Skills shortages are a major challenge for businesses in various industries around the world.
Past research by Gartner highlighted the global talent shortage as the top emerging risk facing organizations, while a more recent study suggested 58% of the workforce will need new skill sets to succeed in their jobs.
This issue could have serious consequences in terms of business performance and profitability, with Korn Ferry warning that talent deficiencies could create a cost of $8.5 trillion in unrealized revenues by 2030.
So what can you do to address this challenge and put the organization in a strong position to succeed in the coming years?
One strategy worth considering is using AI to optimize your talent development and acquisition.
Research has suggested that AI is becoming an increasingly prominent feature of many organizations and how they function.
In Deloitte's Global Human Capital Trends 2020 survey, 70% of respondents said their company was exploring or using AI at some level. It’s also been predicted that ongoing growth and innovation in this space will add $13 trillion to the global economy over the next decade.
The growth of concepts like robotics and automation in the workplace will cause understandable concern about job losses, but research has also suggested that AI will create as many roles as it displaces in the near future.
Furthermore, the automation of routine processes can give your employees more time to focus on training, learning and expanding their skill sets. This could prove crucial if you want to protect the business from talent shortages by developing crucial knowledge and capabilities from within.
AI-powered analytics tools can be particularly useful when you need to complete tasks that involve a lot of data collection and evaluation, such as assessing your current workforce.
A skills audit will help you identify where your strengths lie and pinpoint the abilities you have the greatest need for, now and in the future. AI can play a crucial role in ensuring this process runs as quickly and efficiently as possible, and gives you accurate, actionable results.
The stronger your understanding of your existing employees, the better-placed the business will be to nurture key capabilities moving forward. This could prove vital to lasting success in fast-moving, competitive industries.