HR Chatbots: The new members of your HR team

There has recently been a great rise of interest in the application of chatbots in the Human Resource domain. HR chatbots which are the subset of Enterprise Chatbots can really make the life of HR professionals much easier by eliminating work redundancy and allowing them to focus on more pressing issues.

Apparently, there is a large chunk of work in HR today that is mundane & repetitive and surely, the HR team would love to invest more time in activities like workforce planning and training programs. That is perhaps why the chatbot technology can really create a huge impact here.

There has recently been a great rise of interest in the application of chatbots in the Human Resource domain. HR chatbots which are the subset of Enterprise Chatbots can really make the life of HR professionals much easier by eliminating work redundancy and allowing them to focus on more pressing issues.

Recruitment using chatbots: Use case Breakdown
If we look at the recruitment process of HR, we will find a number of use cases that could be automated using chatbots. Some of the tasks HR professionals are constantly engaged in at present are:

– Collecting information of candidates by using their resume & contact information
– Asking screening questions to candidates about their experience, knowledge & skills.
– Ranking candidates based on metrics such as engagement, qualification or recent activity.
– Answering FAQs about the job & the application process.
– Scheduling an interview with the candidate.

All the above-mentioned activities can be taken care of by a chatbot with minimal human intervention.

Reduced turnaround time and the cost implications
The cost savings that can be achieved by deploying HR chatbots are quite significant. According to Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the average cost per hire for a business is $4,129 and the average time it takes to fill a position is 42 days.

HR chatbots can significantly reduce the time it takes to fill a position by going through thousands of resumes, talking to multiple candidates & screening them. They would also help in ensuring that the most appropriate candidate gets selected and there is minimum wastage of time.

Chatbots can really be very interesting
Besides saving money, HR chatbots also do a wonderful job of engaging candidates and keeping them interested. One of the challenges that job seekers face is of sending their application and waiting forever to hear back from the company. Is it the fault of the company?

Well, when you have thousands of resumes to review and all of it has to be done by humans, it is going to take time. Also, it will not be possible for the HR employees to respond to each candidate. However, candidates who are eager to receive a reply are not likely to feel satisfied by this argument. In fact, as per research, a good 33 percent of candidates talk about their poor candidate experience on social media. This can have dire consequences for the reputation of a brand.

Fortunately, HR chatbots can help counter such issues by maintaining consistent interaction with all job applicants and keeping them engaged throughout the application process.

The current landscape of Chatbots in HR
1. Engazify
– It is an employee recognition bot that can be deployed on Slack messenger and can track all conversations happening there using Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning.
2. JLT Bot – JLT was launched in 2016 by Ramco Systems and can handle over 22 HR functions like time off, pay, expenses etc. right from the messenger interface.
3. Amber – It relies on Predictive People Analytics and asks employees questions at different milestones in their lifecycle at the company and on the basis of responses generates a fortnightly culture report.
4. Dino – It is a unique bot designed for the Slack messenger and starts conversations with the team members by asking questions. Using these decisions, it generates insights & assists in making informed decisions.
5. Jinie – It acts as a 24*7 life assistant for all employees and takes care of queries and provides instant access to data & transactions an employee would require during their day-to-day routine.

In a world where companies are vying with each other to get hold of the best talent in the market, the recruitment process is one area that will perhaps make a big difference. It is only a matter of time before HR chatbots become mainstream and a must-have for all companies.