As artificial intelligence propagates through organizations in an increasingly ubiquitous fashion, many are in dissonance. On one hand, automation promises a boost to employee productivity and to free up time to be spent on more creative and dynamic tasks. On the other hand, the new reality requires a fresh set of roles — a set with a scarce talent pool to fish in. According to World Economic Forum, 54% of occupations need upskilling by 2022. McKinsey found that 14% will be gone by 2030. The critical question to many executives is how to best-manage human resources in the digital and analytics transformation.

From the forefront of industry, the answer to that question seems to be a resounding endorsement of professional education. Organizations need a new set of skills, and there is an alluring case for retraining existing employees instead of the costly process of firing and rehiring. McKinsey found that 70% of large company executives think that at least one in four of their employees will need retraining. 20% called retraining a “top-5 priority”. As the Chief Marketing Officer of Sana Labs, an AI-for-learning company, we constantly engage with our partners on this topic. Here, I’d like to share our key takeaways on how to navigate the puzzle of professional education.

Review and prepare

While rarely a number-one priority, organizations are likely to already have some training in place. This is especially true in industries with an emphasis on compliance and regulatory approval, which requires employees to be up-to-date on current standards. Stored in everything from learning management systems (LMS) to hundreds of PDFs, the foundational educational content often exists within the firm. In other words, we have a ship — now we need to see which parts float.

Often, parts of the educational content that employees need for upskilling already exists within the organization, and the cost-efficient approach is to try to utilize as much as possible.

Getting ready for the new paradigm of corporate training first means an inventory of what is already in place. Often, parts of the educational content that employees need for upskilling already exists within the organization, and the cost-efficient approach is to try to utilize as much as possible. In practice, this means making the content easily navigable and malleable through a centralized yet modular storage. Especially, we have found firms with content data which is easily accessible to new technologies to be significantly better prepared for modern professional education. This is a good-bye to troves of PDFs, and a hello to a modern data-driven approach.

Align strategically

With the ship in good condition, it needs a captain to navigate. For corporate training to be effective, it needs two things from the management team. The first is strategic alignment, and the second is investment. In our experience, partners with C-level commitment have managed to both expedite implementation of new initiatives, and been able to realize returns quicker than others.

Put yourself in the shoes of the employees who are being retrained and be their biggest supporter, and you are likely to increase value to all stakeholders. As Harvard Business Review illustratively argued for, we need a Chief Learning Officer.

First, to achieve ROI in corporate training, organizations need to align the training with their strategic plans. Do you plan to expand this or that product line? How do you expect that to change in the coming years? What capabilities will you need to make that expansion in 2022? If your approach to training employees is based on your core organizational objectives, the returns are likely to be significantly better. Second, investment in learning will always be a long-term bet. Put yourself in the shoes of the employees who are being retrained and be their biggest supporter, and you are likely to increase value to all stakeholders. As Harvard Business Review illustratively argued for, we need a Chief Learning Officer.

Personalize

In navigation, a captain needs equipment; the maps and the sextants of the journey. Harvard Business Review noted that:

“There is an art to balancing theory with hands-on practice, creating instructional materials at the right level, setting the right pace, and making the entire experience engaging.”

This highlights the need for adapting training to each learner. Here, while reviewing the next generation of learning, McKinsey argued for the learning benefits accrued from personalizing learning using artificial intelligence. Unsurprisingly, we couldn’t agree more.

Personalized learning has proven to produce two standard deviations of improvement in learning, compared to traditional methods.

Thanks to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, personalized learning at scale is possible today. By looking at millions of students interact with digital content, patterns emerge — these patterns can make each student’s learning experience unique to their needs and capabilities. Personalized learning has proven to produce two standard deviations of improvement in learning, compared to traditional methods. At Sana Labs, we launched a personalized learning solution in 8 weeks, currently used by more than half of the certified public accountants in the US. Yet only spending 5% of their practice time in the personalized feature, scores improved by 8%. This is the case for organizations to empower their corporate training with artificial intelligence, to make it more personalized and efficient.

Embed pragmatically

Navigating the seas is not a clear-cut path; it requires adaptability to weather and wind. Likewise, organizations need to think pragmatically about how to embed their training in day-to-day operations. Equally important is follow-up and continued investment over time.

Each organization needs to adapt their education to their situation. For example, Amazon — the American technology firm — has instituted several training programs where they turn fulfilment centre workers into data scientists over the course of 16 weeks. Another case is J.P. Morgan — the financial services company — who introduced a platform called “skills passport” where employees can take assessments and find a curated list of potential career options and relevant training programs. AT&T — the telecommunications company — rolled out its “Future Ready” program where employees can take nano degrees and acquire skills badges, as well as work towards master’s degrees in partnership with Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Notre Dame. Bottom line is that no two stories are the same, and organizations need to think about how to adapt their training to context.

Break down content into “micro-lessons” that can be taken throughout the day or week, making them available via smartphone, and embedding them into the flow of work.

What we have found is that a modern approach improves learning outcomes while managing day-to-day operations. This means breaking down content into “micro-lessons” that can be taken throughout the day or week, making them available via smartphone, and embedding them into the flow of work.

It is no mistake that our current period of change has been dubbed the “fourth industrial revolution”. Like before, the advancements in technology are poised to disrupt the entire workforce, and organizations need a clear strategy on how to best-manage. As found by many, there is a strong case for training and retraining your current employees to boost productivity and transform capabilities. At Sana Labs, this is in our DNA: we work with partners to empower their employees through learning. And while we’ve found the waves and clouds challenging at times, we can feel smoother sailing is ahead.

If you want to learn more about how you can leverage AI for learning in your organization, please send a note to anna@sanalabs.com