4th Industrial Revolution
Unlocking the AI advantage in HR: A guide for SMMEs
Samantha Walker 20 Aug 2025
Transforming HR with AI: Streamlining reward and performance management
HR departments reviewing reward and performance management strategies and budgets for the year ahead should consider using AI and automation to streamline these tasks.
Image source: Freepik
“Annual salary reviews and bonus processes can literally take a minimum of eight weeks to complete,” says Yoliswa Mqoboli, executive committee member at the South African Reward Association (Sara), who has first-hand experience in actively developing AI solutions to reduce this burden.
AI-driven analytics and automation can bring the kind of change that HR departments and their stakeholders desperately need.
The HR problem
While many organisations already have repositories of historical reward data, much of this is captured manually and analysed by hand. AI, automation and data-driven HR promise to take away the pain and simplify the performance review journey for HR practitioners, corporate managers and employees alike.
“We spend most of our time modelling reward data in Excel and chasing feedback on bonus schedules and pay increases; we don’t get to the important stuff, like developing innovative strategies and addressing pay inequalities,” says Mqoboli.
Unrivalled speed and simplicity
AI can support faster data processing, but it isn’t a magic wand. Instead of spending weeks building spreadsheets, AI tools can assist with automating repetitive tasks, such as performing calculations, flagging anomalies or summarising data. However, there is still heavy reliance on humans to input structured data and exercise oversight on the data.
Better insights
The future of AI will also likely disrupt traditional annual performance reviews. There is room for innovative tools that will monitor employee and team performance in real time to provide companies with richer datasets on which to base their remuneration decisions. In turn, employees will have access to current and historical data that would give insights on their developmental plans and improvement areas for succession into next roles.
Talent rescue
Embedding AI analytics into current processes can help HR spot early signs of employee disengagement and turnover risks. This lets them address issues proactively, design recognition incentives, and develop other programmes to drive retention.
Fairness and equality
AI models, through machine learning, can be trained to ignore biases humans naturally stumble into. They can also expose biases in performance and remuneration governance and decision making, helping companies become better employers and more compliant with law.
Time for humans to shine
The biggest transformation that AI-driven analytics and automation bring to the table is that they allow HR practitioners to flex their expertise.
With AI taking over the heavy lifting, they can tackle business-critical initiatives that demand human ingenuity and finesse, like developing better reward strategies.
Where is the AI?
Although there are examples of inhouse AI solutions being developed by large South African corporations, Mqoboli says few commercially available options have leveraged AI at all.
“We’re seeing heavy investment in AI-driven HR in other countries, but here it’s still a niche offering,” she says.
No doubt, then, HR departments will want to see more on offer in 2026 so they can move ahead with their transformation.