FEATURE We asked selected Microsoft partners how they are using Microsoft technologies like Microsoft 365, Azure and Teams to help retailers drive greater productivity, job satisfaction and collaboration for their employees Partner perspectives “Avanade is working with leading retailers across the globe to empower employees to make better decisions and work more effectively using Microsoft’s cloud platforms. When retailers give their store associates, back-office personnel and warehouse teams access to the intelligent capabilities of Microsoft 365, Azure and Teams, those employees can be freed from many manual tasks and enabled to address more meaningful activities – like engaging with consumers, or even implementing sustainability programmes.” Corine Vives Executive Global Lead, Retail and Consumer Goods, Avanade “Frontline workers are the backbone of any retail organisation – they are responsible for serving customers, handling transactions and maintaining store operations. Modern technology gives retail organisations an opportunity to empower their frontline workers with the tools they need to be more productive, collaborative and connected. Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams and collaboration applications are among the most effective tools for achieving this goal. Teams allows workers to share information and collaborate in real time, regardless of their location. This improves efficiency and productivity while reducing the need for face-to-face communication, which is especially important in today’s environment. Collaborative apps and Teams also help retailers improve the accuracy of their inventory and sales data, enabling managers to make more informed decisions. “Delivering a great employee experience has become the most critical challenge facing human resources teams, both in terms of recruiting the best talent and retaining key staff. Yet, isolved’s recent survey of over 500 HR leaders found that most of them waste at least half a day answering repetitive questions. This is why isolved developed its Conversational Virtual Assistant, an AI-based chatbot that is delivered through Microsoft Teams. The chatbot streamlines the onboarding process for new hires and also makes it easy for employees to get the answers they need and complete various common HR tasks, such as booking paid time off, by themselves. This empowers staff to take charge of their own work lives and deepens their connection to the business, while freeing up HR teams to focus on building a better employee experience.” Geoff Webb Vice President, Solution Strategy, isolved Maruthi Rao Gadde Principal Technology Architect, Digital Workplace, Infosys Photo: Unsplash/Ron Lach Photo: Unsplash/Christian Koepke 172
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