Microsoft HR speeds case throughput 20% with Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Executive summary

At Microsoft, we recognized the need to modernize HR support and streamline case management for our employees. Legacy systems and manual processes slowed response times and limited self-service options, making it difficult for HR advisors to deliver fast, consistent support. By adopting Dynamics 365 Customer Service with Copilot, we introduced AI-powered case summaries, automated email drafting, and knowledge assistance, enabling advisors to handle cases more efficiently.

With hundreds of HR advisors onboarded and Copilot features widely adopted, our HR organization now delivers faster, more responsive support. Employees resolve issues independently, while advisors focus on higher-value work. This transformation empowers our teams to drive digital innovation and ensures that Microsoft HR remains agile and effective in meeting the evolving needs of our workforce.

"In four months, we created a unified knowledge base and built multiple scenarios that made it easier than we’d imagined to support our HR Advisors"

Phil Gillingham, VP, HR Service Delivery, Microsoft

20%

increase in case throughput

72%

monthly active user adoption rate of Dynamics 365

Empowering people, fueling culture

Globalization has changed the way HR professionals operate daily. No longer is the role simply onboarding employees, providing ongoing skills training, approving time off, or supporting retiring employees. Today, global complexity, regulatory demands, and cultural nuance have turned it into a strategic cornerstone for enterprise success. Along with other global companies, Microsoft’s own HR teams need sophisticated HR solutions that go far beyond traditional employee milestones.

With a strong corporate culture as its north star, Microsoft envisioned an HR tool that simplifies and improves the work of its HR advisors so they can deliver fast responses and actions to employee questions and concerns.

“Copilot has the potential to make life better for all of our employees, including our HR Advisors, who are energized about taking the employee experience to the next level.”

Andrew Winnemore, VP, HR Services and Employee Experiences, Microsoft

Extending premium customer service to employees

Microsoft regards its more than 200,000 employees as valued customers. “Copilot has the potential to make life better for all of our employees, including our HR Advisors, who are energized about taking the employee experience to the next level,” asserts Andrew Winnemore, Vice President of HR Services and Digital Employee Experiences at Microsoft. The company based its internal AskHR platform on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service after evaluating non-Microsoft options. “We were solving for continuity and scalability across 120 different countries,” explains Phil Gillingham, Vice President of HR Service Delivery. “Dynamics 365 was—and continues to be—the best solution for us.”

But the constant growth in the number and complexity of HR cases initially led to a knowledge base spread across various platforms and languages, depending on local preferences. The tech giant’s 2023 quest to build and standardize a best-in-class HR technology ecosystem naturally led it to Microsoft Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service. The HR advisory team was handling an increase in amount and complexity of inquiries and needed an innovative, efficiency-boosting tool. Fortunately, they didn’t have to look far.

“In four months, we created a unified knowledge base and built multiple scenarios that made it easier than we’d imagined to support our HR Advisors.”

Phil Gillingham, VP, HR Service Delivery, Microsoft

Reimagining HR service delivery—in four months

The modest expectations of Gillingham’s team were almost immediately surpassed. “In four months, we created a unified knowledge base and built multiple scenarios that made it easier than we’d imagined to support our HR Advisors,” says Gillingham.

With those use cases in hand, the deployment team focused on driving awareness and adoption, while building habitual usage with peer-to-peer coaching and multiple types of information sessions. Microsoft socialized the tool by introducing it at global HR events and communicating the company’s principles of responsible AI used to build it. “HR work uses sensitive data,” says Microsoft Senior HR Advisor Ximena Jaen Navarro. “Copilot has been a game changer in helping us disseminate information to employees responsibly and more securely.”

“Copilot is a powerful tool for our Advisors, increasing their efficiency and speed in providing fast, personalized, and accurate answers to employee questions.”

Mike Morales, Senior HR Service Advisor, Microsoft

Enabling many to achieve more

The dual pressures of speed and accuracy are solved for Mike Morales, Senior HR Service Advisor in HR Services. “Copilot transforms lengthy information sources into one crisp, easily digested answer,” he says. “Despite our diverse employee population, we can supply the personalized answers each person wants.” That translates to impressive improvements in HR services just months after deployment.

Gillingham is excited to report a monthly active user adoption rate of Dynamics 365 at 72% and a daily active user adoption rate of 47%, including users not actively onboarded to Copilot within the Dynamics 365 environment.³ Additionally, Gillingham reports a 20% increase in employee customer service case throughput,¹ along with a 16% boost in Dynamics 365 Copilot satisfaction for those using it an average of 40 times per week.²

Morales points to the importance of the control that he and his colleagues have with Copilot as an HR tool. “We control every process and ensure that sensitive information is accessed appropriately,” he says. “Copilot is a powerful tool for our Advisors, increasing their efficiency and speed in providing fast, personalized, and accurate answers to employee questions.” For Winnemore, the AI promise holds no limits. He envisions a future where employees interact with a single interface for all HR needs, driven by AI. Winnemore concludes, “Copilot has the potential to make life better for all our employees.”

Discover more about Microsoft on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and YouTube.

¹ Internal experiment at Microsoft of 300 HR agents from February to July 2024, statistically significant result at the 95th percentile level of confidence.

² Internal experiment at Microsoft of 200 HR agents from May to June 2024, statistically significant result at the 95th percentile level of confidence.

³ Internal experiment at Microsoft shows a 72% MAU and 47% DAU adoption of Dynamics 365 users, including those not actively onboarded to Copilot within the Dynamics 365 environment.