Bots are becoming increasingly used to improve employee experience, according to Syd Lawrence, CEO of The Bot Platform.
The bot building platform was formed in 2016 and builds customised work apps, bots, and automation tools that integrate with and connect to the collaboration systems that organisations use, such as Workplace from Facebook and Microsoft Teams.
“We empower people to build a better employee experience using bots and automation on Microsoft Teams, Workplace and other collaboration platforms,” Lawrence explained to UC Today.
“Companies use us for processes like onboarding new staff, reward and recognition programmes, and we’re being used by governments, banks, hospitals, restaurants, retailers, and by all kinds of people in all kinds of roles.”
Bots can be used throughout the entire employee experience, from onboarding new starters and employee handbooks, to FAQ automation, urgent announcements, and peer recognition incentives, Lawrence said, adding that the technology is “so much” more than chatbots and help desks.
He stated:
“People always think of bots as help desks, but they don’t even make that good a help desk and I would rather people didn’t talk about them in that way”
“The thing with AI chat bots, for example, is that they’re not AI and they don’t need to be to be useful – [bots are] all about giving people the right information at the right time.”
The company has been growing since its inception but saw enterprise engagement skyrocket last year as organisations had to manage a widely distributed workforce and it now counts a large multinational conglomerate among its customers.
“Employee experience has never been more important than it is now,” he stated.
“We’re all working from home, we’re all isolated, and the whole world has changed for us all. People are using our bots for fun stuff, such as Secret Santa, as well as more serious processes.
“Bots can be used by lots of different sized companies, you don’t need to be a big company to get the value out of it, but it is easier for us to target larger organisations.”
