11/03/2026
By Mark Harrison FIEP, Strategic Advisor at Earlybird
I have spent more than 30 years working in employment support and citizen services. I have managed frontline teams, led large-scale operations, sat on boards, and now advise organisations navigating some of the biggest changes our sector has ever seen.
One thing has stayed constant through all of it. The people who do this work are driven by something you cannot teach someone. They want to see the person sitting across from them move forward. Into work, yes, but also into a life that actually works for them. Everything in our sector is built on that.
What has changed, significantly, is what we are now asking those same people to do with their time.
The Relationship Between Time and Quality of Support
Every experienced practitioner and operations lead knows what happens when an adviser has the time and space to focus on a participant. The relationship deepens. The participant becomes more open about what they are actually dealing with and the adviser can listen properly, dig deeper, and tailor their approach to what that individual needs.
From speaking to frontline teams throughout my career, the advisers who consistently get the best results are the ones who build strong relationships. They take the time to understand what is really going on in a participant’s life, and that trust leads to honest conversations about barriers, realistic goals, and better outcomes.
Based on what I’ve seen work across many different programmes, advisers should be spending roughly 80% of their time on meaningful contact with participants and 20% on administration. That ratio is where performance improves.
But anyone working in delivery today knows that for many teams the balance has tipped the other way. The sheer volume of recording, compliance, and reporting that modern programme delivery requires has eaten into the time available for the work that matters most. That’s a reflection of how much is being asked of frontline teams, and it is the context that makes the current moment so important.
Where AI Adds Value
I’m not someone who gets excited about technology for its own sake. I’ve seen plenty of tools come and go over three decades. The ones that last are always the ones that are simple, that work for everyone involved, and that frontline staff see as an aide to their work. If a tool creates more work than it removes, it will not survive contact with a real caseload.
The biggest opportunity I see for AI in employment support is reducing the admin burden so advisers can spend more of their time doing what they do best. More face-to-face time with participants. Stronger relationships and through that, better outcomes for the people we are here to support.
That’s what drives performance. From my experience, when advisers are freed from repetitive recording tasks, the impact is felt on both sides. Advisers reconnect with the work that brought them into the profession. Participants get the quality of attention that can change their trajectory. Those two things are linked, and they always have been.
What Excites Me About What Comes Next
I recently formalised my role as a Strategic Advisor to Earlybird. I had been working closely with the team for over two years before making that step. The reason was simple: from my experience, Earlybird understood the challenges facing employability frontline teams from the very beginning. They listened, and they built a solution that has evidence-based impact.
But what excites me most is where this can go.
I think we will reach a point where we can use the data from participants who have achieved sustainable employment to map potential pathways for people just starting their journey. Understanding the initial barriers those successful participants faced, identifying what interventions worked well, and using that insight to inform faster, better support for the next person who walks through the door. We are not there yet, but that’s where responsible, well-designed AI can take the sector. And for the participants we exist to serve, that would be a meaningful step forward.
A Message for Leaders Across the Sector
For anyone in a leadership position weighing up whether AI has a place in their provision: embrace it, do not fear it. The technology is here to support your frontline teams. It creates additional time for meaningful conversations, which drives performance, which improves outcomes for participants, which builds the evidence base you need for future contracts. That chain is real and I’ve seen it in action.
The advisers I’ve worked with throughout my career are remarkable people. What they need is better tools that give them back the space to do the work they came into this profession to do.
The organisations that move on this now will be the ones leading the sector in the years ahead.
If you want to see how AI can support your frontline teams, speak to the team at Earlybird. They understand this sector because they have been on the frontline themselves and built their platform inside the sector, alongside the people who deliver every day.
Mark Harrison FIEP has spent more than 30 years at the heart of UK employment support and citizen services. He is Non Executive Director and Board Chair at Total Training Provision, Founder of ETE Solutions UK, and Strategic Advisor to Earlybird.