Jeannine and I just returned from our national Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) conference last week, where over 25,000 HR practitioners gathered from all over the world to participate in what I fondly call “HR Bootcamp.” Session after session, learning everything from new legislation affecting employment law, benefits, to best practices for engagement in the workplace, and of course AI…And this year, there was an ABUNDANCE of AI sessions. Every hour on the hour there was something in the AI realm offered. It was a screaming hint to learn more about this technology and to “get on the bus and start driving.” In one session filled with about 500+ HR practitioners, the presenter asked, “How many of you are using AI in your workplace?” Many hands went up. Next question: “How many of you are not using AI in your organization yet?” Fewer hands were raised, but in a room of 500+ practitioners the amount was significant. The presenter responded, “It’s almost already too late.” The response was chilling. Knowing that each HR practitioner in the room represented an entire workforce, the impact of each of those hands raised that had not even started experimenting or learning AI as an organizational initiative was concerning.
The theme of our conference was about how we must “skill-up” our workforce, specifically learning how to develop our skills to use AI in our day-to-day work. This issue is now paramount. We must become agile so we are able to adapt to changes in the way we will begin to work differently every day and increase our productivity and capability towards more organizational value-added initiatives.
To illustrate this concept further, one speaker at the conference shared a story about a favorite topic of mine… coffee. 😊 He spoke about the Jura super-automatic coffee machines. These incredible household appliances allow you to make cappuccinos, ristrettos, latte’s, espressos and more, from bean to cup automatically, all with a touch of a button. The speaker shared how his mother took great pride in making coffee using a presser, and when she visited her son and looked at this Jura machine in his home for the first time, she became quite emotional and upset that her son had “replaced” her, and her pressed coffee with this machine. Her son explained to his mother that this machine wasn’t replacing HER, but rather, it was technology that would allow her to make the coffee quicker and easier with perfect results and less work. He went on to explain that it would still take a person (human intelligence) to figure out which beans to use in the machine, which settings were needed to create the ideal strength of coffee, and which buttons should be pressed to create the time setting to dispense the ideal amount of milk in the cup. His mom realized she wasn’t being replaced, but rather she was going to now learn and develop skills to use new technology for a better, faster and more efficient way to create perfect coffee drinks of all types. Hence, AI + HI (Human Intelligence) = ROI.
We are quite fortunate because our leadership has made the decision to invest in this technology, and invest in us, affording everyone the ability to develop our skills in AI. There are a great deal of teammates working hard behind the scenes to figure out the best way to scale this initiative organizationally. There is much involved and many decisions to be made. In the end, all these efforts will provide us with the amazing opportunity to use these tools and change the way we work for the better. A tremendous thank you to our Leadership Team, our AI Council, and our AI Champion Team; and to Doug Cox, who has given so much of his knowledge, expertise, energy and effort to all involved to help bring this to fruition.
Please take advantage of these tools. Don’t be afraid to try, test and experiment. You can’t break it – we promise! Begin to skill-up and “drive the bus.” Reach out to an AI Champion. They will be happy to help guide you step-by-step to learn, create and test some great Copilot prompts, Agents, and more!
What new things have you learned using AI? We would love to know! Feel free to share in the comments section below!
Wishing you all a Better We, Better Week! 😊
Lori Beth
PS: This article was NOT written by AI, but rather by HI. The image? Definitely designed by AI! 😊
