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August 2023

Aug 09
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Allyson’s AI Journey – #3

By Change Management, Communications, Learning No Comments

A wave of AI innovation is reshaping the workforce’s skill needs faster than ever. As robotics and systems automate routine work, human skills become the true currency for career success. Talent leaders know job descriptions can’t keep pace with this rapid change, leaving some employers and workers anxious. By embracing a skills-based talent strategy, companies can map skills gaps, align training and development initiatives, and empower employees to surf the AI wave rather than be swept away by it. The key is understanding which skills will complement new technologies and drive business forward. With targeted upskilling and an agile skills framework, talent leaders can lead a workforce transformation poised to harness AI’s potential. And employees? Employees must continuously expand their skills, as well as pursuing ongoing development opportunities to remain relevant and invaluable.

Where do we start? These skills start with digital literacy. The Library Association’s digital-literacy task force offers this definition: “Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.” [1]

Digital literacy can be developed at any age. It’s good to see resources for educators to support the digital literacy of our future employees. Did you know that Microsoft has a support feature used by educators to teach students how to search? Called “Search Coach”,[2] the tool provides context and guidance for students to ask effective questions to discover reliable sources.

New technology has always required us to develop technical skills. Depending on your job role, this could include skills such as programming, system integration or data analysis. For some jobs, it may be simply learning how to use an AI prompt to leverage the power of generative AI.

Here are two courses I’m working through to develop technical skills on using Chat GPT:

Most businesses require employees to work together, so Interpersonal and Leadership Skills will still be in high demand. The need to interact with others, lead others, and build high performing diverse teams will not go away with AI.

We’ll also need to strengthen and develop skills related to Ethics and Governance. As we leverage AI tools, we must ensure their ethical use and design. We will need to establish governance processes to ensure ethics and safety of use.

My Final Thoughts

I don’t envision AI taking on all human skills, so as we work alongside AI enabled technology, there will be a strong need to continue to build skills such as creativity and critical thinking. While AI might give us a head start, we will need to use our human competence to go beyond what AI generates for us.

So rather than be swept away by the waves of change coming at us, let us learn to ride them by developing the skills we need to direct us to the shore. With the right skills, we, as humans, can adapt, explore, and thrive in the most turbulent waters. As leaders of talent and business, we need to guide our organizations to harness this surge of AI and build skills to change, learn and grow. By empowering our people and focusing on the horizon, we can help guide our organizations through rough waters.

[1] https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-is-digital-literacy/2016/11>

[2] https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/topic/get-started-with-search-coach-1dd4334c-9a43-461d-9ddc-630c8f7e6714

 

Aug 01
Love0

OCM’s Value Add Part 4 – Humans’ Preference in Learning by Doing

By Change Management No Comments

As you think about making major changes within your organization there are two key questions you should be asking yourself:

  1. Will this change accelerate the pace to get us to our more ideal future state?
  2. Will this change “stick” within my organization?

Looking into the future, business professionals will see greater success when their Organizational Change Management efforts (OCM) align with the way humans respond to change. In fact, there are five key challenges that govern our ways of thinking:

  1. Humans’ desire to retain control.
  2. Humans’ desire credible leadership.
  3. Humans’ preference and success in learning by doing.
  4. Humans’ desire to understand the “bigger” picture.
  5. Humans’ desire to be a part of something that matters. Something that makes a difference.

In this post. we will look at Challenge #3.

Challenge #3 – Human’s preference and success in learning by doing.

  • From our experience in adult learning, we know that humans want control and involvement in the design, delivery, and timing of their training.
  • They want training that is designed around how they learn most effectively.
  • They want to experiment in finding what best works for them.
  • They learn by doing. An aspect of training that allows them to experiment in the future state prior to using it and long after it becomes their reality.
  • They want their training to be tied to a specific goal.

How it works today

  • While adult learning is not a new concept, neither are many of the other concepts in this article. It must align with these challenges to ensure change that delivers speed and sustainability.
  • Much of change related training has a heavy emphasis on pre-change “live”, in-person classroom training.
  • Post-change support is seen as an expense to be managed rather than an active learning by doing.
  • Post-change support is often staffed entirely with live support that limits time (and budget), and as a result limiting how long the support can remain in place.
  • While not a new concept, allowing all future users to test drive, and experiment with, a new environment (including process changes) prior to its application is not widely done.
  • Trainers may or may not know how the system and processes work today.

What tomorrow will look like

  • Live training prior to the change will be a smaller component than it is today.
  • The primary goal of pre-change training is to prepare the users with the basics, prepare them to operate in the future state on Day 1, and to know where to go if they have questions or “get stuck”.
  • Hands on experimentation and learning by doing will be a part of the training process.
  • Post-change training will be seen as the primary training vehicle and will include access to expert advice, both live and automated.
  • Change champions who understand where to get answers (live or automated) for users will be in part of the training infrastructure.

Near term actions you can take

  • Introduce leadership to an overview of adult learning concepts in The Learning Pyramid[1] or other similar discussion starters.
  • Own the training development process. Limit the involvement of a technology vendor to subject matter expert.
  • Budget the support function using measures that include competency vs dollars spent.
  • Ensure that messaging in communications is consistent with similar communication in training materials.
  • Ensure that users know where and who to go to in search of answers. Clear navigation is important.
  • If possible, task change agent networks with knowing where to go to update for answers.
  • Ensure that training materials are constantly up to date.
  • Champion the use of user groups to share learning by doing.
  • Ensure that the trainers and change champions know how the current environment works.
  • Survey effectiveness of post-change training.
  • Ensure that refresher training driven by use is part of the process.

If you’re looking for a partner to lead a major OCM effort within your organization, we have the expertise. Get in touch, and let’s craft a plan that is tailored to your company’s needs.

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