AI at Achievers: Transforming the employee experience

The role of generative AI (GenAI) in HR technology is on the rise, empowering organizations to scale efforts, improve employee engagement, and streamline operations.

Companies are leveraging AI tools for everything from implementing cost saving measures to enhancing employee feedback, while sentiment analysis could also be used to evaluate a sense of belonging.

According to Gartner, 38% of surveyed HR leaders have either started experimenting with, are implementing, or have already integrated GenAI into their operations — a 19% increase since June 2023.

Although many organizations have adopted components of GenAI (especially within core HR technology), many HR practitioners report feeling concerned about falling behind.
Research from Gartner shows that 76% of HR leaders believe that failure to adopt AI solutions within the next 12-24 months will put their company at a competitive disadvantage.

Achievers’ past, present, and future commitment to AI

At Achievers, we believe there’s a lot we can do on the product front to support increased GenAI adoption among our community of HR leaders and help them stay ahead of the curve. This includes a strong commitment to using AI responsibly, with a focus on privacy protection (read our AI principles here).

“GenAI has created exciting new opportunities for us to expand on our existing AI features. With GenAI, we’re able to extend our offering to deliver more meaningful experiences that help employees feel seen, heard, and appreciated,” said Chelsea Parry, VP of Product Management at Achievers.

“This enhanced capability allows us to deepen engagement, address nuanced workplace dynamics, and continuously innovate to meet the evolving needs of diverse workforces,” she added.

Central to our product philosophy is the belief in using AI to continually improve our platform offerings, such as our Relevancy Engine – which powers our Personalized Newsfeed to drive active usage and employee engagement on our platform. In addition, we’re also dedicated to crafting educational tools that help create more inclusive work environments and improve the overall employee experience.

Another way has been through content development and research through Achievers Workforce Institute (AWI) to educate ourselves, as well as our community. For years, we’ve often run webinars and conducted surveys to discuss and evaluate the possibilities of AI in the HR realm.

According to recent data gathered by AWI, HR leaders are confident in the impact AI will have on their daily operations and the industry as a whole. While 47% of senior HR execs expect AI to significantly influence their roles, 59% predict major industry impact within the next five years.

We’ve taken these insights to heart and doubled down on our product commitment to AI – so our customers can continue to transform the employee experience within their organizations.

Which is why we’re proud to introduce not one, but two exciting new AI features.

Introducing Inclusion Coach

Inclusion Coach is Achievers’ first GenAI tool created to aid employees in reducing bias in their flow of recognizing their colleagues, by flagging any biased language related to gender, race, age, sexuality, and ability, and offering suggestions for improvement in real time.

In addition to helping to drive awareness to use of biased language, in seconds it suggests improved versions of recognitions – offering thorough, research-backed explanations on why a recognition may be biased, educating employees in real-time.

An example:

Additionally, Inclusion Coach provides continuous guidance by enabling multiple reviews of recognitions, helping employees learn as potential biases are identified.

Why is Inclusion Coach important?

We all carry unconscious biases and may unintentionally use language that could have a negative impact on others. While initially learning about the presence of these biases can be unsettling, it’s important to remember that these insights are a valuable opportunity to learn and grow — contributing to a work environment that is kinder and more inclusive.

“We’re particularly eager to see the impact this tool will have on employees who are new to the workforce,” said Hannah Yardley, Chief People and Culture Officer of Achievers. “AWI data consistently shows that peer recognition increases belonging, trust, and friendships at work. Yet many employees are less likely to get formally trained on how to give praise and feedback,” she added.

Words carry a lot of power. With that in mind, GenAI tools such as Inclusion Coach was created as an educational tool to drive more awareness to the language we unconsciously choose to use when addressing our teammates — through recognitions and beyond.

What problems does Inclusion Coach solve?

While Inclusion coach can identify overt/blatant stereotypes, it can also catch more subtle concerns such as condescending language or microaggressions that could stem from unconscious biases.

Nuanced issues such as gendered language, culturally insensitive phrases, and ableist comments may not be immediately obvious — but can be deeply hurtful and triggering for others — and Inclusion Coach helps with identifying them at the outset.

An example of microaggressions and use of condescending language could include backhanded compliments, such as:” You’re doing a great job in the role, even though you’re only a fresh grad!”

Or unnecessary gendered language such as:” Thanks guys! We should be proud of what we’ve accomplished this month.”

Introducing Rewards Recommender

In addition to Inclusion Coach, we’ve also just rolled out our new machine learning-based product recommendations feature — Rewards Recommender. Designed to enhance the reward redemption experience on Achievers’ reward marketplace, this tool makes recommendations tailored specifically to each members’ unique preferences and available points.

It takes into consideration an individual’s marketplace history and preferences, then provides reward suggestions — streamlining the reward redemption experience while improving marketplace engagement.

Achievers existing AI features

Beyond Inclusion Coach and the Rewards Recommender, our AI feature offerings also include Community Newsfeed and Otto Chat Bot – which help our customers unlock access to meaningful content and support.

Here’s how they work:

• Community Newsfeed: A machine learning-based feature that improves user connections within your employee recognition software by ensuring employees have visibility on recognition moments and content that’s relevant to them.
• Otto Chat Bot: A generative AI chat bot that offers personalized support through interactive conversations, Otto Chat Bot is a 24/7 automated assistant. By answering customer questions using generative AI and pre-programmed intents, this feature streamlines communications for your support teams.

The way forward: Future of AI at Achievers

In the coming years, our product team will continue investing in AI features to help HR leaders make meaningful improvements to the employee experience.
“At Achievers, we’re committed to developing and continuously evolving employee experience solutions grounded in rigorous workforce science, and our AI features are no different,” said David Bator, managing director of Achievers Workforce Institute.

“AI will supercharge recognition, making it more meaningful, seamless, and personalized than ever – whether you’re accessing recognition content through our Community Newsfeed or sharing and amplifying praise with Inclusion Coach.”