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Empowering the UK Workforce: How AI Can Help Tackle Skills Gaps
July 26, 2024
Pundits predict AI will redefine the workforce. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the tech could displace 85 million jobs while creating 95 million new ones, adding $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
With millions of positions becoming redundant and emerging, British companies will confront a significant skills gap. Ironically, the technology responsible for this widespread workplace disruption will provide the most effective solutions.
AI can help narrow the skills gap by assessing current capabilities, identifying skill shortages, streaming recruitment processes, and creating customised training programmes.
Why the Skills Gap Matters in the Digital Era
Narrowing the skills gap is an ever-present challenge for Human Resource (HR) departments, who must develop training programmes to educate workers while delivering a demonstrable ROI. AI benefits this long, resource-intensive process in numerous ways:
· Improving productivity: Workers with suitable skills for their roles are more productive and can help a company remain competitive.
· Enhancing employee retention: Personalised development plans improve workplace satisfaction and employee retention.
· Allocating resources efficiently: AI can reduce the cost of identifying skills shortages and creating personalised training modules.
· Future-proofing the workforce: On-going skill development initiatives prepare workers for upcoming challenges.
Analysing Existing Capabilities
AI can evaluate existing skills more efficiently than previous methods. The technology extracts data from internal sources such as HR archives, training platforms, performance records, and other corporate documents. Advanced AI apps can now gather information from publically available online sources, including websites and social media profiles like LinkedIn.
With this wealth of information, AI scans for critical data and evaluates a company’s current capabilities by organising key skills into clusters.
This doesn’t have to be a one-and-done solution. After the initial analysis is complete, the algorithm can routinely evaluate new competencies as they arise and add them to their respective clusters. That gives HR an evolving, real-time assessment of the organisation’s core capabilities.
In addition, AI can identify adjacent and transferable skills, which optimises training efficiency and resource allocation. Proficiency in one skill often makes it easier for a worker to pick up another. For example, a developer adept in Python will have no trouble learning to use an app like TensorFlow.
But there’s a big caveat to consider. AI is only as smart as the data you feed it. HR must thoroughly audit any information it puts into an AI system to ensure accurate outputs.
Analysing the Skills Gap
Once all the core capabilities have been identified, HR can harness AI to evaluate the skills gap efficiently.
Machine learning algorithms recognise patterns and make data-driven assessments, including what skills an organisation needs, possesses, and lacks. AI can evaluate the skills gap based on company objectives and its existing capability assessment.
Previously, analysing existing skills and identifying gaps was a long, drawn-out process requiring significant manual input from skilled HR workers. While AI doesn’t fully automate the process, it does augment it to improve efficiency.
Creating Customised Training Programmes
Traditional, one-size-fits-all training modules waste time by teaching unnecessary or already-acquired skills. With an AI-powered learning platform, HR can provide a fully customised module that only trains workers on necessary yet-to-be-learned skills. Therefore, employees can acquire the requisite knowledge efficiently and will find the time-efficient process more satisfying and engaging than traditional learning platforms.
Personalised training content catered to an employee’s current skill level also speeds up the learning process and enhances motivation. Ultimately, that leads to a superior ROI.
Enhancing the Recruitment Process
In addition to providing customised training, AI can aid HR by streamlining its recruitment processes.
AI algorithms can evaluate a company’s existing skill clusters to determine the optimal “required” and “nice to have” skills for a new position. The tech can also factor adjacent and transferable skills into the equation.
Furthermore, AI can near-instantly analyse enormous application datasets and match promising candidates with a position based on their skills. An inundation of applicants is no longer a concern when an algorithm can automatically sort the wheat from the chaff on your behalf.
Closing the AI Skills Gap
British companies should also look at building their employees’ AI skills. While high-income workers have adopted AI in droves, lower echelons staff haven’t mastered the tech yet.
It’s not a question of apathy. According to an Adecco Group global workforce study of 30,000 respondents from 32 countries, 62% of workers believe AI will positively impact their careers. The same survey also reported that 57% want their employers to provide AI training to fill the skills gap.
Customised AI-powered training programmes can fine-tune an employee’s AI skills. As people learn better when doing things first-hand, HR should start staff on small, easy-to-grasp topics and gradually implement real-world applications. Incorporating chatbots and other AI tools into daily workflows solidifies the learning process through a practical, hands-on approach.
The Importance of Soft Skills
Understanding and responding to emotions is inherently human and a crucial soft skill for negotiation, teamwork, leadership, and customer service. Despite being a ground-breaking innovation, AI doesn’t possess any emotional intelligence.
HR must ensure training modules include a mix of soft skills like problem-solving and intrapersonal communication as well as technical skills like programming. A company prioritising expertise while neglecting soft skills will find competing in the AI era challenging.
Soft skills also help future-proof the workforce. As AI makes old positions redundant, many employees will transition into new roles, and well-honed soft skills will help cushion the landing.
Summary
Narrowing the skills gap has long been a core objective for British HR departments. Now, with the help of deep-learning algorithms, companies can use AI to streamline this once cumbersome, time-consuming process.
By evaluating internal and external sources, AI can identify key skill clusters and determine areas that require improvement. The technology then customises highly personalised training modules to fill in the gaps, incorporating critical soft skills for a well-rounded approach. AI can also fast-track recruitment by identifying promising candidates from a large pool of applicants.
There’s little doubt AI will cause large-scale workplace disruption in the coming years, including a notable widening of the skills gap. But when used wisely, this double-edged sword will also prove pivotal in narrowing that gap.
