Responsible leadership
Ethical, accountable management of new technologies and the workforce are significant issues for business. Interestingly, it’s executive teams themselves that can be the handbrake on change. “In some of our major institutions there’s a real gap in knowledge about AI at the top, while the middle-manager cohort is pushing the organisation to embrace AI,” says Christou. “We’re seeing senior leaders looking for help to fill that void.”
As executives familiarise themselves with governance involving AI and sustainability, it pays to focus beyond their own boardroom. “They need to look across different organisations to see what they can benchmark themselves against,” says Hartley. “We design programs that help companies advance and be more robust about that.”
There are encouraging case studies emerging from multinationals that are bringing AI in to take over tasks and upskilling their employees at the same time. For example, IKEA moved many of its customer-service tasks to an AI chatbot but retrained of the call-centre workers to become “virtual interior designers”, which then became a paid-service offering, turning the job transition into a net positive for the company and its staff.
Consumer goods giant Unilever launched its Future of Work program in to upskill its workforce – more than people in countries. The company organised this vast effort around three pillars: changing the way it changes; igniting lifelong learning for its staff ; and redefining its system of work. A Unilever executive explains the third pillar in an episode of the Harvard Business Review’s Cold Call podcast, “We felt that if we just keep trying to hold onto all our full-time employees and compete against everyone else… we’re never going to have the people and skills in our organisation that we need to take us forward… we want to redefine models of working so it’s not just that you’re either fixed or a gig worker but how can we find some flexibility in the middle?”
Business schools say companies are searching for custom programs so they can establish cultures that engender that flexibility. Above all, leaders must commit wholeheartedly to their company being a nimble learning organisation now and into the future. “They must continue to invest in new skills and capabilities, which will change over time,” says Wailes. “You have to be flexible and responsive to the changing needs of your business. AI is disrupting a lot of organisations right now and there’s a skill deficit about understanding what AI is. But there are other hot-button issues, including data and sustainability.”
Having the ability to guide companies confidently on the path to meaningful sustainability is a priority. “Environmental responsibilities and the reporting requirements are a mainstream issue and every executive has to be able to think more systematically about sustainability through their organisational structures,” he says. “We’re seeing growing demand for our help on this. We partner with climate scientists and experts within UNSW to help give our students an understanding of the practical solutions and what’s essential to consider for their business.”
No matter the challenge, people are paramount. “Research shows that one of the number-one reasons that staff leave organisations is because they don’t feel there are development opportunities and they’re not learning new things. In a world where you have talent shortages, not only do you have to enhance your existing team’s capabilities, you also need to create learning opportunities to retain good talent.”