The printing press. The assembly line. The desktop computer. And, now, AI? Technology is constantly changing and evolving. This change and evolution often leads to changes and evolution in the way we work and do business. Now, with AI, we’re all wondering the kind of role it might play in the workplace. Will it become as prevalent and commonplace as the computer, or is it just a passing trend? This uncertainty can become stressful, especially as talks of replacement by AI become louder. For business owners and employees alike, the presence of AI can feel intimidating. You may feel a certain pressure to use AI in your day-to-day operations, but you’re unsure of what it can actually do or whether it can be helpful. These questions and uncertainties will only lead to more stress while other businesses find ways to take full advantage of what AI has to offer.
At Payday HCM, we’re very familiar with this stress and uncertainty surrounding AI. We receive plenty of questions from our clients regarding AI and how it can be used in the workplace. It’s a good question, but one that isn’t necessarily easy to answer. There are a lot of considerations to take into account when it comes to implementing AI, and a lot of questions that need to be answered. We want to ensure that everyone can use this tool to its fullest potential while understanding and working through its potential shortcomings and dangers.
That’s why, in this article, we’ll be going over how you can implement AI in the workplace. We’ll go over three main topics when it comes to implementing AI:
- AI Business Tools and Identifying Needs
- Preparing Your Workforce: AI Training and Automation
- Using AI Safely In the Workplace
Within these three topics, we’ll cover things like the kinds of AI tools businesses can use, how AI can help to streamline certain tasks but not outright replace people, and the safety considerations when it comes to using AI. By the end of this article, you’ll have the foundation of knowledge you need to get your business started on its AI journey.
AI Business Tools and Identifying Needs
Before you begin the process of implementing AI into your workplace, you first need to start by identify AI tools and areas of need that AI can help to fix.
Best AI Tools for Businesses
If you’ve done any research into AI, you’ve likely seen the word “optimize” a lot. This is mainly because, while AI may not be very good at completing or completely replacing certain roles or tasks within the workplace, AI is good at assisting and streamlining certain tasks. A study performed by UX certification group Nielsen Norman Group found that AI can boost productivity for business-related tasks by 59 percent.
The tools you use will be a big factor in determining how much you can maximize AI use within your organization. Project management platforms like Asana have powerful built-in AI tools that can help you streamline your workflow; An AI transcription generator like Fireflies can help you get more value out of your meetings; and AI scheduling assistants like Reclaim can ensure you and your team stay on task and never miss a deadline.
Seeing the need for AI tools in the payroll, HR, and benefits sphere, Payday began work on a set of AI tools designed to make some of the more tedious processes of payroll and benefits administration easier. Our benefits reconciliation tool and customer sentiment tool are designed not only to automate certain processes but also to help your business deliver outstanding customer service.
Identifying Needs for AI
Of course, finding an AI tool that works for your organization is one thing, but you won’t be able to do this without first identifying the specific needs that your company has that can be addressed with AI. Again, this goes back to the idea of using AI to optimize and streamline your business operations: finding current challenge areas is key.
This also starts with understanding what tasks AI is good at. Most people are familiar with Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. These tools work well for idea generation or brainstorming. Looking at the tools listed above, AI is also good at automating other tasks like scheduling or transcription. Ultimately, identifying what AI is good at and how it can help your business requires trial and error—experiment with it and find what works for you.
Preparing Your Workforce: AI Training and Automation
Now that we’ve gone over some of the preliminary steps when it comes to implementing AI in the workplace, we’ll go over how you can prepare the members of your team for the implementation of AI in your organization.
Automation, Not Replacement
One of the biggest concerns surrounding AI, and one of the biggest questions you’ll likely receive when implementing it in your business, is its perceived potential to replace certain positions or maybe even whole departments. A 2024 study by Gallup found that 32 percent of employees are uncomfortable with using AI in their role.
So, as a leader looking to implement AI within your organization, it’s crucial not just to reassure the members of your team that AI is not coming to replace them, but actually to show it. This can be easily done if you’ve identified both the clear needs AI will help alleviate and the tools you plan to use. A previously published Department of Labor set of best principles and actions for employers implementing AI in the workplace listed employee empowerment as the first principle.
AI Training for Employees
Understandable trepidation and hesitation aside, that same Gallup study also found that employees who receive training on AI are 89 percent more likely to say AI has improved their productivity and efficiency. Therefore, on top of clear communication in regards to the use of AI and what tools are provided, providing in-depth training on AI is also a must.
You’ll want to identify the different ways different departments and roles will interact with AI and what AI tools they will use. Tailoring AI training to specific roles and departments can help ensure everyone understands the different ways AI can specifically help them in their role. This can involve both online and in-person training sessions, as well as LMS modules.
Using AI Safely In the Workplace
Finally, we’ll go over the different strategies you can implement to ensure AI use within your organization ensures total digital security and sustains employee mental health.
AI Data Security and Privacy
As with any digital tool, privacy and security are things that should be top of mind when looking at ways to implement AI in your workplace. Since most AIs operate on a machine learning model, you’ll want to ensure the data you're inputting into the AI isn’t anything you wouldn’t make publicly available on the internet. Looking more broadly, you’ll want to find platforms that are SOC 2 certified and ISO 27001 certified.
You’ll also want to create an AI policy, dictating how employees within your organization interact with AI in the workplace. This includes implementing security measures, such as two-factor authentication, and ensuring that only authorized personnel can access sensitive data. Regularly auditing your data and how employees use AI can help prevent sensitive information from being used incorrectly.
AI and Employee Mental Health
There are a lot of questions surrounding AI and mental health, particularly how it relates to mental health care. In the workplace, there are factors that businesses should keep in mind when it comes to implementing AI in the workplace and how this might impact employees’ mental health.
The American Psychological Association published a report with findings on how AI impacts employee mental health. The report details how AI implementation can increase the number of employees who report burnout or stress at work, as well as the number of employees who report feeling undervalued. This only further underscores the importance of using AI to enhance an employee’s productivity, not replace them.
Better Implementation, Better Use
While change may be an inevitable part of running a business, it doesn’t make it any easier. This is especially true when it comes to technology and, in our current age, AI. With all of the uncertainty surrounding how AI will be used in the workplace, both business owners and employees alike may find themselves stressed out over the role AI will play in their lives in the coming years. Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that AI will play some role in the workplace, even if it isn’t as damaging as it may seem. With the information provided in this article, you’ll have a better idea of how AI can integrate into your workplace, helping to streamline processes without the fear of replacement.
Although technology has changed the way that we work and do business, it can still be intimidating to adopt a new system or software. After all, if something’s not broke, why fix it? When it comes to modern technology, though, we’re often not looking at ways to replace people, but find ways to help them do their job better. It’s no different when it comes to HCM providers: while outsourcing your payroll and HR to an HCM provider may feel like you’re undermining your current payroll specialist or HR department, you’re actually empowering them. Read our article on how HCM platforms can empower payroll specialists, not replace them.
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