Streamlining HR processes with AI

Merilyn Speiser , 12 February 2025

HR professionals and practice managers play a crucial role in the business, but too often their time is consumed by repetitive, manual tasks. By leveraging AI, businesses can free up these key people to focus on what truly matters – strategy, building great workplaces and supporting teams. The ACA’s HR advisor, Merilyn Speiser from Catalina Consultants, offers some useful tips on streamlining HR processes with AI.

Great HR professionals can make a real difference to any business. However, what we do can also sometimes get weighed down by manual, time-intensive tasks.

From screening resumes to managing payroll, some tasks require a lot of unproductive time just to get to the bit where we can really add value. That’s where AI can help.

By automating repetitive tasks, analysing vast amounts of data and offering predictive insights, AI promises HR professionals and practice managers the opportunity to focus on the more strategic and people-oriented parts of what they do.

So if your business is one of the growing number looking to incorporate AI into its HR practices, where do you start?

Here’s our guide to how any business can streamline its HR processes with AI right now.

RECRUITMENT AND TALENT ACQUISITION

Finding the right talent to drive the business forward has always been one of HR’s most important functions. It can also be labour-intensive and demanding.

Finding suitable employees, interviewing them, negotiating and bringing the successful candidate onboard takes serious time and effort. AI can help reduce the workload and deliver better results by:

• Identifying candidates: AI can search and analyse social media and other data to help you find the right people for your business.
• Automating screening processes: AI can sift through thousands of CVs, analysing candidates based on skills, experience and even cultural fit. (For instance, Harver uses a combination of predictive assessments and automation to help businesses with mass hiring.)
• Streamlining scheduling: AI-powered chatbots can schedule interviews and answer preliminary questions, eliminating time-consuming back-and-forth emails.
• Reducing bias: AI tools can anonymise profiles and focus instead on candidates’ skillsets, helping to create a more diverse and inclusive hiring process while delivering better talent.

ONBOARDING AND TRAINING

A well-executed onboarding process can set employees up for success, making sure they understand the procedures and have the right skillset for the role. You can get AI involved in this too by:

• Creating personalised onboarding journeys: AI can tailor onboarding programs to each employee’s role, location and preferences.
• Streamlining documentation: Automated systems can help make sure new hires complete any onboarding paperwork quickly and accurately, reducing errors and delays.
• Upskilling through AI-powered learning platforms: AI can assess an employee’s skill base and suggest relevant training modules, so they hit the ground running.

For example, an AI learning platform could identify the gaps in a manager’s understanding of your leave policies or management techniques and then provide the training to fix them – all without manual input from HR.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION

When it comes to business success, retaining top talent is probably even more critical than acquiring it. AI can help you keep employees engaged and productive through:

• Real-time sentiment analysis: AI tools can analyse employee feedback from surveys, emails or even Slack channels to gauge morale and identify pain points.
• Forecasting attrition: AI-powered analytics can flag employees at risk of leaving by identifying patterns in absenteeism, performance or disengagement.
• Enhancing accessibility: Virtual assistants and chatbots can answer routine HR queries instantly, improving the employee experience while reducing HR’s workload.

An example is IBM’s WatsonX, which reportedly resolves thousands of employee queries daily, freeing up HR teams to focus on strategic initiatives.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND ANALYTICS

Few parts of HR give companies as many headaches as performance reviews. They can be subjective and time consuming, and – as a result – they can also be infrequent.

AI allows companies to potentially take a more dynamic and data-driven approach to performance management by:

• Providing continuous feedback: AI tools can analyse productivity and track how someone is performing against their KPIs in real time.
• Identifying high performers: AI can help highlight employees excelling in their roles, leading to better decisions on promotions or employee rewards.
• Developing customised plans for employee growth and development: By analysing trends, AI can craft targeted improvement strategies for individuals or teams.

For example, AI dashboards can visualise business, team and individual performance, helping you identify areas for improvement and opportunities for growth.

COMPLIANCE AND PAYROLL

Payroll and compliance aren’t often considered the exciting end of HR, but they’re two of the most important HR-related functions of any business. They’re also often two areas where, if you get it right no one really notices, but get it wrong, and you expose yourself to potentially serious financial and legal risks.

AI can help your business minimise these risks by:

• Ensuring better accuracy: AI-powered tools can audit payroll processes, flagging any discrepancies.
• Monitoring compliance: Automated systems can stay updated with changing regulations in real time, so that you stay compliant with employment laws.
• Reducing manual workloads: AI can handle repetitive tasks, such as calculating overtime or processing reimbursements.

THE CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING AI IN HR

Despite all of these potential benefits, there are still some genuine challenges associated with adopting AI in HR. Chief among these is making sure all your employee data stays private and that your business complies with data protection laws.

There are ethical considerations, too. AI is only as good as its data and training – and some AI has been criticised for being notably biased, specifically in regards to recruitment.

Finally, you’ll have to figure out how to balance automation with empathy. While AI may be efficient, it doesn’t have any genuine feelings or empathy. The human touch remains as important as ever in relating to employees, understanding them and reading between the lines.

That’s why the future of HR isn’t just about AI; it’s about how we can use AI to make better HR decisions.

The businesses that get this right will give themselves a real advantage when it comes to attracting, retaining and getting the most out of their employees.