Gartner

5WaysAIShifts

HowOrganizations

ThinkAbout

SkillsData

byHelenPoitevinandJonahShepp

ToharnessthepowerofAIintheirskills

strategies,CHROsneedtoreimagine

theirapproachtoskillsdata.This

includeswhatdatatheyuseand

howmuchofit,howtheyuse

ittocreatedevelopment

opportunitiesforemployees,

andwhattechnicaland

ethicalchallengesof

automationexist.

1ExcerptFromGartnerHRLeadersMonthlyMay2023

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Granularity

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StableCore

Velocity

Figure1:EmbracingtheChaosofSkillsDataWhileMaintainingaStableCore

ShrinkingLifeSpan

Volume

Variety

Source:Gartner

Emergingartificialintelligence(AI)capabilitiesnotonlyenableorganizationstoleverageskillsdata

moreeffectively,butalsocreatenewcomplexitiesincollectingandusingthatdata.Organizations

todayuseavarietyofHRapplications—suchas

learningexperienceplatforms,candidaterelationshipmanagementsystemsandhumancapitalmanagement(HCM)suites—thatallofferAI-enabledskillsdata.ThisleavesHRleaderswithlargeamountsofdataexistingwithindifferentsystems,whichcanbecomeconfusingoroverwhelming.Withnocentral,standardized

repositoryofskillsdata,howdoyouknowwhichdatasourcetoturntofirst?

CHROsmustnavigatethisvastcollectionofdata

withoutgettingoverwhelmed.Tosucceedatthis

task,theymustrecognizehowAIforcesthemtothinkdifferentlyaboutskillsdataandadjusttheirstrategy

forusingskillsdatatoadapttothesechanges.Inparticular,AIchanges:

?Howmuchdataiscollected

?Whatthedataisusedfor

?Howmuchisautomated

?Howskillsaredetected

?Howmarketdataisused

Fortunately,foreachofthesechanges,CHROscanadaptandimprovetheeffectivenessoftheirskillssensingcapabilitiesusingthepowerofAI.

1

HowMuchData

IsCollected

BeforeAI,organizationstypicallyrecordedskillsdatathroughdiscreteandmanageablelistsofskillsand

competencies,whichtheyhadtomanuallyupdateonanongoingbasis.Becauseoftheextensiveeffortrequiredtomaintainthisdata,organizationshadtoscaledowntheirambitionsandfocusontrackingasmallnumberofessentialskills.

Whiledatawastoohardtocollectinquantitybefore

AI,withAIitistheopposite.HRleadershavemore

datathantheyknowwhattodowith,includingdetailedskillsinformationandmorefamiliarcompetencies.

AI-enabledsystemscancollectandsynthesize

employees’individualknowledgeareas,project

experiences,learninganddevelopmentactivities,careerpathsandmore.

ForCHROsstrugglingwithaproliferationofskillsdata,thelessonistoembracethechaoswhilemaintainingastablecoreofessentialskillsinformation(seeFigure1).Thiscoreincludescompetencymodels,industry

certificationsandskillstrackingtoensurecompliancewithstandardsorrolerequirements(forexample,

confirmingthatanemployeeknowshowtooperateaparticularmachinecorrectlyandsafely).Thesedatapointsremainfundamental.

2ExcerptFromGartnerHRLeadersMonthlyMay2023

DataSources

Figure2:FeedingtheAIEngineWithSkillsData

Communications/Email/Meetings

CollaborationTools

KnowledgeBase

Feedback

ProjectTools

HRSystems

ExpertiseLocation

NaturalLanguageProcessingEngineandDeepLearning

Source:Gartner

Beyondthatcore,however,CHROsshouldget

comfortablewiththechaoticwaysAIusescontext,

knowledge,experience,recency,frequencyandothergranulardatatomakeinferencesaboutemployees’

skillsandpotentialpathways.Youwouldneverputanemployeeintoaroletheyareclearlyunqualifiedfor

onanAIsystem’srecommendation,butthesesystemsmightrevealthingsaboutyouremployees’capabilitiesthatyouwouldnothaverecognizedotherwise.Even

chaoticandimperfectdatagetsyouclosertoknowing

yourtalentonadeeperlevel,whichhelpsemployeesfeelseenandsupportstheirdevelopmentwithin

theorganization.

2WhatDataIsUsedFor

AIhasprofoundimplicationsforhoworganizations

usetheirskillsdata.Inthepast,anorganization

would(again,mostlymanually)maintainasearchabledatabaseofemployees’skills,roles,jobhistoryand

otherrelevantdatapoints.Tofillapositioninternally,HRwouldsearchthroughthatdataandhelpthehiringmanagerfindanemployeewiththerole-specific

prerequisiteswhowouldbeagoodlong-termfit.

Hopefully,inthiscase,thedatabaseisuptodateandalltheneededinformationisstoredinthesameplace.

AnAI-poweredskillsdatasystem,ontheotherhand,

ismorelikeanengineroom.Ratherthancombing

throughadatabasetofindtheperfectlong-termmatch

foraposition,organizationscanuseanAI-enabled

internaltalentmarketplacetoinstantlyproducemultiplematchesforagivenroleorproject.ThisAIengineis

particularlyeffectiveforsupportingaflexible,skills-basedapproachtotalentmanagement,inwhichthequestionisnotsomuch,“Whocandothisjobforthenextfewyears?”as“Whocandothisjobrightnow?”

Togetbetterresultsfromtheengine,firstfeeditmore—andbetter—datafromavarietyofsourcessoit

canproducebettermatches(seeFigure2).ThemoreinformationanAIsystemhastoworkwith,themoreaccuratelyitcanidentifythetouchpointsandgaps

betweenskillsavailabilityandskillsneeds.

StartingwithHRsystemdatamakessense,but

thesesystemsgenerallylackinformationaboutwhat

employeesdodaytodayorwhatspecificknowledge

theyapplyintheirwork.Internaltalentmarketplaces

canadddataaboutachievementsingigsorproject

roles.Domainknowledgeandtopicexpertisecanalsobefoundthroughinteractiondataincollaborationtoolsandknowledgearticles.Feedingtheenginemeans

helpingemployeesfindmeaningfulworkmorequickly,whichkeepsthemengagedandencouragesthemto

growwithintheorganization.

3ExcerptFromGartnerHRLeadersMonthlyMay2023

More

Opportunities

Sharedonthe

Platform

Upskilling/Reskilling

DynamicDistributionofWork

EffectiveResource

Management

More

EmployeeData

toConnectWith

Opportunities

3

HowSkills

4

HowMuchIsAutomated

AreDetected

BeforeAI,collectingskillsdata(anddecidingwhatdatatocollect)wasamanual,human-ledprocess.CHROs

wouldworkwithbusinessleaderstoidentifywhat

individualskillstotrack,employeeswouldbeaskedtoupdatetheirskillsprofilesregularlyandmanagerswouldbeexpectedtovalidatethem.

Naturally,AIautomatesmanyelementsofthis

process.ForCHROs,thismeansapproachingthe

taskfromadifferentangleandaskingbusiness

leaders:Whatbusinesssystemsarethebestdata

sourcesforautomaticallyunderstandingemployees’workexperiencetocapturewhatskillstheypossessandwhichcontexttheyusedthemin?Whenthis

informationisautomaticallygatheredwithout

humaninput,machinescandrawconclusionsthatleaders,managersandemployeesdon’tunderstandoragreewith.

Tomaximizeautomation’sbenefitsandminimize

theethicalrisks,CHROsshouldestablishgovernancesystemstooverseewhattheengineisdeliveringto

improvequalityandensurethereisroomforhumanfeedbacktocorrectandadjusttheengineovertime.

Historically,assessmentshavebeenHR’smainsource

ofskillsdata,periodicallycapturingemployees’skills

atdiscretepointsintime.AIenablesamorecontinuousanddynamicprocess,whereassessmentsstillplaya

role,buttheyarejustonesegmentofalargerfieldofdata,whichiscollectedonanongoingbasis.

CHROsmustensuredataflowsaredesignedtogeneratepositivefeedbackloops(seeFigure3).Forinstance,aninternaltalentmarketplacecan

provideongoingdataaboutemployees’experiential

development.Butwhenthesystemcontinuallymatchestherightpeopletoprojects,thisalsoimprovesthe

engine’sunderstandingofemployees’skillsand,inturn,enablesittomakebettermatchesovertime.Thinkofitasacycle:Whenemployeesseethatthemarketplace

offersthemgoodopportunities,theyaremotivated

totakeadvantageoftheseopportunities.Thisinturngeneratesbetterdataaboutpeople’sexperiences,

whichfeedsbettermatchesandcreatesmoreinterestinopportunities.

Figure3:TheSkillsDataFeedbackLoop

More

DataAbout

Opportunitiesto

AttracttheBest

People

Source:Gartner

4ExcerptFromGartnerHRLeadersMonthlyMay2023

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DynamicUseofAIforSkillsData

Strategic

Workforce

Planning

Reskilling

and

Upskilling

Career

Development

andSuccession

Resource

Management

WorkforceOptimization

Scheduling

SourcingandHiring

Onboarding

andLearning

AI-EnabledSkillsEngine

CoordinationofWork

Compensation

Figure4:ARegenerativeSystemforTalent

Source:Gartner

5

HowMarket

DataIsUsed

ThefifthandfinalwayAIchangesthewayorganizationsthinkaboutskillsisbyprovidinggreateraccessto

trovesofexternaldatatheycouldn’teasilyincorporateintotheirskillsstrategiesbefore.AnAI-enabled

enginecanautomaticallyincorporateexternaldata,

dynamicallymapitontointernaldataanduseinternal

andexternaldatatocontinuouslyimproveitsaccuracy.ThiscanallowCHROstomoreeasilydetectwhere

emergingskillsarecomingfromandwherethereisthehighestcompetitionforthem,providingbetterinsightsforstrategicworkforceplanning.

Yet,thistechnologyisstillnewanddeveloping.No

single,perfectsourceforexternalskillsdataexists,

nordoesanyoff-the-shelfsolutionthatwillprovide

exactlywhatyourorganizationneeds.Inworking

withproviders,youwillfindthatyouandyourteams

needtodomoremanualworkthanyoumighthave

expected.However,thebenefitsofcapturingexternalskillsdataandmappingthattoyourinternallandscapecanbewellworththeeffort.

CHROswhoembarkonthisprojectshouldbepreparedtoiterateandlearnastheygo.Overtime,however,

linkingyourskillsdatasensingtotheexternalmarketwillhelpyourorganizationadaptandrespondwith

agilitytothedynamicchangestakingplaceoutside.

ARegenerativeSystemforTalent

ByadaptingtothesechangesandusingAIdyna