A recent SMARP survey found that 71% of executives believe that employee engagement is critical to their organisation’s success, however contrary to this only 15% of employees feel that they are engaged in the workplace (Gallup). The link between employee engagement and productivity is something that is widely understood and accepted; however, many businesses struggle to understand how to keep employees engaged and motivated, particularly in these uncertain times.
The cost of unengaged employees to a business can be monumental – on average costing a business between $450 – $500 billion each year (The Conference Board). Deriving not only from low productivity levels but also through new hire costs as a result of lost employees. Keeping a workforce engaged is therefore essential for ensuring the long-term sustainability and success of a business.
Often organisations rely on Marketing teams to create and support engagement strategies. These strategies involve multiple email communications, newsletters, events, and physical notifications (a tactic that has become less relevant during the past year with more people working from home).
Whilst this approach to employee engagement is fundamental for helping to ensure that everyone understands and has brought into a company’s ethos and culture, it is also important to ensure that employees have access to all the information and support they need, whenever and wherever they need it to maintain engagement.
On-Demand Information & Support
For many employees, this process involves sending numerous emails, making calls, and needing to navigate multiple systems and lengthy documents – all of which is time-consuming. On average employees spend up to 2.5 hours a day searching for information (SMARP) and this can be very frustrating and demoralizing ultimately impacting the individual’s engagement level with an organisation.
A Conversational Assistant could help businesses to overcome the challenge of engagement by providing employees with a single point of contact for all information and processes. From HR requests to day-to-day admin requests and finding out about customer orders or deliveries. Platforms such as Humley’s Conversational AI Assistant come pre-built with integrations to all of the leading business systems (HR, CRM, Finance, and more) and automatic document ingestion to provide one unified source for all information. On average the Assistant delivers meaningful responses in under 2 seconds and because of this, there is no waiting or delays – ensuring employees remain engaged.
Engage with Employees in the Communication Channels they Actually Use
Furthermore, a Conversational Assistant, such as Humley’s can be deployed to multiple communication channels (websites, mobile, instant messenger (Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc.) and voice. This means that employees can communicate and receive information and support in the channels that they use further improving engagement.
Proactive Outreach
Conversational Assistant can also be used by organisations to support engagement through outreach functionality. Delivering messages to employees quickly and easily to ensure that they are praised, kept up to date, and supported more proactively.
Enhanced Insights
Finally, Conversational Assistants can support the engagement of employees by helping to deliver even greater insights into interactions. Pre-built dashboards mean that HR Teams can track metrics such as FAQs triggered, employee feedback, and the volume of communications received. These metrics provide HR experts with an insight into employee satisfaction and proactively help to identify trends that could impact the long-term success of an organisation.
For example, an HR department might be receiving a high number of requests from employees asking about a holiday allowance or trying to book time off. This could indicate high levels of stress or ‘burnout’ across the workforce, which may ultimately lead to people leaving the organisation. Through better visibility of data, HR Teams can address these trends before they start to have a long-term negative impact on employee wellbeing and the wider organization.
In conclusion, with employee engagement playing an essential role in ensuring the success of an organisation, it is more than ever that business leaders invest in technologies that help to support them and their workforce more effectively.
If you are interested in finding out more about how Conversational AI Assistants could transform your employee experiences and engagement, get in touch today.