As industries that used to be clearly defined converge and their focuses become more complex—for example, GM was once a clearly defined car maker and is now becoming a technology company, too—employers are looking at how internal practices also need to change to help keep their organizations ahead of the competition.
“Retail store managers used to be clearly defined, but skills profiles are changing rapidly and it’s hard to keep up,” said Kathi Enderes, senior vice president, research, at the Josh Bersin Company, on Wednesday in HR Tech Conference. “That’s why we need AI.”
And as organizations look to grow post-pandemic, using technology to identify the internal skills needed will be critical.
“The problem with large organizations is we don’t know what skills we have,” says Penelope Sur, vice president of talent at sports equipment retailer DICK’S Sporting Goods. “I am the head of TA; I don’t like TA. Why should I go out and hire outside if I have 50,000 people in my house? I should have all the skillsets I dreamed of in my house.”
To tap into that potential, employers need to identify what internal employees are good at, what they want to do and then help them get there, he added.
“Who is most important to our organization to take us from a $15 billion to a $25 billion company?” Sir asked. “The people who are going to do that are the heads of our stores,” he said. “They have a pulse on our communities and employees. They are the heart and soul of our organization. If I want to raise those people, I have to raise their ranks.
To do that, DICK’S partnered with Eightfold AI to learn what skills employees have to ultimately better support store management and grow their stores.
“All the soft and hard skills are not digital but they are skills that my managers need to run their stores,” he added. “Upskilling is not about IT or tech and all the big words, but training them for today’s jobs.”
Number of Days
Managers are in and out of an average of eight HR systems per day in an attempt to lead their teams, according to research conducted by cloud-based HCM solution provider ServiceNow. “All this time they’re spending in and out of these systems instead of focusing on productivity and driving revenue,” said Gretchen Alarcon, vice president and general manager of HR service delivery for the vendor. ServiceNow won the 2022 Top HR Products award for its Manager Hub solution.
Betterworks is expanding
Performance management provider Betterworks announced at the HR Tech Conference the availability of new plug-ins for Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Excel and Google Workspace. This new integration aims to enable employees and managers to have “more meaningful conversations … including regular check-ins, goal progress updates, feedback and recognition,” according to in the statement of the statement. “Our integrations with Google Workspace and Microsoft turn what used to be annual tasks into good daily habits,” said Arnaud Grunwald, chief product officer at Betterworks.
Eightfold in New York
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday that the state Department of Labor, in partnership with Eightfold AI, has opened its Virtual Career Center to all state residents, connecting them to 250,000 job vacancies. work. The free, online platform relies on Eightfold’s artificial intelligence to match a job seeker’s skills and experience with job opportunities, Hochul said in a statement. The tool helps users “connect directly with employers and improve themselves,” said Eightfold President Kamal Ahluwalia. “Together, we’ve built the Virtual Career Center, which gives every New Yorker the opportunity to achieve family-supporting, economy-strengthening jobs.”
HRE editors Phil Albinus and Elizabeth Clarke contributed to this report.