How conversational AI make life easier for employees

A lot has been written in recent times about how technology is reinventing customer experience (CX). Concepts such as artificial intelligence (AI) and bots are playing a key role in personalising interactions, speeding up enquiries and ultimately giving consumers more reasons to remain loyal. What should not be forgotten is another group that can also benefit significantly from the use of such technologies and that is the people caring for customers.

Employee experience (EX) encapsulates a worker’s perceptions of their journey through an organisation, from the day they become a job candidate until they walk out the exit door. Needless to say, staff who have a quality EX are likely to be more productive, have a positive impact on company culture and enjoy a longer tenure, which is crucial at a time when global labour shortages are making it increasingly difficult for organisations to not only recruit but retain quality people.

How can conversational AI improve employee experience?

The employee experience is how someone feels about their journey within a company, from the moment they apply for a job to when they decide to move on. It's about their take on the company culture, the relationships they build, the opportunities they see for growth and the support they receive. A good experience tends to keep people engaged and motivated, while a bad one can lead to them feeling disconnected and looking elsewhere.

Conversational AI has become a powerful tool for improving the employee experience across various departments. Beyond just enhancing customer service, these intelligent assistants are being incorporated into the employee journey to increase engagement, satisfaction, productivity and retention.

• IT department: Conversational AI is revolutionising corporate IT departments, which often deal with a high volume of routine enquiries and support requests. These intelligent systems can autonomously handle many common IT queries, delivering fast and accurate responses without direct staff involvement.
  
  They simplify interactions by replacing complex call menus with straightforward prompts such as "How can I help you today?". This allows the AI to use intuitive conversational techniques to pinpoint and deliver the right answer or, if necessary, direct the enquiry to the appropriate IT professional. 

• HR department: HR teams benefit significantly from conversational AI integration. These tools can assist with a range of HR-related queries and tasks, such as accessing payroll data, updating personal information, requesting time off and understanding company policies. 
  
  They transform traditional resource-heavy educational approaches, drastically reducing the time needed for training programs and enabling employees to handle frequent enquiries or navigate less common requests more efficiently.

• Finance department: Conversational AI is transforming the landscape of finance departments by simplifying and automating the financial processes that often consume significant time and resources. Employees can engage with AI tools to manage expense submissions effortlessly, from snapping photos of receipts to sending them through a chat interface for processing. This technology can proactively ask for necessary details, ensuring all submissions are complete, reducing the back-and-forth typically required.
  
  Moreover, conversational AI can handle enquiries about payment timelines, budget approvals and expense policy guidelines, providing immediate responses that would otherwise require manual intervention from finance personnel. This not only accelerates the processing time but also enhances compliance with financial policies by offering consistent and accurate information. For finance teams, these AI tools can even analyse spending patterns and flag inconsistencies, offering actionable insights that help in strategic financial planning and fraud prevention.
• Facilities and operations: In facilities and operations, conversational AI can be integrated into a company’s facilities management software, allowing employees to report issues or request services through simple conversational interfaces. For instance, employees can report a malfunctioning air conditioner or request a new set of ergonomic chairs through the AI system, which then logs the request and schedules the appropriate service without human intervention.
  
  These AI tools also enhance the booking and management of shared spaces within an office environment. Employees can ask the AI to book conference rooms, arrange for necessary IT equipment or even adjust room conditions, like lighting and temperature, ahead of meetings. This proactive management helps in optimising resource use and reducing operational delays.
  
  Conversational AI can provide updates and reminders about maintenance schedules, ensuring that all parts of an organisation’s physical infrastructure are well-maintained, which reduces the risk of downtime and improves overall operational efficiency.

Benefits of AI-powered employee experiences

By leveraging the power of conversational AI, organisations can create a more modern, efficient and personalised employee experience.

1. Improved employee productivity and efficiency
   
   Conversational AI can automate routine tasks and provide instant access to information, allowing employees to focus on more strategic, value-added work. Research shows that 77% of surveyed agents said using technology like bots to automate routine tasks allowed them to focus on more complex tasks¹.
   
   
2. Reduced workloads and burnout risk for support teams
   
   By handling common enquiries and requests, AI-powered chatbots, as an example, can significantly reduce the administrative burden on IT, HR, finance and facilities teams. Studies have shown that the use of conversational AI in HR can increase employee engagement by 20% increase in employee engagement².
   
   
3. Enhanced employee satisfaction and engagement
   
   52% of employees believe software related to the employee experience is dated and difficult to use. The answer? 87% of employee experience professionals believe personalisation increases employee satisfaction³. Conversational AI can provide a more intuitive and user-friendly experience.
   
   
4. Faster issue resolution and access to information
   
   Employees can get answers to their questions and resolve issues quickly through conversational AI, without the need to wait for a human response. This helps address the challenge that 56% of employee experience professionals face, where siloed data across departments makes it difficult to use AI and bots in more advanced ways³.
   
   
5. Personalised support and recommendations
   
   Conversational AI can provide tailored assistance, learning opportunities and relevant information based on an individual employee's needs and preferences. This level of personalisation can lead to a more engaged and satisfied workforce.
   
   
6. 24/7 availability for employee enquiries and requests
   
   AI-powered chatbots are available around the clock to address employee questions and concerns, providing a level of responsiveness and accessibility that can be challenging for human teams to match.

Summary

With the bot market expected to grow to $3.62 billion by 2030, it is clear the general public has embraced the benefits they bring to customer experience. Now, with employee engagement of increasing importance, there has never been a better time for organisations of all shapes and sizes to use them to offer staff more streamlined self-service, better access to training and information and increased satisfaction by being able to spend more time on meaningful tasks.

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