Workforce Readiness: The Executive Board’s New Mandate for CIOs and CHROs

The adoption of AI tools and AI-driven work practices is one of the biggest drivers of organizational change worldwide. According to the report «The Board’s New Mandate to CIOs and CHROs,» conducted by Cornerstone OnDemand in collaboration with the market research firm Vanson Bourne, 65 percent of the executives surveyed reported a high level of pressure to change over the past twelve months—in the DACH region, that figure rises to 74 percent. However, the pace of change is holding many companies back: They recognize the disruption but are not responding quickly enough because they lack a clear view of their workforce’s current skills and future needs.

For the study, 2,000 people from the U.S., the U.K., the DACH region, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand were surveyed—including IT decision-makers, HR decision-makers, and employees from companies with at least 1,000 employees.

Workforce Readiness as a Shared Corporate Competency

Until now, workforce readiness—a company’s ability to systematically prepare its workforce for new requirements—has been viewed primarily as an HR responsibility. The AI era is fundamentally changing this division of roles. The study shows that 94 percent of the IT and HR decision-makers surveyed are convinced that a more continuous and adaptable approach to workforce planning is essential. At the same time, 93 percent agree that HR and IT should better align their perspectives on workforce requirements.

The problem lies not in recognizing the need for action, but in implementation. Only 48 percent of the companies surveyed report that IT and HR work closely together with shared goals and regular coordination. Just 35 percent make AI-related decisions jointly.

Fragmented data slows down decision-making

A key obstacle is the lack of a shared data source. 85 percent of companies worldwide use three or more different methods to access workforce data—in the DACH region, that figure is as high as 93 percent. Only 36 percent use a unified platform or a central dashboard. As a result, executives cannot gain a complete picture of workforce readiness and often do not respond to skills gaps until after they have already emerged.

The consequences of a lack of coordination and fragmented data are measurable: In 50 percent of cases, skill gaps remain unaddressed longer than necessary; in 44 percent of cases, decisions regarding hiring, internal transfers, or restructuring are delayed; and 41 percent of companies fail to meet their productivity and efficiency goals.

Close collaboration between HR and IT pays off

The study shows that consistent collaboration between IT and HR yields tangible benefits. Companies in which both departments work closely together act 13 percent faster on average when implementing HR measures than those with only occasional coordination—which translates to an average time savings of 12 days. In addition, these companies are 67 percent more likely to feel capable of making personnel decisions at the required pace. The effect is particularly evident in the DACH region: there, 87 percent of companies with close HR-IT collaboration report that they are well prepared for decisions related to AI-driven transformation.

Executives at these companies also report nearly three times as often that their employees are better prepared for change than they were twelve months ago—29 percent compared to 11 percent at companies with limited collaboration.

«Companies that successfully navigate change align their HR and technology decisions from the outset, rather than trying to coordinate them after the fact,» explains Guna Jayaraman, Chief AI Officer at Cornerstone. «CIOs and CHROs need a shared view of existing skills, evolving role profiles, and future requirements in order to act more effectively and quickly.»

AI as a Catalyst for Proactive Workforce Planning

Companies that already use AI for workforce planning have a clear advantage: They are more than twice as likely to report that they have the necessary processes, data, and tools to make rapid staffing decisions—63 percent compared to 30 percent for companies that do not use AI. They also use data insights and forecasts more frequently to proactively identify future staffing needs early on: 39 percent compared to 23 percent. Only 5 percent of companies using AI report that it takes more than five months to translate changes into meaningful actions for the workforce—compared to 13 percent of companies without AI.

Employees feel inadequately prepared

The employee perspective sends a particularly clear signal. Although 94 percent of IT and HR decision-makers are convinced that their investments in employee development are having a demonstrable impact, the reality on the ground is different: Globally, only 17 percent of employees feel fully prepared for how their role will evolve over the next 12 to 24 months—in the DACH region, the figure is 27 percent. Sixty percent describe their company’s approach to skills development as reactive: support is often provided only during or after changes are implemented. And only 22 percent say they receive the support they need for their ongoing professional development.

Yet there is a strong desire for more guidance: 89 percent of employees agree that greater support from their organization would help them keep pace with the changes in their roles.

«Workforce readiness is now a board-level responsibility,» says Carina Cortez, Chief People Officer at Cornerstone. «It determines how quickly companies can respond to new conditions and how successfully employees cope with change. For employees to embrace new technologies like AI, they need transparency, guidance, and the right support. To achieve this, HR and IT must work as a team—with a consistent, shared data foundation as their basis.»

What Companies Can Do Specifically

The report sets out clear recommendations for CIOs and CHROs. A key element is the development of a joint workforce and technology strategy, for which responsibility is no longer divided. This includes creating a shared overview of the workforce’s skills, roles, capacities, and future requirements. Workforce intelligence should be treated as a strategic data set and used as the basis for both HR and technology decisions. In addition, the report recommends measuring the impact of workforce readiness measures not by activities, but by employee and business outcomes, and reviewing them jointly on a regular basis.

Source: www.cornerstoneondemand.com/de