Effective, viable executive sponsorship crucial in the AI transformation

The skills gap, weak executive sponsorship of training, and a lack of trust are holding organisations back from effective change management in their AI transformations, an expert has said.

Technological transformations, such as the organisation-wide adoption of AI, are a change management period that organisations face, with a recent NAB study showing that only 42 per cent of SMEs have adopted the technology in their businesses.

AI is shifting the capability requirements of roles, and employees need training to upskill them in AI, a responsibility that sits with HR leaders, said Darren Lonsdale (pictured), managing director at Prosci ANZ.

Lonsdale emphasised that businesses must undertake a cultural shift to put people before tech by bringing employees along on the change management journey.

To achieve this, he said, HR leaders must have clear communication with their workers to ensure that they deliver the awareness necessary to motivate them to be part of the change.

Communication and ensuring that employees have a level of awareness are necessary to create a desire for workers to be part of the successful change.

Through informing employees of the “why” behind AI training, Lonsdale said, HR leaders can reinforce the value proposition. Through effective sponsorship of training through leadership, employees can be supported in developing the necessary knowledge and abilities to work effectively in the AI-transformation.

He said that employers must “show employees how AI benefits their specific roles and, through knowledge and role-based training, these employees can understand and learn how these AI platforms work”.

Employers need to provide hands-on practice, not just theory, Lonsdale said. This can be done by embedding AI in employees’ daily work to reduce fear and sustain AI adoption across the organisation.

He said HR leaders should carry out pulse checks with their workers to support them on the journey. “Are we checking in with our teams consistently to say, ‘Are you using the tool? How are you finding the tool? Are you comfortable with the tool?’”

However, Lonsdale highlighted the potential for a costly and ineffective pilot training program, stressing that executive sponsorship must be both effective and viable so that employees do not revert to ways of working away from AI, which they find more comfortable. “The coalition of sponsors that drives the success of the program needs to be aware of the commercial impact [on] the business,” he said.

“We’ve got to take people on the journey … we have to understand that no one size fits all, so each person, each individual is going to have a different experience, and we need to cater for that, identifying the barriers for adoption.”

Carlos Tse

Carlos Tse is a graduate journalist writing for Accountants Daily, HR Leader, Lawyers Weekly.

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