GasNet is the Czech leader in natural gas distribution. The company is systematically preparing for the distribution of new gases such as hydrogen and biomethane, while building a corporate culture based on ESG principles. When the company introduced a new brand, corporate strategy and values, they needed to know how well employees understood them. They used the chatbot Arnold to conduct a survey, and the HR team started working with the results immediately.
GasNet has 2,300 employees, nearly 850 of whom work out in the field. That’s why it was convenient for employees to talk to Arnold on their mobile phones. Thanks to this and other factors, HR got enough information about how people perceive the company culture, new strategy and values.
GasNet chose Arnold because they wanted to have a short, human dialogue with employees, not just make them fill out questionnaires. They also liked the fact that they could customize conversations and not simply use preset phrases. At the same time, they wanted Arnold to speak “their language,” which may be specific to the people in the office and those people in the field.
The key is to have the support of management,” emphasizes Helena Steiner from the HR team. “We first present the important topics that we want to discuss with the employees through Arnold to the board. We explain why we intend to solve the topics with people, how they are linked to the company’s strategy and what the results will be used for.”
Helena Steinerová
GasNet initially sent the conversation with Arnold to employees twice a month, but later switched to a frequency of once a month. “It’s good to always choose the same day of the week. We used to send out surveys on Fridays, but people were often on holiday, so we switched to Wednesdays,” the manager says of her experience.
Se adds that after taking into account all the time costs of providing two surveys a month, the related administration works out to around a quarter of the standard.
And how did the survey regarding the company’s strategy and values turn out? Thanks to Arnold, GasNet has identified areas that need more clarification for employees. Accordingly, they set up more intensive internal communication and training. They also advised managers to have discussions with their people about the more problematic areas.
“As a result, we were able to increase the comprehensibility of the strategy among people out in the field from 76% to 80%, which was our goal,” says Helena Steiner in summary.
However, individual managers also work with the results. For example, one manager used the chatbot to check her people’s familiarity with a new directive. When she found that her team members did not completely grasp the information about the new directive, she immediately discussed it with them in a meeting.
“We get quick feedback from the whole company. This helps us to improve HR services, for example in setting up training programs. We then select educational courses based on what people want,” Helena Steinerová offers as an example.
GasNet has repeatedly verified that the chatbot can serve as a tool for quick communication with employees working out in the field who are still learning how to use another platform, our new intranet. For example, through the chatbot on their mobile phone, they’ve learned how mobile data is increasing in the company.
GasNet is therefore going to continue to use Arnold. This year, for example, they are planning a more substantial employee satisfaction survey.
