Putting AI to Work for talent

Summary

Kimi Morick, Global Leader for AI-first HR at IBM Consulting, discusses the transformative impact of Generative AI on HR processes. It automates repetitive tasks, enabling HR to focus on talent development. AI streamlines hiring, enhances employee engagement through personalized learning, and offers strategic insights for managers. However, it requires careful governance to prevent bias and ensure transparency.

Takeaways

• 💼 Generative AI is revolutionizing HR by amplifying human capabilities and automating repetitive tasks.
• 📈 Kim Morick leverages her 25 years of experience to help clients with data and analytics in HR.
• 🚀 Leading CHROs are developing strategic AI roadmaps to stay ahead in the competitive landscape.
• 📝 Generative AI can automate the creation of job descriptions and scheduling of interviews, streamlining the recruitment process.
• 🤖 AI bots are being used to conduct initial screenings and interviews, reducing the manual workload for HR.
• 💡 AI can draft offer letters and employee agreements more quickly and accurately, improving the onboarding process.
• 📊 Large language models in AI help analyze user data to create tailored content for better workforce engagement.
• 🔗 Consolidating employee data across different platforms is challenging, but Generative AI can help bridge these gaps.
• 📈 AI can create personalized learning content based on employees' skills and career aspirations, enhancing engagement and retention.
• 💰 AI-powered compensation advisors can help manage bonuses and ensure competitive compensation packages.
• 🛡 It's crucial to have guardrails in place for AI to prevent bias and ensure transparency and trust in decision-making.

Q & A

What is the primary role of Generative AI in HR according to Kim Morick?

Generative AI in HR amplifies human capabilities, automates repetitive tasks, and allows HR specialists to focus on finding and growing talent.

How does Generative AI change the recruitment process?

Generative AI can automate the creation of job descriptions, schedule interviews by checking availability, and even conduct initial screenings, leading to a more efficient recruitment process.

What is the impact of Generative AI on the candidate experience?

Generative AI can provide a frictionless onboarding experience by automating repetitive tasks, which can reduce the hiring timeline and improve the overall candidate experience.

How does Generative AI assist in employee engagement?

Generative AI uses large language models to analyze data and create tailored content, helping HR professionals engage the workforce more effectively by focusing on relevant information.

What challenges does Generative AI help overcome in managing employee data?

Generative AI can consolidate employee data from different platforms that don't communicate with each other, helping to address gaps and provide a true skill landscape of an organization.

How can AI-powered survey tools benefit talent acquisition?

AI-powered survey tools can ask employees about their skills, analyze the data, and generate personalized learning content tailored to their career aspirations.

What role does Generative AI play in employee retention?

As employee engagement increases with curated career development, retention also trends upward, suggesting that Generative AI can help in retaining talent.

How does Generative AI assist managers in performance management?

Generative AI can act as a compensation advisor, mapping bonuses to individual performance and skills, and coaching managers in performance and career conversations.

What is the importance of having guardrails when implementing AI in HR?

AI needs to be governed to prevent biased algorithms from scaling existing biases within the organization, ensuring fair and accurate decision-making.

Why is it important to start with unbiased data when deploying AI tools?

Starting with unbiased data ensures that AI algorithms do not perpetuate existing biases, leading to fairer and more accurate recommendations and decisions.

How should HR approach the implementation of Generative AI?

HR should approach Generative AI as an assistant that requires human supervision for oversight and accuracy, ensuring transparency and trust in decision-making.

Outlines

00:00

🤖 Leveraging Generative AI in HR for Talent Optimization

The paragraph introduces the transformative impact of Generative AI on HR processes. Kim Morick, Global Leader for AI-first HR at IBM Consulting, discusses how AI can be used to automate repetitive tasks, allowing HR specialists to focus on talent development. Generative AI is portrayed as a tool that amplifies human capabilities rather than replacing them. It enables HR to create more efficient hiring processes, from drafting job descriptions to scheduling interviews and even conducting initial screenings. The technology also helps in creating personalized learning content for employees, enhancing engagement and retention. Moreover, AI can assist in performance and compensation discussions, ensuring fair and competitive packages. The paragraph emphasizes the need for strategic AI roadmaps and the importance of considering the structure and strategy before implementing AI solutions.

05:01

🛠️ Implementing AI in HR: Strategy, Cultural Shift, and Governance

This paragraph delves into the practical considerations for deploying AI in HR. It stresses the importance of having the right structure and strategy in place before implementing AI tools. The cultural shift towards AI is highlighted, emphasizing the need to involve employees in the process. The paragraph suggests focusing on quick ROI use cases, such as automating repetitive tasks, to allow employees to concentrate on higher-value work. It also warns of the potential biases in AI algorithms and the necessity of governance to prevent the amplification of existing biases within an organization. The paragraph concludes by advocating for transparency and human oversight in AI decision-making processes, suggesting that AI should be viewed as an assistant rather than an expert. It envisions a future where HR plays a central role in shaping the workforce with the help of AI.

Keywords

💡Generative AI

Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content, such as text, images, or music, based on existing data. In the context of the video, Generative AI is presented as a transformative technology that amplifies human capabilities and automates repetitive tasks within HR processes, enabling HR specialists to focus on more strategic activities like talent acquisition and development.

💡AI-first HR

AI-first HR is an approach where artificial intelligence is leveraged as a primary tool to enhance human resources functions. The video mentions Kim Morick as the Global Leader for AI-first HR at IBM Consulting, indicating that this concept is about integrating AI into HR practices to improve efficiency and effectiveness in talent management.

💡Talent Acquisition

Talent acquisition is the process of attracting, interviewing, and hiring new employees. The video discusses how Generative AI can streamline this process by creating job descriptions faster and automating scheduling of interviews, thus improving the candidate experience and potentially securing the most qualified candidates more quickly.

💡Employee Engagement

Employee engagement refers to the emotional commitment and involvement of an employee towards their work and the organization. The script highlights the role of Generative AI in increasing employee engagement by creating personalized learning content tailored to individual career aspirations, which can lead to higher retention rates.

💡Data Consolidation

Data consolidation is the process of combining data from multiple sources into one unified view. The video script discusses the challenges HR professionals face with employee data scattered across various applications and how Generative AI can help overcome this by analyzing and integrating data to provide a holistic view of employee skills and performance.

💡Biased Algorithms

Biased algorithms are AI systems that exhibit prejudiced behavior due to the data they were trained on. The video warns about the risk of AI scaling existing biases within an organization, such as recommending only males for IT roles based on historical data, emphasizing the need for unbiased data and governance in AI applications.

💡AI Governance

AI governance refers to the policies, processes, and controls that ensure the responsible use of AI within an organization. The script stresses the importance of having guardrails in place to prevent biased decision-making and ensure transparency and trust in AI systems used for HR processes.

💡Repetitive Tasks

Repetitive tasks are those that are performed routinely and involve little variation. The video explains how Generative AI can automate these tasks, freeing up HR professionals to focus on higher-value activities, such as strategic planning and employee development.

💡ROI (Return on Investment)

ROI is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or compare the efficiency of several different investments. The script mentions the importance of considering ROI when implementing AI solutions in HR, as it helps to ensure that the technology adds value and justifies the investment.

💡Cultural Shift

Cultural shift refers to a change in the beliefs, behaviors, and values of an organization. The video implies that adopting AI in HR requires not only the right technology but also a cultural shift within the organization to embrace new ways of working and to prepare employees for the changes AI will bring.

💡Transparency

Transparency in the context of AI means that the processes and decision-making of AI systems are clear and understandable to humans. The video emphasizes the importance of transparency to build trust in AI systems, with AI now being designed to explain how they reach certain conclusions, moving away from the 'black-box' model.

Highlights

Strong organizations find talent that fits their needs and invests in them.

Generative AI is unlike any technology that has come before, forcing leaders to rethink their strategies.

Generative AI amplifies human capabilities and automates repetitive tasks.

HR specialists can focus on finding and growing talent with AI assistance.

Leading CHROs are developing strategic AI roadmaps for their businesses.

Recruiters face challenges in sifting through resumes and scheduling interviews.

Generative AI can automate and streamline the hiring process.

AI can create job descriptions faster and schedule interviews more efficiently.

Bots can conduct interviews, reducing the manual workload for HR.

AI can draft offer letters and employee agreements more quickly and accurately.

AI helps HR to shrink the hiring timeline and provide a frictionless onboarding experience.

AI can analyze user data to understand preferences and create tailored content.

AI can help HR professionals consolidate employee data from different platforms.

Generative AI can fill gaps in missing employee data using AI-powered survey tools.

AI can generate personalized learning content based on employee skills and progress.

AI-powered compensation advisors can map bonuses to individual employee performance.

AI can increase efficiency and improve the return on investment for HR budgets.

AI needs to be governed to prevent biased decision-making and ensure transparency.

AI should be thought of as an assistant that requires human supervision.

HR's role is to design and elevate the employee experience, which AI can help achieve.

AI's impact will continue to grow as organizations adapt and HR takes a central role.

Transcripts

[Music]

The strongest organizations don’t just fill a seat, they find the talent that fits their needs and invests in them,

...so everyone can play to their strengths and come together to keep the organization running smoothly.

My name is Kim Morick and I am the Global Leader for AI-first HR at IBM Consulting.

Today I use my 25 years of experience in data and analytics to help clients keep their organizational pieces in tact.

Right from the moment Generative AI burst into the mainstream,

...it was evident that it is unlike any technology that has come before.

And you can see how swiftly it is forcing leaders to rethink their assumptions, plans and strategies in real time.

Unlike new technologies that are all about what machines can do, Generative AI amplifies human capabilities.

It allows repetitive tasks to be automated.

Which means HR specialists can step back from day-to-day processing to focus on finding and growing their talent.

Leading CHROs are jumping in to seize the moment and are developing their strategic AI roadmaps in business cases.

Recruiters have to sift through hundreds of resumes for a single job posting.

This can start to get challenging and time-consuming scheduling job interviews.

For multiple candidates and several interviewers,

...it takes coordination across several calendars and can delay the recruitment process,

...leading to large lag times and a poor candidate experience.

Or even worse,

...you might end up losing candidates to your competitors because they’ve got a more efficient hiring process.

With Generative AI, HR processes can change dramatically.

The technology lets you create an entirely new way of working, resulting in exceptional employee experiences.

HR practitioners working in talent acquisition, for instance,

...will be able to create compelling and accurate job descriptions faster with Generative AI.

Scheduling interviews, well, they’ll be much less manual too,

...as AI tools can check the availability of all the parties and suggest appropriate time slots.

The interview process, well, that is already seeing radical changes,

...with bots conducting the entire interviews for some seasonal jobs,

...or conducting the initial screening interview for professional applicants.

Drafting those offer letters and employee agreements, those will become much faster and more accurate.

As these repetitive and time-consuming tasks get automated,

...HR can shrink the hiring timeline dramatically and provide a frictionless onboarding experience for the candidate.

Cutting down the time to hire also increases the organization’s chance of landing the most qualified candidate.

Today’s AI uses large language models to analyze vast amounts of user data,

...to understand preferences and create tailored content,

...allowing individuals to focus on information most relevant to them.

And this is particularly helpful when we look to engage the workforce.

HR professionals need to look at employee data holistically.

But this data can be hard to consolidate,

...as employee data is often stored across several different fit-for-purpose HR applications.

And guess what? They don’t talk to each other.

And a consolidated solution that integrates the different platforms might not even be available for HR professionals.

As a result, the scaling plan fails to address gaps, or worse, distorts the true skill landscape of an organization.

With With Generative AI, you can now get over that hump of missing employee data,

...by first using AI-powered survey tools to ask employees about their own skills.

AI can then be used to analyze all available resources,

...extract the key concepts and quickly generate personalized learning content.

Imagine creating content tailored to your talent’s career aspirations,

...giving them a customized learning pathway that evolves according to their progress and their goals.

As employee engagement increases with this curated career development, retention,

...which sits alongside engagement, also trends upward.

As for managers who spend a lot of time going through different platforms to analyze employee progress,

...imagine having an AI-powered compensation advisor,

...that maps bonuses to individual employee performance, their contribution and their skills,

...all while utilizing market-pay-scale data to ensure compensation you’re offering is competitive.

The Compensation Advisor can also coach managers,

...as they engage in performance and career conversations with their team.

Now it goes without saying, that AI will usher in an efficiency shift like never before.

HR budgets are usually scrutinized very highly for return on investment.

And so it becomes doubly important that you don’t buy piece-meal solutions to solve your workflows.

Because you’ll end up siloing your data and creating even more disjointed user experiences.

But even before you focus on solutions,

...you need to consider if you have the structure and the strategy in place to start using AI.

Will deploying AI tools add value to what you are doing now?

The next big step is to take along the people who are going to feel this change, the employees.

Once you have the right technology and made the cultural shift, start aiming for the quick ROI use cases,

...the repetitive tasks that are draining vast amounts of time from your HR professionals, as well as your employees.

Resolving these pain points with an AI-automated solution will allow your employees to focus on higher-value tasks,

...as well as their own career progression.

While it’s tempting to get carried away with all the gains that AI offers,

...it is equally important to have your guardrails in place.

Because AI does need to be governed.

AI can hold within its folds biased algorithms in logic.

There is a real risk that it can scale the bias that is already in your organization.

For example, there are use cases where organizations implemented ungoverned AI recruiting algorithms;

...and they had to pull the plug,

...when their AI selection models started recommending only males for certain roles and females for other roles.

This is because the data that they trained the algorithm for,

...had males going into all of the IT roles and then females going into some of the other roles.

And so you have to start with the data to make sure the data is unbiased.

I think it would be best to think of Generative AI as an assistant, not a seasoned expert.

The assistant will need to have supervision from a human to provide oversight, handle exceptions and ensure accuracy.

To ensure the responsible use of AI,

...AI systems are now being designed to tell you how they reached a certain conclusion.

No more black-box AI.

There is transparency and trust in the decision-making.

There are also robust frameworks in place to prevent data leaks and mitigate biased decision-making.

Having a layer of human governance at the top will absolutely be crucial to the success of AI.

HR was not meant to be a pure operational function.

It was meant to design and elevate the employee experience.

With Generative AI, we might be moments away from landing there.

Imagine being able to design a seamless hiring process,

...that begins with writing the job description and extends through the lifecycle of talent in the organization.

As we continue to unpack AI, it's impact will spread wider and get better.

Organizations also will pivot and adapt.

And this will push HR to the center stage,

...as they become crucial in fitting in the pieces that will shape this future workforce.

And I, for one, am definitely looking forward to it.

[Music]