Why HR Needs A Seat at the AI Table

Culture eats strategy for breakfast. 

I’ve always loved that saying and find it especially relevant in the context of generative AI in the workplace.

Many people think HR plays a tertiary role in digital transformation. But one of the biggest implications of AI is how it transforms the way we do our work, and that includes people-–it’s people who do the work. 

If culture really does eat strategy, then we must remember that HR is at the center of workplace culture. It’s also important to note that just as HR plays an important role in your organization’s rollout of generative AI, the advancements of AI play an important role in HR.

What AI Can Do For HR

AI provides significant benefits, from easing the user experience to offering bespoke training. Here’s how generative AI can support HR:   

1. It can streamline routine tasks. HR leaders can pursue higher-order tasks and strategic development by delegating tasks like generating job descriptions or information gathering to generative AI.  
2. It can analyze trends. Enterprises house so much data, but it's often not usable. This leads to missed insights and opportunities for action. AI excels at taking huge amounts of data and making sense of it. 
3. It can personalize processes. Training, engagement, onboarding, hiring, and performance management are time-consuming and generalized. Leveraging AI can create a more specific, personalized employee experience. 
4. It can locate information for users. Logging vacation time? Looking for the right portal? AI chatbots and virtual assistants can find what you need quickly. 

AI benefits are great in theory, but what can the successful implementation of these tools into HR processes realistically offer?

1. Higher Caliber Processes for Recruiting and Hiring

AI can uplevel what your Applicant Tracking System can do by making sure that the criteria for hiring are in place. Additionally, you can leverage features like natural language processing to conduct interviews with a chatbot or virtual assistant. 

Additional Benefits:

• Less bias. AI tools don’t take into consideration things like demographics, age, race, or gender. Because it’s not a person, it just looks at the skills and capabilities of each applicant. 
• Greater talent pool. AI in hiring means we’re not constrained by human eyeballs having to review resumes! We can consider a broader base of candidates with more diverse backgrounds in a shorter span of time. 

2. Easier Onboarding and Greater Retention

Bringing on new hires is often a long, paperwork-filled process requiring customization for each employee and their role. AI can now understand who that person is—their learning styles, needs, and department and team—to deliver customized onboarding. 

Additional Benefits:

• Continuous training. Are new hires increasing and adapting their skills to the expectations of the organization? If not, what additional onboarding and skill training can they receive to function at their highest level? For veteran workers who might need to brush up on a skill or learn a new platform or methodology, AI can provide continuous training and development. Virtual avatars can deliver content in a compelling, customizable way, allowing companies to support, develop, and retain their talent.

3. Greater Employee Engagement

What are employees working on? What are the topics they are eager to explore? AI allows organizations to learn what people are excited about and create content and further learning opportunities that align with that engagement. 

Additional Benefits: 

• Transparency and trust. As employees become co-pilots in using generative AI, organizations must ensure they’re checking in and connecting with their people. More skills = more communication. We’re talking about superhumans here! 

Workforce Transformation: Why and How to Get A Seat at the Table

Jobs are changing, and so are the skills and training required to do them. Equipping your organization with this knowledge is critical. Workforce transformation will require answers to questions we haven’t asked before, or at least not in this context: Which jobs will be impacted? Which new jobs will need to be added? How do we consider performance management with shifting metrics of success? What does career progression look like now? 

Leveraging AI will help HR understand their organization's skills, jobs, and opportunities and strategically anticipate (and communicate!) the future workforce transformation.

So, where to begin?

1. Educate yourself and others. 

• Develop a base-level understanding of what generative AI can do. Take courses through LinkedIn or Coursera. Do some reading.
• Upskill your top 100 leaders in your organization. They must understand enough about generative AI to make strategic decisions about how to use it.
• Use AI to create custom training about generative AI.
• Collaborate with other departments that are exploring generative AI, too. Work with legal, compliance, security, and subject matter experts to understand the implications of generative AI for HR and the rest of the organization

2. Focus on strategic priorities for HR and your organization.

Don't chase after a million use cases. Instead, get strategic. What are your biggest pain points or your places of strategic priority? Get laser-focused, and use AI to help you address those specific problems. You can start small, but make sure that it will scale with success into a strategically impactful initiative. 

3. Provide leadership support within your organization.

Workforce planning is critical, and HR needs to be in the midst of that. Participate in an AI council if there is one. If not, just get involved in the conversation. Have a voice at the strategy table. 

My experience in digital transformation has taught me that you can have the most beautiful strategy. Still, if your people, your leadership, and your culture are not aligned to be able to execute that strategy, then the strategy is worthless. 

This work is complex and not without its challenges. It will require a real commitment to honest and transparent communication, clear policies on data privacy, and a vulnerability in confronting biases. But I promise you this: it will be worth it.

Your Turn

How is generative AI changing your HR priorities? How are you approaching your workforce strategy differently, and how are you thinking about the role HR plays?