Hemsley Fraser: Are Human Skills Key To The AI Economy?

New research has found that UK technology and telecommunications companies must implement more creative and engaging learning methods to cultivate the "human skills" vital for the AI economy.

While industry leaders appear to recognise the importance of these abilities, pervasive issues such as workforce fatigue and cynicism could hinder necessary professional development changes.

The research was conducted by Censuswide on behalf of learning and talent development firm Hemsley Fraser, surveying 238 UK business decision-makers in the technology and telecoms sectors.

Among its findings are a fundamental tension between understanding the true potential of AI and overcoming the significant human-centric obstacles that could affect progress and performance.

The value of human skills in the AI economy

The findings give critical insight into the telecoms sector showing that it is developing in pace in terms of AI adoption and deployment, with 91% of respondents affirming its value to their organisation.

Despite this, 58% agree that distinctly human skills such as critical thinking, complex problem-solving and innovation are crucial for navigating the AI-driven landscape.

These results are consistent with wider global studies that point to an urgent need for employers to prioritise human capabilities alongside technology.

Today, many organisations face several challenges when it comes to fostering these skills amid constant change, including frequent workplace reorganisations and the ongoing digitisation of business processes.

AI is also actively reshaping existing workflows and team dynamics, adding another layer of complexity to the already-challenging learning and development agenda.

Mitigating workforce fatigue and AI disruption

A key obstacle to achieving effective skills transition is the current state of the workforce. The survey highlights that almost one-third (32%) of IT and telecoms professionals report feeling tired, isolated and less effective due to constant organisational change.

This figure is comparable to the financial sector (34%) and manufacturing (35%), which could suggest a widespread issue of change fatigue across key UK industries. Employee cynicism about new initiatives and anxiety surrounding AI's impact on job security present other potential roadblocks.

For learning strategies to be effective, they must first address a sense of disengagement felt by a large part of the employee base.

In the IT and telecoms sector, professionals show distinct habits when seeking inspiration for upskilling.

They predominantly turn to major technology firms like Google and AI tools such as ChatGPT for advice (34%). This contrasts with the financial services industry, which shows a preference for dedicated learning and development providers (22%) over tech giants (21%).

Creative learning and future-focused upskilling

UK IT and telecoms firms are also divided on the best method for boosting organisational performance.

While 47% of respondents believe improving employee skills is the most critical approach, a substantial 39% argue that a direct outcomes-focused workforce performance strategy is the better way forward.

Despite these challenges, the industry demonstrates an openness to innovative upskilling methods.

The research found that 24% of the workforce learns best through a combination of online and in-person activities. Nearly one in five (19%) see using AI tools like ChatGPT as beneficial for their development, while 12% prefer traditional on-the-job learning.

Addressing the findings, Lynsey Whitmarsh, CEO of Hemsley Fraser says: “Human skills are crucial not only for people to cope with new ways of working in the emerging AI era but also ensuring that organisations maintain their sense of connectedness and the close team interactions needed to innovate and thrive.”

“However, with UK workers anxious and even disengaged after years of change and workplace reorganisations, there are questions over their people’s motivation to acquire new capabilities,” Lynsey explains. She believes a simple content-driven approach is no longer sufficient.

“Given the lack of consensus over where and who to go to, to embed human and social-creative skills into their job, UK business leaders can’t rely on flooding learning platforms with content as a catch-all approach. Instead, employers will need highly creative and engaging learning options enabled by technology if they are to change their people’s behaviours and motivate every one of their employees to learn effectively at work and thrive in their future role.”