Getting your employees on board with generative AI

As generative AI becomes increasingly accessible, organisations are eager to adopt the technology to boost operational effi­ciency and enhance customer ex­perience. However, failing to plan carefully could result in employees distrusting AI, which hinders enter­prise-wide AI use.

“Although generative AI promises to transform workflows, poor execu­tion and communications may have the opposite effect. When employees are not given clear communications on AI plans and insight into how AI will affect their roles, it fuels an atmosphere of uncertainty due to the lack of transparency, which further erodes trust in the organisation,” says James Wilson, partner, Technology Risk at professional services firm KPMG in Singapore.

Wynthia Goh, Senior Partner at NCS, shares this sentiment. “In the rush to drive adoption of generative AI, organisations can sometimes forget the importance of human-cen­tricity to AI success. They may underestimate concerns over job security and [fall short in terms of] engaging stakeholders more broadly to share their AI strategy, objectives, plans and progress,” she says.

Organisations may overlook the need to enable human-AI collabo­ration, particularly regarding how much human involvement is inte­grated into AI-driven applications and workflows. Goh adds: “AI applications do not exist in a vacuum. To be effective, it is not enough for an AI model to be well designed or the output of an AI application to be of high quality. It also needs to be integrated well with employees who need to know how to use an AI application effectively.”

Keys to get employees’ buy-in

The International Monetary Fund predicts that 60% of jobs in ad­vanced economies will be affected by AI, with around half facing neg­ative impacts. Given the continuous reports of job cuts, it is no surprise that workers are increasingly con­cerned about being displaced by AI. Thus, organisations must thought­fully engage their employees in re­designing jobs and processes to in­corporate generative AI.

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To start, leaders should build awareness of what is possible with generative AI, identify with their workforce how the technology can help make work more productive and establish the goals the organisation is trying to achieve by introducing generative AI in the workplace. Clear communication of these plans and providing a channel for employees to voice their thoughts are essential to address job security concerns and garner employees’ buy-in through­out the journey to adopt AI.



Wynthia Goh, Senior Partner, NCS

Moreover, leaders must consist­ently communicate and emphasise that generative AI is a tool designed to support, not replace, the work­force. KPMG’s Wilson says: “They should position generative AI as a complement to human ingenuity. This involves understanding generative AI’s capabilities and limitations, followed by delegating routine or repetitive tasks to the technology to enable employees to focus on what they do best, which is delivering unique value through strategic thinking, creativity and interpersonal skills.”

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Promoting a culture of continuous learning, adds Wilson, will help em­ployees adapt to generative AI with confidence. “A recent KPMG Future of Work research found that 62% of workers cite investment in upskilling influences whether they join, leave, or stay with an organisation. Hence, organisations should take a proactive approach to investing in upskilling or identifying the emerging skills needed for the future. This will help employ­ees adapt and excel in an AI-driven environment.”

Ann Ann Low, senior director for Tal­ent Development at LinkedIn, explains how targeted training programmes can help employees embrace generative AI. “LinkedIn’s employees were initially unsure how AI would reshape their roles. However, as we introduced our AI Upskilling Framework, mindsets evolved. AI was no longer seen as a threat but as an enabler. One of our sales leaders shared how AI had ele­vated his team’s client interactions. By using AI to analyse customer prefer­ences, feedback and sentiment ahead of meetings, the team was able to personalise conversations and foster stronger relationships,” she says.

The need for human-centric skills

LinkedIn estimates that by 2030, the skills needed for all jobs will change by 68% due to the rapid rise of AI. “[The good news is that] 91% of com­panies in Asia Pacific plan to upskill their workforce this year. We’ve also seen a five times increase in learners engaging with AI courses in our skills library,” says Low.

While AI is a technical subject, employers and workers believe hu­man-centric or soft skills that comple­ment and amplify AI’s capabilities will be crucial in an AI-driven world. Skills such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving and leadership are the most sought-after by employers, according to LinkedIn’s 2024 Most-In Demand Skills list.

In addition, the most popular Linke­dIn Learning courses among profes­sionals today focus on enhancing key competencies in management, rela­tionship building and critical thinking.

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These areas are becoming increasingly vital as AI helps enable efficiencies and handle more routine tasks. The value of human skills is even more important in an AI-enhanced world. They will enable companies to lead with creativity, empathy and nu­anced judgement, to make a meaningful impact in the workplace.



Ann Ann Low, senior director for Tal­ent Development, LinkedIn

KPMG’s Wilson agrees that critical thinking and problem-solving are crucial for employees to thrive in an AI-pow­ered environment. “AI’s strength is in deep processing and bringing in vast bodies of knowledge together. But if the employee or organisation is unable to ask the right questions or wonder and imagine, there will never be new leaps of imagination or new frontiers and creations.

“Employees must become digitally fluent not just in using AI tools but also in interpreting and applying AI-gener­ated insights to enhance their work. They should be discerning curators of AI outputs and leverage their expe­rience, critical thinking, and subject matter expertise to tactfully enhance their work,” he adds.

Skills-based hiring

Organisations need to shift from tradi­tional hiring to skills-based hiring to fully benefit from AI adoption. “Skills-based hiring empowers organisations to prioritise candidates’ actual com­petencies over traditional educational qualifications. This aligns talent acqui­sition more closely with the real-world demands of the business. By placing importance on practical, job-relevant skills rather than conventional mark­ers like degrees, companies can build agile, capable teams that can respond swiftly to changing business or market demands,” says Lim Hsin Yin, manag­ing director and country manager for Singapore at analytics company SAS. She is also the chair of SGTech’s AI Skills and Training Committee.

The shift to skills-based hiring, warns Lim, is not merely a simple recruitment process change. It involves overcoming several key challenges, including:

• Cultural inertia in many organisa­tions that prioritises traditional qual­ifications, such as degrees, over practical skills.
• Lack of necessary tools or frame­works to properly assess skills — particularly soft skills like ad­aptability, critical thinking and problem-solving.
• Getting buy-in from hiring pro­fessionals, many of whom need training in new methods of skill assessment.

“This transformation needs to move beyond changing HR processes and mindsets. It requires collaboration among businesses, educational insti­tutions and government agencies to set common standards for the skills and credentials that should be recognised,” says Lim.

How can organisations effectively implement skills-based hiring? They must first understand the skills required for each role. According to LinkedIn’s Low, many organisations are tackling this by creating skills taxonomies, comprehensive frameworks that cat­egorise and define the skills relevant to various positions. This structured approach leads to more precise job descriptions and better-targeted hiring.

She adds: “A key practice in skills-based hiring is specifying the exact skills required in job postings rather than relying on implied qualifications from experience or education. Sev­enty per cent of job descriptions on LinkedIn now include detailed skills and this practice significantly boosts engagement. Job posts that specify required skills receive nearly 20% more applications than those that do not, indicating that job seekers are more likely to apply when they see clearly defined skill requirements.”

Low advises recruiters to regularly include a filter for specific skills when searching for candidates on LinkedIn. LinkedIn’s recent data shows that those who use skill-based searches achieve up to a 22% higher acceptance rate for their InMails. This simple adjust­ment can greatly improve recruitment effectiveness.

Organisations can also leverage AI to scan candidates’ resumes for skills instead of just educational qualifications or job titles. “At NCS, we use generative AI to review candidate applications with such semantic understanding to help us identify the candidates most suitable for a role and to find the best internal candidates for a project. We have also implemented generative AI for similar applications for our clients,” adds Goh.

After identifying potential candi­dates, organisations should create clear skills assessments.

Instead of relying on resumes or interviews alone, recruiters should prioritise practical evaluations that demonstrate a candi­date’s abilities. They should develop technical and scenario-based tests to evaluate candidates’ skills in real-world situations.



Lim Hsin Yin, manag­ing director and country manager for Singapore, SAS. She is also the chair of SGTech’s AI Skills and Training Committee.

Aligning skills-based hiring with long-term business objectives is also important, adds Lim. Recruiters should regularly assess the company’s evolv­ing skill requirements and ensure their hiring practices support strategic growth and adaptability.

Long-term collaboration

Human-AI collaboration is set to be a key aspect of the future of work. To nurture and sustain this culture, organ­isations must create an inclusive envi­ronment that promotes experimentation and innovation with AI tools. "Employ­ees should feel empowered and sup­ported as they explore and integrate AI into their daily tasks. This begins at the top — leaders must embrace AI themselves and share success stories where AI has improved decision-mak­ing, productivity and creativity," says KPMG's Wilson.

Establishing regular feedback loops is also important. This allows employees to share experiences with AI tools, suggest enhancements and be heard by AI tool managers. Building AI literacy through training, development programmes and encour­aging cross-functional collaboration can facilitate a seamless integration of AI into the workplace.



James Wilson, partner, Technology Risk, KPMG in Singapore

Putting in place measures to en­courage continuous learning is also key. “According to LinkedIn’s research, 60% of professionals in Asia Pacific think their company is doing enough to cultivate a culture of learning. Yet, they further expect learning support from leaders in the form of offering clear guidance on career advancement through learning (32%), enhancing ex­isting resources for learning (31%) and setting aside fixed monthly timings for learning (26%). Addressing these needs can further strengthen the integration of AI and continuous learning within organisational culture,” adds Low.