Tech & Innovation Blog
Life @ ADP EP6: Why did you come to ADP, and Why do you stay?
Life @ ADP, Career Advice, What We Do
In this episode, our hosts invited Sreeni Kutam, Chief Human Resources Officer, and relative newcomer, Chief Economist, Nela Richardson, to share why they joined ADP and why they stay.
Life @ ADP EP6: Why did you come to ADP, and Why do you stay?
Here comes the final Season One episode of Life@ADP.
Many of us feel great pride working for ADP, but sometimes it’s hard to put into words the cultural elements that resonate with us that make our company more than just a place to work.
In this episode, our hosts Kate and Ingrid invited Sreeni Kutam, Chief Human Resources Officer, and relative newcomer, Chief Economist, Nela Richardson, to share why they joined ADP and why they stay.
Nela Richardson, Chief Economist (left) and Sreeni Kutam, Chief Human Resources Officer (right)
“I looked for the opportunity to bring technology and people together, and that’s why I came to ADP. Innovation is the word that sums it up,” Sreeni said. “There are three things one looks for in their career. First is meaningful work. Second is a group of great people they work with. Third is the opportunity for growth. I’m lucky to check all three boxes at ADP,” Sreeni said.
“The reason why I came is, I felt that ADP was uniquely positioned to answer some of the biggest economic questions coming out of the pandemic. As important as why I came is why I hope to stay. I came to a company that valued people and as an added bonus, they are people who, crazy enough, seem to enjoy the data as much as I do,” Nela said.
We recommend this episode to better understand our culture and why ADP is a wonderful place to work. Sreeni and Nela will also share why it’s a great time to join the organization.
According to LinkedIn’s 2021 Workforce Learning Report, employees who move into new jobs internally are 3.5x more likely to be engaged employees than those who stay in their current positions.
Sreeni shared some great examples of our executive committee members who grew from humble beginnings within ADP to lead our company. “There are many great leaders and opportunities to grow at ADP. For example, Debbie Dyson started as a customer service representative, and she is now the President of our National Accounts business unit,” Sreeni said. “Another great example is John Ayala, who went from working in customer service to leading the function as the Chief Operating Officer.”
Sreeni said there will always be learning opportunities for associates, no matter their start date or department, while Nela shared, “I enjoy the global perspective here at ADP. You can always leverage the experience from one role to another here, knowing your teams will support innovative ideas.”
Tune in for the full episode here. Support us by subscribing to both the podcast and the tech blog. You wouldn’t want to miss more interviews on Season Two, coming up this Spring!
Life @ ADP is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Music.
What are you waiting for?
Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current openings.
Tech & Innovation Blog
How AI/ML are Driving Innovation and Opportunities at ADP
Innovation, Voice of Our People, Future of Work
The future of learning will involve more personalization and customization based on learning styles, competencies, and preferences.
How Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are Driving Innovation and Opportunities at ADP
Julio Hartmann joined ADP as a software development manager in 2004. Seventeen years later, he is now the Vice President/General Manager, head of ADP’s global software product development center and innovation lab in Porto Alegre, Brazil. His team works across the global product and technology portfolio, always looking for new opportunities. Julio leads product innovation and research, exploring growing technologies and evolving trends. He and his team aim to create the next generation of human capital management applications that drive learning and training in the workforce.
How it Started: Human Capital Management (HCM) Software
Steve Jobs said, “Things happen fairly slowly. These waves of technology, you can see them way before they happen, and you just have to choose wisely which ones you’re going to surf. It takes years.”
People tend to assume technology evolves linearly—growing at the same rate over time—but it develops exponentially instead. Some examples of exponential technologies include 5G networks, 3D printing, robotics, and blockchain. As the speed of technological innovation increases, it creates frustration in product development. People perceive a gap between expectations and performance, then quickly learn the products are not the problem. We inflate our expectations beyond what technology delivers. Despite uncertainties in the environment, the emerging tech follows an exponential growth and improves until it reaches a pivotal moment of breakthroughs.
For many, the pivot point may be challenging to foresee, and companies are caught unprepared. With market research observation, we know breakthroughs happen for a number of reasons. The moment is often tied to technology becoming cheap enough to reach mass consumption. In other words, a breakthrough occurs when a component becomes more viable with a combination of factors, creating the perfect environment to throw the innovation into disrupter status.
The phenomenon played out clearly in smartphone market. When the iPhone arrived, that changed everything. We live in a time when anything and everything is possible. Modern technologies drive the future and bring endless learning opportunities to the next generations. To prepare ADP for the next move in the industry, my team continues to develop, recognizing the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The Future of Learning: HCM Systems
Julio at the Beach
The future of learning will involve more personalization and customization based on learning styles, competencies, and preferences. In other words, artificial intelligence (AI) and adaptive learning are the future. These powerful technologies will affect both humans and machines in the coming years. Our goal at ADP is to develop a combination of tools that harness the power of AI and facilitate learning, ensuring companies and employees grow at a fast, steady pace.
The job market is shifting due to the broad impact of AI, automation, and robotics. There is a reduced demand for specific jobs, such as factory roles that can be automated. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand for particular jobs that belong in the future. According to the report by the Institute for the Future, 85% of the jobs in 2030 do not exist yet. It’s time for leaders to identify skills gaps based on current trends to prepare organizations and professionals.
In fact, we might be heading towards a disruptive breakthrough in artificial intelligence and data usage in human capital management (HCM). We are not far from a pivotal point, meaning we can expect many advancements with the power of AI and data information in HCM for the upcoming years.
As an industry leader, ADP looks forward to the future. My team supports innovation through our mantra — always designing for people. HCM solutions provide opportunities for companies and workers to grapple with the demands of a futuristic workplace. AI helps companies manage their workforce while anticipating changes and preparing their employees for upcoming challenges. Specifically, my team is working on technology that allows companies and employees to navigate a variety of scenarios. It combines traditional training and cutting-edge tools that connect people with mentors and experts in various communities.
We can’t talk about the future without understanding users’ needs. The good news is human capital management systems and training tools have become more predictive with ground-breaking developments in event-based systems, meaning they carry on as usual until they require inputs. For instance, a system can recognize users changing their addresses and further instigating necessary documents and paperwork. Another example is for the system to alert managers of a potential alarming pattern that shows an employee has not filled out a timecard.
AI’s Applications in Real Life
AI’s applications in real life are everywhere. Companies like Walmart hire a significant number of workers every month, experimenting with augmented reality (AR) and other technologies in new hire trainings. Wouldn’t it be more efficient for new employees to see the procedures before joining the company? The new hires at Walmart could see the supermarket’s organization in a virtual environment through a peer-to-peer reality before their first day at work.
Human resources (HR) managers may also benefit from using AI. From recruitment to employee experience and talent management, AI can automate routine HR tasks, deliver personalized experiences, and gain actionable insights from HR data. For example, AI may serve as a helpful tool to help track the workforce and notify managers that they need to hire more data scientists.
Another scenario is using AI as a user interface (UI) through natural language processing for seamless interactions between humans and technology, for example, using chatbots as the user interface. AI can be a powerful ally to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity among employees if leveraged carefully.
These are all opportunities and concepts that will change the future of jobs.
Challenges in AI Technology
Julio and his family
“With greater power comes with greater responsibilities.” There are risks with using the tools. At ADP, we have an ethical committee that looks at privacy issues and built-in biases. The technologies are developing quickly, which makes predicting outcomes challenging. Nevertheless, we always try our best to watch for violations and learn as we go. The teams at ADP are investing in a well-detailed approach to monitor how the machine learns and develops, ensuring all technologies evolve in the direction we expect.
Looking Forward: ADP’s Future
Technology development plays a huge role in ADP’s transformation into a technology company. There is more capital available than ever before, and the cost of building innovative products has become lower. In other words, we have more funding to experiment which leads to more breakthroughs. We are on the cusp of seeing more efficiencies on a massive scale through AL and ML.
The possibilities of using AR and VR during the company’s onboarding training are exciting! I can imagine applying AR and VR in digital workplaces for associates who work from home. The technologies bring efficiencies, save costs, and improve learning. Workers will have the ability to see the office and understand procedures even before joining the team in person. The implications are astronomical for national and global companies.
As we research more possibilities in tech, humans will benefit from using technologies in the workforce. The foundational trends include faster computing power, increasing data volume, low-cost communications for everyone and everywhere. These opportunities are life-changing, and we’ll see this come to fruition soon. I look forward to how the industry creates unique jobs in the workforce and breakthroughs. In the future, technologies at ADP will continue to help companies and workers adjust to changes, improving their job performances and making tasks easier.
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
Click here to search for your next move and visit Who We Hire.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Steve R., Major Incident Manager, Leads Through Changing Technology
Innovation, Voice of Our People, Career Insights
ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a framework created around standardization, focusing on best practices in planning, delivery, maintenance, and the IT services lifecycle.
Steve R., Major Incident Manager, Leads Through Changing Technology
By Steve R., Lead Major Incident Manager
Coming to ADP
ADP Trip to Paris 2019
As a Lead Major Incident Manager at ADP, I have more than ten years of experience in critical incident management and application-based troubleshooting, following Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Agile ideology. July 2021 marked my nineteenth year of service at ADP, and I took the opportunity to reflect on my career journey.
My first position was with an inbound call team at the beginning of ADP’s fiscal year 2004. Our team label has changed throughout the years, and I was a member of what was known as “E-Tech.” We worked directly with clients who had challenges with payroll deadlines throughout the day. Although we supported only a single product out of the hundreds ADP offers, it was apparent from the start that the company had countless potential growth avenues. I was incredibly grateful for different development programs and resources; one of them was ADP’s substantial employee referral program, which helped me land a role in the lead position. I loved my team and learned from the strongest performers, shadowing good leadership.
Speaking of the culture here, I’m happy to share this is a place where everyone cares about the clients and their experiences. I am proud to be a part of the organization where the leaders encourage us to learn, improve, explore new skills, and challenge ourselves. As technologies evolve, I see growth opportunities both in and outside the organization.
Growing Opportunities: ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
As our product and customer scope grew, my team became the second-tier escalation group in the larger, global corporate organization. There was no global incident management standard during the mid-2000s, so product teams like mine handled their outage recovery and communications. That’s when I joined a global Incident Management team.
ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a framework created around standardization, focusing on best practices in planning, delivery, maintenance, and the IT services lifecycle. We built the initial foundation and framework using the ITIL methodology, ideal from the Incident Management perspective. The methodology accommodated our needs, including managing events and resolving procedures. We collaborated with stakeholders within each segmented step of an initiative using Agile project management. We were proud to achieve genuine process improvement by considering client feedback and ensuring that any changes would lead to the desired outcomes. Using Agile methodology with an ITIL foundation, the hybrid model is in place today and continues to evolve. While it is effective in today’s ADP climate, we are open and ready to adjust as clients face changes.
Steve and his family
The Beginning: Incident Management Group
Not everyone on my team was a part of the new Incident Management group. While each E-Tech individual was highly skilled as an individual contributor, the desire to shift focus to Incident Management was not widespread. I was proud to manage the situations when outage events occurred with the products. Most of our team thrived in a “hands-on,” very technically minded role, and others became outstanding product experts. Both were vital to support our hosted applications and maintain a positive Client experience. The incident management group allowed me to collaborate with people I wouldn’t have met otherwise. Each incident event was different, challenging, and fast-paced.
I was with the application team for nine years and I am in my 10th year of incident management. My specialties include written communication, conversational command & control, and documentation. These problem-solving skills have brought me a sense of achievement and fulfillment. I’d also like to credit a leadership team member for recognizing my strengths. He assured me I was going in the right direction and inspired me to become a better leader myself. I’ve thrived in my new role, and I am grateful for his mentorship.
The Future: Continuous Growth
Steve and his son at football game
There will always be challenges when we grow and expand our knowledge in technology. The most important quality to develop is empathy, especially for all global readers. It is the foundation to understand and to communicate – an ability to empathize, show the big picture, and overcome roadblocks as a team. I am grateful for ADP’s leadership teams, celebrating user-first values, our mission, and a passion toward transformation.
A positive working environment inspires associates to work on their career advancement. As ADP continues to evolve in a rapid industry change, I, the CIRT Lead Incident Manager, am on the leadership path. I encourage associates looking to do the same to reach out since the support I received at ADP has been crucial to my career success.
Both personal growth and further learning opportunities are essential. Successful leaders share their methods, providing examples and guidance. I’m grateful for ADP’s mentorship program, which pairs associates with seasoned leaders to exchange perspectives and knowledge. It’s perfect for associates who are looking for professional connections! I constantly remind myself a great leader prepares his people with the right resources and helps them obtain the tools to navigate challenges. As the future unfolds, I look forward to becoming an integral part of ADP’s leadership community, supporting other associates in their learning and career success.
Interested in an Incident Management career?
Click here to search for your next move and visit Who We Hire.
Tech & Innovation Blog
2022 Workforce Trends
Future of Work, Innovation, Culture
Accessible Video Controls
2022 Workforce Trends
[LOGO: ADP, Always Designing for People]
[TEXT] 2022 Workforce Trends
Diverse workers in a variety of settings.
[MUSIC]
[TEXT] Work is having its Moment
[DESCRIPTION] Workers in offices; a cluster of multi-rise buildings
[TEXT], What will work look like in 2022?
Employee Visibility Redefined.
[DESCRIPTION] A woman, a man.
[TEXT] Where and how people are working has changed
On-site, Remote, Hybrid
A man and a woman.
75% of global workforce changed how or where they live…
85% are among Gen Z
People data will replace physical proximity
Leaders will lean into trust-based approach
Workers who trust their team and leader are 7 times more likely to be strongly connected
People & Purpose Drive Culture
Connection will become a measurement of workforce culture
Strongly connected workers are 75 times more likely to be fully engaged
Diversity, equity and inclusion will evolve to drive measurable progress
More than 50% of companies with DEI analytics took action and realized positive impact – ADP DataCloud DEI Dashboard
Data & Expertise Power Resilience
Leaders will increasingly turn to data to identify gaps
Nearly 20% small-midsize U.S. companies report facing regulatory compliance challenges
Quality data will be key in providing confidence
Workers completed nearly 3 million health status surveys enabling a safer return to workplace – ADP DataCloud Return to Work Toolkit
Innovation Accelerates Growth
Global shifts will force new efficiencies, fuel productivity
Use of ADP Mobile Solutions increased more than 25% year-over-year
Skills based hiring surges transforming the talent landscape
28% workers report taking a new role since pandemic
Visibility
Culture
Data & Expertise
Innovation.
The Future of Work Starts
Now!
[LOGO: ADP, Always Designing for People]
Work is having its moment. Rapid changes have made way for a newly transformed workplace. What can businesses and workers expect in 2022? ADP identifies the top trends reshaping the future of work. For more insights, subscribe to the tech blog and receive monthly newsletters from us.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Life @ ADP EP5: Extraordinary Careers: Mentorship, the Power of Connections, and more
Life @ ADP, Career Advice, What We Do
Tawana, VP of Implementation, shares her perspective on career growth, mentorship opportunities, and power of connections.
Life @ ADP EP5: Extraordinary careers: mentorship, the power of connections, and more
What are the mentorship opportunities at ADP? What does it mean to be a leader? What is the power of connection? We have the answers for you in Life @ ADP Episode five.
In this episode, our hosts Ingrid and Kate invited Tawana, VP of Implementation, to share her career journey. You will hear Tawana talk about her sponsorship connection with Debbie Dyson, President of National accounts at ADP. The mentorship experience transforms Tawana’s professional life and inspires her to take on new opportunities in every role she accepts.
“I’ve been in small business, retirement services, and global business transformation. I’m now in major accounts implementation, an amazing place to learn, grow, and shift perspectives,” Tawana says, reflecting on her career development. “I see myself growing at ADP, continuing to be successful, and leading more associates to advance their career paths.”
Tawana is grateful to be a part of the inclusive culture at ADP. She shares her involvement with ADP’s Business Resource Group (BRG), learning new information and forming connections. “I am an active member of six BRGs. For example, we discuss topics going on in the world at the Cultivate BRG,” Tawana said. “The community respects and supports our internal associates. It’s a safe space to ask questions and exchange thoughts.”
We recommend the episode for associates and future candidates to get a deep understanding of ADP’s culture. Tawana shares her personal experience as a single mother to a 15-year-old son when she talks about work-life balance. “I remember getting promoted to a new role and was ready to dive right in. ADP accommodated my schedule changes, knowing we had to relocate in the middle of the school year,” Tawana says. “I appreciate the flexibility and understanding ADP had. They allowed me to take the time and get my son acclimated to the new school first.”
A positive working environment consists of caring people and leaders. Tawana takes the time to speak more about leadership and the power of connection with the hosts. Whether within Tawana’s global team or balancing relationships outside of ADP, she highlights the importance of celebration, emotional intelligence in communication, and showing appreciation to teammates.
“Not only do we connect at work, but also we connect on a personal level. We always allocate time to catch up and learn about each other,” Tawana said. “This has allowed my team to stay connected during COVID. We take care of each other during difficult times.”
Life @ ADP is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Music. Stay tuned!
Support us by subscribing to both the podcast and the tech blog.
What are you waiting for?
Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current openings.
Why Employees Are Dedefining What Work Will Look Like in 2022
Why employees are redefining what work will look like in 2022
As the wants and needs of workers evolve, employers will need to keep up next year.
Topics: 2022 preview | Career Development | Company culture | Coronavirus | Diversity and Inclusion | Employee Benefits | Engagement | HR Technology | Learning and Development | Recognition | Recruiting | Retention | Talent Management | Top Stories | Top Stories
Over the past nearly two years, there have been tremendous changes in how and where work gets done, along with a rising digital transformation accelerated amid the global pandemic—both of which fueled businesses to streamline workflows, empower and engage teams, and optimize for future growth. This pace of change is now quickly becoming the norm, as innovation builds further momentum. As we continue to see such significant change, what will the world of work look like in 2022?
Author Aaron Smith
The answer to that depends upon the fact that the global workforce itself stands changed as well. In fact, ADP Research Institute found that 64% of the global workforce was negatively impacted by COVID-19, including 28% who lost a job, were furloughed or were temporarily laid off, and 23% who took a pay cut. These labor market shifts have led workers to reprioritize their needs, further redefining how and where work gets done and adding pressure for employers to meet their emerging demands.
As we head into 2022, employees are driving work’s transformation. Leveraging ADP’s data into the workforce, here are four key trends shaping the evolution:
Employee visibility will be redefined
According to ADP Research Institute’s People at Work: A Global Workforce View study, in just one year, three-quarters (75%) of the global workforce made changes or plans to change how or where they live, with that trend even greater (85%) among Generation Z. Additionally, ADP surveyed small and mid-sized U.S. employers and found that 66% already have a hybrid work model in place, helping to account for this shift.
Related: What ADP Research indicates is fueling the Great Resignation
With workers no longer sharing one central location and many businesses currently operating across a mix of hybrid, on-site and remote locations, businesses will need new opportunities to increase employee visibility. To better understand the needs of a dispersed workforce, managers will use people data to gain insight into how teams are performing. This data provides employers with the real-time insights they need to drive employee engagement and performance.
People and purpose will drive workplace culture
As changing work models shift workplace culture, employers will look for new ways to build connections. ADP Research Institute found that U.S. workers who feel they are “strongly connected” to their employer are 75 times more likely to be “fully engaged” than those who do not feel connected. With connection driving engagement, employers will need to refocus squarely on their people and center initiatives around the larger purpose that unites the workforce.
To build a workplace where everyone can thrive, employers will embrace people-centered initiatives. This includes maximizing workforce flexibility through working arrangements, benefits programs and policies, and giving workers the tools they need to be successful. As businesses look to foster connection, the focus on diversity, equity and inclusion will continue to evolve, broadening perspectives and driving true, measurable progress.
Reliable data and expertise will power resiliency
The already-complex regulatory environment will see additional operational and compliance considerations in 2022, as employees continue in their remote and hybrid work arrangements. ADP’s HR Survey Series with HR Outsourcing found that nearly 20% of U.S. companies with 25-99 employees concede they are currently facing challenges with compliance and regulatory issues. That percentage could increase as regulations change.
See also: Want real change? Look to data and analytics
Leaders will need to rely more heavily on real-time data to guide decision-making and stay ahead of compliance mandates. Timely, quality data will enable businesses to act on important decisions with confidence. For example, to better manage return-to-the-workplace policies including vaccination tracking and testing, employers are using people data.
Greater innovation will accelerate growth
As business models evolve amid global shifts, organizations will turn to technology to help drive efficiency and expand capabilities by eliminating task work and refocusing efforts on strategic growth initiatives. This evolution points to the rising trend of adopting technologies that create efficiencies while enhancing the employee experience.
We’ll additionally see a surge in skills-based hiring as roles continue to evolve amid a digital transformation and the pandemic’s impact on the labor market. ADP Research Institute found that more than one in four workers (28%) report having taken on a new or changing role due to pandemic-driven labor market shifts; for Gen Z workers, the number jumps to 36%. Since the pandemic began, many workers were required to learn new skills and take on additional or alternate duties beyond their usual jobs to adjust to new work models, many of which have become permanent operational changes.
Workers understand that these new skills make them even more attractive in a tight job market, and they will continue to pursue new opportunities—internal and external—where they can apply their unique strengths. Businesses wanting to retain valuable employees and accelerate employee performance will need to make sure they are providing opportunities to develop newfound skills or embark on a new career trajectory within the organization with more potential for growth. Additionally, employers will also rely on technologies, such as machine learning, to identify workers with the right skills in unique places, such as former applicants who may have previously applied for alternate roles.
Looking forward
As the dynamics of work continue to shift in the year ahead, employees will play a large role in how businesses adapt. To drive business performance and growth, people are the key to success. Without people who feel connected to the work they’re doing and empowered by their employers to succeed, growth is but a goal. Only when working in tandem can businesses and their people achieve their fullest potential.
Aaron Smith is senior vice president of Product Development at ADP.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Future of Conversational AI: Here’s What You Should Know
Voice of Our People, Innovation, Career Insights
The more we understand what drives our situational awareness, consciousness, and creativity, the more we will evolve conversational AI and sentiment analysis with more robust outcomes.
Future of Conversational AI: Here’s What You Should Know
By Azfar Rizvi, Conversational Designer
“I’ll be back.”
We first heard this iconic line in the 1984 Hollywood blockbuster The Terminator, and it’s become a part of our collective consciousness ever since. It was mainstream media’s first attempt in depicting a fictional artificially intelligent system (Skynet), thus catapulting the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Then the depiction of AI went downhill. At least for a while.
People started to fear AI taking over the world through sentient neural networks. There are entire television series dedicated to playing on our fears about how antagonistic AI can be. And rightly so – drama and destruction sell more headlines. That’s the realist ex-journalist in me, LOL! As AI continues to fascinate humanity, our understanding of its limits and potential is evolving, and within it, there lies hope.
Azfar Framing in Action
This year, we finally transitioned from fearing robot overlords to cheering for sentient non-playable characters (NPC). The most recent Hollywood movie, Free Guy with Ryan Renolds, is a step in this direction. The story starts when an NPC develops self-awareness and strays from its programming. The NPC interacts with elements around itself in the game – it starts to think and feel. While this is interesting to posit, NPCs can’t develop sentience and act beyond their programming without human interventions.
The juxtaposition of the extremes has challenged us to think about the boundaries in AI. Corollary, these strides have been a significant force behind the digital transformation of businesses and entrepreneurship. We managed to bootstrap humanity’s collective learning with these recent advancements in AI and deep learning, manifesting the true meaning of the term global village. We’re truly connected and have transitioned from merely if/then/else chatbots to contextual ‘Conversational AI.’
ADP: Leading Digital Transformation
We provide payroll solutions for over 38 million workers worldwide. That means one in six US workers interfaces directly or indirectly with our universe. From a chatbot/conversational AI perspective, it means even more people will potentially interact with A.V.A., ADP’s virtual assistant. That’s where someone like me comes in and introduces Conversational Design (CxD).
Azfar Rizvi, UX Designer
ADP’s Service Technology leadership makes enormous strides to invest in the right infrastructure and create the right teams, producing trustworthy conversational AI platforms. We’re reimagining AVA to ensure our CxD is inclusive. Our persona aims to be innovative and empathetic, allowing intelligent responses to meet user expectations. Unlike conventional chatbots, ADP’s conversational AI understands the context of conversations and answers scenario-specific questions for users.
ADP provides our clients with the best payroll and HR experience, reflecting our processes and outcomes. Our teams work with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the AVA experience has enough context and intelligence to solve our customers’ problems and help us learn for future iterations of our products. As a CxD and Persona evangelist, I relish the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues and industry leaders, envisioning what AVA could represent to the workforce. For many employees, AVA is their first touchpoint with ADP. I write, design, advocate, and build an empathetic experience for this reason. We want to set the tone right for a great experience from the beginning.
The Future of Conversational AI
In one of his letters, Ernest Hemingway wrote: “A man’s got to take a lot of punishment to write a really funny book.”
That quote summarizes the journey in conversational AI – with chatbots starting ambitiously and, as time passed, aligning more with market expectations. The CxD universe that was first created by telling jokes during the formative years of chatbots has now segued into more transactional experiences. We are iterating rapidly at ADP, and the learning allows us to create better, more empathetic conversational AI experience with higher engagement levels. While I may have transitioned from narrative film production and journalism, not a day goes by when I don’t think about the quintessential role storytelling plays in creating holistic CxD.
The chatbot market is projected to grow from USD 2.6 billion in 2019 to USD 9.4 billion by 2024 – with an overwhelming 80% of businesses expected to have some chatbot automation by the end of 2021. According to insights on MarketWatch, “The chatbot market is driven by factors, such as advancement in technology coupled with rising customer demands for self-service and 24*7 customer assistance at lower operational costs. However, lack of awareness about the outcomes of the use of chatbot technology with various applications to restrict the growth of the chatbot market.”
Azfar Visiting School
Good news: ADP is ready for the challenge! We’re working to humanize AVA, our conversational AI. We will continue to create more empathetic, accessible experiences as we build from the number of experiential and transactional use cases every year. Whether enhancing value around payroll or helping to create workforce management automation through AVA, we are determined to harness AI as a tool to boost productivity and enable even better support to our clients!
A significant part of these #ADPTech enhancements depends on our ability to incorporate sentiment analysis and predictive analytics to intelligently understand our users’ conversations and the intents behind those queries. These enhancements allow us to deliver a more robust solution to standard enterprise functions such as employee onboarding, HR-related questions, and global help desk.
All this gives me hope for the future of AI AVA’s global footprint allows us to continue innovating and designing more holistic experiences. As one of the pioneers in Conversational AI, ADP is constantly evolving at a pace limited only by our understanding of how the human brain works. The more we understand what drives our situational awareness, consciousness, and creativity, the more we will evolve conversational AI and sentiment analysis with more robust outcomes. As a storyteller who fell in love with AI, I remain enamored by the possibilities of our collective AI future.
In the weeks to come, let’s talk more about the opportunities around AI storytelling, leadership, and mentorship at ADP. I’ll be back! 🙂
Interested in a Conversation Design career at ADP?
We are hiring! Click here to see what we have available.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Cheryl L., VP of Product Management, Inspires Her Team to Ask Better, Meaningful Questions
Women in STEM, Voice of Our People, Innovation
Cheryl’s team asks themselves: How can we develop the most innovative payroll engine? How can we do things differently? How can we transform? Let’s dive deeper.
Cheryl L., VP of Product Management, Inspires Her Team to Ask Better, Meaningful Questions
Coming to ADP
Cheryl L., Vice President of Product Management and Strategy, leads the product management and strategy team for ADP’s next-gen global payroll solution. She is an adaptable leader with management skills capable of delivering results from strategy to execution. Cheryl is passionate about helping companies transform and grow through outstanding customer and user experiences. She has experience in working cross-functionally, communicating, and influencing all stakeholders.
Cheryl L.,VP of Product Management
Before coming to ADP, Cheryl worked in consumer retail management consulting. “I always enjoyed making an impact, so I wanted to join a client-focused company that was data and technology-driven – a company that understood the importance of the digital world and technology,” Cheryl said. “ADP was the one company I never found a reason to say no to, and that’s how my journey began.” She stayed at ADP because she loves the people and the culture here. Her teams and managers support innovative ideas, embracing a positive working culture.
Leadership: Teamwork
There are different strategies in ADP’s transformation to a technology company, including focusing on leadership, developing innovative technologies, and making global impacts. Cheryl believes ADP’s transformation to a technology company has different meanings to different teams. “From business operation to data science, everyone’s contribution matters. We’re in this together and I’m so glad to be a part of the journey,” she said.
Leaders at ADP advocate diversity and inclusion efforts, embracing associates from different teams and years of service. “You could be a frontline worker to meet the company’s executive officers and know they’d love to hear your thoughts,” Cheryl said. “I appreciate the mindset we have as a group, and I believe understanding every associate’s voice benefits engagement and productivity.”
As a leader, she appreciates her team’s ability to approach problems with logic. Her team enjoys passionate debates with critical thinking. People on Cheryl’s team educate and have intellectual conversations with each other, never shying away from challenging questions. “My team is great at asking questions. Why? What can we do differently? How do we influence others to approach their work? What is the best we could provide?” Cheryl said. “I appreciate the availability and openness in teams at ADP. Each mindset has a unique, diverse lens in approaching problems.” We are proud of the working culture at ADP, where we promise every associate with career advancement and personal growth.
Mentorship Opportunities
Cheryl in front of Taj Mahal
ADP does an excellent job by providing different mentorship opportunities for technologists. As Cheryl reflects on her career at ADP, she shares methods to identify the opportunities and how she connects with people across various teams. “I felt it from day one that people recognize and value all mentor-mentee relationships,” Cheryl said. “I encourage associates to let people know you’re looking for a mentor.”
As a mentor in the technology group, Cheryl believes mentorship is important because it’s not just about work; it is about growth, receiving practical advice, and gaining perspectives. She has been a mentor for the last two cycles in a formal mentorship program, connecting with other women technologists. “Each round of mentorship takes about six months, and the experience has been fascinating,” Cheryl said. “I have been in contact with every mentee since the program ended. It’s a long-term professional connection that empowers, inspires, and makes a difference in one’s career path.” She feels privileged to get to know people outside of her areas and help them think through the challenges, the opportunities, and the focus of their careers.
STEM: Foundation in Life
Cheryl received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering at the John Hopkins University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. With years of education and working experience, she defines STEM as the foundation of every discussion. “It is the foundation of science, technology, engineering, and math. STEM is about the ability to solve problems with evidence and to think logically,” she said. “This type of thinking helps me connect with absolutely anything and anyone in the world.”
She recalls sharing with a friend about her niece making paper airplanes over Thanksgiving. The scenario reminded Cheryl of her time in school, studying math and science. “We talked about aerodynamics and related topics. The experience comes back to the core science,” she said. “It’s the ability to use mathematical and experimental technique employed logic to solve any problem that comes your way.”
Advice for Women in STEM
Cheryl (second from the left) and Her Friends
There are endless possibilities in technology development and those who work in tech. “You’re not limited by anything. I encourage women technologists to keep learning because you would apply the knowledge in unexpected areas of life. All you must do is to try. Getting a no is not the worst thing in the world. Don’t be afraid of rejections. Those experiences are helpful for you to acknowledge the right causes, giving you time and opportunities to analyze the outcomes,” Cheryl said. “You could then think about how to pivot, do something new, and change. We should be more afraid of never getting the experiences in the first place.”
Cheryl sees changes as evolutionary and essential in her career path. She went from working at a top-three management consulting firm on beauty and consumer brands to working in payroll and technology. “I’m excited to move from strategy to product with ownership and ability to drive more tangible outcomes,” she said. “I’m excited to figure out what my next step is, continuing leading teams and meeting great minds at ADP.” She is grateful for her decision to come to ADP, working with talented associates and managers.
Outside of Work: Baking Hobby
Cheryl’s Homemade Apple Pie
We are interested in learning what recharges the associates. For Cheryl, baking brings her joy and laughter. She bakes once a week outside of work and enjoys reading about desserts. She was excited to share she created a small delivery service in her community during the pandemic. “I started driving around, delivering the sweets to my friends who lived close to me,” Cheryl said. “My absolute favorite is Apple pie, and I’m also obsessed with making marshmallows from scratch.” Her friends are so lucky to have her!
#ADPTech
To Cheryl, #ADPTech is creative, passionate, and innovative. “I believe you must be passionate about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. I appreciate my teams and their innovations, always asking the essential questions,” Cheryl said. “We ask ourselves: How can we develop the most innovative payroll engine? Let’s figure out the ecosystem. How can we do things differently? How can we transform? How can we think differently? What does it mean if we chose one direction over the other? Let’s dive deeper.” At ADP, we value feedback and outcome together as a team, tackling every step of the challenges together.
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
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Tech & Innovation Blog
Brazil Lab’s Alberto Boa Vista, Principal Technology Architect, Wins ADP’s 2021 President CSR Award
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Alberto’s Full Stack Social program focused on web development and behavioral skills, tackling the massive gap of the technology workforce by empowering socially vulnerable youngsters.
Brazil Lab’s Alberto Boa Vista, Principal Technology Architect, Wins ADP’s 2021 President CSR Award
Social responsibility is one of ADP’s core values and is integral to our brand. We recognize two associates each year by presenting the Corporate Social Responsibility Award, acknowledging associates whose commitment to social responsibility has a positive, measurable impact on the communities where we live and work.
President’s Corporate Social Responsibility Award
Bob Lockett, Chief Diversity & Talent Officer, presented the 2021 President’s Award to Alberto Boa Vista, Principal Technology Architect, GPT. “Alberto played a critical role in organizing a course called Full Stack Social, a 14-month theoretical and practical training program to help socially vulnerable children enter the labor market,” Bob said. “He continued to engage other volunteers and presented the project to ADP’s Brazil Lab. The goal of the project is to alleviate poverty by giving software development skills to young people that otherwise would probably never have access to it.”
Alberto (right) with ADP Associates at Award Ceremony
Alberto’s Full Stack Social program focused on web development and behavioral skills, tackling the massive gap of the technology workforce by empowering socially vulnerable youngsters. It is conducted by Marist Social Center (CESMAR), a philanthropic and nonprofit institution with more than 20 years of history dedicated to social responsibility. The center is strategically located in Porto Alegre, Brazil, one of the lowest Human Development Index regions.
Alberto playing the electric guitar
“I play a role in organizing the course’s curriculum, engaging other volunteers, and presenting the project to potential sponsors. I’ve been doing it for almost a year now, and I’m sure it’s just the beginning of this relationship,” Alberto said. “I also believe the market of digital products contribute to this generation’s social and commercial goals.” By volunteering his time and giving back, Alberto feels grateful for every opportunity he gets to share knowledge, collecting beautiful stories from people around him.
Alberto with his family
The recognition was accompanied by a donation, which went to CESMAR, a social center with professionals who focus on education and health. Alberto is confident their well-organized program will continue to transform many more lives. He views the award as a reaffirmation for many people who chose to dedicate their lives to social responsibility. “It’s not easy, and I know it builds on the long history of this institution,” he said. “Thank you, ADP. The donation will surely bring positive changes to the communities.”
Alberto also shared the solid internal communication and a network of contacts he received. “I had no words to describe how proud I am. I received tremendous support from ADP throughout the project. It is inspiring to see people embrace and spread the ideas,” Alberto said. “Every contact I spoke to contributed to actions with inclusion and diversity.”
Congratulations, Alberto!
Thank you for contributing and giving back.
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
Click here to search for your next move and visit Who We Hire.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Inside DataCloud: How ADP Shapes the Future of Work
Innovation, What We Do, Future of Work
ADP continues to play a crucial role in shaping the future of work, impacting people’s lives.
Inside DataCloud: How ADP Shapes the Future of Work
By Amin Venjara, General Manager, Data Solutions, ADP DataCloud
Over the past two decades, fields like marketing and finance have seen an explosion in data-driven decision-making. Data informs everything from measuring performance to the microtargeted ads we see in our social media feeds. Data and analytics have even reshaped the world of professional sports as a “Moneyball” approach to building and deploying teams are now deeply integrated into most management teams and coaching staff.
In a similar vein, a data-driven approach to HR and talent decisions, known as people analytics, has grown rapidly over the past decade. As one of the largest providers of human capital management offerings, ADP has the data assets to lead in the people analytics space. Last year, we processed 69M W2s and moved over $2.3T—that’s over 10% of US GDP. With over 920K clients, we pay more than 38M workers worldwide, and just in the US alone, we reach nearly 20% of the private US workforce.
This rich data foundation explains why our monthly National Employment Report is considered a key indicator for the state of the US economy. It is also why economists from the Federal Reserve and leading universities are using ADP data to create more real-time measures on the state of the workforce. In a 2019 speech, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell described the Fed’s partnership with ADP: “We began to collaborate with ADP to construct a measure of payroll employment from their data set, which covers about 20 percent of the nation’s private workforce…. We believe that the new measure may help us better understand job market conditions in real-time.”
Our Data Solutions business unit and the DataCloud product team aim to amplify ADP’s data value, creating a more meaningful work experience for all employees. As one example, organizations are always looking to find and keep their best talent. Similarly, workers are looking for opportunities that best leverage their strengths and create opportunities to grow and thrive.
Skills Graph extracts, aligns, and normalizes key information such as skills, job titles and levels, education, and qualifications from non-structured data and infers missing skills and qualifications from context. Skills Graph powers ADP’s Candidate Profile Relevancy tool to help score, assess, and predict candidates who are the best fit for a job opening. While the model is not an algorithm that tells someone which candidate to pick, it helps identify those who are not the right fit, speeding up the application review process. This way, recruiters and hiring managers can focus more time on the human side of recruiting, having deeper, better conversations with candidates.
We have also used our data and analytics capabilities to help organizations address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) questions. From the earliest days of our analytics journey, we have included metrics that help organizations quantify and baseline their DEI. We have previously won the HR industry’s top technology award with our Pay Equity Explorer, which helps organizations understand pay equity gaps based on gender and race. Over the past year, we have continued to grow our DEI toolset, adding a question-based DEI Dashboard that helps organizations create and maintain turn-key answers to question like “How diverse is your workforce?”, “Which areas of my organization are not diverse?” and “How diverse is my organization’s leadership distribution?” from their HCM systems.
And what’s more – our focus on DEI with our clients has driven real outcomes. We’ve seen over 50% of our DEI solution’s active users act and realize a positive impact on their DEI measures. Active clients have seen pay equity gaps decrease by an average of 25% or more than $700K per client, making this a real investment for our clients based on our insights to enable equal pay for equal work.
The power of our data also extends beyond the world of HR. It is a powerful, real-time signal on the state of consumer demand, demographics, and the broader economy. Using our anonymized and aggregated data, we can construct views of migration patterns at the county level. For example, we found that before the pandemic, less than 3% of San Francisco and New York high earners making $100K or more moved out of the cities during the 12 months that ended in January 2020. After the pandemic, that number leaped to 14%. Those high-wage employees moved to the surrounding suburbs with a manageable commute to job centers. Large retailers and state governments use this data to shape their demand forecasting and to optimize their organizational agility in this rapidly changing world.
By putting our clients first and applying one of the richest data sets in the world to some of the most pressing societal and business issues of our day, our teams make a real impact every day at work. The client-obsessed and data-savvy product managers, engineers, UX designers, and data scientists that fuel our teams are constantly pushing the boundaries of technology to solve problems for our clients. At ADP, we are always designing for people, and in DataCloud and the broader Data Solutions team, data is the beating heart of everything we do.
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
Click here to search for your next move and visit Who We Hire.
