Strategies for successful talent upskilling and change management
Most roundtable attendees agreed that talent shortages and change management were the primary challenges in adopting and scaling AI within their organisation.
Harrison recommends that business leaders approach it by covering a triangle of 'awareness, understanding, and expertise.' Employees should be aware of what the company is trying to do and how they hope to achieve it. Key figures with an understanding of the technology can be tasked with championing the initiative, and finally, the expertise at the top will deliver the capability.
“If you haven't got that triangle right, and you're top-heavy, you can have all the expertise in the world, but no one's going to adopt it because they're not aware. No one understands what you're trying to do. You can make everyone aware of AI, but if no one's there to deliver it, they'll easily get put off and move on to the next thing. That triangle is important to start your journey to implementing AI more successfully," says Harrison.
As AI becomes more prevalent in the workplace, the existing skills gap may widen. One attendee suggested empowering employees to embrace learning to help retain their competitive edge in the talent market and within the company.
"It's a real opportunity to tell people, 'Come on this journey with us. You'll learn these skills. You may not even use them within our business for years, but you'll be well equipped to go and use those skills in another business, and you're going to be valuable to people in the team who are willing to go on those journeys with you,'" she said.
“Ultimately, it's about upskilling and training. And where that happens is very organisationally dependent,” says Harrison. “If you're a fragmented organisation, then in-function or in-division normally works better. If you're an organisation that's very centralised, then centralised is normally the answer.”
