Microsoft is changing the face of employee engagement with AskHR, a dynamic HR platform developed on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Power Platform. The platform breaks away from outdated methods, replacing email and in-person consultations with an efficient, data-driven system.
Over the past decade, AskHR has redefined how Microsoft’s HR team interacts with its employees, improving overall satisfaction and operational effectiveness, and offering a blueprint for the future of HR.
A Shift from Email to Intelligent HR Support
Microsoft’s HR team faced a challenge as its global workforce grew beyond 220,000 employees. The number of HR inquiries surged from a few thousand annually to over 1 million, making email-based systems increasingly ineffective.
The company introduced AskHR, an AI-powered platform designed to manage and resolve employee inquiries efficiently. This digital solution now handles everything from basic administrative questions to complex issues like job transfers and performance evaluations. “AskHR gives Microsoft HR the ability to react quickly to changes within our corporate environment,” says
Andrew Winnemore, VP in HR Services. “When COVID-19 hit, we were able to organise and prioritise pandemic-related cases, allocate advisors to the proper queues, and shift the focus of our HR support to meet needs on an ongoing basis.”
A Robust and Scalable HR System
Microsoft’s AskHR platform is built to handle an extraordinary volume of employee inquiries, managing over 4,500 new requests every day. Supported by a team of 1,400 HR advisors spread across 14 HR functions and 25 support teams, the platform offers multiple channels for employee interaction, including email, API-based ticketing, self-service portals, and chatbots.
In addition to serving current employees, AskHR provides vital support to former employees, granting access to personnel files and employment history. The platform also plays a crucial role in Microsoft’s onboarding, internal transfers, and benefits management, ensuring seamless HR operations.
The Power of AI and Automation
The success of Microsoft’s AskHR platform is underpinned by its powerful use of AI and automation tools, transforming the HR department’s ability to manage employee inquiries. Through Microsoft Power Automate, workflows are accelerated, automatically assigning cases to HR advisors and sending real-time notifications.
AI Builder and sentiment analysis enhance the platform’s ability to prioritise urgent cases by detecting emotional cues. “We’re using many of the built-in capabilities to better support Microsoft HR,” says Mahesh Sharma, former AskHR Engineering PM Lead.
“Using technologies including AI and machine learning, Power Virtual Assistant, Power Automate, Microsoft Teams collaboration, and Customer Voice, we’ve enabled Microsoft HR to deliver a highly intuitive employee interaction solution that engages our employees in ways that were previously only equated with customer interactions.”
The platform has also boosted employee engagement in feedback surveys, with response rates increasing from 9% to 22% in a single year. Real-time analytics, powered by Power BI and Customer Service Insights, provide HR leadership with crucial data on case volumes, trending topics, and employee sentiment.
One of the standout features is the AI-powered escalation management dashboard, which flags high-priority cases based on sentiment and case history. “Sentiment analysis has flagged more than 250,000 inbound conversations to date,” according to Microsoft, ensuring urgent issues are addressed promptly.
Revolutionising HR Advisor Productivity
Microsoft’s AskHR platform is improving the productivity of HR advisors through a sleek, browser-based Customer Service Workspace, designed to handle multiple inquiries at once without losing track of important details.
With tools like Case Summary, Ask a Question, and Write an Email integrated into Dynamics 365’s Copilot feature, advisors can resolve cases more efficiently.
“The HR advisors and front-end line managers love the low-code flexibility that Power Automate provides,” says Abhinav Jhingan, AskHR HR Solution Lead. “It helps them support complex business processes while still working within the constructs of a well-defined case-management lifecycle.”
This transformation has resulted in significant gains in efficiency:
- Case resolution times have dropped by 18 hours per case
- HR advisors now spend 12 minutes less per case on average
- AI-powered spam filtering has eliminated 97.89% of unwanted emails
- First-time issue resolution has improved by 29%
- Employee satisfaction (NSAT) has increased by nearly 10%
Continuous Innovation
Microsoft is pushing the boundaries of AskHR with a series of upcoming enhancements aimed at improving advisor productivity, expanding automation, and refining live assistance tools. The next wave of innovations will feature unified routing improvements, stronger knowledge management, and more advanced AI-driven natural language understanding.
“Deep collaboration with our Dynamics 365 and Power Platform product groups has helped us deliver several advanced HR-related features, avoiding costly customisations,” says Gayatri Garapati, AskHR Engineering SWE Lead.
Conclusion
Microsoft’s AskHR has redefined how the company’s HR department engages with its employees, moving away from outdated email-based processes to an advanced, AI-driven platform.
Microsoft has enhanced HR operations, improved employee satisfaction, and elevated HR advisor productivity by harnessing automation, machine learning, and data analytics.
AskHR stands as a powerful example of how technology can transform employee engagement. With continuous innovation in AI and automation, AskHR is set to remain a leader in HR technology for the foreseeable future.