How to Lead and Reskill in the Age of AI
Read time: 2 min
Big Idea
The impact of AI on the workforce hinges on its integration into company workflows, with reskilling current employees gaining critical importance despite challenges like low adoption and managerial resistance; technology acceptance influences decision-making and company culture, and requires new managerial skills.
Top Thoughts
Adopting new technology can be a competitive advantage. If competitors are faster in integrating new systems or tools, they may gain a lead that is difficult to close.
Collecting, analyzing, and making decisions based on data is increasingly critical. Companies that lag in their data capabilities can miss essential insights that improve business performance.
AI can radically change occupations, but the rate and extent of change depend on how well technologies are adopted and integrated into existing workflows. Whether AI eliminates or creates jobs will depend on individual company strategies and responses, either replacing human labor with technology or reimagining workflows to create new roles and opportunities.
Reskilling workers has become essential, but programs should be aligned with broader corporate strategies and clearly communicate fit with strategy and career benefits to avoid employee and management resistance while encouraging employee participation and retention.
Executives must combine cognitive and social skills to bring together technical and non-technical aspects.
To focus on adapting technologies to specific organizational use cases, it is essential to understand the technology deeply, experiment, use it iteratively, and be aware of its limitations.
Quick Quotes
"What's very interesting about AI in particular is that they have the potential of having an impact on white-collar jobs and high-skilled jobs, which typically have been sort of insulated from past technological revolutions."
"What seems to work better are training programs that are, first of all, embedded in a company strategy. And so if you are able to articulate why going through a reskilling or even an upskilling program matters for the organization and what are the rewards that people are going to get out of these training programs within the firm, that already changes the salience of the training program and how people see themselves within the organization."
"Why are we learning it? And what is a strategic imperative that is driving these investments in training? I think this really matters."
"Most of the costs, I think, in the adoption of these technologies will be in adopting these technologies and truly understanding these technologies for your own specific use case."
Actionable Advice
Integrate AI adoption - AI technologies must be tightly integrated with a company's specific use case and align with company strategy which may neccessitate a deep dive into the current workflow, production process, and organizational structures. Do not adopt AI technologies to be ‘up-to-date', clearly state how they fit into corporate strategy and solve specific problems or enhance particular aspects of the business.
Implement reskilling programs - Design programs with a dual focus: aligning with the broader company strategy and highlighting what the employee will gain from it in their career path to avoid low take-up rates. Detail immediate advantages or specific career pathways within the company that become accessible through the training. Tie training to key performance indicators (KPIs) for managers, making it a part of their responsibilities.
Source
Ignatius, A., & Sadun, R. (2023, Aug 24). How to Lead and Reskill in the Age of AI. [Youtube video]. Harvard Business Review. (Link)
