We gather input from across the multiple markets Epassi operates in on an annual basis to understand what support and rewards are important to our employees, which we do alongside our own industry benchmarking and market analysis. This provides the team with valuable data, helping to identify areas for investment, enhancement and development.
This year, we made a collective decision as a company to invest our annual personal development budget into artificial intelligence (AI), both in terms of licensing for every team member, and an entire AI enablement programme. We now have 70% of our team using AI on a daily basis, and 85% of them have said it has increased their effectiveness and efficiency in their role.
Across the board, this has enabled our team to conduct research, prepare work and solve issues at a much faster rate. For engineers specifically, they have been able to utilise Claude to significantly reduce code build, test and delivery times, accelerating the product development timelines across the group and enabling us to bring innovations to the market quickly.
Our sales team have also benefitted; using AI to plan for pitches, handling objectives and to have client-specific research, information and analysis to hand instantly.
How is Epassi leveraging AI to enhance its offerings, and what impact do you see this having on employee experience?
We are using AI to build and develop our product offering and service to our customers. This is enabling us to implement products and benefits faster, develop at pace and meet customer demands quicker than before – without impacting the quality of our service.
For our own employees, AI has been transformational in helping us to understand how our people view Epassi, especially throughout significant growth periods. This has been a gamechanger in getting to the core of underlying issues, helping us to really determine what makes our team tick and ensuring we can overcome any challenges and offer appropriate support quicker.
Over time, I see AI as having an increasingly significant impact on productivity gains, freeing up time for team members to focus on higher value creation, and activity where human expertise is fundamental. A collective approach utilising measurement, insight and employee engagement will help businesses to adopt and embrace AI to create a better employee experience.
What are some common challenges HR leaders face when implementing outcome-driven people strategies, and how can they overcome these obstacles?
This has been a challenge throughout my career – but one where we’re seeing progress. Much of our work starts with designing and building a solution to address a specific problem, launching it and moving on. This differs to a product-focused mindset where you have more stages; user-based design, testing and systematic reviews of effectiveness.
This means some factors are often overlooked, such as the why factor – I want to understand the causes which are raising issues, rather than just identifying and addressing them. For example, if there is high turnover soon after hiring, or a high rate of team members failing probation, it’s important that we dig into why this is happening, rather than papering over cracks. This would allow us to address the underlying problems which may not have been identified and could allow HR leaders to reshape the onboarding process, for example.
This is especially pertinent in the current environment where salary increases can’t keep pace with inflation for many businesses, placing greater emphasis on the need for more tailored and personalised benefits packages. Clearer communication will be key to increasing employee utilisation, as the number of employees not making use of their full package remains concerning. It’s also an evident area for improvement, with our research showing that only 50% of employees regularly receive communications related to their benefits.
As organisations experience M&A or significant growth, what role do people strategies play in ensuring a smooth transition and maintaining company culture?
People strategies are one of the most important aspects of a merger or acquisition, but are too often an afterthought for many businesses. Focus typically turns towards elements such as product, financials, commercial strategies and the addressable market. While these are all important, they rely on a strong team of employees to implement them properly, and bring the needed due diligence, planning criteria and objectives to run smoothly – all of which risk being derailed if the people strategy has fallen by the wayside.
A people strategy needs to be in place from the very beginning – even if it’s a lighter touch just to cover the critical factors. But over time, they should be developed so that they cover all sides of the business operation, not just the financial element or any legacy issues. Business leaders need to take time assess their team, and shape the strategy around key skill capabilities, their ways of working and their behaviours. Devising a comprehensive people strategy from the get-go will make any M&A activity a far more seamless process.
How do you see the role of HR evolving with the rise of personalisation and digital tools in the workplace?
We’re already seeing rapid evolution with digital skills coming to the forefront, shifting towards a need for a greater technical and data-driven mindset and people profile.
This has driven HR and people leaders to rethink their entire business experience from end to end, starting with key stages such as talent attraction, hiring and onboarding. Business leaders will need to dedicate additional resource into assessing how effective their current processes are, how they can improve automation as well as utilising data to understand and leverage technology to improve employee experience and enhance their skills.
The role is also fundamentally changing as digital tools advance and AI become more effective. For example, HR teams no longer outsource work to gather insights as they would in the past. Instead, they have the capability to create their own metric dashboards, allowing them to analyse significant amounts of data and prepare outcome-focused actions as a result.
From a benefits perspective, HR leaders will need to ensure that engagement with digital platforms increases, benefits are personalised accordingly, and technology packages represent good value for money.
What are the top priorities HR professionals should focus on in the next few years to navigate the complexities of the modern workplace?
Focusing on future skills should be a top priority for HR professionals to keep pace with the changing workplace landscape. This means assessing how their workforce is evolving with the rise of AI in functional areas, and working with business leaders to grow and develop the skills needed to maximise efficiency. This will also impact how firms hire staff, and introduces new considerations such as managing AI ‘agents’ as opposed to just people.
This focus on upskilling isn’t just specific to AI, but applies to a wide range of emerging digital tools becoming available to employees. This will require investment to help employees utilise tech in their own roles, whether that’s integrating large learning models (LLMs) or streamlining workflows using new software. It will be important that these are built into a team’s rhythm, showing them where value can be added on a daily basis.
Finally, gathering insights, measuring the impact of new tools and collecting regular feedback should be high on the agenda for people teams and business leaders. As the workplace and talent market continues to move at pace and become even more competitive, the onus will fall more heavily on reward packages. Whether that’s financial, developmental or focused on wellbeing, people strategies and personalised benefits packages are going to be key to meeting the needs of a modern workforce.
