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There are growing pains in every business transformation—and IBM is no exception.
As a frontrunner in the AI race, the firm has invested in and implemented AI for client companies and among its own workforce. Because of its tech chops, IBM has been experimenting with AI longer than most businesses, rolling out chatbots and copilots for more than 10 years, according to the company. The organization now has more than 280 unique AI mechanisms solely within its HR function.
But there was a steep learning curve.
Nickle LaMoreaux, chief human resources officer at IBM, tells Fortune that back in 2017 the company introduced benefits assistant chatbot AskHR to staffers. It was built to address workers’ questions and reduce the need for HR leaders or employees to parse through long company manuals to find the right answer.
“When we started on this journey, we started on it as a technical change. ‘Here’s this technical tool.’ And what happened was nobody used it. The technology was there, the tool was there, but behavior wasn’t there,” she says.
Faced with worker apathy, the company decided to force employees to use AskHR. In 2018, IBM told its 21,000 frontline managers that HR staff would no longer assist them with inquiries—they would now have to use the AI chatbot to get their questions answered.
But worker satisfaction with the HR department plummeted. That prompted people leaders to radically switch up their strategy.
IBM’s HR professionals started listening to employee feedback, and implemented a new strategy to influence employee behavior by gradually asking workers to optimize their days with the tech, like asking the chatbot to answer policy questions or roleplay conversations with managers on performance evaluations. Today, the department’s satisfaction score is leaps and bounds higher than it was before any AI rollout, and AskHR is widely used among staffers; it handles 94% of inquiries and 10.1 million HR-related interactions per year. Despite addressing most employee issues, LaMoreaux says the chatbot will direct staffers to consult an HR leader if they bring up sensitive issues like low performance or misconduct.
“Most people say don’t experiment in HR,” she says. ”But we are now moving our AskHR to generative AI. That allows us to train faster, the natural language is a lot better, and it’s giving us better outcomes.”
You can read my full story here.
Emma Burleigh
emma.burleigh@fortune.com
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
More fast casual restaurants like Chipotle and Sweetgreen are testing out robots to assist workers in making food and trim down labor costs. Wall Street Journal
The Biden Administration proposed a rule to protect laborers from the summer heat, which would impact millions of workers, but faces opposition from business groups. Washington Post
A U.S. court dismissed a lawsuit against Elon Musk in which he is accused of not paying more than $500 million in severance to thousands of laid off Twitter employees. The Guardian
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
Pressure cooker. More staffers at the European Central Bank are experiencing burnout and suicidal thoughts amid historical levels of inflation and alleged “power games” at work. —Ryan Hogg
Opulent disruption. With the wedding of Asia’s richest person right around the corner, office workers in Mumbai are planning to work from home during the festivities to avoid traffic jams. —P R Sanjai, Bloomberg
Blacklist. Law firm Sullivan & Cromwell employed a background check company to verify that applicants didn’t participate in protests over the way in Gaza—and to potentially disqualify any who have. —Seamus Webster
Checked out. Although employees are staying put in their roles, many are still actively job hunting, creating a disengaged workforce that is fueling “The Great Detachment.” —Chloe Berger