Tech company IBM has found a new strategy to boosting employee retention – artificial intelligence (AI).
According to CNBC, IBM has a patent for its “predictive attrition program,” which is used to predict whether or not an employee is considering moving on to another company. Upon detection of an employee’s interest to pursue other opportunities, the technology, which IBM CEO Ginni Rometty claims is 95 percent accurate, suggests actions managers can take to better engage employees, and influence them to stay.
CNBC reports that while Rometty is keeping how the technology works a secret, she did reveal that the solution’s success comes from analyzing key data points. She also says that the predictive attrition program has saved IBM around $300 million in retention costs, and reduced the size of its global resources department by 30 percent.
Another goal of the AI solution is to “upend the traditional approach to human resources management,” which Rometty claims to need an overhaul, and is currently affected by human errors and missed opportunities, like biases, mistakes in identifying emerging skills in current employees, employee development, etc.
IBM also says that this solution is available for outside companies to use, too.
What decision makers need to know:
Even though it appears that IBM’s AI solution is solidifying the universal fear that “machines are taking human jobs,” Rometty and IBM insist that this is not the case.
Instead, IBM told CNBC that it foresees AI to serve as a supplement to current human resources departments and workflows: “IBM’s bet is that the future of work is one in which a machine understands the individual better than the HR individual can alone.” Rometty also told CNBC that she is a fan of human resources, and that it is a “labor of love” for companies. The system will be able to inform managers how to boost their employees’ investment in the company, improve their skills, and help managers get to know their workers better to ensure they achieve a fulfilling career.
“But the new era of AI-centered human resources will improve upon something many human-led HR teams can’t handle as effectively as a machine that can crunch millions of data points and learn in new ways,” CNBC says. “Recognizing the true resource potential of individuals and serving as growth engines for companies.”
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