?
When those questions go unanswered, people fill in the gaps themselves. That is how rumors spread. That is how resistance grows. That is how a useful tool becomes a symbol of mistrust.
HAMMIE-2000 may be fictional, but the fear behind the cartoon is real. Employees do not resist every new tool because they dislike progress. They resist when change feels imposed, unclear, threatening, or poorly explained.
Communication Needs to Start Before the Rollout
One of the biggest mistakes organizations make with AI and automation is waiting too long to communicate.
By the time employees meet the new system, the decision has often already been made. The budget has been approved. The vendor has been selected. The rollout schedule has been built. Leadership has had weeks or months to process the change.
Employees get the announcement in a meeting, email, or slide deck and are expected to catch up emotionally in five minutes.
That rarely works.
Effective change communication should answer the questions employees are already asking:
- Why are we making this change?
- What problem are we trying to solve?
- What work will change?
- What work will stay the same?
- How will people be trained and supported?
- What decisions have been made, and what input is still needed?
- Who can employees go to with concerns?
Clear communication does not eliminate every concern. It does help employees understand the purpose of the change and their role in making it work.
Employee Voice Can Prevent Expensive Mistakes
Hermie’s question about the union points to a larger issue: organizations need to involve the people closest to the work.
Frontline employees, supervisors, subject matter experts, and process owners often know where the real friction lives. They know where the workarounds happen. They know which tasks are repetitive, which are judgment-based, and which are fragile because only one person knows how to do them.
When leaders skip those voices, they risk automating the wrong thing, disrupting a process they do not fully understand, or damaging trust with employees who feel blindsided.
Employee involvement does not mean every decision becomes a vote. It means leaders gather meaningful input before, during, and after implementation.
For AI and automation projects, that can include:
- Listening sessions with affected employees
- Change impact assessments
- Process mapping with incumbent workers
- Pilot groups before full rollout
- Training needs analysis
- Feedback loops after launch
- Clear escalation paths for issues and risks
The goal is not to slow progress. The goal is to make progress stick.
Training Has to Match the Real Work
A common promise with automation is that it will “free people up for higher-value work.”
That sounds great, but only if employees are actually prepared for that higher-value work.
If AI takes over part of a job, employees may need new skills. They may need to learn how to interpret outputs, validate information, handle exceptions, serve customers differently, or manage more complex responsibilities.
Training should not be treated as a quick tutorial at the end of the project. It needs to be built around the people, roles, workflows, and performance expectations affected by the change.
For example, a manager may need training on how to coach employees through AI adoption. A frontline worker may need hands-on practice with a new tool. A senior leader may need guidance on how to communicate ethically about automation and workforce impact.
Different groups need different messages and different support.
That is where change management, organizational development, and training strategy come together.
Trust Matters More Than the Tool
The funniest part of the cartoon is HAMMIE-2000’s terrible introduction. The most important part is the team’s reaction.
They do not trust the change because nobody has helped them understand it.
Trust is built through transparency, consistency, and follow-through. If leaders say automation will support employees, the implementation should reflect that. If leaders say training will be provided, the training needs to be practical and timely. If leaders say they want feedback, they need to respond to that feedback visibly.
Employees are smart. They can usually tell when a change is being sugarcoated.
Honest communication goes further than vague reassurance. If some tasks will change, say so. If certain roles may evolve, explain how. If the organization is still figuring out parts of the plan, acknowledge that too.
People do not need every answer on day one. They do need to know leadership is paying attention to the human side of the change.
Better AI Rollouts Start with Better Questions
Before introducing a new tool, robot, system, or AI platform, leaders should ask:
- Who will be affected by this change?
- What will employees gain, lose, or need to learn?
- What concerns are likely to emerge?
- Who needs to be involved early?
- How will we communicate before rumors take over?
- What support will managers need?
- How will we measure adoption beyond technical launch?
- How will we know whether the change made work better?
Those questions help shift the focus from installation to adoption. They also help leaders avoid the classic mistake of treating people as an afterthought.
Don’t Let HAMMIE-2000 Handle the Rollout
AI and automation can absolutely improve work. They can reduce repetitive tasks, improve decision-making, support customers, and help organizations operate more effectively.
But the technology does not create adoption on its own.
People do.
If employees feel surprised, threatened, ignored, or poorly trained, even the best tool can become a source of anxiety and resistance. If employees understand the purpose, have a voice in the process, and receive practical support, the organization has a much better chance of making the change work.
So, before you introduce your version of HAMMIE-2000, take a lesson from Hermie.
- Talk to the people.
- Listen carefully.
- Plan the communication.
- Support the managers.
- Train for the real work.
And please, if someone really is being replaced by a robot, at least consider the goodbye party.
Need Help Making Workplace Change Less Painful?
Harmonious Workplaces helps organizations plan and execute change with the people side in mind. Our Change Execution & Adoption service supports communication, stakeholder engagement, training strategy, readiness, and adoption planning for technology and process changes.
Learn more here:
https://harmoniousworkplaces.com/change-execution-adoption/
You can also take our Workplace Culture Scorecard to identify where communication, trust, and alignment may be helping or hurting your organization:
And if you enjoy Hermie’s take on workplace dysfunction, check out the latest Hermie the HR Hermit Crab books and cartoons here:
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