2022 was a year of acknowledging new workplace challenges resulting from the pandemic, global conflicts, and economic uncertainty. Companies quickly shifted from talent acquisition mode to a focus on cost cutting measures, including budget cuts and headcount reductions. The concern for employee retention and employee well-being remained consistent, however leaders were tasked to prioritize their actions and investments.
While there were many themes that dominated transforming the workplace, the top three themes that surfaced (and resulted in the most popular MeBeBot blog articles) were:
- The focus on hybrid work
- The importance of investing in managers
- Investments in solutions that provide both time to value and a strong ROI.
1. Think Strategically About Being Successful with Hybrid Work
As companies struggle to manage employee productivity with limited resources, it is time to get strategic about being successful with hybrid work. Think of hybrid work as an excellent strategy to accelerate talent acquisition, employee retention, and reduce operational expenses so that executives can redirect efforts to strategic business priorities.
It is important to remember that transitioning to hybrid work is a significant business strategy shift and change agility must be a key focus. In today’s world, digital tools are used to connect the global and distributed workforce. It turns out that there’s more to the digital workplace productivity than simply providing workers with online access to office applications.
The workplace must be redesigned to operate asynchronously and connect all workers to those that they work with when, where, and how they need it—regardless of location, device, or time zone. By putting workers at the center of the design, it is possible to create a digital workplace that transforms how people collaborate, get work done, and ultimately do business. Employees need not only collaboration tools, but they need a new “digital front door” to drive their hybrid work experience.
MeBeBot is that new “front door,” to welcome employees into the hybrid workplace, to guide them to the information they need, when they need it, from any type of mobile or computer device. Solutions for hybrid work should enable employees to be efficient and remove frustrations so they can focus on the work that matters to the business.
Click here to read the recommended seven steps to continuously improve your hybrid work planning
2. The Importance of Investing in Managers
A recent survey by Gallup in 2022 found that nearly two-thirds of managers are disengaged from their employers. In Gallup’s parlance, they are doing just enough to get by and no more. If your managers are disengaged, the employees can’t be far behind. Investing in management is critical to success in 2023. So, it has us asking, Will 2023 be the Year of the Manager?
With all the uncertainty in today’s business world, more and more employees are turning to their managers for direction and support. Unfortunately, managers feel as torn as their employees aren’t always prepared by their executive leaders to provide guidance and support.
Companies need to invest in their managers. When managers are better trained and supported, employees will be more engaged, resulting in reductions in employee turnover. Engaged employees are more likely to be aligned with company goals resulting in higher performance and improved company results.
Training interventions, such as General Mills Engaging Learning Program, have proven successful for large companies. “Eighty-eight percent of our people feel like they’re supported by their manager. And it has a direct correlation with not only engagement, but retention,” said Jacqueline Williams-Roll, General Mills CHRO.
How does intelligent automation provide managers 24×7 support instantly?
Smaller and midsize companies can also use intelligent automation, with cost effective solutions that provide managers with 24/7 support instantly, when they need it. MeBeBot’s Manager ToolBot™ is an AI Intelligent Assistant that helps people managers with the uncertainty of our times and becomes better and more agile managers. Manager ToolBot™ automatically answers their questions, delivers nudges or push messages, and captures feedback through pulse surveys – all within the existing flow of work. As an app in Teams, Slack or as a web chat, managers gain reinforcement to internal trainings and reference materials so they are more prepared and better positioned for growth and long-term success.
Manager ToolBot™ Investment Benefits:
- Provides insight into issues before they become problems that negatively impact culture and retention
- Helps improve employee retention through alignment with stronger managers
- Enhances the employee experience by providing helpful tools that facilitate efficiency and growth in the flow of work
- Quick time to value, as setting up Manager ToolBot is easy (30 days or less for most customers), requiring no technical resources.
With all the uncertainty in today’s business world, companies need to make 2023 the year of the manager. When managers are better engaged, employees will be better engaged.
Click here to see a Product Tour of the Manager ToolBot™
3. Investments in Workplace Transformation Must Generate an ROI / Time to Value
According to NewVantage Partners’ executive survey, 90 percent of Fortune 1000 companies are not only investing in AI, from IT to marketing to HR, and they are increasing budgetary dollars allocated to those investments. And 92 percent are reporting measurable business benefits from their current AI use, but the use is still limited across the organization.
Gartner has predicted that by 2023, 75 percent of HR inquiries will be initiated through conversational AI platforms. There is one easy-to-launch AI-driven digital technology that is a no-brainer. It is affordable and has a fast adoption rate, resulting in a strong time to value: AI-driven chatbots such as MeBeBot.
MeBeBot launches in less than 30 days for most of our customers and provides fast results. Our customers see a 75 percent reduction in questions being asked to HR, IT, Facilities, and Operations. The time saved by your staff and employees (who no longer are waiting for a return call to answer their questions) results in a cost savings of $250k to $1 million in the first year, making MeBeBot a great ROI. This solution generates an extraordinary time to value.
Click here to use MeBeBot’s ROI Calculator for your cost savings results
Your Workplace Transformation Journey Starts Now.
With 2023 upon us, companies will need to implement new solutions that drive efficiency and impact in a hybrid / remote workplace. Ready to explore and chat about giving your employees and managers the gift of an intelligent virtual assistant? A portfolio of products that (1) deliver employees instant and accurate answers to their global HR, IT, and Ops questions; (2) developing and coaching managers to be better; (3) proactive push messaging inside your existing Slack and Microsoft Teams Workflows, (4) conversational pulse surveys that generate instant employee feedback on of-the-moment questions; and (5) real-time usage dashboards.