An employee’s best friend? How AI can boost employee engagement and performance

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-11-2018-0092
Pages17-20
Published date11 February 2019
Date11 February 2019
AuthorCameron Smith
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour
An employees best friend? How AI can
boost employee engagement and
performance
Cameron Smith
Abstract
Purpose How to keep employees engaged, rewarded and retained to improve the end-user and
customerexperience.
Design/methodology/approach This study providespractical advice on how a business can attract,
recruit, retain and develop talented employees to improve customer service, using the author’s
experienceat Genesys.
Findings This study explores various research findings including Coleman Parks to establish the
challengesorganizations face when tryingto ensure employees are engaged withtheir own business.
Originality/value This is my viewpoint on the situation; I have researched various areas of employee
engagementto understand why organizations arefacing challenges, and I can provide uniqueinsight as
we work with world-leading brandsto use technology that will solve these problems in some way at the
least.
Keywords Employee engagement, Artificial intelligence, Rewards
Paper type Viewpoint
Today, consumers expect a hyper-personalized experience every time they interact
with a company. They expect businesses to know them, understand their
preferences and quickly resolve their issues. Artificial intelligence (AI) is being
lauded as having infinite potential to unlock opportunities to deliver fast, tailored
experiences to consumers.But that is not all it can do. If AI is part of the equation for making
customers happy, it just may be the key to delightingemployees as well. And as it turns out,
more employees are on board than you might think, despite the fear-mongering that AI will
soon take over their jobs.
In fact, a global study by Coleman Parks Research explored how hourly and salaried
employees in multiple countries, including the UK, think emerging technologies like AI
should be used to improve the future. The study foundthat “four out of five workers can see
the potential benefits in AI to improvetheir workplace experience [...]”
A little help from your (chatbot) friends
Many companies’ first foray into AI is chatbots, which have already become a disruptive
technology in customer service. When implemented strategically and used properly, they
have numerous benefits for customers and employees alike. Chatbots are well suited to
handle repeatable or simple, time-intensive tasks like assisting consumers with questions
about banking account balances, updates about the status of an order or making a
Cameron Smith is Genesys
Senior Global Director of
Product Management at
Workforce Engagement
Management, Genesys
Telecommunications
Laboratories Inc., Daly City,
California, USA.
DOI 10.1108/SHR-11-2018-0092 VOL. 18 NO. 1 2019, pp. 17-20, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jPAGE 17

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