- AI is valuable far beyond recruiting — it helps organizations shift to a skills-based HR approach, increases internal mobility, and helps with organizational design, among other functions.
- Reinventing talent models, rethinking HR tech, and redesigning the HR function are all keys to success, and the enterprises that adapt to this quickly will see the biggest rewards.
- In Bersin’s latest research, he outlines the seven key use cases for talent intelligence in the enterprise that go beyond recruiting.
The massive disruption enterprises need is here and it’s talent intelligence.
“AI is the defining technology that’s going to be the fundamental piece behind our business transformation over the next 10 years,” said HR thought leader and global analyst Josh Bersin in his keynote at Cultivate ’24.
Bersin took the stage to talk about the latest advancements in AI-driven technologies in the HR space and to present his latest report, Enterprise talent intelligence: Applying skills technology and AI at work.
Related content: Watch our video on why the future of talent management needs talent intelligence.
Talent intelligence is essential to uncover new insights
The world of work has seen radical changes in the last two decades since the internet changed the game.
“All of a sudden things started to move faster,” Bersin said. “Employees started to jump around from company to company. Good ideas went with them, and all the intellectual property you had in your scale industrial business moved to somebody else. They built something that was competing with you faster than you could because time-to-market, innovation, creativity, customer service, and customer intimacy became the differentiator in the internet era.”
While the advent of the internet seems a long time ago, many HR processes are still left in those decades. Now, many of the systems used in HR tech stacks are too one-dimensional and treat people as a supply chain rather than valuing them for what they contribute: skills.
It’s time for HR to catch up. Enterprises will not be able to keep or retain talent if they continue to rely on old HR practices.
Organizations must shift from a job-based architecture to a people-focused architecture if they are to compete — and AI will be key to this transformation. AI can tap into employee data to identify skills, job progression, industry capabilities, and organization affinities among people, according to the Bersin report.
Expanding the value of AI
Many organizations are already realizing the value of talent intelligence when it comes to recruiting and talent acquisition functions. Recruiters are able to build smarter career portals that help them scan résumés and significantly streamline the hiring process.
But once that piece is up and running, many organizations are looking for more ways to use AI, which calls for an expansion of its value. Databases provided by talent intelligence platforms can also help organizations not just intake data like job titles, wages, and certifications — its data is richer and more complete and can draw inferences based on historical data.
In other words, it can help predict an individual’s likelihood of working in an industry, potential leadership opportunities, and inferred skills.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a technology in HR that has as much potential as this,” Bersin said. “AI can take heterogeneous, disconnected data and make sense of it, generate content, and understand it in a more integrated way than we ever could before.”
7 use cases for talent intelligence
The use cases of talent intelligence beyond recruiting aren’t a future state. Real-world organizations are using AI to dig into their data and redesign how they operate.
In his report, Bersin identifies the seven use cases for talent intelligence that enterprises can use to gain a competitive advantage. These include highlighting its role in skills-based HR, employee development, internal mobility, strategic workforce planning, leadership assessment and development, organization design, and pay equity.
For instance, with pay intelligence, leaders can look at pay data and identify disparities that don’t correlate with other factors. Doing so helps identify and effectively address inequities.
Another use case is internal mobility. Bersin’s research shows that organizations with internal mobility are seven times more successful in transformation and growth initiatives and are 17 times more likely to be market leaders. However, only 7% of companies are truly dynamic in terms of internal opportunities.
Talent intelligence closes this gap by helping organizations gain insights into jobs, roles, projects, and skills that already exist within their workforces. This also supports hiring teams so they can look within the organization to source internal talent, identify development opportunities, and improve team performances through redesigns.
3 steps to building the talent-centered enterprise
Many enterprise organizations are already starting AI journeys and transforming their HR technology landscapes.
How do you keep up? Bersin’s report outlines three keys to success:
- Reinvesting your talent model: Move toward a job architecture that focuses on understanding and developing skills and capabilities.
- Rethinking the HR technology ecosystem: Adopt AI platforms that allow for higher-level analysis to shape the future of the organization.
- Redesigning the HR function: Integrate teams that can effectively use talent intelligence systems for the enterprise.
We’ve already seen that enterprises that adapt early and well are the ones that set the pace. With AI becoming increasingly prevalent, the gap will only widen for those who lag behind on using its benefits.
Read The Josh Bersin Company’s full report, Enterprise talent intelligence: Applying skills technology and AI at work.
