'We're eliminating unconscious bias, but we're also eliminating conscious bias,' says Auto-UX CEO
Choosing a car as part of a benefits package should feel empowering. Instead, it often feels like a gamble—confusing, sales-driven, and weighed down by bias.
Greg Parkes, CEO of Auto-UX, believes it doesn’t have to be that way. In a recent interview with HRD, Parkes explained that the archaic and overly complicated process many organizations have in place now lends itself to partiality and could be hurting the employee experience.
“For almost 40 years, our industry has dealt with novated leasing through good old fashioned phone consultations with salespeople,” he told HRD. “But this is actually part of the problem. They have their own personal bias around makes and models, they have their own sales targets to hit and commissions to make.”
The second issue with the more traditional model is a lack of comparison. As Parkes told HRD, his industry has done a poor job of providing a framework to help employees actually benchmark and compare options – something he’s determined to put right.
“Employees don’t really know what car they want,” he added. “They need to build lots of quotes and look at lots of different options. The traditional model relies on a sales consultant guiding you through this – and they don't want to build you multiple quotes. That's a lot of time and money; they want to limit choices to get you to make the decision faster.”
At Auto-UX, Parkes and his team have flipped these issues on their head, harnessing the power of AI and HR technology to create Select Assist. Select Assist is an Auto-Pilot feature that leverages AI to present employees with alternative vehicles to the initial quote.
“Select Assist uses standardized benchmarking criteria to bring up alternative vehicles that possess some of the similar characteristics of the first car the employee built a quote on - and they're in the same price bracket,” added Parkes. “From there, they benchmark those vehicles using standardized criteria so they can actually compare things such as value, comfort, performance.”
Select Assist is wholly designed to eliminate the bias in the leasing process, while at the same time expanding employees’ view and knowledge of the options out there. It’s essentially a win-win. A win for employees who’re given an unbiased, expansive list of options, and a win for employers who can rest easy knowing that their people are enjoying a high-tech interactive experience that’s both personalized and free of partiality – something that sits at the core of Parkes’ values.
“We're eliminating unconscious bias, but we're also eliminating conscious bias,” he told HRD. “There’s three core employee experience outcomes of this feature. The first is that we’ve eliminated sales consultant bias - because the AI suggests vehicles with common criteria without someone's personal bias coming into it. Secondly, it enables employees to compare these cars with ease. I use the term ‘rack and stack them’ - to compare them side by side looking at performance, comfort and value in a very tech friendly way.
“Thirdly, employees can build unlimited quotes. Not only have they got these endless AI suggestions they can tap into, but they're also not constrained as they have been with the traditional model.”
The impact of Select Assist is already making waves – with Parkes adding that the early data is super encouraging.
“We think it’s going to have a really big impact,” he added. “Buying a car is a huge purchasing decision – probably the biggest one after buying a house – so there’s a lot at stake. Select Assist is a safe space, because often people feel under pressure or even silly asking questions directly to a salesperson who’s very knowledgeable in this area. With our feature employees can explore their options from anywhere at any time – they’re able to go on their own self-directed educational journey with us.”
And the feedback speaks for itself, with Parkes explaining that both employers and their people are enjoying the safety and autonomy Select Assist offers.
“Employees love the fun element of AI in the feature – they can choose their own adventure. And our employer clients believe it’s adding to their employee value proposition. Because while novated leasing is nothing new, it’s been delivered in the same way for 40 years. Select Assist is something brand new, it’s exciting – and with financial services this is what employees expect nowadays.”
To learn more about Auto-UX, Select Assist and other game-changing features that are transforming the employee experience of novated leasing, click here.
