Artificial Intelligence automates repetitive tasks, raises productivity and reduces operating costs—all at lightning speed.
When HR faces struggles, the whole organization groans. HR responsibilities are vast, its goals are high, and time and resources are often short. Much of HR time is invested in managing routine processes, policies, and frameworks, which can preclude the department from serving or being seen as a strategic business partner and brand. It can hamper HR from playing a more transformational role in the enterprise.
An HR department chronically “buried” causes inefficiency and delays. The perception can be that HR is functionally and emotionally disengaged from larger concerns and incapable of addressing broader interests. But the truth is, HR processes desperately need new technologies to drive up their efficiency and productivity.
Enter the Artificially Intelligent Service Desk
The AI Service Desk has the potential to revolutionize HR processes and functions so they can perform at their peak and help the organization and its employees in significant ways. AI Service Desks can effectively streamline processes, increase productivity, reduce cost, and improve employee engagement. By blending Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Sentiment, Personalization, and AI-powered Conversational Virtual Assistants in a turnkey-ready solution, the organization can see a major shift from a stretched HR department to a highly-functioning unit.
Many organizations today, including Atlassian and Zendesk, are working to help HR resolve its repetitive, mundane, and high-volume daily tasks efficiently. The goal is to help HR stay on top of its substantial daily responsibilities and to free up time and capacity for workforce development and proactive employee engagement. Freed from manual routines, HR can inspire talent and play a role as a friendly, trusted employee resource. The adoption of AI is forecasted to grow exponentially and eventually manage 85% of all employees’ interactions by 2022 (Forrester survey).
Today’s Challenges, Tomorrow’s Opportunities
Repetitive HR tasks considered burdensome include recruitment, onboarding and offboarding, payroll processing and disbursement, leave and attendance management, compliance, and more, which account for a whopping 80 percent of HR time. When HR teams are bogged down, with such low productivity tasks that do not require expertise or creative-thinking skills, they do not have the time or drive to focus on higher-level missions.
These would comprise employee relations and employee experiences, learning and development, talent management, employee retention, and others. Thus, the ability to rely on an AI-driven Desk has the potential to transform the HR organization from tactical to strategic, and from drudgery to efficiency. Not only that—but this evolution brings with it budgetary relief, enabling far more high-value work to take place at an 80 percent cost reduction.
AI Virtual Assistants: Agents of Change
Freed from the risk of human error and bias, the AI-driven Service Desk runs with extreme efficiency and engages with the entire workplace at a 60 percent higher level of productivity. This is achieved by unleashing the power of employee accessibility via Conversational AI Virtual Assistants- fully trained on all HR duties, available 24/7 and accessible from any device and channel of preference, whether voice, chat, text, or email.
This exceptionally productive virtual HR workforce can proactively address employees’ and business units’ requests across the vast pool of HR functions. For example, they can successfully automate the resolution of any user’s request for knowledge—leave, medical, retirement, voluntary benefits, work-life and wellness programs, training and events, compensation and payroll, and more—in seconds!
A user’s conversations can directly initiate Robotic Process Automation, which successfully completes simple-to-complex workflows across the wide spectrum of HR functions. These may comprise candidate recruiting, timesheet tracking, performance management and appraisals, onboarding and offboarding of employees, and more.
AI Service Desk Proactive Notification and Personalization can transform the way HR manages employee engagement, talent acquisition, and career growth by proactively engaging with every employee and personalizing the experience with a deep understanding of specific individual situations.
This much-needed disruption delivered by the AI Service Desk is unprecedented. Feed up for higher-level and more strategic tasks, the HR organization can soar into unprecedented productivity and engagement. HR becomes a nimble, agile, and cost-efficient organization by streamlining costs and processes.
Knowledge Accessibility via Conversational AI
Although most companies automate many HR tasks, the AI Service Desk takes a creative and meaningful function to a whole new dimension. Existing systems become far more user-friendly, which dramatically increases employee usage and policy compliance. They provide instant, accurate, and personalized responses to common employee requests without the need for a pressured employee to scan complicated enterprise knowledge systems and the HR intranet to access needed information. These include, “how many remaining leave days do I have?”, “what are the company policies on harassment?”, “how do I file a complaint?”, and countless others. These can all be instantly, accurately, and reliably answered by Conversational AI Virtual Assistants.
Powered by the latest Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Understanding (NLU), a Virtual Assistant can precisely understand the intent and context of user requests and quickly self-resolve them. More complex queries can be automatically escalated to the appropriate HR agent.
Solving the Challenges of Remote Work
Such human agents, freed from repetitive manual tasks, now have the wherewithal to review, respond, and intervene quickly in sensitive situations. Because AI Service Desks are offered as a SaaS solution, the army of virtual agents can be scaled elastically up and down based on the volume of employees’ requests.
This proves especially useful under the duress of intense change-management, such as that of today’s COVID-19 pandemic. In this situation, businesses need to roll out major changes or policies in the organization, such as Work-From-Home (WFM), leading to a large number of employees’ requests in a very short time.
Automation Accessibility via Robotic Process Automation (RPA).
Many HR functions involve executing predetermined workflows. These include recruitment activities, employee onboarding and offboarding, compliance checking, goal tracking, and performance review, payroll administration, and so forth. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) enables substantial automation and streamlining for immediate, substantial cost savings.
The Pleasures of Personalized Employee Engagement
AI Service Desks personalize interactions extremely well, based on employee profile, preferences, and historical behavior. Virtual Agents can engage with each employee on an individual basis and contextualize the conversation, taking into account the specifics of an employee’s personal situation and issues. They can maintain regular, proactive contact with each employee to detect any issues that need to be escalated.
By using their Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Understanding (NLU) and Sentiment Analytics, Virtual Assistants can detect anger, fatigue, frustration, demotivation, and related issues that require human engagement. As a valued, trusted HR companion, they can personalize alerts as to new company policies, and offer regular guidance and mentorship. They can even recommend customized learning and development plans, training courses, and modules to help employees optimize career growth throughout the employee lifecycle. They can become, in essence, a workplace ”BFF.”