AI is making frontline learning more equitable, personal and human

• A restaurant employee packs a to-go order taken by an AI-generated voice in the drive-thru .?
• A contact center agent calms a disgruntled customer using tips provided by an AI-powered coach observing their live interaction .
• A grocery clerk restocks shelves based on instructions provided by an AI-powered robot rolling through the aisles .?

This isn’t the future of frontline work. This is all happening today!?

Companies are rapidly implementing AI-enabled technology to boost productivity, reduce costs and improve efficiency. AI has been part of the workplace for years, but the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) via applications like ChatGPT, Midjourney and Bard is helping organizations identify new use cases and accelerate their digital roadmaps. AI adoption jumped from 22% in 2018 to 50% in 2023 according to Boston Consulting Group. This is evident on the frontlines of industries like retail, grocery, healthcare and hospitality, where companies are augmenting human workforces with AI-powered support.

Organizations are reshaping how frontline work gets done. Therefore, L&D must reassess how we enable the people doing this work everyday. We already have significant gaps in frontline enablement, as 29% of frontline employees say they lack adequate training according to The Deskless Report 2023 . The size of this audience - 80% of the global workforce - along with their distribution across locations and geographies has always made them difficult to reach with traditional learning methods. They don’t have time to sit in classrooms or on Zoom sessions. Plus, they lack the autonomy to step away from the operation to complete online courses. It’s no wonder frontline employees are already falling behind when it comes to the expansion of AI - just 14% are receiving training on relevant skills as compared to 44% of managers.

Thankfully, AI isn’t just a new challenge. It’s also a timely solution.

Let’s explore how organizations are applying AI to transform frontline enablement. But instead of talking about theoretical “shoulds” and “maybes,” let’s see what this looks like in real life by working alongside a 22 year-old grocery worker named Sol.

On-Demand Support

Sol’s been on the job for 8 months. She’s a quick learner, but there’s still plenty she doesn’t know. For example, a customer approached her this morning while she was stocking the cheese case and asked about the differences between brie and gorgonzola. Sol had no idea. But instead of dismissing the customer or taking time to find someone else to help, Sol pulled out her smartphone and asked the store’s digital assistant “?Cuál es la diferencia entre brie y gorgonzola?” The GAI-powered chatbot responded with a comparison of the two cheeses as well as recommended wine pairings (Champagne for brie, Moscato for gorgonzola). It also answered Sol’s question in Spanish - her preferred language - even though the source information in the company knowledge base was written in English.?

Frontline employees are on the store floor serving customers, on the manufacturing line working with heavy machinery and in trucks delivering products. Access to reliable information can make or break their performance. AI eliminates the need to sift through paper binders or rely on the person next to them. Instead, the collective knowledge of the organization is available on-demand via any device - POS, handheld, tablet or personal smartphone.?

AI helps employees overcome another major source of workplace inequity: language. Translating content into multiple languages requires time and resources. Most organizations limit translated offerings to only the most common languages. This means employees with alternative preferences are left to struggle. AI-powered machine translation fixes this problem by letting every employee interact with digital experiences in their preferred language. Furthermore, GAI can automatically adapt content to a person’s reading level, making complex job information easier to understand. Text-to-voice technology makes information more accessible for employees with limited reading skills.?

Personalized Learning

Sol wants to improve her knowledge and skill so she can do a good job, get a positive performance review and maybe be considered for the next supervisor promotion. She learns a lot on the job, but she’s so busy during her 8-to-10-hour shifts that she doesn’t have time to take classes or complete online courses. Instead, she signed up for a daily microlearning program. Every shift, she gets a notification on her smartphone to complete a 5-minute training activity. Today’s session featured a scenario on fresh produce rotation. Sol cross-trained in the produce department last week, so the microlearning program adapted automatically to focus on her new interest.?

How can an L&D team with 50 people provide training that meets the needs of 100,000 frontline workers? It’s always felt like an impossible math problem. L&D has limited resources and a never-ending supply of stakeholder requests. We end up addressing the most popular topics with one-size-fits-none training because that’s the best we can do. Or that WAS the best we could do …

AI makes personalized learning possible at scale. Adaptive learning technology applies AI and enterprise data to identify each worker’s knowledge and skill gaps. Employees spend their limited training time working on timely, relevant topics instead of checking the same boxes as everyone else. This accelerates skill development and boosts engagement because employees know they’ll find something useful every time they engage with L&D programs.?

GAI addresses another essential part of a personalized learning strategy: content development. To meet individual development needs, organizations need lots of content. Instead of hundreds of generic courses, you need thousands of targeted enablement assets: articles, videos, modules, job aids, assessments, etc. GAI scales content development by automatically generating content from source materials. For example, instructional designers are using GAI to generate assessment questions 30% faster than starting from scratch. Then, they make the necessary adjustments to the first draft before pushing content to employees.?

Enabled Managers

Sol relies on her manager to provide feedback on her performance. She typically sees her manager for a few minutes every shift and is scheduled for touch base meetings once per month. Today, her manager stopped by for a quick chat about safety. She mentioned Sol was observed lifting with the incorrect form during a recent safety audit. She asked Sol to demonstrate the proper form and mentioned she would see a refresher module on safe lifting during tomorrow’s microlearning session. She then thanked Sol for her hard work and went on her way.?

Frontline managers wear lots of hats. They’re a boss, mentor, coach, teacher, counselor and friend. They’re also overworked and under-supported. 49% of frontline managers feel burned out every day. Employees rely on their managers to provide feedback and support, especially when things get tough. When someone trusts their manager, they’re less likely to quit. But managers can’t be everywhere all the time. They need help, too.

AI augments a manager's ability to support their team. Coaching technology eliminates the need to sift through reports to find potential problems. AI generates a list of prioritized action items, including employees who will most benefit from coaching interactions and which topics to address. Predictive analytics helps managers proactively address small issues, like shifts in safety behaviors, sales results or customer satisfaction, before they become major problems. This enhanced technology toolkit reduces the time managers spend on administrative tasks. This gets them out of the office and into the operation where they can build relationships with their team members.?

“The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed.”?

It’s easy to feel like a number when you work on the frontline. Thousands of people do the same job. You rarely see the corporate team that makes all of the decisions. You’re usually the last to find out about big workplace changes. With all of the noise around AI, frontline workers are already less optimistic than management when it comes to its potential to improve the workplace (42% vs 62%).?

L&D can bring a new perspective on AI to the frontline. Rather than let people worry about the unknown, we can demonstrate the benefits AI can bring to their work experience. We can make sure everyone has access to the information needed to solve problems - no matter where they work, which language they speak or how long they’ve been on the job. We can make sure everyone has the opportunity to build new skills - even if they only have a few minutes to focus on training during their shifts. We can make sure everyone gets the feedback they need to improve their performance and feel confident in their ability to do a good job.?

Frontline workers like Sol deserve this version of the workplace - one that’s equitable, personal and human. And we can give it to them today!?

Be well. JD

This article originally appeared in Training Industry.