Experience-Driven HR Service Delivery Model: The Way Forward
Organizations often measure the effectiveness of HR in terms of the speed, quality, and efficiency of HR services. To deliver efficient HR services, the HRBP model introduced the concept of HR Shared Services, using a tiered approach through centralized teams to deliver to employees.
With the advances in artificial intelligence to enhance efficiencies and an increased focus on employee experience, there is a need to re-evaluate how HR service models evolve to drive both of these critical aspects of modern organizations to their full potential.
In this article, we position the Experience-Driven HR Service Delivery Model as a way for HR organizations to balance efficiency, cost, technology, and engaging employee experience to deliver HR services to their stakeholders.
Contents
The traditional HR service delivery model
The Experience-Driven HR Service Delivery Model
How HR can get started
The traditional HR service delivery model
The traditional HR service delivery model is based upon a tiered approach to deal with employee queries effectively. The model divides HR services into the following tiers with an attempt to resolve as many queries as possible in the lower tiers:
Target % of queries Example Tier 0: This refers to employee self-service activities that can be completed without any interaction with an HR professional 60% Employees access the self-service portal to put in leave. Tier 1: This is general HR support, usually provided via telephone, service center, or e-mail 20% Employee phones the HR helpdesk to request information on the employee wellbeing program Tier 2: Queries that cannot be resolved at Tier 1 are escalated to Tier 2 and dealt with by a subject matter expert 15% Employee request has been escalated to a benefits consultant to provide advice on the right medical aid option for the employee Tier 3: This level of support is for strategic or complex issues requiring a senior individual’s direct intervention. Usually, these individuals would be within the Centres of Excellence or HR Leadership teams 5% A complaint has been received via the whistle-blowing line and escalated to the Head of HR for investigation.
The key drivers of the HR service delivery model are to drive efficiency of HR query resolution while also introducing consistency in service delivery. The model has been successful in terms of its intended purpose of efficiency, yet there are a few limitations within the model:
- The model is reactive in responding to employee queries and has a limited focus on proactive services to employees
- The model does not provide a personalized experience for the employee, with the main drivers being standardization and consistency
- Resourcing Tier 2 and Tier 3 of the model tends to be costly. If first-time query resolution does not happen at Tier 0 or 1, the model pulls expensive resources into operational matters.
With the quickly advancing generative AI and workflow technologies, as well as the incorporation of design thinking and customer relationship management principles into employee experiences, there is an opportunity to evolve the current model to address these limitations.
We discussed HR service delivery with HR consultant and founder of HRhotline.com, Carol Awad. You can watch the full interview below:
The Experience-Driven HR Service Delivery Model
The Experience-Driven HR Services Delivery Model builds upon current HR service centers and introduces four evolutions:
Evolution 1: From a standardized self-service experience to a personalized interaction based on personas
The revised model starts by segmenting the employee audience into specific groups or personas based on particular needs, preferences, or characteristics. For example, this could include identifying head office versus frontline employees and differentiating based on location or which sub-brand of the business the employee belongs to.
Depending on the employee’s group, businesses can tailor and customize the self-service experience for that grouping. By doing so, employees can access services that are applicable and relevant to them. For example, the self-service experience could carry different branding or have a view of the services available to that location for that employee.
At its most advanced level, employees should be able to dictate their own experience based on their preferences on what they want to see on their landing page, the information relevant to them on their home screen, and saving shortcuts to the services they use most frequently.
Evolution 2: Incorporate AI as a companion and guide to interact with and address questions
The next evolution is in the use of AI as a companion in Tier 0. The AI companion can provide a more personalized and engaging experience using the organizational content library of policies and processes.
Operating as a chatbot, we are already seeing organizations creating more personalization with employees being able to choose which AI persona they engage with. For example, a financial services chatbot guides employees through updating their employee details and accessing their payslips and tax information.
The AI companion will complement the self-service workflows and direct employees to the appropriate self-service workflows where applicable. For example, updating beneficiaries on a policy or changing location details can be done by employees themselves, yet this will initiate a workflow to alert others that this action has taken place.
Evolution 3: Increase capacity through alternate sourcing strategies at tier 2 and 3
Tier 2 relates to the general support center that consists of a layer of generalist employees that can be reached via a multitude of channels such as telephone, e-mail, and tools such as WhatsApp or live chat as first-line support.
Queries that cannot be resolved at first contact are then directed to a specific area of expertise before being referred to Tier 3 for expert resolution.
To accommodate capacity, tier 2 and tier 3 can utilize various sourcing strategies, such as in-sourcing, co-sourcing, and outsourcing:
- In-sourcing involves the allocation of permanent employees to the service model full-time
- Outsourcing refers to bringing in capacity from third-party vendors
- Co-sourcing entails contracting with specific independent individuals to bring their expertise to the service center.
This is especially helpful in highly specialized and niche areas such as benefits and rewards queries, career management, and employee value proposition services.
Creating this additional capacity has various benefits:
- Allows scaling up and down of resource requirements, which will be more cost-effective
- Enables employees to have access to specialized advice and services which they will not usually have access to
- The organization can adapt its resource plan to accommodate the needs of specific personas
Evolution 4: Incorporate both an inbound and outbound service flow
The next evolution is about incorporating inbound and outbound services into the model.
Inbound services related to the employee accessing the self-service platform or contacting the service center are similar to current HR service models.
Outbound services refer to situations where the service center proactively contacts the employee based on specified triggers or life events. For example, an employee requesting parental leave could trigger an outbound proposal to the employee as to whether they would like to schedule a call with a financial advisor given the changes in their life circumstances.
Similarly, an employee accessing specific wellbeing services could be made aware of additional support available within the organization.
This outbound service provides a more proactive approach to HR service delivery and, if done correctly, offers significant personal value to the employee.
From an organizational perspective, the outbound service also mitigates risk by ensuring up-to-date information and employees are made aware of relevant services the organization provides aligned to memorable life events.
The employee engages with the chatbot and answers basic questions regarding their learning needs. The AI utilizes data from the employee profile related to previous courses completed, interests, and career ambitions to search the content library and provide specific recommendations for learning that the employee should consider.
If the employee is satisfied with the answer, they can auto-enroll in the learning program, which will initiate a workflow to register the employee and, if applicable, contact the line manager to approve the required budget. If the employee did not find what they were looking for, they can contact the service helpdesk for additional advice from a subject matter expert.
The system automatically identifies that the employee has reached the age of five years from retirement based on the date of birth. The service center automatically sends the employee a communication offering an overview of the organization’s retirement planning services, notifying the employee line manager that the employee has reached this age, sharing possible late-stage career planning resources, and letting the relevant HRBP know that the employee has reached this age.
The employee can opt in or out of these messages going forward at any stage.
How HR can get started
Moving current HR services to the evolved model needs to be approached in a structured manner.
Beyond the design of the model and the underpinning technology requirements, businesses need to address the change management process that guides employees on how to engage with the model and assures them of privacy and confidentiality to ensure the successful adoption of the model.
Step 1: Evaluate the target employee segments within your workforce
First, HR needs to understand the target segments of the workforce and the criteria that will be used to identify which segment employees belong to.
These segments should not be based on assumptions but rather by using data-driven approaches to identify the needs and composition of the workforce. For example, you might find out that your retail store workers’ needs differ from the needs of the headquarters employees.
Step 2: Scope the services that the model needs to be able to deliver
Once HR has a clear idea of the employee segments, the next step is to design the employee journey when engaging with HR services and map the services the service center will provide. This is a crucial step to better understand the desired employee experience, clarify the HR service proposition, and which services can or cannot be offered.
Similarly, during this step, the HR team should identify which service channels they will offer, ranging from mobile solutions to phone and helpdesk services. These channels must align with the services being offered and defined in terms of their applicability at each tier.
Step 3: Evaluate the technology requirements to enable the model
Once you’ve defined the services, the next step is to scope the underpinning technology platforms required to operationalize the services. This should include the integration requirements with current internal technologies such as the intranet, content libraries, and the existing HR technology stack.
Depending on which channels need to be enabled, this will influence the decision related to the required technology investments, as well as the implementation roadmap.
Step 4: Decide on a resourcing model to support tier 2 and 3
The next step is to understand the appropriate resourcing model underpinning the services. Consider a blended approach that incorporates insourcing, co-sourcing, and outsourcing solutions. However, this needs to be guided by the services offered, internal resource availability, and financial constraints.
You’ll need to adapt the resourcing model as you gain more clarity regarding volumes, types of queries, and solutions you’ll offer.
Step 5: Socialize the change in approach with employees
One of the most critical steps is the change management required to educate and enable employees to engage with the new HR services. Even though there are significant benefits in adopting this approach, some employees will have concerns about confidentiality and privacy, as well as a sense of loss, as they will now interact with technology instead of their HR administrator.
You should highlight the solution’s benefits while making it straightforward for employees to engage with the new services, share success stories, and report on key metrics as the service model matures.
Step 6: Implement a robust measurement framework to demonstrate value
A robust measurement framework will help you demonstrate the impact of the services model in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and experience. At the outset, these metrics need to be measured, tracked, and services adjusted to ensure the long-term success of the model.
The evolving model calls for a reevaluation of the success criteria of HR service delivery. Traditionally, organizations monitored the following metrics to evaluate the success of the HR service model:
- Efficiencies were measured through the speed of query resolution, % of queries that could be resolved through 1st-time resolution, and the volume of queries being resolved at each tier of the model.
- Costs were measured in terms of the query resolution cost, savings within the center per transaction completed, and time spent by different resources to resolve queries.
- Service satisfaction in terms of basic feedback from users on their interaction with the service center.
These measures will remain applicable in the evolved model, yet there will be additional success metrics to consider:
- The employee experience can be measured through key feedback points due to interaction with HR Services. Similar to customer experience, the employee journey when engaging with the service center needs to be mapped, and critical feedback points identified.
- Furthermore, the model should monitor the eNPS score for HR services and ask employees whether they would recommend these services to other employees. This becomes especially important when providing newer solutions such as career services, learning, and benefit recommendations.
Final words
As employees expect more personalized services from HR, utilizing technologies such as generative AI and adopting design and customer relationship management principles can become a game changer for HR service centers.
Evolving current models provide new opportunities to drive an engaging and personalized employee experience while retaining the focus on efficiencies and cost for the future.
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