HR departments used to spend most of their time processing employee information. With the introduction of Employee Self-Service (ESS), 22% of the time spent on admin tasks could be reduced. Later on, AI chatbots came in to push this yardstick further.
With traditional HR and IT support models, workers would have to wait a long time for a response and go through manual processes, while HR personnel would be swamped with high volumes of support tickets. Enter custom AI chatbots – smart virtual assistants that take ESS to another level.
From offering automated responses to 24/7 support, these AI chatbots are powered by Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML). In a nutshell, they are revolutionizing HR, IT, and other internal departments.
ESS is so beneficial to companies that 70% of small to medium-sized businesses already report using some form of an ESS system. In this article, we’ll tell you about how AI chatbots are changing and upgrading ESS software, helping companies become more efficient, save costs, and automate employee queries.
A Brief History of Employee Self-Service (ESS)
IT personnel and HR departments once handled many manual tasks that are now completed in minutes if not seconds using self-service portals and AI chatbots. It was only a couple of years ago that employees would struggle to get real-time support, find company policies, or other information.
Today, AI chatbot development services have changed the game of HR and IT queries with:
- Instant responses
- A conversational interface
- Simple navigation
- Quick resolutions to issues
For example, employees can now use AI chatbots to reset their own passwords, check their PTO balances, update their employee information, and more. As a result, 66% of executives believe that their workers feel comfortable using chatbots to get information about policies.
5 Ways AI-Powered Chatbots are Revolutionizing Employee Self-Service
The benefits of integrating AI into ESS tools are too many to count on one hand, but we’ve done our best to narrow them down to 5. While many companies think custom software development costs are too high and unnecessary, the reality is that its ROI is worth your while. Let’s see how AI can change your company’s ESS systems.
1. Automating HR Support and Employee Requests
HR teams usually get asked similar questions from employees, including queries on PTO days left, tax forms, processes for requesting remote work, etc. With a custom AI chatbot that is trained on your company’s data, these issues can be resolved almost instantly.
An AI chatbot can retrieve information from HR databases within seconds, saving your employees and HR managers tons of time they would’ve spent browsing handbooks. And gathering info is just the tip of the iceberg. Chatbots can also:
- Answer FAQs
- Give policy clarifications
- Handle leave requests
- Provide payroll information
- Give compliance updates
- Manage the majority of admin tasks that come their way
- Much more
The cherry on top? These AI chatbots are ready to help out your employees 24/7, anywhere, anytime. No more waiting for HR to get back to you about a technical issue.
2. Enhancing IT Support with Instant Resolutions
AI chatbots don’t just handle HR-related questions. They also take on repetitive IT support issues in huge volumes. These can include things like:
- Resetting passwords with data-safe integrations
- Troubleshooting VPN access
- Guiding an employee through software installation
Now, instead of waiting for an IT technician to become available, employees can ask the company’s custom AI chatbot any question they have. The chatbot will be available 24/7 for an unlimited number of queries.
All questions are tracked with IT tickets that the AI creates. An issue gets escalated to a human only when it becomes too complex for the chatbot to handle.
It’s a win-win solution, helping reduce the workload for your IT department and giving quicker answers to your employees.
3. Improving Onboarding and Training Processes
Within a traditional onboarding model, HR professionals spend around 40 hours for each new employee. This is where virtual AI chatbots come in to help employees with:
- Understanding company policies
- Getting their onboarding checklist done
- Finding answers to FAQs
- Acquiring a personalized onboarding roadmap
- Automatically reminding them about mandatory training
- Giving instant access to company handbooks, benefits, and other information
A case study from Unilever showed that implementing AI chatbots in their onboarding process helped save 20% of the time spent on onboarding and gave 85% of new hires higher satisfaction rates and a smoother transition.
4. Enhancing Internal Communication and Knowledge Management
Information silos are bottlenecks in too many companies. They make the lives of employees difficult when accessing company-wide knowledge and updates. Custom AI-powered chatbots fix this hurdle and centralize knowledge management, giving employees:
- Instant answers to policy and workflow-related questions
- Company-wide updates and announcements
- An easy way to find documents and resources they need
Overall, AI chatbots act like personal virtual assistants that help make knowledge-sharing more transparent for employees, reducing their dependency on HR and IT teams.
5. Driving Employee Engagement and Well-Being
Last but not least, let’s talk about how custom AI-powered chatbots help boost employee engagement, satisfaction, and even retention. From supporting mental health to conducting well-being surveys, these digital systems can:
- Send custom reminders to hydrate, take breaks, and give mindfulness tips
- Hold anonymous sentiment surveys
- Share mental health resources and direct employees to support services
- Help employees feel valued and cared for
This benefits not only the employees but the organization itself. On top of all that, it helps boost awareness of well-being resources, morale, and retention.
Conclusion
Custom AI chatbots integrated into ESS systems are changing the way HR and IT support procedures are held. Among its benefits are streamlined onboarding, better engagement, and enhanced internal communication.
With these intelligent assistants, employers can lower their operational costs, taking off a huge workload from the shoulders of HR personnel.
As more and more companies continue to integrate custom AI chatbots into their ESS systems, they will become more strategic in their success, giving their beloved employees the support they need anywhere, anytime.
Guest writer
