23 Jul Transforming the employee experience using AI
How to transform the employee experience with AI
After years of focus on the customer experience (CX), today’s leaders increasingly recognise the undeniable impact of the employee experience (EX) on business performance. In a recent survey by Zendesk, 84% of leaders said that EX is a critical business priority, with an equal amount seeing it as a key competitive differentiator. While the importance of EX is widely acknowledged, the challenge remains – how can leaders meet evolving employee expectations and leverage rapid changes in technology to deliver great EX?
AI-powered solutions can help you meet this challenge by creating more personalised, engaging, and efficient work environments. Leveraging AI at defining moments for employees can transform their experience, creating positive ripple effects across your business. We take a closer look at how AI is transforming EX in ways that benefit both employees and the bottom line.
Key trends shaping the employee experience
Before diving into how AI can influence EX, we need to consider the current trends shaping the EX landscape. “Employee experience refers to the holistic impact of the job and the organisation on an individual,” said Simon Shanks, Partnership Enablement Lead at Synergy Enterprise Solutions. “This ties into every aspect of their work, from their workload to the tools they use, to customer and peer interactions, and opportunities for development. Without positive EX, engagement and retention metrics are likely to drop. More importantly, employee wellness is likely to suffer”.
Here are the key trends we’re seeing impacting EX with our customers:
Hybrid workforces:
Flexible, distributed work is here to stay for many industries, despite increasing requests for employees to return to the office. Having experienced both the benefits and challenges of remote work, leaders need new strategies to encourage collaboration and effectively manage a hybrid workforce.
Mental health and wellbeing:
Beyond overall wellbeing, psychosocial factors are becoming increasingly important thanks to recent developments in some states in work health and safety laws. They highlight the need for organisations to look beyond reactive wellness measures to introduce proactive and preventative approaches.
Diversity and inclusion:
The latest data from the Inclusion@Work index shows that Australians feel less connected, valued, and included at work. However, organisations focused on diversity and inclusion are bucking the trend and are more than twice as likely to provide excellent customer service. Research from New Zealand shows similar business benefits for focusing on diversity and inclusion.
Risk of burnout:
Balancing productivity with employee wellbeing remains a persistent challenge, with research by the Corporate Mental Health Alliance showing that 44% of employees are experiencing burnout.
Continuous learning:
Rapid technological advancements, particularly in the area of AI, require employees to continuously upskill and reskill.
Together, these developments highlight the complex nature of modern EX. To address them effectively, leaders need to think outside the box and leverage the right tools to find innovative solutions.
How to improve the employee experience with AI
AI has the potential to touch almost every aspect of the workplace, and so businesses are working on adopting AI to ‘future-ready’ their workforce. However, this adoption must also include the employee experience, given its critical impact on CX and the bottom line. “To consider the potential of AI for the employee experience, it helps to think of the customer experience. Rightly or otherwise, most organisations have invested more in CX than EX to date,” said Simon. “Almost all the improvements AI enables for customers can be adapted to benefit employees too. This can help you think of ways to apply your existing CX strategies to the employee experience”.
Here are three examples of how AI can be used to enhance EX:
1) Employee self-service: Helping manage employee-related admin
AI-powered chatbots and intelligent virtual assistants can revolutionise how employees access information and complete administrative employee-related tasks. Instead of navigating multiple systems or waiting for HR responses, employees can now use conversational interfaces within the communication channel of their choice, such as Slack, or Teams. Thanks to advances in conversational AI, the interface can understand an employee’s intent, access the relevant systems to find the information it needs, and provide an immediate response.
For example, an employee looking to take leave could message an intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) via Microsoft Teams, such as “I want to take annual leave in July. How much do I have?”. Put simply, the IVA can respond with the employee’s leave balance, prompt them for the specific days in July they would like to take off, and then raise the request to their approving manager within seconds. Rather than raising different requests in various systems and following unique processes for each request, employees can have administrative requests addressed conversationally within the communication channel they use daily. This streamlined approach not only saves time but also reduces frustration and improves overall satisfaction.
2) Employee co-pilots: Helping people do their work
AI co-pilots are transforming how employees perform their daily tasks, particularly in customer-facing roles. These intelligent agent assistants provide real-time guidance, automate routine processes, and help employees navigate complex systems more efficiently.
A common example is the use of AI co-pilots in a contact centre setting. The co-pilot can listen to customer calls in real-time, providing agents with suggested responses, relevant information, and step-by-step guidance through processes (referred to as “next best action” in CX vernacular). These measures help improve the quality of customer interactions, boost agent confidence, and reduce stress.
Another EX-related example is using co-pilots during employee onboarding and skills development. Co-pilots can provide instant access to information, training, and guidance, helping new hires, or upskilling employees to reach competency levels much faster than traditional training methods allow.
3) People management: Helping people improve their performance
Through advanced analytics and natural language processing, AI can help organisations better manage and support their workforce. Deeper, real-time insights into areas such as employee performance, engagement, and wellbeing, give managers access to insights they’ve never been able to view before.
For example, the traditional quality assurance process in contact centres sees a small percentage of calls being monitored and reviewed, with learnings from this exercise used to make broader changes and adjustments. The challenge with this is that the small percentage may not be representative of the majority of calls. AI can analyse 100% of customer interactions, providing a comprehensive and accurate view of agent and contact centre performance. With this data, AI can better identify trends, flag concerning interactions, and recommend targeted training or support to help fill the gaps.
In terms of employee wellness, AI can identify signs of stress or burnout by analysing communication patterns, workload, and performance data. For example, AI could automatically suggest breaks after high-stress calls, notify supervisors for check-ins, or recommend wellness resources tailored to the individual employee’s needs.
Getting started with AI for EX
While the idea of implementing AI for EX can feel overwhelming, the good news is that it often doesn’t have to be the case. “Transforming the EX with AI doesn’t need an all-or-nothing approach,” said Simon. “You can take it one area at a time, get some wins for the team, then move on to the next, while monitoring the impacts of past changes. This iterative approach helps you manage time and budget while also allowing you to make tangible progress quickly”.
Here are three key steps to help you get started:
1) Set the stage for AI integration
Begin by laying the AI foundation for EX use cases within your organisation. Due to AI’s acceleration so far, many organisations will already have an AI framework defined to ensure you have the foundation for AI success. Key considerations include:
Governance
Establish a governance framework, policies, and key considerations for EX-related AI initiatives. Define who will own the project, the key stakeholders, and the approved potential use cases.
Communication
Consider your internal and external messaging around the implementation of AI. Customers need to know they can continue to trust your brand, while employees need to understand how AI can enhance or enrich their roles, rather than putting them at risk.
Inclusion
Make sure you include AI as a standard consideration for future people and culture strategies and projects. Consider the impacts and opportunities on the roles and skills required within the business and associated budgetary impacts.
2) Tailor to AI transformation
Start by identifying specific areas where AI can add value to your EX strategy. This could be streamlining administrative tasks, enhancing communication, or improving data analysis. Engage stakeholders across departments to understand their pain points and requirements.
Once you’ve identified the use cases, map your current tech capabilities and identify gaps. Don’t forget to assess your current technology stack, as you may already have AI capabilities that can be leveraged.
Then begin evaluating how current roles will be impacted, and conceptualising the roles of the future, including implications for organisational structure and training.
3) Operationalise to optimise
Agree on one or two use cases, and define the criteria to measure success. Collaborate with an AI partner to run an AI-readiness assessment and help you with technology enablement. Where supported, you could enable AI within your current tech stack, or you may need to start with a proof of concept.
Ready to take the first step?
Transforming the employee experience with AI can be a strategic move with significant benefits for your organisation. By leveraging AI in practical ways to address key EX pain points, you can create a more engaging, efficient, and supportive work environment. The key to success is to start small, iterate, and build on your wins.
Think your EX could benefit from AI technology?
Contact us for our complimentary AI-readiness assessment to help you discover the best use cases for AI in your organisation.
About the Author
Simon Shanks is the General Manager at Synergy Enterprise Solutions. Along with a team of CX and EX technology experts, Simon helps businesses deliver delightful customer and employee experiences across all communication channels. Prior to this, Simon spent 16 years leading customer support and customer experience teams from the ground floor, putting him in a unique position to understand the challenges faced by contact centres today.
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