Building AI skills and capabilities is a top priority for CHROs, but one industry expert believes there's another important skill that should not be overlooked
There’s only one thing for certain about the future of work in the age of AI: nobody really knows what it’s going to look like. Crystal balls are foggy, and predictions run from mass job losses to workplace reinvention.
As this transformation gathers pace, it’s CHROs who are on the “frontline” of workforce change, according to Simon Kennedy, Managing Director, Human Capital, at global professional services firm Aon.
“It is that point in time where nobody has an answer, but the CHROs are the best equipped around that thinking, around strategic workforce planning,” Kennedy told HRD.
“They are at the front and centre of the biggest change probably of all of our careers in the workforce. They need to work with the leadership team and take them through that change.
“I think we're going to be in a cycle now for the next at least one to two years where what that looks like in the future is going to continue to change and you have to be able to adapt, you have to be able to work in that environment.”
Kennedy said strategic workforce planning did not need to answer all the questions or map out a ten-year plan.
“But you need to put a framework in place that starts to put a foundation. What skills do we have today? Where is the organisation going? And how do we start engaging with consultants, with people, with other organisations doing the same thing?” he said.
Hire the people who are going to get you there
Kennedy said there was a lot of discussion about skill shortages around data analytics, prompt engineers and AI skills.
“The conversation missing is, given how uncertain that environment will be, how much it will change, how much it will iterate, you actually need to focus more on the people you have and that you're going to bring in, that they're people who can thrive in that environment,” he said.
“Particularly with leaders, people leaders and leaders across the business, they've got to be okay with ambiguity. They've got to be okay with things changing. They've got to be okay with pivots.
“If you have anyone who's not good at that … or you bring the wrong people in, in parallel you're investing in where you're going to go but you're going to have the wrong people who aren't going to be able to get you there.
“You've got to attract people in who can be successful with all that opaqueness and uncertainty because it's going to continue to be uncertain for some time."
One issue businesses face when undertaking strategic workforce planning was being clear about the skills they already have, according to Kennedy.
“That foundational piece of what do we have today is often where most organisations find themselves, which sort of makes people feel like they're losing ground because they aren't really building on what they need to do for the future,” he said.
“But until you understand what you have—same with data and AI—until you get it all together, you understand what you have, how you're going to use it, and then you go forward and work out what you're going to use it for, that's got to be the focus of any CHROs now.”
Peer to peer learning
Kennedy believes the challenges posed by AI are bringing businesses and leaders together to share knowledge and learnings in a way that doesn’t happen often.
“Normally they are quite separated and quite competitive. But there is a lot of willingness to teach and to learn, which is really making it a really interesting environment to work in,” he said.
