AI-Powered Employee Coaching & Training For Peak Performance

Here's how to implement AI-Powered training/development strategies and platforms to save massive costs, boost your team's performance, and lead the market with AI coaching.

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Candyd Mendoza, Maxi Veloso & Benson Sung
November 03, 2023

In today’s Future Friday…

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TOPIC OF THE WEEK

AI-Powered Coaching vs. Traditional Coaching

What if you can boost your team's performance by an eye-popping 70% and rake in a jaw-dropping 788% return on investment?

Sounds too far-fetched, right?

Wrong. These are real figures from the International Coaching Federation, talking about the ROI of executive coaching.

Now, let's get real for a second. Traditional coaching, while fantastic, can hit your budget hard.

We're talking about shelling out $200 to $600 per hour, while engagement coaching costs on average $12,000 to $20,000 per person over six months.

By using AI, you can potentially save millions of dollars on a coaching program.

Let’s do the math for both small and medium-sized companies. Here’s a rough estimate of traditional coaching costs:

  • Cost per individual: $15,000 for six months.

  • Cost for a small-sized company with 50 employees: $15,000 x 50 = $750,000 

  • Cost for a mid-sized company with 500 employees: $15,000 x 500 = $7.5 million. Ouch!

AI-Powered Coaching Program Costs

AI coaching program costs can vary, but they are generally more affordable than traditional executive coaching due to scalability and automation.

Let's be conservative and say AI coaching slashes costs by 50%.

Even if we assume AI coaching delivers half the ROI of traditional coaching (which is 788%, according to Metrix Global), the conservative ROI from AI coaching would be 394%.

So, what's the bottom line here? For a 50-head company, that would be:

  • ROI: 394% of $375,000 = $1.4775 million

  • Total savings: $15 million (traditional) - $375,000 (AI) = $375,000

So we’re talking about $3.75 million in potential savings for a 500-employee company.

NOTE: These are just rough estimates. The actual costs and ROI would depend on the specific AI coaching tools used, their effectiveness, and how well they are integrated and adopted within the organization.

ℹ️ Why This Matters Today

AI, through natural language processing, can target the employee’s specific weaknesses and engage them in meaningful conversations.

As a coaching tool, it draws from extensive training datasets to provide effective coaching.

Thanks to its cost-effectiveness, AI coaching can be rolled out across all team levels. This way, every team member, regardless of their position, gets a chance to benefit and grow.

Plus, AI coaching can offer insights into organizational culture and behavior, potentially accelerating trends toward agility and self-management. It can also help eliminate biases in HR processes.

🏆 Golden Nuggets

  • AI coaching is a cost-effective alternative to traditional executive coaching.

  • That's because AI is scalable, doesn't require human hours, and can be automated.

  • However, a word of caution: While the savings are tempting, it's essential to ensure that the quality of coaching remains top-notch. After all, you want your employees to benefit from the program, right?

💰 Impact On Your Business

  • Scalability: AI coaching can be scaled to reach a large number of employees, making it more accessible and affordable

  • Availability: AI coaching is available 24/7, which means that employees can access it whenever they need it

  • Personalization: AI coaching can provide personalized feedback to employees based on their behavior, preferences, and goals

  • Data-driven insights: AI can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and trends that would be impossible for a human coach to spot

  • Improved performance: AI coaching can be as effective as human coaching in monitoring and following up on goal attainment

⚒️ Actionable Steps

To measure the ROI of AI-powered coaching tools for their business, founders can follow these steps:

  • First things first, identify the goals and objectives of the AI-powered coaching program. Whether that's molding new leaders or getting everyone on board with the latest tech, the coaching should help get you there.

  • Keep an eye on the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will signal success. These might include increased revenue per employee, reduced training costs, improved customer satisfaction scores, or decreased employee turnover rates.

  • Integrate AI coaching tools with other business systems (like CRM, HRIS, or ERP). When you see how coaching affects other parts of your business, like sales or how happy your customers are, you'll get the full picture.

  • Don't just look at the price tag of the AI tool. Conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis that accounts for the total cost of ownership of the AI coaching tools, including setup, training, maintenance, and any potential disruptions during implementation.

  • Numbers don't tell the whole story. Supplement quantitative data with qualitative insights. Conduct interviews, focus groups, or surveys to gather feedback on the user experience and perceived value of the AI coaching program.

  • How's your AI coaching stacking up against the competition? Or compared to other teams in your own backyard that haven't had the AI treatment? That's a solid reality check. Benchmarking can be a solid reality check.

  • Adjust the traditional ROI formula to account for intangible benefits, such as improved organizational culture or brand reputation, which can have a significant long-term financial impact.

  • Use the insights gained from the ROI analysis to refine the AI coaching program. This might involve personalizing the coaching content, adjusting the interaction frequency, or targeting different skills. Keep it fresh, keep it relevant.

Is AI coaching really worth it? Here are 7 steps you can do to see if it’s a right fit for your company

Now that we have the bottom line sorted out, let’s break down the coaching process into 7 steps.

A study about the capabilities of AI coaching used PRACTICE model by Palmer (2007) to map out a framework that can evaluate if a task can be successfully done by AI.

Enhancing Skills Throughout the Coaching Process

  1. Problem Identification: AI can ask questions to initiate self-reflection but struggles with interpreting underlying intentions or reading between the lines. AI coaching is less effective in this step but can bypass it using diagnostic tools for predefined topics.

  2. Goal Development: AI can guide clients to check goals against SMART criteria but may find it challenging to provide feedback on the ethical acceptability of goals.

  3. Generation of Alternative Solutions: AI is effective in helping clients generate multiple solutions but may not identify gaps in the client's thinking or support imaginative thinking.

  4. Consideration of Consequences: AI performs well in asking clients to consider the consequences of their solutions and in helping clients rate the usefulness of these solutions.

  5. Targeting the Most Feasible Solution: AI is very effective in assisting clients to choose the best solution.

  6. Implementation of Chosen Solution: AI can guide clients in breaking down solutions into manageable steps and monitor progress effectively, but may struggle with evaluating if steps need further breakdown.

  7. Evaluation: AI can ask clients to rate their success in goal attainment but may not consider other outcomes unless specifically programmed.

Considerations and Challenges

  • Data Utilization: AI coaching might make mistakes, such as inaccurate assessments or poor selection of methods, if it doesn't have enough of the right type of data. Collecting this data is a long, crucial, and often expensive process.

  • AI and Bias: That’s why it can potentially lead to biases, as AI learns from the data it's fed. Instances of AI chatbots learning racist and inflammatory language from social media highlight the risks of biased data.

  • Finding the "Goldilocks Zone": AI coaching needs to be appropriately challenging for each individual, not too hard or too easy, which is a significant challenge at a mass scalable level.

  • Technophobia and Acceptance: A survey by LeadX and SurveyMonkey revealed mixed feelings among managers about AI coaches, with 53% initially resistant due to technophobia and doubts about AI's ability to teach soft skills and emotional intelligence.

🏆 Golden Nuggets

  • AI's ability to learn from extensive datasets offers personalized coaching at scale, democratizing professional development across the organization.

  • Keeping AI fair and unbiased is key to ensuring coaching remains fair and relevant and maintaining trust in AI as a development tool.

  • Once your team members overcome technophobia, AI coaching paves the way for a tech-savvy culture. It can be a tool for enhancing soft skills, expanding its impact beyond technical training.

⚒️ Actionable Steps - High-Level Guide for Integrating AI Coaching in Your Company

Step 1: Problem Identification

  • Objective: Use AI to facilitate self-reflection and identify coaching needs.

  • Diagnostic Tools: Implement AI tools like Butterfly.ai to analyze communication patterns and identify areas for development.

  • Survey Platforms: Utilize AI-enhanced survey tools like Qualtrics to conduct initial assessments and pinpoint coaching needs.

Step 2: Goal Development

  • Objective: Guide employees in setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals.

  • Goal-Setting Platforms: Use tools like PeopleGoal, which incorporates AI to help employees align their goals with company objectives.

  • Ethical Considerations: Resources like AI Ethics Lab can help ensure your AI goals adhere to ethical guidelines.

Step 3: Generation of Alternative Solutions

  • Objective: Assist employees in brainstorming multiple solutions to their challenges.

  • Idea Generation Software: Deploy AI brainstorming tools like ClickUp AI or Ayoa to facilitate creative solution generation.

  • Gap Analysis: Use AI tools like SWOT bot to help identify any missing elements in the client's thinking.

Step 4: Consideration of Consequences

  • Objective: Help employees evaluate the outcomes of different solutions.

  • Decision-Making Aids: Implement AI decision-support systems like Cloverpop to guide employees through evaluating the consequences of each solution.

  • Usefulness Rating: Use AI feedback tools like Polly to rate the utility of solutions.

Step 5: Targeting the Most Feasible Solution

  • Objective: Enable employees to select the most practical and effective solution.

  • Solution Analysis: Quantellia offers an AI-based decision-making support, helping to identify the most practical solutions.

Step 6: Implementation of Chosen Solution

  • Objective: Guide employees in executing the chosen solution effectively.

  • Project Management Software: Utilize AI-driven project management tools like Monday.com to break down solutions into actionable steps and monitor real-time progress.

Step 7: Evaluation

  • Objective: Assess the success and impact of the coaching process.

  • Feedback Systems and Outcome Analysis: Continuous performance management software 15Five allows clients to rate their goal attainment and evaluate broader outcomes and impacts.

💡 Ideas to Marinate

  • For meaningful problem identification, consider combining AI with human coaches.

  • Predefining topics like stress reduction or time management can facilitate learning transfer and enhance clients' learning experiences.

  • Diagnostic tools, such as personality inventories or stress psychometrics, can provide insights into the client's situation and professionalize coaching. Human coaches typically do not use these tools as standard practice, but they can be effectively integrated into AI coaching.

CAVEMINDS’ CURATION

More AI-powered Coaching Tools and Platforms

  • Mini Course Generator - This tool uses AI to create engaging, bite-sized learning experiences.

  • Poised - An AI-powered communication coach that analyzes employees' communication patterns and provides personalized feedback to help them improve their communication skills.

  • Gradescope - This tool uses a combination of machine learning and AI to make grading simpler and more efficient.

  • Rocky.ai - An AI coaching chatbot that provides personalized coaching or training to individuals or groups.

  • Cultivate - A hyper-personalized and scalable coaching platform that recognizes patterns in digital communications and suggests solutions to transform managers into leaders.

Visit our Cyber Cave and access the most extensive tool database on the internet.

NEEDLE MOVERS

In this week’s podcast, Mack Grenfell, founder of Byword.ai joined us to explore the forefront of an AI-digital marketing strategy.

If you are looking for practical insights into the future of AI in content creation and the overlooked aspects by founders in leveraging this technology, this is one of those you cannot miss!

Watch now on YouTube, or listen on Apple Podcast or Spotify 🔥 

Google's new AI-powered Product Studio allows advertisers to create professional product imagery for free by leveraging text-to-image AI capabilities.

The generative AI model can enhance low-quality images, change backgrounds, and fulfill specific image requests, reducing the need for costly photography sessions.

Image: Adobe Stock

Microsoft has rolled out its AI-powered Microsoft 365 Copilot to general availability.

The tool promises to enhance productivity by generating meeting summaries and creating PowerPoint presentations from documents among many other features about to roll out.

With a minimum requirement of 300 employee licenses for access, founders need to weigh if the efficiency gains justify the cost, especially as analysts predict the tool could generate over $10 billion in annual revenue by 2026. — Would you give it a shot?

OpenAI's recent update to ChatGPT, allowing ChatGPT Plus users to interact with PDFs and interact with all the models in the same chat. might seem like just a minor tweak, but it's a big deal.

This is a potential threat to GPT Wrapper startups, that might find themselves out of business if they don’t pivot or bring their next shiny feature fast enough.

It's a stark reminder for founders: Big tech firms, with a single update, can potentially edge out companies' business models.

This proves that innovation and differentiation is critical to survive in the AI space, as relying on existing gaps in big tech offerings might not be a sustainable strategy.

That’s all for this Future Friday!

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