How AI-Driven Nudges Can Transform an Operation’s Performance | McKinsey

Organizations use various forms of “coaching” to develop their workers. Despite their effectiveness, many coaching tactics limit how many workers an organization can impact simultaneously, usually due to resource and time constraints and broad manager spans of control, to name a few.  But as pointed out in this article, a segment of firms is combining behavioral-science insights with the latest AI technologies to create a more scalable, tailored coaching experience for their employees. Using AI technology, organizations can send a nudge — a reminder sent by text, email, or digital application— tailored and timed to prompt people toward small behavioral changes. For example, an employee might get a nudge encouraging her to speak up in the first 10 minutes of a meeting. Nudges provide personalized, real-time coaching—where workers can get the right advice at just the right moment. These AI-based coaching platforms are not intended to replace traditional in-person performance management and coaching; instead, they augment human-based coaching. The article offers examples of how firms use nudging for both employees and managers.  If you missed it, I recommend checking out two other reports on this topic. 1) Coaching at Scale: AI Democratizes Leadership Development by Josh Bersin. This 15-page paper explores the benefits of AI-based coaching, when AI-based coaching is most appropriate, and case studies on how firms use AI-based coaching. 2) Coaching Tech: The Humans and the Robots by Redthreadresearch. This 56-page report looks at the coaching models of 45 coaching tech vendors and provides a useful set of questions firms can answer as they evaluate AI-based coaching solutions.