When leaders look at AI solutions, it’s often through the lens of how they can make their business more efficient. But this isn’t the only reason to consider strategic use of AI. By implementing AI in ways that are focused on the needs of your employees and your customers, you can make your business more people-friendly, as well.
As Han Butler, president and co-founder of ROI CX Solutions explains, this people-friendly approach can have a wide-ranging impact, from boosting employee engagement and retention to increasing customer satisfaction.
1. Improve Customer Response Times
On the customer-facing side, AI offers several meaningful opportunities to improve customer response times. For example, according to Zendesk, customers who contact a brand via email typically expect a response in 12 hours or less — but consider it best when responses come in less than an hour. This is especially true for existing clients dealing with an urgent problem.
Chatbots are the first implementation of AI that comes to mind in this area, as they allow for an instant response at any time of day. Chatbots have been steadily improving in their ability to handle routine inquiries. However, the full value of chatbots and other AI implementations comes in their ability to ensure customers get support from the right human representatives in a timely manner.
As Butler notes, “AI-powered ticketing systems help right from the start by organizing and prioritizing customer issues. The AI analyzes incoming requests based on urgency, the type of request and other factors to route them to the right department. This ensures that critical problems get the immediate attention they need, even as more routine questions are sent to the right team members for those inquiries. This can dramatically improve response times.”
2. Enable Greater Personalization
Another customer-facing way that AI makes businesses more people-friendly is by increasing their capacity for personalization. “AI tools can draw on data from previous customer interactions to offer personalized suggestions for how a customer service rep could help them. In other cases, the AI can help recommend related products or services that better match the customers’ needs and interests,” Butler says.
Notably, Digital Trends reports that 73% of customers prefer to “do business with retailers who use personal information to make their shopping experience more relevant.”
AI makes it easier than ever for businesses to offer this level of personalization in everything from email to customer support calls. Even these seemingly small steps in treating each customer like an individual helps your business feel more people-friendly and earn lasting loyalty.
3. Prevent Burnout Among Employees
Burnout has become a major issue among businesses across a wide range of industries. In fact, the SHRM reports that 44% of American employees feel burnt out at work, while 45% report feeling “emotionally drained.” Aside from contributing to physical and emotional exhaustion, burnout can decrease job performance and increase rates of employee absenteeism and turnover.
While there are many factors that can contribute to burnout, excessive workloads that contribute to poor work-life balance are often cited as a major factor — and this is where AI can help.
“By leveraging AI to take over routine, repetitive tasks, leaders can reduce the pressure on their employees,” Butler says. “AI can make it easier for employees to meet deadlines or shorten the time required to complete a task. Enabling employees to use relevant AI tools will lighten the load and make your business a better place to work.”
4. Enable Employees to Focus On Purposeful Work
Empowering employees to use AI to reduce feelings of overwhelm isn’t the only advantage of this technology. Allowing AI to take on these “smaller” tasks also gives employees the opportunity to focus on higher-value work that better aligns with their goals and sense of purpose.
As the Harvard Business Review notes, “Meaningfulness is more important to us than any other aspect of our jobs — including pay and rewards, opportunities for promotion, and working conditions. When we experience our work as meaningful, we’re more engaged, committed, and satisfied. When we don’t, we’re more willing to quit, and this is especially true for younger workers.”
“Strong relationships with leadership and a respectful, supportive culture that provides useful feedback are also essential,” Butler says. “However, using AI to help employees spend their time on more meaningful work will also support a people-first culture. A greater sense of purpose will help your team members stay engaged and focused.”
5. Develop a More Inclusive Culture
One unique employee-facing application of AI is its potential implementation in human resources. For example, unconscious bias in recruiting is a common issue that makes workforces less diverse and inclusive. Quite often, the same issues also affect workplace culture even when a diverse hire is made.
AI can help address a variety of issues to ensure that your organization is people-friendly for all. AI tools can help improve job descriptions to eliminate potentially biased language, as well as conduct blind resume screenings so candidates are assessed based on qualifications, rather than factors that could be subject to implicit biases.
AI could even be used to evaluate workplace communications and other digital interactions to identify ways that the business can become more inclusive and supportive for all.
Using AI to Create a People-Friendly Environment
By considering how AI can address the needs of both employees and customers, leaders can create an environment that is better able to focus on people. Strategic implementation of AI will improve outcomes for employees and customers alike, leading to a better company culture and a loyal consumer base.
