AI for Frontline Workers: Creating a Better Employee Experience
Hosts: Steve Boese
Guest: Gretchen Alarcon, GVP/GM of HCM and Payroll at UKG
Summary
On this episode of the HR Happy Hour, Steve Boese is joined by Gretchen Alarcon to explore how AI can help organizations create a better experience for frontline workers while also helping managers make smarter workforce decisions.
Gretchen shares how UKG is approaching AI from both sides of the employee experience. For workers, that can mean making everyday tasks—like requesting time off, understanding a paycheck, accessing support, or navigating a leave of absence—faster and easier. For managers, AI can bring together information about skills, availability, overtime, scheduling, and workforce needs to help them make more informed decisions.
The conversation also looks at the connection between schedule stability, skills, pay, and retention. For frontline employees, knowing when they will work and what they will earn matters. AI can help organizations create schedules that meet operational needs while considering the people behind those schedules. It can also connect employees with training and certifications that may lead to additional hours, greater earning potential, and new opportunities.
Steve and Gretchen also discuss the role employers can play in supporting financial wellness, including greater pay transparency, earned wage access, and helping employees better understand the resources available to them.
As organizations prepare for 2027, Gretchen offers a simple framework for thinking about the frontline workforce: find them, enable them, and keep them. That means finding people with the right skills, continuously developing the workforce with accessible learning, and creating an experience that gives employees the clarity and support they need to stay.
Topics include:
Thank you for joining the show today! Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Workhuman is a proud supporter of the HR Happy Hour Network.
Here’s a wild stat: 6 in 10 employees have never been meaningfully recognized for a work anniversary. Think about that. Five, 10, 20 years of someone’s life — and too often, the moment falls flat. Workhuman’s Service Milestones® makes recognition more personal, memorable, and impactful. Milestone tracking happens automatically through your HRIS, the right colleagues are inspired to share stories and congratulations, and employees get access to rewards they actually want.
Ready to make your milestones meet the moment with Workhuman? Click the banner on this episode’s page or follow the link in the show notes to learn more.