181 | HR in the AI Era – The 5 Foundations Every HR Leader Needs (with Charlotte Goulding)

HR professionals have a huge opportunity to shape how, why and when AI is used across their organisations.

Because AI is not only changing technology. It is changing jobs, skills, teams, management and the way work gets done. And HR is uniquely placed to make sure those changes work for both the organisation and its people.

In this episode of HR Coffee Time, Fay is joined by People Consultant Charlotte Goulding to explore how HR professionals can help shape successful AI adoption across their organisations.

Charlotte explains why HR should not wait to be invited into conversations about AI and shares how her Five People Foundations Framework can help organisations put the right people foundations in place as work changes.

Together, Fay and Charlotte explore what each of these foundations means in practice, including why traditional job descriptions may no longer be enough, why managers will become even more important and how performance, recognition and HR operations may need to evolve.

Charlotte also explains how HR can help organisations make thoughtful decisions about AI while keeping people, trust and culture at the heart of them.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why HR shouldn't wait to be invited into conversations about AI
• The difference between “AI for HR” and “HR for AI”
• How the Five People Foundations work together
• Why skills and capabilities could become more useful than job descriptions
• How managers can support people through AI-related change
• How performance, recognition and HR operations may need to adapt

Chapters

[0:00] Introduction: Why HR must lead AI adoption

[2:01] Welcome, Charlotte Goulding

[2:24] HR for AI, not just AI for HR

[4:41] From pandemic hero to recent criticism

[6:31] How the Five Foundations framework came about

[10:42] Overview: The Five People Foundations

[11:35] Foundation 1: Identity

[15:34] Example: Values in your AI hiring process

[19:13] Foundation 2: Clarity

[23:28] Applying skills-based roles in HR

[26:31] OKRs and quarterly goal-setting

[28:05] Foundation 3: Enablement

[29:12] Managers: the most overlooked foundation

[36:51] Foundation 4: Recognition

[39:01] Rethinking career progression and rewards

[40:42] Foundation 5: Operations

[42:22] Mapping your most critical processes

[43:38] Working with Charlotte

[45:37] Book recommendations

[47:05] Wrap-up and outro

Useful Links

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Learn about Fay’s Essential HR Planner
• Learn about Fay’s Inspiring HR Leadership Programme
• Complete Charlotte’s free Five People Foundations diagnostic.
• Visit Charlotte's website:The People Thread
• Connect with Charlotte Goulding on LinkedIn

Books Recommended in This Episode

• HR Disrupted by Lucy Adams
• Built for People by Jessica Zwaan

Helpful Episodes to Listen to Next

• Ep 164:Becoming More Strategic as an HR Team: Three Ways OKRs Can Help
• Ep 166:The Biggest HR Strategy Mistake and How to Fix It, with Dean Corbett
• Ep 172:How One Company Helped Employees Embrace AI, with Laura Maffucci
• Ep 173:How to Build a Better Workplace Culture (So People Thrive at Work), with Aoife O’Brien

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