The COVID-19 outbreak, which forced the immediate closure of many businesses worldwide, has plunged the global economy into a recession.
The rate at which employees at all levels are quitting is higher than usual, thus shaking the world of work forever. This leaving of employees, more specifically the top-level executives, in droves is costly for companies across industries due to the tight labor markets and lack of career growth and development opportunities at jobs.
As workforce leaders show a desire to develop professionally with the help of in-house initiatives, organizations need to invest in career development programs to ensure they retain their core workforce. In order to stay ahead of the curve amidst this crisis, HR leaders need to consider having a trained and ready workforce to fill critical roles.
And the most sought-after initiative that is currently being leveraged across industries is Succession Planning. Talent leaders need to embrace this idea of succession planning as it allows them to determine the skills and talent within their organizations and then identify and develop future leaders.
In this quest of finding a suitable successor who is ready to occupy the leadership role, we help you decode the role of AI in making the process easier and maintaining stability in your organization. We further help you understand the upsides of having an AI-backed talent intelligence platform to help upskill and recession-proof your workforce.
Prioritizing Succession Planning to Secure Top Roles
As organizations prepare to tide over the current recession crisis, succession planning becomes the need-of-the-hour solution in devising a smooth talent transition across leadership roles. By having a full-proof succession planning strategy in place, HR leaders can identify and develop future leaders and fill major roles at all levels.
In the following few sections, we discuss how AI-powered talent intelligence platforms are indispensable for businesses in their succession planning strategies.
AI in targeted and personalized development
Succession planning is only defined as successful when the right candidates fit into the vacant roles. And to ensure that these candidates have a hassle-free transition to top roles, talent management teams must offer them ample training resources.
AI-based talent intelligence platforms’ capabilities can be harnessed here. They present HR teams with essential parameters, including candidates’ capabilities, problem areas, and personal goals. Based on these aforementioned datasets, talent intelligence platforms provide personalized learning pathways to bridge the skill gaps, if there are any.
By taking a data-driven approach, HR leaders can identify potential leadership candidates, develop them in role-required areas, and promote a culture of continuous learning and innovation.
AI in tapping the right candidate (internal & external hiring)
Generally, internal personnel are the most preferred succession candidates. However, there are instances where an external candidate proves to be an ideal fit for a particular position. The question, however, comes down to the talent leaders; Should they develop a successor internally or hire a successor externally?
The answer to this question depends on the cost of hiring an external talent vs. internal and the training time. AI-based talent intelligence platforms can assist talent management teams in solving this conundrum. The addition of AI-powered platforms in your succession planning process helps you navigate through internal and external applicants simultaneously.
And understanding that external hiring can be laborious and more expensive than internally training a candidate, talent intelligence platforms can help minimize the resources spent at the hiring stage. Talent management teams can then put these selected candidates on a development track and offer them a head start by hiring for the vacant role. This allows them to be more aligned and involved with the organization if they clearly understand their roles from the beginning.
Upskilling the Future-Ready Leader
After identifying the right candidate as the successor, upskilling takes center stage. And only through learning and development opportunities can employers understand that they have found the right fit to perform the successor duties effectively. We take a look at how upskilling can help streamline this journey with the support of artificial intelligence.
Upskilling with AI for internal mobility
Internal mobility has always been a topic of discussion, especially since the onset of pandemic organizations. The crisis forced several organizations to introduce upskilling initiatives, allowing employees to move into in-demand roles or fill vacant positions.
With AI’s help in reskilling and upskilling the workforce, companies can find it easier to promote and assign successors whenever the need arises.
This entire process of developing talent internally is a win-win situation for both the employer and the employee. Organizations can thrive with future-ready talent, whereas candidates can explore different facets of operations.
As talent management teams from organizaitons across verticals seek problem-solvers and potential leaders, AI-powered talent intelligence platforms like Draup support them with critical data-backed insights to fix the tech skills gap.
Draup identifies skillsets and maps them with the existing list of courses and programs in its database using 100+ machine learning models to support organizations’ talent management teams in developing upskilling initiatives and preparing the talent force for the new future of work.
