At one point or another, almost everyone has called a customer service number with what should be a simple question. But after pressing the menu options, waiting on hold and being transferred to different agents, the answer you’re looking for may still be elusive. Something similar can happen when employees try to get their HR questions answered.
Whether seeking info about health insurance, paychecks, company travel policy or anything else, employees want an immediate response, similar to what they expect from Alexa or Siri. Without a streamlined way to provide the information employees need, regardless of how important or trivial their question, it can negatively affect the employee experience.
One-size-fits-all falls flat
One of the challenges HR often faces in responding to employees is that people express their thoughts in different ways, making it hard to capture the nuances. A one-size-fits-all or scripted answer isn’t enough, leading to more frustration while not giving the response they need. This is especially critical at a time when only 34% of employees are engaged at work – being left in the dark can only exacerbate those feelings of disengagement.
Sticking to a script based on legalese and policy will also fail to instill confidence in employees. After all, HR should be the knowledge source for their questions. If employees don’t get the answers they’re looking for, or even if they do but it takes longer than they think it should – it may prevent them from going to HR the next time they need something. This can further impact the employee experience at a time when a strong experience is crucial to competing effectively.
Now consider the situation from the HR team’s perspective. They must field a multitude of employee questions throughout the day, all while doing their more business-critical tasks. If they answer with HR jargon, it can go over employees’ heads. Try to put things in everyday terms, and an important detail might be left off.
Clearly, sticking to a script isn’t the right approach. And since many questions are about an employees’ health and wellbeing – or that of their family – it’s critical to get things right.
Learn how to use a digital workplace to motivate disengaged employees
Leaving the script behind
Rather than having to search through a mix of disjointed HR systems, applications and content to find what they need, Simpplr’s Virtual Assistant can connect all a company’s tools and resources in one single hub. The result? HR no longer needs to scramble to find the answers, since the Virtual Assistant can simply do it for them. Not only that, but the right solution can also help to put information in easily understood and actionable terms.
While equipping HR with the tools to better serve employees is crucial, what if you could flip the script and put employees in control?
Empowering employees to interact with the Virtual Assistant themselves can improve the employee experience, helping them get the answers they need as soon as possible.
This frees up time for HR to focus on other tasks, while preventing them from being a bottleneck against simple requests.
Here, companies have a choice – do it yourself versus rely on the learnings and expertise of a platform. It is possible to build a bot in house, but this approach puts limitations on the efficacy of the tool, requiring near-constant maintenance and upkeep. While implementing a platform allows teams to connect multiple applications with ease, pulling the questions and answers into one simplified hub, rather than trying to update disparate spokes.
A successful HR operation is one that gives employees the information they need when they need it. With the right solution in place, HR can deliver exactly what they’re looking for – no script necessary.
How Simpplr can help
By unifying employee engagement, enablement and services using cutting-edge AI, Simpplr’s vision is to deliver a seamless and personalized work journey for every employee, no matter where or how they work. Request a demo to see how Simpplr’s Virtual Assistant can help you revolutionize employee self-service with AI-powered workflows and assistance.
