How to Improve Employee Experience Using AI

Improving employee experience with artificial intelligence involves using AI technology to enhance various aspects of work, like communication, efficiency, and professional development. AI tools can significantly transform an employee's journey within an organization, streamlining recruitment, employee onboarding, and training programs.

Personalization is crucial in the areas of employee development and well-being. According to Qualtrics, only 64% of employees plan to stay at their present organization, down from 70% in 2021. With AI, organizations can achieve higher employee retention and satisfaction rates.

AI also helps you analyze feedback by sorting large amounts of data to identify trends, pain points, and areas of improvement. It can identify early employee burnout and formulate appropriate intervention plans. It further enhances customer support, thereby improving employee experience.

What is Employee Experience?

Employee experience is an individual's perception of the workplace while with an organization – how an employee experiences the work environment. It is the whole nine yards of personal relationships, work environment, and technologies in the organization.

Employee experience starts from recruitment and ends when an employee leaves the organization. It is an amalgamation of all the interactions, occurrences, and relationships that the employee has with the organization, cultural and otherwise.

The experience of employees while with the organization is to be seen as a strategic imperative to the business. A great employee experience leads to better employee retention and a more productive workforce. Recognition of employee contributions can foster better ownership among employees, creating a more motivated and loyal workforce.

The use of technology can streamline workflow and reduce frustration among employees. Learning and professional development opportunities also contribute to the overall employee experience in the workplace. A sound learning and development strategy will help in improving job satisfaction levels.

It is to be noted that there is a vital difference between engagement with work and the work environment. This is to be particularly noted while trying to understand and assess the experiences of employees. An employee could be happy with the work that he is doing but can have difficulties with the work environment, which would lead to a less-than-positive experience in the company.

Work-life balance is another important contributing factor in employee experience. An organization's leadership needs to lead with the company’s mission and values to have better employee ownership and commitment. It considers how the employee experience strategy influences all demographics of employees.

A positive work environment can increase employee engagement. Creating a positive employee experience is generally seen as a competitive advantage for companies. A good experience is often linked to higher productivity and better business outcomes, such as return on investment.

Why is employee experience important?

Attract top talent

Organizations with great employee experiences tend to attract top talent with employees recommending positions with the organization to others. This leads to more candidate referrals for open positions and increased fill rates as job seekers pay attention to employee work experience and company culture ratings. It is to be noted here that employee referrals are the most effective method to fill a vacancy, with referred candidates hired at a rate of about 30%.

Employee engagement

Employee experience and employee engagement are two factors that are to be balanced hand-in-hand. Employee experience focuses on the holistic journey whereas employee engagement looks into specific drivers. When employee engagement is also considered it leads to a committed and motivated workforce, whereby it increases productivity in the organization. Employee engagement tends to be more specifically associated with employee productivity.

Employee experience is a way of ensuring that employees look forward to the workplace and that supportive manager-employee relationships are present in the organization. The mission or the purpose of an organization also contributes to employee experience and determines how important the employees feel their jobs are.

Employees who have positive experiences are more likely to commit to and stay at an organization than employees who have negative experiences.

The day-to-day experience of an employee is the ongoing interaction employees have with their work, colleagues, and managers. Recognizing employees regularly during this stage is essential to improving employee engagement and motivation. Acknowledging employees publicly during team meetings and implementing a peer recognition program where employees can recognize employees also contributes to a positive work environment.

Company culture

Workplace culture or organizational culture is another factor that affects employee experience. Employee experience is a product of the company culture and it also influences it. A great company culture and employee experience can lead to increased productivity, reduced turnover, and greater employee satisfaction.

The physical workplace environment contributes to the company culture and employee experience. This is also taken into account by job seekers while applying to an organization.

Organizational culture is also a determinant when it comes to attracting the right customer audiences of a business. Customers tend to associate more with organizations that foster a healthy work environment and ensure that the employees have positive work experiences.

Company culture also portrays the shared values and beliefs of an organization which in turn influences employee experience. Company culture affects day-to-day interactions, relationships between employees and managers, and the physical workplace environment, all contributing to the employee experience in an organization.

Learning and development

Continuous learning and development also contribute to a positive employee experience. Recognizing employees' career milestones, such as promotions, certifications, and successful completion of training programs, can reinforce their commitment to the organization. Providing mentorship and access to training resources also shows employees that the organization values their development and fosters better values and experiences in the organization.

Customer experience

A great employee experience can lead to better customer satisfaction and experience. Engaged employees translate to better services and satisfied customers.

During difficult times for companies such as recessions and pandemics, focusing on employee experience can give the business a more competitive advantage. These kinds of organizations would also have a great customer experience and higher revenue growth.

Measuring Employee Experience with AI

Artificial intelligence is used to improve all aspects of the employee journey. AI for employee experience comes with streamlining workflows, reducing mundane tasks, and leaving more time for high-value work for employees. It also ensures that there is less time gap from when an employee is hired to being productive in the organization.

The use of AI for employee experience increases the productivity of the employees and improves the overall efficiency of the organization.

Leveraging AI for employee experience is a transformative approach that can foster a more productive and supportive work environment. AI can improve communication by prioritizing emails and tasks. AI can analyze large datasets to identify potential biases in the hiring and promotion processes. AI can also help create a positive work environment with more meaningful communication, continuous feedback, and greater flexibility.

When using AI for employee experience, it's important to assess employee needs and find the right AI tool to address those needs. There's a growing trend of organizations using AI to augment the workforce instead of aiming to replace jobs. In a recent global Deloitte survey, only a small minority of organizations expressed a preference for automating as many tasks as possible.

Improving decision-making and preferences through data-driven insights, enhanced feedback, and mechanisms for proactive problem-solving where AI pinpoints potential risks and engagement patterns, contributes to a better employee experience. Empowering workers by creating a more supportive work environment leads to better engagement and performance.

Thoughtful planning and investing in reskilling programs, and creating new opportunities that leverage the unique strengths of both humans and AI is needed to better employee experience in the organization.

Integrating AI tools in the workplace is not just a trend; it’s a shift towards a more efficient and employee-centered business model. AI is helping organizations create a dynamic, inclusive, and future-ready workforce. AI contributes to workforce diversity by identifying the best candidates for projects regardless of background and supporting the construction of diverse teams. AI also helps to identify and eliminate unconscious biases, creating an inclusive work environment.

How to Improve Employee Experience Using AI: 10+ Ways

1. Streamlining onboarding experience

With AI-powered assistance, the onboarding process becomes smoother with ease of access to information, procedural flows, and even need-based training depending on the role and background of employees.

Onboarding is more streamlined by automating tasks, personalizing experiences, and analyzing data. It also helps new employees to quickly adapt and even match them with the right mentors. The mentoring process in an organization can be enhanced here with provisions for personalized feedback and guidance. Tracking of progress and outcomes of a mentoring relationship can also be done to improve the employee experience.

Real-time feedback in the onboarding process is another added advantage of using AI-powered tools. Chatbots and virtual assistants are used to answer questions and provide guidance to employees. AI can also predict potential roadblocks in the onboarding process and address issues proactively using predictive analytics.

AI tools personalize onboarding communications and send target messages and reminders to keep new hires engaged. BambooHR, Workday, and Compunnel are all AI tools that are popularly used in the onboarding process. With these tools adherence to regulatory requirements and company policies is also ensured.

2. Personalised learning & development

AI-assisted tools are used to recommend tailored training and development programs for employees. This dramatically accelerates career growth and development, helping employees to achieve their career goals. It also provides personalized learning recommendations and insights for employees depending on the learning style, pace, and preferences of each employee.

87% of employee experience professionals agree that personalization enhances employee satisfaction.

Learning contents can be adapted to individual needs with the learning history of employees taken into consideration with AI tools. Here the past performance of employees is considered and incorporated into the L&D strategy. This also ensures better business outcomes for the organization.

Customized learning paths are created based on the latter factors. AI then recommends content based on the learning needs and employee interests. The content can range from training modules, and articles to videos.

Using AI-powered tools in learning and development can further help:

• Define learning objectives and goals
• Curate training content
• Create and automate assessments
• Identify skill gaps and provide personalized feedback

AI tools make learning more accessible by transcribing audio and video to text and auto-translating content into various languages, making learning and development accessible to all.

AI also enables remote learning opportunities where it can be accessed by you anywhere, at any time. The impact of learning interventions is also enhanced by using AI which can act as a coach in terms of any challenges faced during the learning and development process. While introducing AI in learning and development it should be paced and the idea of using AI should be socialized with the employees.

3. Quality content creation

Using AI-powered tools, content can be easily repurposed by employees. Whether it be converting blogs to social media posts or even image generation it considerably reduces the output time concerning content development.

Video content generation can be done in seconds using AI tools, instead of making videos from scratch. AI tools can also be utilized to analyze content for SEO and make suggestions to rank in search engines. Social media AI tools can be used to optimize your audience targeting and understand when to roll out your social media posts.

Personalized welcome videos can also be made for new hires quickly using AI-assisted video generation. Employee engagement surveys can be put together more easily using AI to better understand employee experience in the company.

The efficiency and scalability of AI-powered content is another added advantage. Cost-effectiveness when it comes to AI strategies in content creation can considerably improve resource allocation in the organization.

4. Enhanced collaboration

AI can assist in project management with duties ranging from convening meetings with available members, analyzing resources required for a project, and even predicting roadblocks in a particular project.

Better decision-making, risk management in terms of risk probabilities and potential impacts, and enhanced communication across teams are all advantages of using AI to increase cross-functional collaboration to enhance employee experience.

AI-driven smart scheduling can optimize meeting planning and coordination by considering each team member's preferences, time zones, and availability. This would lead to increased employee satisfaction and better attendance at collaborative sessions. Real-time translation with AI tools can also be an immense benefit, especially in the case of global teams.

5. Automated human resource support

AI fosters better support and communication with the use of chatbots for answering HR-related queries. By automating this process the HR personnel are freed up for more crucial tasks which would require more one-to-one interaction.

Furthermore, these bots are also self-learning and the responses keep improving with each interaction. Therefore, when your employees require information, accurate and consistent answers can be provided to them. With the use of AI assistants, response times are faster and it ensures monitoring for compliance.

AI tools can help managers author job descriptions and create new roles. It can also automate request management, approvals, and tracking for paid time off and leaves. AI helps HR teams with reimbursements for employee expenses, and internal communications, and prioritizes qualifications and skills in the hiring process.

Automated HR support therefore boosts efficiency and scalability. Automation helps ensure efficiency, accuracy, and consistency, enhancing employee experiences, satisfaction, and retention rates. With AI, continuous performance management can be done with real-time feedback, goal tracking, and agile performance conversations.

Some AI tools for HR support include:

• IBM's HR chatbots use natural language processing and machine learning to answer employee questions.
• FirstUp, an intelligent communication platform, helps HR professionals personalize the employee experience.

6. Augmented workforce

Workflows are improved with AI-powered assistants and automation leaving employees more time for more high-value work, thereby enhancing the efficiency of the organisation. Here, support for employees would go more into ‘self-service’ than being dependent on HR personnel, which would increase employee satisfaction levels in the organization.

Improved work-life balance can also be achieved using AI tools. Automation can handle routine tasks, helping employees maintain work-life balance by reducing overtime.

In an augmented workforce, employees can move into newer complex roles through upskilling, where their skills and capabilities can be put to better use. Real-time feedback can also be received using AI assistants to understand where you can improve your employee performance. More autonomy can also be achieved by employees, as AI assistants can help the employee do the work more independently.

The use of AI tools can also lead to better job satisfaction levels in companies. As more organizations are adopting these technologies it can lead to a more attractive and efficient work environment.

7. Enhanced customer support

AI-powered chatbots can lift the burden of continuous customer support from employees to improve employee experience. This leads to efficient customer service, especially with conversational AI platforms that provide 24/7 support. In cases where platforms are not able to provide an answer to a query, it can be raised to a human customer support executive for resolution.

The use of AI can also improve the agent's performance in terms of the number of queries and tickets closed. AI-powered chatbots reduce resolutions and wait times considerably. They also offer multilingual support and provide after-call summaries. Intercom's Fin AI and Zendesk are some examples of AI chatbots.

Essentially, AI chatbots can:

• Use support knowledge
• Implement the correct behaviors and policies
• Personalize every customer experience
• Deliver insights on performance

They have updated knowledge of all the products and company processes, offering customers thorough answers to help resolve issues faster and more efficiently. It takes the most relevant information from multiple knowledge sources, allowing it to create more comprehensive responses and enhancing its ability to solve complex questions. Depending on the customers’ query, chatbots give out personalized answers that reduce downtime in closing tickets and give employees time to focus on high-value tasks.

8. Smart talent management

AI is used in talent management to analyze employee data and see which employee would be right for which particular task based on their past job performance. Employee recognition and reward can also be done using AI which reduces bias and improves employee experience.

AI-assisted tools improve hiring, training, and performance evaluation in the workplace. Workforce planning can also be done efficiently using AI-powered tools. It can help identify employees who are at risk of leaving and determine potential successors.

Note: When implementing AI in talent management, it's important to consider data privacy and cybersecurity. Organizations should explain how employee data is being collected and used, and give employees control over their data.

9. Enabling 'anywhere' work environment

AI is used to recommend preferred work models for employees which improves employee experience with the work being effectively done. This gives the employees much more flexibility in their work modes and can choose to have whatever would help them to get their work done and have their personal needs also met. This would inadvertently lead to better company loyalty, workflows, productivity, and operational efficiencies. AI assistants enable employees to stay productive anywhere by quickly completing tasks, such as document review and data extraction.

10. Predictive well-being programs with employee feedback

The well-being of employees can be drastically enhanced by using AI-powered well-being apps. This would help you to understand when employees would need a break or require self-care activities. Work-life balance can also be better with the automation of tasks; reducing burnout and boosting employee satisfaction in the process.

Personalized well-being programs for employees can also be done by analyzing data like work patterns, employee feedback, and absenteeism. Potential health risks and challenges can be avoided with these AI-powered apps and the mental health aspects of the employees are also taken into consideration.

AI's real-time capabilities are another game-changer for employee wellness programs. Traditional wellness initiatives often rely on periodic assessments or manual interventions, which may not address issues in real time. In contrast, AI-powered solutions can continuously monitor employee well-being and provide immediate support when needed.

AI-driven well-being interventions can:

• Recommend stress-relief exercises
• Offer mental health resources
• Scheduling appointments with healthcare professionals
• Provide 24/7 support

All these can significantly improve employees' ability to manage their well-being and cope with challenges effectively.

11. Collaborate with AI-powered tools

Asana is a project management tool that uses AI to help plan, track, and manage tasks. Microsoft Viva Insights is designed to surface meaningful insights into how work gets accomplished across complex, fast-paced businesses. Slack is another example with real-time messaging and AI-powered search and summary capabilities.

AI voice assistants, in addition to finding information, help employees perform tasks and submit requests using natural language making it easier for employees to quickly access their latest pay slips, calendar events, and employee directory information. When implementing AI-powered tools in the workplace, it's important to have a strategy in place to educate employees, monitor them, and help them to adapt to improve the employee experience.

Examples of Employee Experience

Examples of AI for employee experience can include how AI tools can detect how an employee is feeling by the tone of employee interactions and other characteristics that contribute to the employee experience in the organization. Other examples include the capacity to predict employee behavior taking into consideration factors such as employee engagement, job satisfaction, and turnover rates.

AI can also summarise performance reviews and analyze feedback from multiple sources. Training can be formulated based on the learning preferences and performance of the employees.

Cross-functional learning is another example, where the use of AI can enhance the involvement of employees from different departments. AI-powered tools can make the work for applicants much easier when joining organizations.

Here are two use-case examples of AI in employee experience:

Manipal Health Enterprises

Manipal Health Enterprises was looking to transition from transactional to strategic HR by adopting a solution that could offer nursing staff, doctors, and other employees answers to their HR-related questions around the clock.

The enterprise used Leena AI’s service delivery and engagement software to develop a virtual assistant that responds to employee queries.

Results

• Reduced new hire attrition by up to 5% annually
• Reduced average time for resolving employee cases from two days to 24 hours
• More than 60,000 hours saved for employees and the HR team

FirstJob

Recruiters at an online recruitment firm, FirstJob, were heavily engaged in managing the talent pool and could not focus on interviews and closing offers. They decided to introduce the chatbot, Mya to their system. The chatbot can simultaneously communicate with numerous candidates and ask them pre-screening questions. Half of a recruiter’s job is automated and lets them know when a job is filled.

Results

• An increase in recruiters’ efficiency by 38%.
• Up to 75% of the qualifying process is automated.
• An increase in the job engagement process by 150%.

Wrapping Up

AI has made a drastic change in Human Resource Management and it is changing how an employee experiences the organisation. Better manager-employee relationships, reduction of mundane tasks, and personalized learning recommendations are all some benefits of using AI-powered tools to improve employee experience.

With AI assistants and chatbots being more and more used in elevating employee experience, HR personnel are also freed up for high-impact work. Therefore, using AI to improve employee experience can enhance the productivity of the employees and the efficiency of the organization.