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Help is on the way: A beginner’s guide for training an AI assistant in payroll and human resources 

November 3, 2026
Drew Maginn

In a recent report on workplace AI use, Statistics Canada shared that generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini are the most commonly used by Canadian workers. However, while 30 per cent of workers reported regularly accessing these tools, many continue to use them as enhanced search engines. While this approach can be useful, even beginner users can adapt AI tools better support their role.

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Canadians remain cautious of AI workplace tools

If you don’t regularly use chatbots at work, you’re not alone. Despite the growing interest in AI, adoption and confidence levels remain mixed among Canadian workers. In the Ipsos AI Monitor 2026 report, Canada consistently ranked at the bottom amongst 32 countries in trust and optimism when it comes to AI. Concerns about AI often come from how these tools are trained, how your information is used and the reliability of the outputs. Understanding how to manage and guide these tools is vital in understanding and addressing these concerns.

Five simple steps to transition a chatbot from search engine to support tool

You don’t have to be an AI expert to train a chatbot, effective use of AI requires more than just using it as a search tool. As with many payroll and HR processes, it is important to take a structured and organized approach. If you’ve dabbled in using AI at work and are interested in expanding its use, consider the following steps: 

  • Step One – Choose your chatbot “assistant”: The most commonly used AI assistant in Canada is ChatGPT, with Claude  emerging as a new favourite. However, you should always evaluate available options based on your organizational needs, privacy requirements and existing technology platforms. For example, if you already use Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, you may want to look into Gemini or Copilot as they are better integrated into these platforms.   

 

  • Step Two – Define your chatbot’s role: Before you start training your assistant, you need to have a clear vision of what you want it to do. Rather than attempting to support every aspect of your role at once, it’s best to begin with a specific group of related tasks. For this scenario, we’ll imagine that you’re training a Human Resources (HR) Administrative Assistant to help you with recruitment.
      
  • Step Three – Identify and review your information sources: Once your tasks have been identified, gather relevant and up-to-date information sources to share. For the HR Administrative Assistant we’re training, you might share internal information like job descriptions, job postings, interview questions, policies and procedures and your benefits handbook. You could also share links to trusted external sources of information, such as your organization’s website and government websites that offer guidance on provincial employment standards.

 

  • Step Four – Share information and how you want it to be used: As information is provided, give clear direction on why it’s being shared and how you want it to be used. For example, instead of prompting your assistant with “here are some sample job postings,” you can elaborate with a more detailed prompt like “I’m going to share some sample job postings so you can become familiar with the format and typical information we include to help you create new postings with me in the future.” 

 

  • Step Five – Try out some sample tasks and adjust as needed: You can now collaborate on some tasks and see what you get. Treat this process similarly to onboarding any new team member by reviewing their work and providing feedback. Over time, outputs should improve as the tool receives more guidance and feedback.

Tips to make AI chatbots work for you

If you’re still feeling unsure about whether you should invest your time in training a chatbot, here are some tips that might make you feel less skeptical about trying it out:

  • You’re the one in control: When we start engaging with AI tools, we’re often given advice like “always keep humans in the loop” and “maintain people-centric practices.” Unfortunately, these pieces of advice typically neglect to explain what they actually mean. In simpler terms, remember that you control the information a chatbot receives and what tasks it supports. Just as employees receive appropriate levels of access and supervision, AI tools should be subject to the same controls.

  • You don’t have to sacrifice privacy for productivity: In payroll and human resources, you have access to some of the most confidential information in your organization. To effectively train a chatbot, you don’t need to share private data. In fact, with AI data protection and storage still evolving,you should exercise caution and avoid sharing personal information altogether.

  • Training takes time (and patience): It would be great if we all had massive gains in productivity as soon as we started collaborating with chatbots, but that simply does not happen. If you really want to see benefits, you need to invest time and energy to get chatbots to perform how you want. AI tools can and will make mistakes, but if you work through these growing pains, you can start to see gains in productivity in the future.

All of us are at a different stage in our professional use of AI tools. There is no denying that AI will continue to play a role in our work, but we still have the time and opportunity to determine how these tools can best serve our needs. By taking some initial steps to experiment with a few tasks, you can stay up to date on technological advances without taking on more change than your organization is prepared to manage.

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