Matthias Goehler
EMEA CTO, Zendesk
Intelligent AI-driven employee service solutions are helping companies — and their staff — navigate the changing work landscape.
Virtual assistants and chatbots are already embedded in the landscape of intelligent customer service. Consumers now expect similar efficiency in their interactions with their own workplaces.
Enhancing employee service
Matthias Göhler, Chief Technology Officer EMEA at Zendesk, thinks employee service is a growth area for advanced AI-based solutions. “If you think about the whole life cycle, from recruiting to onboarding, and up to offboarding, there are lots of interactions,” he says. “I want to get answers. I want to get help in a timely manner.” Companies can achieve this by applying those customer-facing self-service solutions to their internal processes, from helpdesks to IT and HR.
Next-gen chatbots for employee service
“If you use the next generation of chatbots, you can type a question in natural language. If it’s a generative AI bot, it can formulate back in the way we would have a conversation,” explains Göhler. This could be effective in HR departments, for everyday questions such as payroll or holiday entitlement. For sensitive, or more complex matters, the AI can act as a ‘co-pilot,’ allowing the HR agent to take over for a more personal interaction.
Göhler suggests this could be moved from traditional portals to everyday employee channels, like email or messaging. Since 2015, Zendesk has been helping Tesco implement a self-service portal for its 300,000 employees. By the end of 2023, the supermarket’s helpdesks were fielding an average of 5 million visits a year, and the self-service rate increased from 30% to 70%.
Great employee
service will translate
to a great customer experience.
Happy employees make customers happy
Göhler says great employee service will translate to a great customer experience. It helps with staff retention too: efficient interactions allow workers to think a company “values me and takes my concerns seriously,” he adds. Part of this is strategically deciding where to automate processes, and how that can free staff for more complex — and rewarding — tasks.
Challenges of remote working
In a challenging employment landscape, with flexible and remote working, automated systems can help workers access the information they need and help companies become consistent in their answers.
It also allows employers to interrogate their data, so they can utilise staff better and ensure productivity does not suffer. “We have seen companies using this with savings of up to 40%, so that can have a significant impact,” insists Göhler. AI can also help train staff, especially those working remotely. “You can assess 100% of interactions,” he adds, “and use that to allow them to learn and get better.”
