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How to make self-services available to all employees
More than 80% of employees do not have computers and corporate emails at work. Delivery men, drivers, shop assistants, etc, unlike office workers, can’t instantly receive corporate news or feedback, quickly order HR documents or payslip. If those employees need to know, for example, the number of vacation days left, they spend their working time contacting the manager or visiting the HR department. This means extra labor costs both for the employees and for the company.

Last time we talked about how bots can improve management by objectives, and today we will tell you about optimizing self-services.
More than 80% of employees do not have computers and corporate emails at work. Delivery men, drivers, shop assistants, etc, unlike office workers, can’t instantly receive corporate news or feedback, quickly order HR documents or payslip. If those employees need to know, for example, the number of vacation days left, they spend their working time contacting the manager or visiting the HR department. This means extra labor costs both for the employees and for the company.

Last time we talked about how bots can improve management by objectives, and today we will tell you about optimizing self-services.

What self-services are and how office workers use them


According to McKinsey research, HR specialists still spend 60% of their time and resources on routine work, while self-services allow to transfer some of the tasks to the employees.

Self-services are a set of functions that are available through IT systems. They help the employees to deal with plenty of issues without contacting the HR department. This practice is successfully applied in companies where employees have a computer at their workplace and are confident PC users. They independently resolve their issues through their personal corporate portal accounts.

What self-services are and how office workers use them


According to McKinsey research, HR specialists still spend 60% of their time and resources on routine work, while self-services allow to transfer some of the tasks to the employees.

Self-services are a set of functions that are available through IT systems. They help the employees to deal with plenty of issues without contacting the HR department. This practice is successfully applied in companies where employees have a computer at their workplace and are confident PC users. They independently resolve their issues through their personal corporate portal accounts.

How employees who don’t have access to a computer get the services they need?


Office workers use self-services through their personal corporate portals accounts. But what about the employees, who do not work on computers or do not have a permanent workplace? Different companies solve this problem their own way.

How employees who don’t have access to a computer get the services they need?


Office workers use self-services through their personal corporate portals accounts. But what about the employees, who do not work on computers or do not have a permanent workplace? Different companies solve this problem their own way.

Self-service kiosks


Self-service kiosks located at work facilities (for example, factories or warehouses) allow employees to request and receive personal HR documents. It takes the pressure off of the HR and accounting departments. To start working with a kiosk, an employee needs to find it, get there and usually wait in line. In addition, sometimes it’s impossible to send the necessary information to a digital device, and employees have to print it out.

Self-service kiosks


Self-service kiosks located at work facilities (for example, factories or warehouses) allow employees to request and receive personal HR documents. It takes the pressure off of the HR and accounting departments. To start working with a kiosk, an employee needs to find it, get there and usually wait in line. In addition, sometimes it’s impossible to send the necessary information to a digital device, and employees have to print it out.

Visit to the HR department


This is the most conventional way to get an answer to any request and receive the necessary details. Despite the fact that this form of interaction is considered to be effective, it takes a lot of time, both for HR specialists and employees. HR departments deal with a large volume of similar requests, which makes it hard to quickly obtain information. Meanwhile, employees need to spend their working time scheduling an appointment with a specialist and waiting in lines.

Visit to the HR department


This is the most conventional way to get an answer to any request and receive the necessary details. Despite the fact that this form of interaction is considered to be effective, it takes a lot of time, both for HR specialists and employees. HR departments deal with a large volume of similar requests, which makes it hard to quickly obtain information. Meanwhile, employees need to spend their working time scheduling an appointment with a specialist and waiting in lines.

SMS informing


The simplest requests can be automated with SMS — for example, information about the status of HR documents request or payroll. Nevertheless, SMS functionality is limited, and part of the expenses on using such service falls on employees.

SMS informing


The simplest requests can be automated with SMS — for example, information about the status of HR documents request or payroll. Nevertheless, SMS functionality is limited, and part of the expenses on using such service falls on employees.

Call to a service center


Some companies have employee service centers — special units that take over accounting and personnel management. Despite the fact that service centers optimize the workflow and unload line managers, the costs of their maintenance are usually very high. Transferring routine processes to digital format is a more effective solution.

Call to a service center


Some companies have employee service centers — special units that take over accounting and personnel management. Despite the fact that service centers optimize the workflow and unload line managers, the costs of their maintenance are usually very high. Transferring routine processes to digital format is a more effective solution.

Another example is a delivery man. Being constantly on the move, they have no access not only to a computer, but often to an office. To obtain a payslip they need to contact the accountant, to issue a document — visit the HR department. Working and personal time is spent on solving mundane problems.

If we take shop assistants, store managers usually deal with employee requests instead of focusing on strategically important tasks such as planning and development.
Let’s take a factory employee, who has a computer at home. How often would they visit the corporate portal and spend time trying to figure out the complex interface?

How to make self-services easily available


Many companies establish communication with line employees via smartphones — managers collect requests using private messages and group chats.

How to make self-services easily available?


Many companies establish communication with line employees via smartphones — managers collect requests using private messages and group chats.
1. No need to look for self-service kiosks and access points to corporate portals;
2. Less time is spent to obtain the necessary services;
3. Option of speaking to an HR specialist.
Why smartphones?
However, interaction via private messages and group chats has its drawbacks. Messengers can’t integrate with corporate information systems and receive all the necessary information automatically. And if employees don’t have corporate phones, personal chats mix with the working ones, and there is a risk of losing important information.

Chatbots can solve this problem: they can be integrated into any messenger (like Facebook Messenger or Microsoft Teams) and will always be at hand even for those employees who are not in the office. Learning to use a bot is relatively easy for staff of any age thanks to a user-friendly interface. Almost any self-service can be transferred to digital format: for example, issuing information about salary and vacation and generating HR documents.
However, interaction via private messages and group chats has its drawbacks. Messengers can’t integrate with corporate information systems and receive all the necessary information automatically. And if employees don’t have corporate phones, personal chats mix with the working ones, and there is a risk of losing important information.

Chatbots can solve this problem: they can be integrated into any messenger (like Facebook Messenger or Microsoft Teams) and will always be at hand even for those employees who are not in the office. Learning to use a bot is relatively easy for staff of any age thanks to a user-friendly interface. Almost any self-service can be transferred to digital format: for example, issuing information about salary and vacation and generating HR documents.

Bots can help:

Employees
• Find necessary information in a menu or make a unique request (for example, the number of vacation days left);
• Exchange information and receive responses to the requests in real time;
• Request the necessary documents;
• Save received information.
Company
• Significantly reduce labor costs;
• Increase employee loyalty and develop employee experience;
• Reduce the amount of routine tasks of HR services and line managers;
• Improve corporate communications.
How self-services work in chatbots of Norilsk Nickel employees

In 2019, Norilsk Nickel implemented an intelligent chatbot Nika into the workflow, and now it is available to all employees of the company. Nika helps the employees to receive information about payroll, vacations and insurance, request HR documents, schedule tasks and solve many other issues. Now Nika processes more than 150 thousand requests monthly in comparison to 25 thousand requests received through corporate portals, kiosks and via SMS. All this allows both the employees and the HR department to save time, focus on important tasks and improve the quality of work.

Let us know, how we can help!

Kate
Platform Architect
Edward
Software craftsman
Alex
Founder and CEO
Alexander
Master of Operations

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