Background

The Global HR Director of an international law firm was aware of the increasing impact of digital on the workplace. It was apparent that legal tech solutions were making the role of junior lawyers redundant through automation of contracts/ the due diligence process. She had no idea if AI-based solutions could add value to the HR function.

Challenge

The biggest challenge for the Group HRD was a lack of time. Her team were currently in the middle of a big change/transformation project and she was not sure they had the bandwidth to take on one more new initiative. Could she afford to spend time on learning about ‘digital’ when there were other competing priorities?

Six month program

The Human Capital Innovation Hub turned out to be the perfect solution through the following process:

• The Hub held a pre meeting with the Global HRD and one member of her team to brainstorm 3-4 potential areas within HR which could be used for the pilot. Learning & Development was chosen as the preferred area for several reasons:
  • HR had been tasked through a ‘Board’ sponsored initiative to improve training effectiveness particularly around ‘wellness’. It was therefore linked to a specific strategic objective the team had to deliver on
  • It would enable a cross geographical team from the US and UK to participate
  • As the team was not very technology proficient, ‘training’ was an easier area for everyone to relate to
• A decision was made to focus on an AI-based Learning & Development solution which could assist impact around ‘Wellness’
• The Hub introduced an AI based product which could assemble individualized curated training content scattered across various areas- Learning Management Systems, power point presentations, emails of individual employees, shared folders in various departments, blogs, podcasts etc. The UI interface made the employee experience engaging while the AI-based platform enabled ‘intelligent’ measurement and facilitated quick adoption.
• The Hub programme initiated a monthly session with the L&D team. The first monthly session(of the six- month programme) was spent in educating the team about the product and its capability
• The second and third month were spent planning the pilot. This included co-opting the IT team and finalising the communication plan
• Month four and five were spent carrying out the pilot. During this time the team also met up with two other corporates participating in the Hub. This enabled them to get exposed to other start-ups and enhanced their understanding of AI based solutions across almost all aspects of the employee lifecycle
• The last month of the six- month programme consisted of a review of the pilot and lessons learned around what could be done differently

Outcome

Participating in the Hub programme exposed the HR team for the first time to possibilities around using digital and AI based solutions. A key learning for HR from the pilot was ensuring greater self- reliance in managing technology rollouts. Exposure to other AI-based start-ups created greater awareness within the HR team about the need to accelerate their transition to a digital environment. Sharing their experience with other organisations gave them the reassurance they were not alone in this journey. The Global HRD felt she had a better understanding of the preparation needed and the value AI could bring to the people agenda. She resolved to budget for it in her upcoming budget and plan an organisation wide rollout of the learning solution.