An important paper released in March by the Institute for Public Policy Research identified how companies decide to adapt to AI will influence either a boost or significant drop in the health of the economy, quoting worst case scenario 7.9 million job losses and best case scenario no job losses and a 13% boost to the economy. Predictions within the report identify that repetitive task based roles, administration and compliance are just some of those jobs most at risk. So how can your Business Plan influence this?
By planning ahead businesses can take control of redesigning work and retraining employees to maximise the positive impact AI can have on people and communities over the next few years. Returning first to your business Purpose Statement and values base is a good starting point to influence your People Strategy.
Traditionally HR’s role in restructuring is to help design the structure then slot the ‘displaced’ employees into the new roles or make them redundant. AI is reducing jobs, and now our task is to help create and redesign new career opportunities to reflect the next generation. So, our suggestion is that we rip up the old HR school book, and start with the people.
What are the skills you have, and what are the skills you need? Dig out your skills matrix which will tell you this, perhaps refresh and include more decision making related skills e.g. judgements, emotional intelligence, ability to influence, engagement skills, creative ability. What are the new tasks in the company that are becoming increasingly important to gain customer confidence e.g. environmental, community impact.
Here are some steps to start thinking about how AI can positively impact your workforce.
- Which tasks within your company are likely to be automated over time?
- Who does this impact?
- What capability do you have to retrain/reskill those effected?
- What is the future skills requirement?
- What is the timeline for retraining?
- What resources and funding is needed?
- What conversations are needed with employees to embrace this change positively?
We’ve already seen some future proof people strategies being put in place by some of our customers to reskill teams to minimise job losses and make roles more meaningful and impactful both on business performance and morale.
Remember, AI is developed from historical information, for a company to be innovative in these rapidly changing times the human element is key to business success.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and challenges and put our minds together to help you come up with creative solutions for your people strategy and AI. Please do get in touch with us: hello@risehr.co.uk and we can share our recent examples of supporting clients to stay agile and importantly competitive and profitable.