Steps To Reskill Employees Amid AI Fears

The rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have created excitement and fear in the workplace. To capture employee enthusiasm and reduce anxiety, Inc. magazine recommends reskilling your workforce.

By giving your employees the tools and knowledge they need for the future, you can show them how working with AI can boost individual and organizational performance.

The two sides of AI anticipation

According to Forbes magazine, 72% of employees who regularly use AI tools say it increases productivity. They understand its value. At the same time, AI creates concerns about being replaced. Worrying about AI’s impact on job security negatively affects 60% of these employees.

Recent research adds to these conflicting emotions. Goldman Sachs reports that AI could eventually replace 300 million full-time jobs. But the report also predicts AI could create new jobs, improve productivity and increase global GDP by 7%.

To get employees excited about using AI, give them the skills they need to succeed. Reskilling your employees can ease their fears of being displaced and improve their adaptability to changing technologies and roles.

Inc. recommends the following steps for reskilling employees in the era of AI:

• Create a skills strategy.
• Foster a culture of learning and development.
• Engage learning platforms and opportunities.
• Combine technical knowledge and soft skills training.

Create a skills strategy

The first step is creating a skills strategy that aligns with your organizational goals. Examine the most significant opportunities for AI technology to support your business outcomes, growth and agility.

Analyze roles that may be at risk or become less valuable due to AI advancements and automation. Look for ways to reconfigure these roles to maximize AI’s growth potential. Then identify the skills your employees need to adapt and meet your performance goals.

For example, AI may be able to take on various customer service roles. Companies are already using AI to interact with customers and answer common questions. Opportunities exist for customer service representatives to learn new skills and train AI on common inquiries and solutions. They can also help verify AI-generated data, humanize AI responses, and identify other areas where AI can enhance employee productivity and customer satisfaction.

Foster a culture of learning and development

Employees want training and professional development. A study from the HR consulting firm TalenTrust found that employees value skills training more than career paths. Enhancing their skills around AI is a natural fit to meet individual and organizational needs.

Inc. recommends training managers to be hands-on with employees. This will help them learn employees’ skill sets and strengths, and identify areas of improvement. To foster a learning culture, get feedback from employees on your AI training and development programs. In addition to reskilling initiatives, use coaching and mentorships to reinforce the concept of collaboration and continual learning.

Recognizing and rewarding AI skills growth will further enhance a culture of learning. Applaud employees for bringing new skills to their roles and the workplace. Recognizing the combined power of humans and technology reduces the threat of AI and puts the focus on improving productivity and work processes. It also encourages others to learn and reskill.

Engage learning platforms and opportunities

Learning platforms abound. Examples include LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, edX, Coursera and Codecademy. Your benefits adviser can help you find platforms related to your industry and organization.

Connect employees to area colleges, universities, and other educational institutions for in-person and hands-on learning. Many offer courses on coding, data management and other in-demand skills.

Industry associations and educational conferences offer various industry-specific certifications and badges. They can provide learning opportunities to help employees stay on top of changing technologies and meet your organization’s ongoing needs.

Combine technical knowledge and soft skills training

AI requires technical skills and training. Top competencies include:

• Coding
• Data management, manipulation, analysis and interpretation
• Understanding neural networks and deep learning models
• Debugging and tracking code changes
• Risk planning
• Running real-world simulations

However, experts also emphasize the need to complement technical knowledge with soft skills training. The media outlet BBC notes humans will be crucial to building relationships, using emotional intelligence and adding creativity to AI advancements.

Critical thinking will also be essential to successfully implementing AI technologies, reports the human resources association SHRM. Train your employees on critical thinking skills such as:

• Crafting queries for AI tools
• Identifying and sharing relevant data
• Verifying AI-generated responses
• Adding creativity and human touches to AI solutions
• Communicating data to internal and external audiences

Additional resources

Uncertainty over AI leads to employee fears and disengagement. Taking action and building skills can tap into the excitement around future advancements and collaborations between humans and technology.

Talk to your benefits adviser for more information on reskilling employees to work with AI. They can connect you to vetted learning platforms, education vendors and additional opportunities to provide employees with the skills they need to improve individual and organizational performance.