Artificial intelligence has long promised to revolutionize the business landscape.
While positioned to transform companies in every industry, AI has especially been touted as a revolutionary technology that will transform HR – and soon.
Myriad new tools have been launched in recent years that offer new and innovative ways to use AI for human resources, from developments in automationOpens a new window to hiring processesOpens a new window .
Yet, although two-thirds of CEOs agree that AI is fast becoming critical to their operations, just over one-in-10 Chief Human Resource Officers believe their company actually has the necessary skills, experience and knowledge required to incorporate this evolving tech into their company.
This skills and knowledge gap inspired IBM to launch a new business vertical – IBM Talent & Transformation – that can help clients use AI and automation for competitive advantage throughout their organization.
This venture is designed not only to provide dynamic AI-skills training, but will also help companies incorporate AI into their HR functions to “empower employees, transform workflows, eliminate bias and build a modern workforce.â€
And according to IBM, companies are in need of these services especially when the “hottest†skills in the market all require an understanding of AI.
New research from the multinational information technology company posits that over the next three years, up to 120 million workers in the world’s 10 biggest economies will likely require retraining, or to learn entirely new skills as a consequence of increasing proliferation of AI and intelligent automation.
Meanwhile, a report from The Harris Poll conducted on behalf of IBM found that more than half of US and UK employees believe their companies do not have the resources or expertise necessary to effectively leverage AI, with company culture often cited in the study as a major barrier to adoption.
Indeed, IBM would have us believe that IBM Talent & Transformation could be the missing piece in this puzzle of AI integration. The company argues that it can be the driver that turns HR into a “growth engine†for organizations, enhancing the way they attract, engage, onboard and retain candidates that have the key knowledge and experience to meet their needs.
IBM’s new services aim to merge three key needs organizations face when attempting digital transformation and restructuring their operations for this new AI-focused era:
- Shaping a company culture that is open to AI-driven functions.
- Assimilating more specialized skillsets – e.g. attracting and retaining the talent required to build a workforce that can evolve with the company and contribute to overall growth.
- Integrating new technologies such AI and automation into HR processes.
The AI tools and related training initiatives IBM is offering come from strategies and technologies the company developed for its own workforce transformation. These services use AI across numerous HR functions, such as:
- Helping staff to learn new skills and find new opportunities to grow within the company.
- Providing HR teams with measurable metrics on employee flight risk.
- Using sentiment analysis to identify issues among employees.
- Reducing bias in recruitment operations.
For IBM, applying these tools and tactics resulted in $107 million in benefits to the company last year, and led to substantial improvement in candidate, employee and manager satisfaction.
And as it looks to help clients embrace the AI-fostered changes, IBM has launched a suite of new services to complement IBM Talent & Transformation intended to help HR departments effectively and efficiently join the AI revolution.
IBM AI Skills Academy
This is a service that will help technical and business decision-makers from front-line managers to C-suite executives to better understand the key elements of AI initiatives – for example, deep learning and machine learning frameworks, how to apply algorithms, open source technologies and data visualization.
It will help companies create decision-making structures based on data and analytics and, ultimately, improve their AI strategies.
IBM Watson Talent
IBM Talent & Transformation is also applying IBM Watson Talent solutions and products, which offer predictive analytics and AI for the recruitment cycle, career coaching, developing robust talent strategies for future workforces and solving unconscious bias issues.