Helen Cook, Chief People & Comms Officer at Finastra: “Gen AI will be a game-changer when it comes to job enrichment”

Let’s line up some clichés. “Last but not least” for one. “Going out with a bang” to follow up. For this is the final interview in our Coffee with HR series, and we have to say it’s one of the best. Perhaps that shouldn’t be a surprise. Helen Cook is Chief People & Comms Officer at Finastra, a global company at the cutting edge (cliché number three) of technology. To keep a workforce of around 8,000 motivated takes someone hugely motivated themselves.

Especially so when almost half of those employees are developers, whose skills are massively in demand around the world. Little wonder that Helen and her team are always looking at ways to use technology to help, whether that’s artificial intelligence or creating collaborative spaces to work both online and offline.

Just to pile on the pressure, Helen is also responsible for advancing Finastra’s aspiration to be the most inclusive and diverse employer in fintech. Thankfully she has some 30 years of experience, having previously been CHRO at NatWest Group along with tenures at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.

Read on to discover how Helen uses technology (including Microsoft 365 Copilot), why she doesn’t like negative terms such as “quiet quitting” and exactly how much importance she still places on employees meeting up in real life.

Related reading: Hiring for success: the case for skills and attitude

Tell us about your role at Finastra

I’m Chief People & Comms Officer at Finastra, a provider of financial software applications and marketplaces to over 8,100 institutions around the world; from small US credit unions right through to global Tier 1 banks. Finastra serves 45 of the world’s top 50 banks, and my role is to develop our workforce of around 8,000 through the skills that they need today and tomorrow, and the workplace environment that allows them to connect and thrive.

We hear about terms like quiet quitting, indicating a shift in employees’ approach to work post-pandemic. Is this something you’ve seen at your work? And how are you reacting to it?

I can’t say I’m a big fan of the current zeitgeist to use negative words or names to express the human need for a work/life balance!

Employee engagement is a complex, evolving art, and organisations must provide all the tools that their people need to be healthy and well, as well as productive and connected. Having a strong employer value proposition that sets the expectation on both sides (what we provide and commit to as an employer, as well as what we expect from our people – we call it “the give and the get”) is a powerful way to attract and retain the right people, and providing the tools and culture that flex to an employee’s personal requirements is key.

These might be generative AI (to assist with reducing the burden of admin), flexible working, companywide Out-Of-Office days or simply a universal approach to goal setting in quarterly sprints; organisations today must nurture and retain the right people in a way that holistically supports their emotional and vocational needs.

How do you think offices as we know them will change in the next decade?

We’ve already seen offices evolve from fixed desks and teams to more flexible spaces with an increase in foot space dedicated to connecting and collaborating. This would have been inconceivable a decade ago, so I’ll leave the hypothesising to the analysts!

I cannot see a future fully remote, however, as it goes against our fundamental human need to connect, and the innovation, support and creativity we get from physically working together. Digital fatigue is very real, and so I believe that offices will continue to be the “respite” rather than the other way around!

Related reading: How the world of work will look in 2030

Post-pandemic, what are your thoughts on hybrid work trends and how do you think they’ll shape the upcoming years? 

We, like many other organisations, have had to adapt our workplace strategy to balance business and employee needs. Having the mechanisms in place to canvas and truly understand employee feedback has been invaluable and allowed us to develop a flexible working framework across the globe.

Obviously, some roles require more in-person collaboration, and some countries mandate specific on-site quotients, but for the most part, we offer our employees the opportunity to set their own parameters with a guideline of a minimum number of days in the offices per quarter, not per week. This flexibility means they can spend quality time together on a monthly or quarterly basis, to set out strategies and sprints, or reflect on progress, in a meaningful and more useful way.

Of course, we continue to offer what we call “moments that matter” – reasons to meet up on a more ad hoc basis, be they ESG days, social events, or learning festivals such as the week-long generative AI expo we’re currently running which is part virtual and part face to face.

Is your company leveraging AI to interact with or help manage employees in any way? If so, what challenges have you experienced?

As a technology company, we have always embraced the potential of AI to enhance our operations – from simple tools such as an AI-based inclusive language assistant in our reward system, right through to innovative customer solutions leveraging RPA, NLP and other AI applications.

We’re currently rolling out an enterprise-wide generative AI program, consisting of tools (Bing Chat for Enterprise and Copilot for all, and GitHub Copilot for our developers), training for all 8,000 employees, and a comprehensive approach to learning and knowledge sharing through a combination of technology and culture.

Gen AI will be a game-changer when it comes to job enrichment, reducing time spent on repetitive or administrative tasks to give our people back time they can spend on human pursuits; learning, reflecting, imagining and creating!

What do you perceive are some of the risks of deploying AI in the workplace?

As with any change, technological or otherwise, fear or worry is a natural human response. Our approach to Gen AI is very clear; this is not a productivity, pure-efficiency or cost exercise, this is a life skill that our people will need to have, personally and professionally.

So, in order to counter the risks (and fears), our enterprise-wide training program covers all manner of considerations, including the legal and ethical use of AI, intellectual property, mitigating bias and data security.

Investing in a secure zone for our developers, who make up nearly half of our organisation, was a non-negotiable – and with an extensive skills training program, we can be sure that our people are using safe tools, in a safe environment and in a safe way. There is no better way to encourage exploration and creativity!

Related reading: HR thought leaders highlight risks of AI in the workplace