AI in HR: Transforming hiring, skill mapping, L&D, and ROI
- HRM Asia Newsroom
As HR leaders, we are at a pivotal moment. “The way we source, assess, hire, train, develop, pay, and move people is being fundamentally transformed by AI.” As Josh Bersin notes, AI is poised to change every process we touch.
I recently spoke with a CEO whose organisation scanned 1.25 million LinkedIn profiles in search of candidates. And, of course, you know who did the scanning—AI.
When I posted my profile years ago, I copied text from consulting proposals two decades earlier. Back then, more data was considered better. Today, instead of restricting yourself to a one- or two-page CV, it is worth providing as much relevant data as you can. AI can “read” text thousands to millions of times faster than humans, and it would not mind the extra detail. It might even be the factor that lands you a new role.
Hiring with AI
The integration of AI into hiring is widespread. A staggering 82% of organisations now use AI to screen resumes, and 24% have fully automated their interview process. The future of AI in hiring is even more comprehensive, with organisations planning to use it for:
- Conducting interviews (76%)
- Collecting facial-recognition data (63%)
- Analysing language use (62%)
- Transcribing interviews (60%)
- Analysing body language and/or voice tone (59%)
While the efficiency gains are clear, the ethical implications are significant. A full 70% of organisations use AI to eliminate candidates without any human intervention. And nearly 100% of these same organisations believe that AI makes biased recommendations. I will leave this statistic to speak for itself. If you are involved in these initiatives, it is crucial to ensure that an AI ethicist and legal team are part of the process.
For younger professionals, AI coaching is essential to prepare them for this new reality. They need to optimise their LinkedIn profiles, CVs, and interview skills for AI-driven systems.
Skill mapping for growth
Skill mapping is another area where AI is making an impact. At SPJ Global, with Skillmotion.AI, for example, we are piloting a programme to map skills of MBA candidates, compare them to the requirements of their next desired roles, and recommend how to close the gap—all through AI analytics. This approach can be scaled to analyse workforce needs, assess team and organisational skill coverage, and promote diversity.
Enhancing L&D with AI
Often, a person has the skills they need but struggles with presenting themselves effectively. This is true for LinkedIn profiles, CVs, and interviews.
At SPJ Global, we have developed an AI-enabled learning tutor (AI-ELT) to build skills, coach interview techniques, and support LinkedIn/CV optimisation. Learners interact with a conversational, audio-visual AI that offers personalised assistance 24/7.
Unlike static e-learning, the AI-ELT engages in a two-way dialogue, asking questions and gamifying the process with real-time scoring on both content mastery and presentation skills. Outcomes have been significant: learning retention has improved, and the average number of interviews before hiring has halved.
In a corporate context, such a tool can enhance L&D, improve presentations (for sales teams or leadership media readiness), and prepare employees for difficult conversations.
Your own digital twin
I have previously discussed how you can create a digital twin of yourself, leverage AI employees, and manage a blended workforce. Organisations like Bowery Farming have already implemented this, with AI supervisors assigning tasks to human employees and tracking operations. The ability to have an AI representation of myself interact with others has been refreshing, freeing me up for other pursuits.
Measuring L&D ROI and learning retention
Once employees have learned, does it stick? Is there any ROI for L&D? StreamzAI goes beyond standard AI cross-selling assistance to provide a unified metric of post-L&D knowledge and confidence—the PULSE score. It is directly tied to customer experience and sales outcomes, with a management dashboard of real-time sales readiness for each salesperson, team, and the whole salesforce.
AI augmentation and employee engagement
Ultimately, you will witness nearly every job being AI-augmented, and that is good news for employee engagement and productivity.
Studies show increased employee engagement when roles are AI-augmented, as well as higher job satisfaction and sense of purpose. Organisations with a stronger augmentation approach (rather than automation), such as AIG, GE and Unilever, have seen the highest performance boosts, leading to improvements in efficiency and innovation.
So, get comfortable with AI, co-create with your CIO, and ask for budget using these statistics.
Maybe you will be the next one scanning 1.25 million LinkedIn profiles to find just the right candidates.
About the Author:
Dr CJ Meadows is Director, i2e – The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Centre – S P Jain School of Global Management.
To see SPJ Global’s AI-ELT video and Dr CJ’s books and articles on the future of work and learning, visit drcjmeadows.com/futureoflearning. To talk with Dr CJ’s digital twin about your situation, visit CJ2.personal.ai. Dr CJ’s articles about digital twinning are at https://hrmasia.com/have-you-digitally-twinned-your-employees-yet-or-yourself/ and https://www.cio.com/article/3974951/how-i-digitally-twinned-myself-and-why-you-should-too.html.
