It's no surprise that the healthcare industry has been one of, if not the most impacted, industries as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the largest issues included accounting for the needs and safety of employees, ensuring employees have the right tools and training to succeed, and reallocation of workers to key areas as a result of shifting focus areas. So, how can AI help HR teams at healthcare companies succeed?
GE Healthcare has been a prominent Amber client since 2017, and have used AI in HR to mitigate the need for daily connects with over 50,000 employees, ensure HRBPs are moving strategic business levers, and track and measure employee satisfaction across a variety of roles. So, how have Terri Bresenham & Aarif Aziz, CEO and HRBP, and their team managed to solve their engagement issues? They've used best practices thinking and had a little help from an AI employee engagement chatbot.
Terri, Aarif and their team found it a challenge to:
Connect with thousands of employees across India
Align HRBPs with central business objectives
As GE's global employee count tops 350,000, HR is just not capable of keeping up with protracted reachouts and check-ins that help strengthen employee bonds with the company and boost engagement levels. Fortunately, Amber has allowed them to vastly boost HRBP productivity by allowing them to focus their bandwidth elsewhere. As Terri said, one aspect that makes Amber so effective for their employees is "it feels like I'm really talking to somebody who is listening to me, this is a way I think, to cost effectively engage with employees on a more and on and on their clock, not our clock on their clock."
So, how can we view these takeaways in light of the COVID-19 pandemic with regards to healthcare? In a time of great uncertainty, and for many healthcare workers fear, having a "best friend" at work like Amber makes them feel valued and cared for by the company, as well as allowing a healthcare company to diagnose and rectify problems as they emerge, some of which could be life or death.
Key Takeaway: Having an AI tool to help streamline data collection and empathetically reach out to employees is a key way to ensure employees can perform, build a positive NPS and recognize and fix potentially life altering issues.
One issue Terri and Aarif pointed out was HR has always been "seen as an administrative function which is there to serve" rather than as a key part of ensuring business success across a variety of sectors. AI and increased data aggregation has helped with the transition, allowing HRBPs to make decisions with data driven insights that can move key business levers and transform the nature of the industry. As Aarif said, in the years to come HR will emerge and be recognized as "a strategic partner for a business" rather than a people problem solver.
COVID-19 has only further thrust HR into the key business partner role, and even more so at healthcare companies like GE. HRBPs have been thrust onto the front lines in defining the new normal and putting in place business continuity strategies to ensure companies have been able to function effectively in the "New Normal."
Key Takeaway: Increased analytics capabilities and HR transformation is changing HR from an admin function to a key strategic partner, particularly in healthcare where HRBPs have played a huge role in ensuring business continuity during a crisis.
The responses to implementing AI have been monumental, both in an engagement and experience perspective. Employees at GE Healthcare have noted that their organizational alignment has increased, they're feeling more empowered in general, and that they're excited for the continued evolution of the industry. By bringing in a tool like Amber and using her so effectively, Terri and Aarif have been able to boost EX substantially and reap the financial rewards.
In COVID-19 times, HRBPs at a healthcare company like GE have larger role requirements that tools to boost engagement help them fulfil. For example, they're often the first point of contact for front-line employees. When fear and uncertainty are a reality for so many people, best practices thinking around empathy coupled with data backed insights is a key strategy for keeping morale high in healthcare companies.
Key Takeaway: Boosting employee EX can reap financial rewards, as well as providing HRBPs with the tools they need for success in terms of measuring and boosting employee engagement. This is particularly relevant with the COVID-19 outbreak in the healthcare sector where a large chunk of the employee base is under extra stress.
Terri and Aarif have given thousands upon thousands of employees voices, and reaped the financial rewards of it. Boosted EX scores, tools for HRBPs to make concrete impacts, digital transformation and more have all been successes for the team, with help from a high powered data aggregation and analysis tool. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, having best practices and a platform for employee engagement is key. That's why you need an AI chatbot like Amber, today.