Beyond the Prompt: ATB Financial’s 5 tips to drive Workspace with Gemini adoption

Welcome back to Beyond the prompt, our blog series focused on actionable tips to get the most out of Google Workspace with Gemini. 

Snapshot:

Founded in 1938 and with over 280 locations and more than $62.3 billion in assets under its management, ATB Financial (ATB) is the largest financial institution in Alberta, Canada. Since 2017, ATB has used Google Workspace as its primary productivity tool and has since rolled out Gemini to all of its employees. Read on to learn how ATB has:

• Enabled 5,000+ employees across departments to leverage Workspace with Gemini 

• Set up different resources and learning pathways for employees

ATB made the decision to provide Workspace with Gemini to its entire workforce in order to meet evolving client and employee needs. Since rolling out Gemini at scale, the organization has seen impressive results from its employees and for its clients.

ATB’s top 5 tips to drive adoption of Gemini across an organization

A thorough change management plan has helped ATB teams embrace new technology. For ATB, its north star is to get employees comfortable with generative AI as a concept paired with enablement materials specific to how they can use Workspace with Gemini. Below, ATB shares its top 5 tips to get employees started:

1. Use multi-channel communications. ATB relied on a robust communications plan to ensure they were reaching employees in a variety of ways and formats. “It’s important to get info out so that employees know what is happening and how they can access all of the resources you have,” shares Keri Adams, Tech Advancement senior manager at ATB.

2. Provide tailored learning resources. Within your organization, you will have differing needs for enablement materials. Alex Mandrusiak, Tech Advancement performance coach at ATB, says, “We have types of users — from beginners to experienced users, and we make sure resources are available at the appropriate level so no one gets left behind.”

Recorded learning lessons are just one type of tailored resource ATB uses to reach employees. For example, the team created a short video to explain how employees can leverage Gems in the Gemini app to help with quarterly performance reviews — a task that typically takes each employee several hours.

“Our team saw an opportunity to use Gems to help tackle this repetitive task and make it easier for folks. We ran a learning series to show them how it works, and it reduced the pressure people felt from the review process. It was our highest attended learning session. What took employees hours to do previously now takes a fraction of the time. Our recorded training has been watched by over 900 team members — and that number continues to grow,” says Alex.

3. Address concerns proactively. Users will have questions and potentially concerns.  Whether it’s about safety and security, accuracy, or what AI means for their work, Keri says: “Address these questions so that folks feel safe and focus on what they can do with the tool versus worrying about everything else.”

4. Measure success beyond usage. Success can take many forms depending on what your organization wants to achieve. With this in mind, Alex says the key to quantifying success is to “be prepared to measure in a variety of ways. Usage rates don’t tell the whole story — data may not tell you exactly how folks are using the tool, for example. So you may want to also look at how users engage with resources that you build, track what you hear from team members, and look at if they are engaged and asking questions or sharing what’s working.” With these tips, you can help target specific support to teams.

Benefits extend beyond just time saved. For example, ATB is closely examining how Gemini is impacting client relationships. Alex shares that teams have come to rely on generative AI to improve the customer experience: “We use Gemini to handle the heavy lift of administrative tasks after a client leaves. Drafting follow-up personalized emails, refining notes for compliance documentation, and more. We’re hearing from our client-facing team members that by using Gemini, their capacity has increased, which helps them to build deeper trust and relationships with clients.”

5. Encourage exploration and learning. Create a culture where employees are rewarded for trying new things, sharing, and learning what does or does not work for their individual roles. “A big piece of adopting a new technology is listening to people in your organization and what they are telling you they need in order to be successful. This is important. Be adaptable to their needs,” says Keri. Providing multiple content types and channels for employees to explore can help them feel comfortable learning at their pace and in their preferred formats.

Watch the full conversation with Keri and Alex and learn more about how ATB is using Workspace with Gemini. To get your organization started, read our framework for successful generative AI change management and our Workspace with Gemini adoption guide. Catch up on all of our Beyond the prompt posts here.