How Artificial Intelligence (AI) will affect companies and their employees is the million-dollar question, according to Raffaella Sadun, teacher of Harvard Business School, in an interview with Harvard Business Review in 2023, about his article “Career (Jorge Tamayo, Leila Doumi, Sagar Goel, Orsolya Kovács-Ondrejkovic and Raffaella Sadun, Oct. 2023). According to this author, the answer will depend on how the organisation relates new technologies to a broad corporate vision and to the individual growth of its employees. employees. This relationship is essential if new opportunities are to be created for everyone, rather than if jobs are to be eliminated.

If you have professional teams with essential knowledge to deal with the new tools is fundamental, but it is no less necessary to have professionals with a profile agile and that is easily adapt to the new demands of this more digital.

Also SHL Portugal, in his White Paper about “Skills for the Future of Labour in Portugal” (Rego, C., Lopes, S.A., Henriques, P.L., Fragoso, A.O., Gonçalves, C., Português, J. (2023), in partnership with the ISEG, HR Ahead Project and VdA), identified a set of competences that organisations are looking for in the future. In this study, Networking e Create and Innovate are highlighted as highly important competences, thus anticipating changes and the need to develop them in order to adapt effectively to the demands of the future.

For this reason, rethinking careers to be redeveloped is presented as a strategic imperative, This is not only the responsibility of the Human Resources, but also the top management and of each leader and manager. To do this, it is essential to know the competences that already exist in the team and those that need to be developed.

The implementation of assessments provides valuable assistance, enabling mapping competences, recognising talents and their potential to adapt.

By identifying each employee's strengths and areas for improvement, it is possible to determine what needs to be developed.

Subsequently, the upskilling or reskilling are a critical factor in this process, through programmes of training or coaching. If training makes it possible to fill specific gaps related to new skills required, the coaching, In a sustained way, it directly involves the employee in the process of change, assessing needs and enabling them to build the path to adaptation.

From a legal, a digital age brings with it unavoidable challenges. With the latest amendment to the Labour Code, It is now compulsory to provide information workers about the parameters, criteria, rules and instructions on which algorithms or other AI systems that affect decisions about access, job retention and working conditions are based, including the profiling and monitoring professional activity.

It is crucial, however, that these tools do not perpetuate discrimination (gender, age, disability, racial origin or sexual orientation), since labour legislation expressly prohibits these practices. Thus, the mechanisms used in career management must be transparent, explainable and free from bias.

There is also the need to respect the workers' rights when it comes to personal data protection e privacy, a matter regulated by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Despite the topicality of the issue, it was only in February of this year that the Artificial Intelligence Regulations, The aim is to remedy the risks of manipulation and violation of fundamental rights by making AI a mechanism transparent e responsible.

This regulation introduces new challenges in terms of compliance, but also strategic opportunities for organisations, to be realised by the time they are fully implemented over the next two years.

Paula Calmeiro, Head of Recruitment, SHL Portugal
Marina Costa Cabral, Senior Associate, VdA

Published in Human Magazine on 12/4/2024