Dive Brief:
- HR leaders generally understand which skills employees need to operate in an automated work environment, but just 43% have high confidence that employees actually possess those skills, according to the results of a survey by The Harris Poll for the University of Phoenix announced Friday.
- The findings suggest a “skills visibility gap” in which HR teams lack a clear view of their organizations’ current capabilities. Verification of skills is often difficult, the survey found, with HR leaders primarily relying on managers’ knowledge of employees’ skills or performance reviews. Fewer than half of respondents said managers were prepared to identify, assess and discuss skills gaps and development with employees.
- As the HR function transforms into one that evaluates how work gets done — as illustrated, for instance, by SHRM’s chief work officer paradigm — knowledge of human and technological capabilities will be key.
Dive Insight:
Talent management professionals face a multitude of challenges in preparing for the rapid changes brought about by technologies like artificial intelligence. An emerging concern is that AI may be harming employees’ capacity to develop necessary skills.
Earlier this month, IBM published the results of a study in which a majority of CHROs reported that AI use is beginning to erode critical thinking and human judgment, two skills deemed essential to working alongside the tech. Other research suggests workplace AI may ultimately reduce employees’ familiarity and expertise with certain aspects of their jobs.
A majority of respondents to the University of Phoenix-backed survey said that their organization’s primary talent development focus concerned “soft or durable skills” like communication, collaboration and problem-solving. But HR teams will need to emphasize a variety of skills as they plot a course for the future, Nathan Jones, VP of product management at the university’s workforce solutions group, said in a press release accompanying the results.
“The workforce conversation needs to move beyond technical skills versus durable skills,” Jones said. “Increasingly, people need both.”
This argument finds support from sources including the Graduate Management Admission Council, whose recent survey of global recruiters found that AI-related skills and strategic thinking would be the two most important skill categories for business school graduates over the next five years. GMAC wrote that future professionals would be able to show value by combining AI capabilities with human strengths.
As AI-focused capabilities become more central to the talent conversation, their influence may spread to other aspects of hiring. For example, Payscale said in a report published earlier this month that employers’ salary structures generally have not kept up with AI and other technological changes, even as employees and job candidates demand compensation for AI-related skills.
