Employers are turning to AI tools to boost retention and address skills gaps

AI’s role in workforce management: Artificial intelligence is emerging as a powerful tool for employers to assess worker skills, plan for future needs, and train staff, potentially boosting both corporate productivity and employee career prospects.

• Johnson & Johnson uses an AI-driven process called “skills inference” to assess and plan across its workforce, enabling insights that would not be possible manually.
• DHL employs AI in its “career marketplace” to match employee skills with open positions, directing staff to appropriate training and supporting managers in filling vacancies.
• These AI applications are proving particularly useful as business needs evolve rapidly, allowing organizations to quickly identify and create training materials for new skills.

How AI assesses skills: Companies are leveraging various data sources and AI models to evaluate employee skills and proficiency levels.

• Many organizations infer skills using data generated from across the company, including job titles, work activities, technology usage, and supervisor reports.
• Johnson & Johnson developed a company-specific skills taxonomy with 41 “future-ready” skills and trained AI to identify where these skills existed in the organization based on workers’ experience and roles.
• AI models are trained on data from workforce management systems to assess skills on a proficiency scale, typically ranging from zero (no skill detected) to five (thought leadership).

AI-enhanced training and development: Artificial intelligence is also being used to improve training programs and provide personalized feedback to employees.

• Bank of America utilizes AI simulations to allow employees to practice difficult conversations, such as discussing sensitive issues with clients, in a safe environment.
• AI-powered training enables managers to identify areas where staff are improving quickly or struggling, helping to focus educational efforts more effectively.
• The technology can tailor learning recommendations, suggesting courses that employees should take to further their careers within the company.

Benefits of AI in workforce management: The implementation of AI in skills assessment and training offers several advantages for both employers and employees.

• AI automation allows companies to assess a broader range of skills, potentially with greater accuracy than existing approaches.
• The technology can provide employees with insights into how their skills compare to job requirements and guide them on how to reach desired proficiency levels.
• AI-driven internal hiring, as implemented by DHL, can be less expensive and quicker than external recruitment, while also increasing the likelihood of finding candidates who are a good fit for the organization.

Limitations and challenges: Despite its potential, AI in workforce management is not without limitations and requires careful implementation.

• The accuracy of AI skills assessments depends heavily on the quality and completeness of the data used to train the models.
• Human input remains crucial for these systems to work effectively, as employees may need to update and correct their digital footprints to ensure accurate assessments.
• Nimmi Patel of Tech UK advises that high-stakes evaluation and growth decisions should remain under human supervision, suggesting a hybrid approach.

Best practices for implementation: Organizations using AI for workforce management are adopting certain practices to maximize benefits and address potential shortcomings.

• Johnson & Johnson allows staff to edit their skills history and add information not automatically captured in data sets, ensuring the AI has comprehensive information to work with.
• Both J&J and DHL make participation in AI-driven skills assessments optional for employees.
• Companies stress that AI assessments are not used for day-to-day performance management but rather for understanding the overall skills landscape and guiding learning focus.

Looking ahead: Balancing potential and caution: As AI continues to evolve in the realm of workforce management, organizations must carefully navigate its implementation.

• While the technology shows tremendous promise in streamlining skills assessment and training, it’s crucial to recognize its current limitations and the ongoing need for human oversight.
• The future of AI in workforce management will likely involve refining algorithms to better understand nuances in individual growth and development trajectories.
• As these systems become more sophisticated, striking the right balance between leveraging AI’s capabilities and maintaining human judgment in critical decisions will be key to successful integration in the workplace.