In a growing business, questions about time off, benefits, holidays, and workplace policies often end up in someone’s inbox, chat, or office doorway. While the answers are usually in the employee handbook, finding them takes time. HR Assist makes those answers easier to access in Microsoft Teams, helping employees get quick answers while reducing interruptions for managers and business owners.
It Starts with the Handbook
Because HR Assist relies on your employee handbook as its source of truth, having an up-to-date handbook is the first step. We can help create a new handbook or update an existing one before HR Assist is implemented. Either way, it should reflect how your business operates and be easy for people to understand.
Here’s how we approach it:
- We make sure the handbook includes the policies your company needs.
- We shape those policies around your approach to time off, benefits, holidays, and workplace expectations.
- We review it with you and make updates when your business or the rules change.
Introducing HR Assist
Once the handbook is in place, HR Assist makes it easier for employees to access and use the information it contains. Team members can ask questions in Microsoft Teams and receive conversational answers based on the policies and guidance in the handbook. Because responses come from your approved handbook content, employees receive consistent answers aligned with company policy.
HR Assist is designed for growing businesses that already use Microsoft Teams and want employees to find reliable answers without adding another system to the workday.
For example, a new employee could ask when benefits begin and receive the relevant handbook guidance without scrolling through a PDF. If the handbook does not answer the question, HR Assist can direct it to the appropriate contact instead of guessing.
Why It Matters
HR Assist helps reduce repetitive policy questions, gives employees quicker access to information, and allows managers to spend more time supporting their teams.
Most handbook questions are straightforward, but answering the same ones repeatedly takes time away from supporting employees and running the business. HR Assist gives employees a quick place to look first and routes unanswered questions to the appropriate contact.
Getting HR Assist Up and Running
- We start with your current Word or PDF handbook.
- We set up HR Assist to answer handbook questions and direct employees to the appropriate contact when the handbook does not provide an answer.
- You try common questions and review the answers before employees use it.
- We add it to Microsoft Teams and show your employees where to find it.
- We stay involved after launch to make updates and answer questions as needed.
Packages
Each package builds on the same handbook-based approach. The right option depends on where employees will access HR Assist and how much configuration, launch support, and ongoing maintenance your team needs.
| Package | What’s Included |
|---|---|
| Starter | A searchable handbook in HR Assist, using your current PDF as the source |
| Professional | Everything in Starter, plus Microsoft Teams access, company-specific handbook configuration, testing, and launch support |
| Enterprise | Everything in Professional, plus ongoing support for handbook updates, answer reviews, testing, and agent improvements |
A Practical Way to Support Your Team
HR Assist is designed to handle straightforward policy questions, but it does not replace a thoughtful conversation. Employees still need someone to listen when an issue is personal, sensitive, or unclear. The goal is to make routine answers easy to find so leaders have more time for the situations that need their attention.
If employees are spending too much time searching the handbook or asking the same policy questions, HR Assist can make those answers easier to find in Microsoft Teams.
Contact us at sales@iscorp.biz or reach out to Janelle Nickolay at Implementation Specialists to learn how HR Assist can help your employees find answers faster and reduce repetitive policy questions. We’d be happy to have a conversation about it.
Author: Janelle Nickolay at Implementation Specialists
Director of HR Services at Implementation Specialists
As businesses grow, the people challenges grow with them, and what worked when the team was smaller usually starts to break down. That is where I come in. I work with SMB’s to help sort through the HR challenges that come with growth, whether that is tough employee situations, manager support, onboarding that needs tightened up, handbooks that no longer reflect the business, recruiting support, or stepping in with fractional HR leadership. With 18 years in HR across various industries, I know there is never a one-size-fits-all answer. Every business runs differently, every team has its own dynamics, and the right approach has to make sense for the people, the leadership team, and the pace of the business. I enjoy helping leaders work through what feels messy, put the right structure in place, and address issues early before they become bigger problems.
