Interactive or custom kiosks have been heralded as the next big thing for customer service. Brands like Wendy’s, Walgreens, and McDonald’s have reassigned or replaced employees with self-service kiosks to help cut operational costs, increase productivity, and enhance customer service. But in addition to customer service, interactive kiosks have a huge potential as tools for promoting employee engagement and satisfaction.
Every good brand knows the value of a happy employee. And no one knows this fact better than the billionaire owner of the Virgin group of companies, Richard Branson, who has built his company on the back of his vibrant and motivated employees. And as evidence has shown, happy employees often translate into happy customers.
So, how are businesses driving employee engagement and satisfaction with interactive kiosks?
1. Employee Training
The first few days at work can be frustrating for a new employee. They have to learn new procedures and protocols and are sometimes required to undergo on-the-job training for days or weeks. Interactive kiosks are often used by big companies to deliver and manage training sessions for new employees, which can be accomplished with minimal supervision. This helps to reduce dependence on the HR department and free up manpower that can be redirected to other important tasks.
With interactive kiosks, employees can receive real-time feedback on performance and mistakes are promptly spotted and corrected. Plus, employers can reduce distractions by deactivating social media and other digital distractions and ensuring only the training syllabus is available on the kiosk.
2. Smoother In-house Business Processes
Employee burnout is one of the main reasons why employees quit. In busy organizations, small, repetitive tasks like printing, scanning, faxing, sending emails, and making interdepartmental requests can reduce productivity and contribute to burnout.
With interactive kiosks, businesses can make it easier for employees to carry out these tasks. Many digital kiosks can be used for timeclocking, making printing, faxing, and copying requests, and carrying out other basic office tasks.
3. Seamless Communication
Interactive kiosks also provide a platform for employees to look up information while on the job. For big companies with complex workflow procedures, kiosks can be useful in providing information when needed. Car dealerships, for instance, often have different car models on sale. Sales representatives can use the kiosks to explain specs and other aspects of the car to customers. This is always better and more productive than having to fish out and navigate an iPad or running back to the office to consult the catalogue. Plus, both customer and employee can check out the specs, which results in a happy, stress free sales rep and an even happier customer.
4. Kiosks Compliment the HR Department
Many companies have taken up interactive kiosks to help compliment some of the functions of HR departments. Employees can use the kiosks to manage different aspects of payroll without scheduling an appointment with the HR department. Employees can also report benefits such as allowances and overtime and have access to their information on-demand.
The company can also push communication to employees via the interactive kiosks. Companies can send surveys, work suggestions, work schedules, or even motivational messages without the need to call time-consuming meetings. Kiosks can further be used as platforms to communicate events like training schedules, seminars, and workshops and also have employees sign up for the same.
5. Job Applications
Companies like Wal-Mart and Best Buy often use interactive kiosks located within the stores to collect job applications from potential employees. Employers often save tons of marketing cash from the free advertising presented by such kiosks. But even more importantly, the HR department can have an easier time viewing and processing applications since they are usually stored in digital form. The hiring manager can have an easier time with job applications and has a higher chance of recruiting the right person via this process.
Interactive kiosks are also used prominently in job fairs to help with the recruitment process. Applicants can drop their credentials in digital form and have them reviewed by recruitment staff. The recruitment manager can also schedule an interview with serious candidates on-site before going back to the office. Simpler recruitment procedures mean employees in the HR department can breathe a bit easier and focus on making customers happy.
Conclusion
While interactive kiosks are not the only way to keep employees engaged and satisfied, they are definitely one of the most interesting. However, getting the wrong one can easily backfire, so make sure any kiosk that you install within the office building has the right set of hardware and software specs to drive employee engagement.
