Advancing employee experience through AI

In today’s empowered and personalised environment, employee experience (EX) is more important than ever. Like customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX) is the series of touchpoints that an employee has with their employer, from recruitment and on-boarding through to exit and return. In the past, these touchpoints have been delivered through a system of unconnected and sometimes unintentional experiences delivered independently by HR, Finance, Technology and Workplace teams. Today, employers are recognising that to attract and engage talent, they must treat their employees as customers and deliver a joined up, digitally enabled experience that delights them.

Research clearly demonstrates the value of EX to organisations, and as AI becomes increasingly prevalent in the workplace, PA wanted to understand the interconnectivity between the two. We undertook a study of 11 major global organisations spanning financial services, transport, health and property sectors, applying CX techniques including structured interviews and digital communities to unearth current and future thinking on the intersectionality of EX and technology.

Our research found that there is a delta of investment between CX and EX, even with the right approach, EX can significantly increase workforce productivity, employee retention, better serve a diverse set of user needs and create a more inclusive experience. Today, the bar for tech provision in the workplace is higher than ever, with simple digital experience in employees’ personal lives setting the expectation of the work experience.

As a result, we believe that aligning AI investment with EX is as imperative as it is with CX if organisations are to drive growth.

Through our experience accelerating clients’ EX journeys, we’ve found that the most intelligent enterprises already tightly align EX strategy with AI investment. These organisations can clearly see the seismic shifts AI has already made in the way they deliver solutions to customers – for example AI-powered facial recognition that protects sensitive customer data and chatbots and virtual assistants that provide 24/7 customer service – and leaders are increasingly applying these learnings to their EX initiatives. Our research found:

• The only certainty is uncertainty – Modern knowledge workers experience in the workplace is characterised by varied, challenging work.
• The future’s here – it's just unevenly distributed – While AI is helping some organisations to streamline their workflows, clunky outdated systems are creating delays and frustrations for others.
• Tech matters most in managing information efficiently – Most organisations are adopting AI for knowledge sharing, enabling efficient work and collaboration.
• Current workplace technology is sub-par and outdated – Over half of those we spoke to felt that tech was outdated, too slow, too fragmented and lacking in support and training.
• Most are keen to embrace AI, while maintaining the human touch – Employees recognise the time technology could save, but feel they play a critical role in judging the quality and credence of the outcomes generated and feel ill-equipped for adoption.

There are, of course, risks and concerns. Our research showed that employers continue to worry about data privacy and security related to AI adoption; and many of our participants were struggling with fragmented technology ecosystems which make delivering an integrated, efficient EX more complex. Distrust in AI solutions may diminish quickly, but for now a human in the loop or human over the loop is seen as essential.

At a time when AI investment across all industries is increasing, the race is on to build maturity. AI has huge potential to propel EX forward, but a limited or short-sighted view of this evolving technology will result in organisations making the wrong investment and hindering employee productivity and satisfaction in the process.

Establishing the right approach requires a shift in mindset, as well as tech expertise. Here, we delve into how organisations can practically bring EX and AI together to achieve their strategic goals.

How should AI feature in EX strategy?

Organisations must take a more proactive approach to designing the workplace experience for colleagues, including mapping employee journeys, using data to better understand where there are pain points and frustrations, and uncovering unmet needs. Successful EX design also requires looking at what is unique to the organisation and which aspects of its culture will be enhanced technology implementation.

Considering every process touchpoint with both AI and EX will highlight just how central technology is to the day-to-day experience of employees at work, and help make the case for greater AI investment, which is more closely aligned with the wider EX strategy.

We asked research participants where they saw the greatest value in applying AI to EX:

• On-boarding and learning were key areas of focus, with AI solutions expected to enable personalised ‘just in time’ learning and improve employee self-service
• Knowledge management and efficiency tasks were also expected to see major improvements
• Work-life balance was also a key topic for those we spoke to, with AI seen as allowing employees to spend less time on basic tasks and freeing up time and focus on tasks where the human touch is more essential.

While these are known use cases, we found that many are still testing the waters of AI capability before considering more advanced approaches.

Redefine EX ownership with a cross-functional approach

Even with clarity on EX and how it can be improved, HR can’t act alone. Ownership of EX – just like ownership of AI – must be a cross-functional endeavour, requiring the establishment of new teams, new funding models and new product roles that may not currently exist. We asked our research participants how they defined employee journeys for ongoing ownership and improvement, and the over-arching message was to keep it simple – with most structuring EX into employee lifecycle components plus key moments that matter.

By building a cross-functional group for EX, greater value can be extracted from AI initiatives, both current and prospective, by joining them together and thinking about them from an employee perspective rather than a ‘business function’ perspective. For example, with a central view of AI pilot programmes, organisations can collect insight from different teams, track adoption rates, make better-informed investment choices in tooling, and see the impact on the wider business, all of which are building blocks for AI maturity.

Enhance data and technology capabilities

Solid data foundations are a prerequisite for technology innovation. However, our research indicated that EX and HR teams are stymied by siloed, fragmented and inaccurate data. Participants also felt that technology solutions designed for employees have historically fallen short, particularly compared to customer-facing services. Similarly, employees are frustrated by the lack of interoperability between tools and the negative impact this has on productivity and collaboration.

To ready the business for AI-powered EX, employee data needs to be clean, consolidated, and aligned with the broader organisational data strategy. The organisation requires a simple and coherent ecosystem of EX tools, enabling the regular delivery of change and improvements.

Establishing cross-functional teams and integrating data experts will help enhance HR’s data capabilities, but this should be combined with investment in the HR team itself, ensuring the function can evaluate, govern, and secure employee data. Our work with Rabobank helped to drive a more data-driven culture across the HR function and pave the way for a similar shift in culture across all functions. Applying lessons in data transformation as part of AI-powered EX initiatives will ensure high-quality insight-driven decision making.

Balancing AI-powered processes with human intervention

In a world where highly skilled individuals are in demand, intelligent enterprises are better equipped to recruit and retain talent. For example, in the financial services industry, traditional banks find it increasingly hard to compete with FinTechs, who not only offer an enhanced CX, but also provide a employee experience with a faster pace of innovation, more agile ways of working, and cutting-edge technology.

It’s vital organisations recognise that any process aided by AI must make employees feel valued and challenged and that they remain integral to it. Key to this is retaining a human component to AI-powered solutions. This will not only help employees feel their needs are being met but also ease concerns around AI and job security. As with any new technology, care must be taken to allay the fears or mistrust – a natural response to change.

It's clear that by integrating digital technologies and AI into EX, organisations have the opportunity to revolutionise how employees experience their working lives. Our research clearly found that technology (and its seamless integration) is part of the future ideal employee experience, enabling empowerment, personal learning and development, a positive work culture and connection with colleagues and achieving better work-life balance.

Our recommendation for those embarking on this journey is to consider four critical components of EX set out above. By following this approach, organisations will position themselves as intelligent enterprises that win the hearts and minds of the workforce, and where EX – along with CX – is seen as a key growth driver.