The AI-based E: an upskilling guide for HR practitioners

Purpose This paper aims to address the pressing need for artificial intelligence (AI)-related upskilling among human resources (HR) practitioners, who play a pivotal role in driving AI-based change, by offering a practical and structured guide for integrating AI skills and competencies into their tasks. Design/methodology/approach The guide for upskilling HR practitioners builds on established tools such as ISO 9001, job descriptions, Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other characteristics analysis and standardized job databases. It introduces a novel replacement of the traditional “Equipment” (E) in HR task breakdown with “AI-based Equipment” (AI-based E). The application of AI upskilling is illustrated through a practical recruitment example. This should in turn facilitate bridging the gap between existing rather abstract AI skill and competence frameworks, and concrete HR application. Findings The proposed upskilling guide enables HR practitioners to contextualize AI within familiar HR processes (i.e. starting from the known), creating an actionable path to upskilling. Three actionable strategies for identifying relevant AI-based tools are outlined: (1) conducting market research, (2) consulting AI tool databases and (3) applying AI methods in-house. This structured approach facilitates targeted training initiatives and empowers HR practitioners to navigate the AI landscape with greater confidence and autonomy. Originality/value This paper offers an actionable and application-oriented upskilling guide that leverages existing HR tools to restructure HR tasks for AI integration. This provides the basis for deriving specific AI-related training initiatives.