AI in the workplace is key to a more human experience in the virtual workplace: How we’re keeping employees engaged remotely as we move into 2022.

A good education is everything

We all recognise that learning is a key part of work, in fact it’s how we progress to more senior roles and gain confidence in our own abilities. AI Platforms designed to push contextual knowledge and learning out to your workforce are gaining traction with the likes of Microsoft Viva bringing modules like Topics to the fore. Jobseekers continue to demand more from their employers than just a salary, from support and further education to mental well-being and flexible hours. With this in mind, let’s dive a little deeper into the benefits of curating a culture of holistic improvement at work.

Streamline processes and boost efficiency

According to Microsoft, “the average employee spends more than an hour a day searching or recreating information that already exists in their organization—more than  triple the time they spent just five years ago.” This is and should be an avoidable issue. AI has the capacity to bring relevant information directly to individuals in Teams, Microsoft Viva has a feature that does this as does Reflekt from Konsolute. Tools to guide employees in a virtual way are vital in our new working scenarios.

Perhaps at this point we should mention that we still need human contribution such as editing, training, confirmation from users to leverage the power of AI in the workplace. To make the most out of a ‘virtual workplace’ users need to feed information such as preferences, hobbies and learning topics into our AI platforms to really make the most out of automation.

Humanise the experience

For Individuals, the likes of Viva Insights and other mental well-being apps are here to help restore balance in the work day with the overall aim of improving productivity and reducing the risk of burnout. Features have been created to give a holistic helping hand to those in remote working environments who are experiencing the negative impact of the home office.

With Viva Insights, Microsoft has created its first specific user experience platform and is effectively starting to ‘bake’ wellbeing products into universally used software (SharePoint and Teams). With this in mind, we’d love to both help organisations leverage their insight data and improve well being provision whilst educating individual users on the power of Viva.

Automating responses to employee queries

HR departments often receive the same set of requests and questions from workers about things like payroll, sick leave and employee assistance. AI Automation presents an opportunity for organisations to connect employees with their policies.

For example, cloud-based platforms offer self-service tools that allow employees to:

• Book and check their annual leave requests
• Track their attendance
• And fill up a variety of HR forms, among other things.

What’s more, workers can do these things on any device connected to the Internet. This is great for companies with a large number of non-desk-based staff — think workers who do a lot of travelling or spend most of their time out on the field.

Much of the conversation around AI and automation revolves around its potential to displace people’s jobs. But these disruptive technologies don’t necessarily replace professionals; rather, they augment their abilities and free them from repetitive and routine work. This enables teams to spend more time building relationships with other employees to improve their satisfaction. This brings us back to that key concept of the ‘human experience’ at work and how we should strive to guarantee it moving forward. It’s safe to say, that if we can, employee retention, well being and career progression will be positively impacted.

 

So, let’s explore ways to build better work habits. Track and improve the effectiveness of your meetings. Prioritize wellbeing with actionable recommendations, such as reserving time for focused work and embrace intelligent workplaces as positive space

If this sounds like something you need, give us a call, we’d love to chat.