Today, we’re diving into a topic that crops up time and time again: the skills gap in the UK’s workforce. The recent surge in AI capabilities has opened up new opportunities to help bridge that gap and revolutionise the way we tackle skill shortages. So, let’s roll up our sleeves and explore the role AI could have in addressing our skills gap.
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Learning & Development
AI can transform the way you approach learning and development for your team. By offering personalised training programs which are tailored to each employee’s needs, like interactive modules or virtual simulations, AI helps your team members upskill and re-skill, closing the gap between the skills they have and the skills you need to keep growing as a business.
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Skills assessments
AI can assess candidates’ skills more objectively and accurately than a human can. Role-specific tasks, such as coding challenges, simulations, or online quizzes delivered through AI-powered assessment tools, can provide a fair evaluation of candidates’ abilities. The difference here is that humans can, of course, administer and report back on candidate assessments without any significant biases creeping in. The value of AI in skills assessments is an impartial and completely objective assessment of the results versus specified criteria for a given role and the disparity (if any) between them.
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Insights & Trends
AI algorithms can analyse large amounts of data on industry trends, market demands, and skill requirements almost instantaneously. By leveraging this data, you can then gain valuable insights into the skills that are in high demand, allowing you to align your hiring and training strategies accordingly. Stay ahead of the curve and make informed decisions based on real-time information by using AI to help you decide where to ‘point’.
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Selection
As we touched on above with regard to skills assessments, AI removes human bias from the equation, ensuring a fair and objective selection process. By focusing solely on skills and qualifications (note: this relies on clear, specific information provided by you in advance of using AI to analyse it), AI helps to eliminate unconscious biases that may hinder diversity and inclusion efforts in your Talent team.
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Workflows
AI automates repetitive tasks, freeing up your HR / Talent team’s time to focus on strategic initiatives that can really move the dial and help you move forward further and faster. From CV screening to scheduling interviews on behalf of hiring managers, AI can handle the administrative burdens, allowing your team to devote their energy to building relationships and engaging with candidates which, ultimately, pay you back in the form of a strong Employer Brand with greater ‘pull’. Thus, a stronger employer brand means you have great influence and attraction capability which, when applied to emerging talent, can mean numbers of candidates ‘filling’ the skills gaps in the UK goes up and up.
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Upskilling
AI-powered learning platforms can help upskill and re-skill your existing team. By identifying skill gaps and offering tailored training programs, AI ensures your team are evolving and improving in line with what your customers need and, ultimately, where your company needs to get to. Offering and constantly improving your team through upskilling will help to instil and nurture a culture of continuous learning and growth within your organisation.
Author
Brad Coombes
Leadership
