Talent Management Challenges You Can Address With AI
CEOs are primarily worried about "talent risk," which means the struggle to find and keep the right talent and skillsets. Almost 90% of executives and managers acknowledge that their companies are either currently experiencing skill gaps or anticipate facing them within the next five years. The most common way to deal with these skill gaps is through upskilling and reskilling programs for internal staff movement, as mentioned by 56% of respondents, along with hiring externally.
The existing workforce holds vast potential in terms of skills, but the utilization of internal lateral hires, individuals transitioning to different roles within the organization, remains low at just 10% of job openings. This underutilization presents a significant missed opportunity for businesses, as internal hires can offer substantial benefits in terms of saving time, resources, and finances. According to Gartner, neglecting the development of current staff results in an annual loss of millions for an average-sized organization, attributed to decreased productivity and recruitment expenses. Major companies such as IBM [1], Hilton [2], and Unilever [3] are already effectively employing Artificial Intelligence tools to address this challenge.
Utilizing AI-Powered Software To Address Talent Management Hurdles
One of the major challenges in talent management includes attracting and keeping sufficient employees across all levels to support a company's expansion, establishing a strong leadership pipeline, and ensuring the smooth transfer of essential knowledge. AI is transforming hiring, upskilling, and reskilling processes to a higher level; AI-driven talent management software typically includes three primary components:
- AI tools that assess employees' skills
These tools give managers insights into their abilities and competencies. - AI-driven career path platforms
Integrated with Learning Management Systems (LMSs) or Learning Experience Platforms (LXPs), these platforms streamline upskilling and reskilling efforts. The tool finds out what skills are needed for a job and shows where you need to get better. After that, it helps you find training resources from platforms like LMSs or LXPs to improve those skills. - AI-powered workforce forecasting tools
They accurately predict potential talent gaps in the near future. The tool looks at your employees' skills in comparison to competitors to keep up with what's happening in the industry. Then, AI suggests moving people within your company to different positions or changing their roles based on this information.
1. Evaluating Workforce Skills With AI-Powered Tools
AI provides HR managers with a better understanding of an employee's skills than they would obtain solely from manager surveys. With the help of Machine Learning algorithms, talent management software can automatically evaluate and rank employees' job-ready skills using their profiles and competency matrix. This means that humans only need to describe the skills once, and then the machine parses these descriptions for implementation.
Thanks to the integration of AI, managers will receive a list of candidates along with their skill proficiency levels ranked according to the company's requirements. For example, let's say a manager at a technology company uses AI-powered skill assessment tools to evaluate their team's abilities. After looking at the data, the manager notices that some employees aren't very good at a programming language that's really important for a project coming up soon. Knowing this helps the manager decide to give them special training or change their jobs a bit so the team has all the skills they need to do well.
2. AI-Guided Career Development Paths With Integrated LMS Or LXP For Enhancing And Updating Skills
AI-driven talent management software, combined with eLearning platforms like LXPs or LMSs, is created to address skill gaps by retraining individuals within or outside the organization. When employees are exploring new opportunities, they use the tool to grasp the available positions and the skills needed for each role within their organization. AI algorithms then check the employee's skills, compare them to job needs, find any gaps, and suggest appropriate courses to bridge those gaps. This method results in more successful training as it begins with strong motivation and is backed by a personalized learning journey.
Businesses can enhance talent retention by leveraging Artificial Intelligence for employee education and providing internal career growth opportunities. Let's imagine Emily, a product manager at a tech startup. Emily has been in software product development for a while, but she wants to improve her project management skills. Her company recently launched an AI-driven career path tool. Emily views this as a chance to progress in her career. She logs in and sets her career goals, expressing her interest in learning about project management in product development. The AI tool assesses Emily's skills and compares them to the requirements for project management roles in the company.
After the assessment, the tool points out areas where Emily can learn and possibly land a desired role within the company. There are agile methodologies, stakeholder management, and product lifecycle management. Then, it suggests specific courses and resources from the LMS and LXP platforms to help Emily build these skills.
3. AI-Driven Tool For Predicting Workforce Needs
AI-powered software that forecasts workforce needs and skills conducts analysis on human capital and compares it with real-time industry standards. It predicts upcoming job roles and changing skill requirements, guiding companies to invest in building future-ready teams.
For instance, let's say a software company uses this tool and realizes that its competitors are increasingly focusing on Artificial Intelligence technology. The tool might identify that some employees have relevant AI skills but are currently in roles where they're not utilizing them effectively. AI could then recommend transferring these employees to teams working on AI projects or adjusting their roles to incorporate more AI-related tasks.
How Can You Incorporate AI Into Your HR And L&D Procedures?
Companies seeking a more effective approach to address skill gaps might consider these actions:
- Begin by crafting a competency matrix and analyzing employees' current skillsets
Deciding which skills to improve in the workforce means assessing the availability of each skill in alignment with the organization's strategic goals. - Link up your HR software with eLearning tools using the Talent Management framework
Companies might have to mix their internal learning materials with eLearning content sourced from different places like online platforms, universities, and eLearning providers. - Seek professional consulting for integrating HR and eLearning software
Consultants will evaluate your digitalization requirements and review your current workflow automation. They can then help choose appropriate software and integrate AI where it provides the most cost-effective outcomes.
References
[1] IBM artificial intelligence can predict with 95% accuracy which workers are about to quit their jobs
[2] Ten HR Trends In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence
