3 ways AI can make managing human capital more efficient in your organisation

Everyone’s feeling the pressure to do something – anything! – AI-related but are not sure where to begin; human capital management is one area that can deliver quick ROI, writes Rob Husband.

Organisations here in Australia and around the world rushed to implement AI so they could stay ahead of the curve. Many of those organisations are now wondering what they got for that investment: research from The University of Queensland found that up to 80 per cent of AI projects fail to deliver the expected outcomes.

In common with their counterparts across the enterprise, a sizeable proportion of HR chiefs are at once curious and sceptical about whether AI really can deliver meaningful business value.

At times, though, that’s a consequence of poor execution, rather than a problem with the technology, that leads to disappointing results. Badly managed AI projects, particularly those that seek to automate existing processes, rather than redesigning and streamlining them first, are all too common and the results are inevitably underwhelming.

Avoid the temptation to dive headlong into deployment mode until you’re crystal clear about what you’re seeking to achieve and yours will be less likely to join their unfortunate ranks.

Here are three areas where smartly implemented AI can add real value for HR teams and the workforces they support.

Offering autonomy to workers on the front line

Administrative questions, such as roster changes, time off, and why there’s a discrepancy between this fortnight’s payslip and the previous one, account for between 18 and 22 per cent of the emails received by HR departments in organisations with sizeable front-line workforces, according to latest Dayforce research. Providing prompt, accurate responses can be challenging and time consuming.

An AI-powered app that allows employees to self-serve can change that. Give front-line staff the capacity to drop and swap shifts with suitably qualified co-workers, check their leave balances, request time off and ask questions about their pay and entitlements and that steady stream of enquiries will slow to a trickle. That frees your HR team up to focus on higher value work and to handle the more difficult questions only humans can answer.

Creating quick courses for information sharing and learning

Workplaces are never static. There’s always something employees need to be shown or taught, from how to work the new coffee machine to what the organisation’s latest workplace rewards system has to offer. Sharing that need-to-know information via in-person information sessions or email can be time consuming and lead to lots of follow-up questions.

Using AI to spin up short training modules, complete with videos, quizzes and frequently asked questions, is far more efficient. Once they’re loaded to your employee engagement platform, they can be accessed by staff at a time of their choosing.

Supercharging efficiency at HCM central

While AI cannot replace knowledgeable, committed HR professionals, it can make it easier for them to operate productively and deliver the value today’s employers are seeking.

Helping craft job descriptions and assisting with performance review reports – tick. Surfacing granular information on an employee’s time with the company in mere seconds – tick. Leveraging data of large cohorts of workers, including skillsets, credentials and training requirements, to help generate useful analytics – tick, tick, tick.

Less time spent on traditional, process-oriented tasks like these means more time to spend producing workforce-related analyses and insights that can be used to inform decision making at the highest level.

Deploying HCM technology with AI at its heart

Wondering how your human capital management (HCM) function can start taking advantage of AI swiftly and safely without running into deployment dramas? That’s where automated HCM technology has a vital role to play. Choose to adopt a single, cloud-based platform that’s designed to manage the entire employee life cycle and which has AI embedded in the platform and you’ll be able to do so in a matter of weeks and months.

Of course, the fuel for AI is information, in order to be able to respond and support. It’s vital to have all your data in a single usable format and location, to implement without that single source and expect your outcomes is folly.

Ideally, you’ll select a solution that has stringent, externally audited AI controls and which can exchange data seamlessly and securely with the other enterprise solutions your organisation has in place.

Choose to work with a partner that has a proven track record for optimising and supporting its platform and you’ll be able to proceed at speed, secure in the knowledge you’re using AI technology that’s been tried, tested and proven to work in workplaces like yours at home and abroad.

Making smarter people management part of your modus operandi in FY2026–27

For organisations that use it smartly and safely, AI can be an extraordinary enabler that makes it possible for HCM teams to do more with less. Investing in an AI-powered HCM platform is the surest way to get the capability you need without coming a cropper on the deployment front. If deriving more value from your workforce is a priority, it’s enabling technology that will serve your organisation extremely well.

Rob Husband is the head of revenue for APJ at Dayforce.

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