The Employee Self Service Agent is a Microsoft 365 Copilot’s business chat feature that helps employees with service-related questions. It checks its Microsoft Graph to find information and forms six prompts without requiring any administrative setup.
In the business chat, users can access benefits, payroll, leave requests, IT support, and Microsoft 365 help. Admins can customize the agent in Copilot Studio using templates, workflows, and information from SharePoint. The agent connects to HR and IT systems like Workday, SAP, and ServiceNow. This agent is now in private preview.
The Employee Self-Service Agent is the next significant progress in delivering services to employees. First, we had easy-to-search internal websites. Then, we established HR bots that responded to specific queries.
In this blog post, I will explain how Employee Self-Service Agents powered by AI work in an organization and the benefits of this. You will also see various scenarios involving Employee Self-Service Agents M365 Copilot, now available for a limited preview (Private Preview).
Table of Contents
What are the Capabilities and Benefits of Employee Self Service Agent?
The following are the capabilities and benefits of Employee Self-Service Agent.
> The right answers at the right time
> Take action in one place
>Improve business processes and reduce administrative costs
Employee Self Service Agent in BizChat Simplifies HR and IT Workload
“The Employee Self-Service Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot reorients problem-solving from a tool-based focus to a task-based focus,” says Kyle von Haden, principal PM manager for the Employee Self-Service Agent team in the Copilot product group. “It allows somebody to think about the problem they’re trying to solve and just express that rather than thinking about what tool they’ll need to do it.”
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Customize and Enhance Employee Self-Service Agent in Copilot Studio
The employees can customize responses in Copilot Studio using the admin page. Admins can find, install, and personalize the Employee Self-Service Agent by adding knowledge sources, which creates accurate answers to popular questions. Admins can also enable actions through the Agent by connecting it to HCM, IT, and other providers. Customizing pre-built templates allows employees to get the right answers at the right time and take action—all within Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Capabilities and Benefits of Employee Self-Service Agent
The Employee Self Service Agent allows organisations to quickly manage HR and IT tasks, providing immediate solutions and a more effortless user experience. The following are the capabilities and benefits of Employee Self-Service Agent.
- The right answers at the right time: The Employee Self-Service Agent offers quick, exact answers and guidance from reliable sources. It provides customizable replies for employees. Use it to check PTO policies, file reimbursements, view rewards, and start a leave of absence (LOA) request.
- Take action in one place: Employees can manage HR and IT duties through the agent, including profile updates, ticket statuses, leave requests, and transfer request status, all within the Microsoft 365 Copilot business chat interface.
- Improve business processes and reduce administrative costs: Using the Employee Self-Service Agent can enhance business efficiency and productivity. At Microsoft, employees are 25% more likely to get accurate answers and 49% less likely to submit support tickets than traditional systems.
Critical Scenarios for Employees and HR and IT Administrators
The Employee Self-Service Agent offers clear and timely support to improve workforce efficiency and satisfaction. It helps workers efficiently perform simple HR and IT tasks, improving efficiency and increasing the advantages of remaining investments.
The following table shows the critical scenarios for employees, as well as HR and IT administrators.
| For Employees | For HR and IT Administrators |
|---|---|
| HR and IT Ticket Status: Employees can track HR or IT tickets on one platform, making follow-up easier. Using the Employee Self-Service Agent in M365 Copilot at Microsoft improved IT issue resolution by 36%, an increase in the success rate of IT self-help compared to current support channels. | Reduce Workload and Reallocate Costs: The agent reduces HR and IT tickets, freeing agents from administrative work and enabling teams to concentrate on more strategic initiatives. |
| Personalized Data Retrieval: Employees can access their personal information, including financial benefits, payroll details, PTO, and LOA status, all securely and secretly. | Simplified, Secure Experience: The agent gives a secure and simple experience with third-party apps and Microsoft Graph. |
| Personalized Data Retrieval: Employees can securely and secretly access their personal information tailored to their specific context, including financial benefits, payroll details, PTO, and LOA status. | Ensure Accurate Information Retrieval: Employees get the right answers fast with easy prompts and clear responses. |
| Leave Requests: Employees can directly ask for leaves of absence or parental leave through the agent. | Driving Adoption of Existing Investments: Leverage employee benefits and technology to boost participation and maximize investment returns. |
| Transfer Requests and Team Updates: People managers can submit employee transfer needs and inform team information during organizational changes. | |
| IT Self-Help for Microsoft Products: Employees can use the agent for information, insights, diagnostics, and troubleshooting. | |
| Prompts for Proper Guidance: The agent offers intelligent options for guiding employees through processes. | |
| Stay in One Place: Connected apps and templates assist employees in finding answers and taking action without switching platforms. |
Resources
- Microsoft Ignite 2024 Book of News
- Introducing the Employee Self-Service Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft Community Hub
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Author
Anoop C Nair has been Microsoft MVP for 10 consecutive years from 2015 onwards. He is a Workplace Solution Architect with more than 22+ years of experience in Workplace technologies. He is a Blogger, Speaker, and Local User Group Community leader. His primary focus is on Device Management technologies like SCCM and Intune. He writes about technologies like Intune, SCCM, Windows, Cloud PC, Windows, Entra, Microsoft Security, Career, etc.