Building confidence in AI: Training programs help close knowledge gaps

AI has reshaped the workforce at an astonishing pace, but training hasn’t reached this moment. Although a quarter of executives are bullish on the technology, only 12% of workers have received AI-related training over the past year. Lack of preparation not only hinders the successful and secure adoption of AI, but also creates uncertainty around the impact of the technology on their work. As the gap between administrative excitement and employee reluctance grows, it is clear that organizations need training tools to help build AI confidence and introduce this new era of innovation.

AI will be enhanced, not replaced

Perhaps the most important factor in building AI confidence is helping employees understand how the technology will adapt to its role. Although AI is not about replacing employees in most cases, despite the large amount of misinformation. In fact, companies that have recently tried to replace humans with AI are working to achieve the ROI they imagined. Instead, the real value of AI comes from using it to enhance employee skills, productivity and competitiveness in its field. By effectively handling more routine and managing tasks, this technology allows employees to focus on high-value tasks.

However, it is also important to note that integrating AI does not achieve this on its own and employees must understand how to use it effectively to unlock its full potential. Without the right training, AI can draw attention to data privacy, bias and inaccuracy, which makes this fundamental knowledge undiscussable. That’s why both sides have improved and Cross-skills are crucial to keeping the pace of change.

High skills and cross skills

Both high-skill and cross-skill training are used to help employees expand their skills and are a key tool when seeking to adopt AI. Although similar, it is important to understand the difference between the two.

• Improve skills It is the process of strengthening existing skills and focusing on helping employees advance their jobs and gaining higher responsibilities. A great example of a good skill is training IT leaders (already with a strong technical foundation) to gain insight into AI leaders.
• Cross Infinite It is equally important, but is often overlooked in AI training. Cross-skills (also known as cross-training) are the process of developing new skills that are suitable for different functions and focus on training multiple employees in organizational tasks. AI and cross-skill strategies must also be adopted to ensure success. A good example of cross-skills being a marketing leader with minimal technical background. As AI is increasingly used across departments, cross-skills ensure that every employee can use technology based on their specific roles and responsibilities.

Benefits of training in the AI ​​era

As industry, market and day-to-day business practices develop, employee skills and knowledge remain the basis for organizational innovation. Employees need goals and impact, and aligning company goals with employees’ ambitions is a guaranteed way to increase engagement. In addition, providing employees with the ability to reduce heavy tasks through AI helps improve overall satisfaction at work.

Meeting these needs and retaining top talent is crucial to maintaining productivity and growth in amid increasingly competitive situations. Although recent arguments suggest that those who already have AI skills will take over the job, 79% of learning and development professionals believe that rekilling current employees is cheaper than hiring new employees.

Actions and cross-skill actions

If improving skills and cross-skills are not the current part of the learning and development program, organizations can take advantage of the resources they already have access to. Here are some best practices when getting started:

• Assess current skills: Without an understanding of the skills that the employee population possesses, it is even more difficult to prioritize high-skill and cross-skills, and what skills do they need to build confidence in AI. Given teams are already familiar with their roles and the entire organization, investigating current AI knowledge levels and identifying gaps is a good starting point.
• Set achievable goals: With a basic understanding of your workforce, the next step is to set goals for skills and cross-skills. It is important to understand the “why” behind these training programs and to determine where employees can develop. The goals should be set at the level of individual contributors, while also determining the goals of the large team and the entire organization.
• Rethink the learning format: Even the most powerful training program does not move the needle without a format that resonates with your workforce. In fact, 86% of companies are not satisfied with their existing training programs. Employers are increasingly finding that on-site or in-person training programs are no longer sufficient. Instead, video-based learning provides flexibility and better access to learning in a variety of learning styles, which is probably the best way to highly complex topics like AI.
• Priority to the person in charge: Implementing data privacy, security, and data governance best practices is a critical step in ensuring employees are using AI responsibly. Furthermore, it is crucial to implement a biased and transparent framework to validate AI output and have confidence in AI efficiency within an organization. To help this, organizations should consider building an “AI Champion” to teach employees how to use AI effectively so that humans can benefit from productivity gains and have skills to protect hallucinations and biases.
• Monitoring and promoting: To make high-skill and cross-skills impactful, employees need to have the opportunity to expand their responsibilities. Organizations should implement reward structures to motivate employees to find innovative ways to use AI to help improve department and organizational efficiency and quickly track innovation.

Bottom line

Despite the promise of AI’s positivity to the modern workplace, employees are the key figures that will determine their success. Regardless of their role, department, or expertise, having the foundation of AI knowledge will benefit career trajectory and overall business. By focusing not only on improving the technology advancement of employees, but also on the cross-skills that create a larger AI-centric culture, organizations can benefit from increased engagement, talent retention, and competitive market expertise.