HR practitioners have the responsibility and privilege to lead their workforces into an AI-enabled world of work, says this HR leader.
The adoption rate of generative AI is unprecedented. Within just two months of its introduction, 100 million people had started using it. When the internet was introduced, it took seven years to attract 100 million users.
We must view AI as more than just a text generator. Its ability to transform the ways we work is truly incredible, extending far beyond simply automating routine tasks.
By exploring the myriad ways this technology can enhance our working lives, we can unlock untapped innovation and efficiencies.
At Schneider Electric, we have embraced AI for the benefit of our customers, colleagues and HR function. Below are some initiatives we’ve implemented so far.
Creating an AI-powered HR chatbot
Using AI, we have developed an HR virtual assistant for our people, which enables employees to ask questions that may historically have been directed to HR.
Our HR colleagues can use the technology in many ways, from creating learning evaluation questionnaires to enhancing employee onboarding experiences.
In Australia, we know that our people leaders are navigating shifting dynamics in the talent market, inflationary pressures, psychosocial risks and an ever-changing legislative landscape.
These HR virtual assistants will equip our leaders with the resources to answer their questions instantly, freeing HR up for more meaningful tasks.
Developing a digital twin
For our customers, we use AI in the development of our ‘digital twin’ solutions.
A digital twin is a digital simulation of a physical entity – a virtual representation using real-time data and a data-driven learning system powered from connected sensors, to simulate the lifecycle of its physical asset.
Many of our customers are already realising the value of the industrial metaverse through the use of a digital twin. The combination of real-time data with machine learning and predictive analytics enables powerful predictions of future performance, such as safety and stability, and improving asset performance.
For example, we’ve had customers use a digital twin of a control room and field operations to train employees on managing malfunctions and incidents, safely and at scale.
Discover 6 other ways HR can incorporate AI into their workflows.
Building our people’s AI capabilities
To equip our people for this skills transformation, we’ve developed an interactive learning program called ‘Digital Boost’.
The program takes around 30 minutes to complete and provides our people with a capability score benchmarked against six core digital capabilities. AI is one, and another is developing a digital mindset. From the dashboard, users are prompted to engage in bite-sized learning which is tailored to increase their scores.
The results are confidential, but anyone can choose to share their results with their team and colleagues to create some healthy competition, which I did with my own leadership team.
Capitalising on people’s excitement and driving this skills development has helped us build momentum around adoption.
In September last year, we launched Jo-Chat GPT (named after Joseph-Eugene Schneider, one of the founders of our business), and the uptake has been incredible.
Just last week, for example, I was in a meeting with colleagues preparing for a strategy meeting and two of the four of us were using Jo-Chat GPT.
In the past, I’ve had to invest years and rely on frameworks like Kotter’s Change Model to change behaviours and get people to engage with new systems. But now, there isn’t a day that goes by without someone referencing Jo-Chat GPT in some way.
Preparing for the future of work
In the 2023 World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, tech adaptation was called out as the biggest driver of the transformation of work over the next five years, with nearly half (44 per cent) of employees’ core skills predicted to change.
As a profession, we can’t wait to be called upon to adopt this technology. We have an obligation to build knowledge, inspire people to embrace new technologies and provide opportunities to share learnings and successes to adapt to this new world of work.
The heart of our profession is all about helping improve the working lives of people. It’s therefore our obligation – and our privilege – to do that with emerging technologies such as AI.
This article first appeared in the August/September 2024 edition of HRM Magazine.
Want to learn more about how you can incorporate AI into your workflow? Explore the fundamentals of GenAI technology and learn practical ways to apply it to various HR tasks, as well as the fairness challenges, with AHRI’s Navigating the Future of HR: GenAI Integration Essentials short course.