To gain an insight into the use of artificial intelligence at work, I talked with Krzysztof Sobczak, CEO and co-founder of Emplocity. We discussed the advantages of robotization, the challenges awaiting organizations of the future and how important it is to be yourself.
Today we talk a lot about learning and self-managed organizations. How employees feel in such a reality depends on their work experience. It is the leader’s role to adjust the management type to various people, although not always, Krzysztof says. For Krzysztof – a co-author of an AI-based platform that uses advanced solutions to automate the recruitment process – the most important question is: “who?”. The answer is to choose the right people, who will be proud of taking part in forming the organization and will feel good at work.
Krzysztof believes people working at an organization should follow similar principles. But it’s not about having identical worldviews or interests – it would be great to take someone like that for a coffee, but this doesn’t mean we will always be able to come to an understanding at work. It is more about fitting the corporate culture, having an agreement on the company’s mission and vision or the fact there is some dominant factor in the company. In Emplocity that factor is continuous pursuit of perfection. This pursuit often comes with chaos caused by the style of work typical for this sector, sothis style is not for everyone – which you can notice after some time. After all, we’re not able to predict everything.
The bot created by Emplocity is intended to support companies through HR processes automation, and its goal is to simplify everyday tasks for employees. Krzysztof deflates the currently popular thesis that automation takes away people’s jobs. Quite the contrary, it produces new jobs – like robot shepherds or coaches. Naturally, technology can relieve people is some areas, e.g. tedious and repetitive activities which take a lot of precious time. But the important thing is, the technology helps to find answers to difficult questions, to reach information, and can be a support in internal communication and recruitment processes.
It turns out searching for information takes nearly 40% of employees time each day. All sorts of information – from submitting a holiday request, information about the product or services, procedural matters or where a given person works.
Such a bot-assistant will be useful in any company, but even more so for large organizations, employing more than 1000 people and geographically scattered. First, we need to bestow a kind of personality on the bot, filling it with knowledge about the company and making it capable of using that information. As it gradually becomes smarter, it can relieve employees more effectively – eliminating the need to wait for email or phone replies.
We project that in a year there will be an expansion of voice communicators already seen in the western world. The great Chinese offensive by WeChat, which is a window to the internet that you can use to sort out…
… anything you want. Emplocity works in combination with an intelligent chatbot which “uses” Messenger. So it does what we do when contacting friends. That’s why it works – as the most convenient way of gaining information. Especially for the younger generation, who does not want to search for answers and wait for them, but to get them instantly.
Emplocity is now cooperating with several dozens companies from Poland and abroad. The solution is great for companies where employees need to answer the same questions repeatedly, and the current tools do not meet the expectations.
Research shows that we do not want to perform boring tasks. Organizations that open up to such robotization will get used to it at some point, and will stop noticing it. And then…
…soft skills will get back to favors, the human factor, something no technology can replace, so in the end – interhuman relations are most important.
Managerial skills will be most important, the function of the leader, who knows the rules and procedures and follows them, but that’s just one side of the medal. Another essential matter is the already mentioned choice of the right people and influencing them not only via strict rules. Krzysztof believes people are able to create coherent organizations, with a clear system of communication, where people take care of one another, express their needs, are emphatic and open. Organizations which communicate face to face.
Considering how expansive the technology is that causes “unwanted havoc,” leaders will need to face the challenge of establishing real, healthy collaboration with people.
People need real, authentic leaders, with their flaws and advantages, someone they want to follow. Someone who remains themselves no matter what the circumstances. Today, organizations need such good shepherds more than ever before; leaders who know how to discipline and how to praise, motivate and support. It is extremely hard to be the “lighthouse keeper,” but it’s worth to take this challenge and strive for perfection, as Krzysztof does.And I cheer for him.
This is just one of “Your First Customer” interviews. Interested? Watch other interviews. You can also read the book “Your First Customer. How to Turn Employees into Company Ambassadors”.
Kategorie: school of contentic, B2E