HR Chatbots have taken over the HR industry. You see chatbots all around cyberspace. Chances are you have also had a conversation with them. Today I’m taking a deeper plunge into technology and talking you through the benefits of having HR Chatbots. I know you will relate to me when I say the following. I like a personalized greeting when I get to work in the morning. “Hi Aayushi, how are you doing today?” This little pop-up on my screen does make me feel more ready to start my day. This is just one of the many examples in which chatbots in HR are improving the employee experience.
“Having conversations with AI is becoming routine for consumers, and soon it will be for employees, too.”
-Arthur Franke, Data Analytics Director- KPMG
Chatbots are taking over businesses faster previously imagined. What seemed like a distant dream a few years ago, is now part of routine organizational functions. HR is no exception and HR Chatbots are adding value to the ‘human’ department each day.
The applications of chatbots on the work front are endless, so let’s visit what I’ll be covering in this blog:
- What is a chatbot?
- Where can HR chatbots be used?
- How does an (HR) chatbot work?
- Why should you implement HR Chatbots NOW?
- 9 reasons why you should invest in HR Chatbots
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is an AI software designed to have online conversations with human users. It is essentially a robot that is programmed to talk to you. Chatbots are not limited to customer servicing forums. They work on websites, mobile and messaging apps, and other platforms.
To make it simpler to understand, think about the time you spent asking Siri what the weather was like. That was also your interaction with a chatbot!
Where can HR Chatbots be used?
There are several instances where chatbots in HR improve employee experience. They make the jobs of the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) easier. To clarify, hr chatbot benefits help HR Leaders and CHROs achieve all their key objectives.
The Key Result Areas of HR Leaders typically involve the following:
- Reduce Recruitment Costs and Time To Hire
- Improve Onboarding Experience
- Enhance Employee Engagement Score
- Reduce Staff Turnover and Churn
- Optimize Learning and Development delivery process
HR Chatbots help the CHRO in attaining all these objectives. They enhance services, boost productivity, and help you deliver more personalized experiences for potential and current employees. Additionally, a chatbot for payroll inquiries can also be set up and it is It is also predicted that the future of HR will be dominated by the hr industry of chatbots.
Next, let us explore the nitty-gritty of how chatbots help HR leaders achieve their key objectives
How do (HR) Chatbots work?
Now that we are aligned on why HR Bots are essential, tell me something. Have you ever wondered how does a chatbot function? I am here to give you a sneak peek. Chatbot in essence is trying to mimic the way we human beings communicate.
HR Chatbots: The technical stuff
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- The user interface of chatbots is called a Chat interface. This makes it easy for the user to access, use, and interact with them. This can be on a web browser or apps such as Slack, SM teams, etc.
- User’s queries are understood by AI engine through Natural Language Understanding (NLU)
- What happens behind the scenes is intent mapping i.e. identifying the true intent of the user’s actions
- Once user intent is understood, then a chatbot performs a step called slot filling. A chatbot will prompt the user of the necessary information it needs for the action.
- What comes next is a combination of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools. The above helps the AI engine respond suitably to the user’s query.
- Most chatbots in existence are typically static. They can only do the intent mapping. The true Test of a chatbot is to be able to respond using Natural Language Processing (NLP).
- Most solutions that pass as chatbots just hard code the responses. They do not care what the nuance and context of a user’s conversation, mood, and sentiment are.
- Of course, an hr chatbots are also chatbots but specially trained for People Processes.
- Chatbots in hr help employees become more productive and make the CHRO look good!
What HR needs to know about Chatbots
Most chatbots are Artificial and NOT intelligent. True AI involves not only understanding user’s queries but also responding intelligently
We’ve all been there, feeling like a bot does not understand us. Well, that is not unlike how I feel sometimes with my friends! In essence, that is exactly how human interaction works. As an example, when we make a new acquaintance, it takes time to get to know each other. Over many interactions, we start understanding the personality traits of the other person. And maybe someday become friends. Then comes a feeling that we understand each other very well. Similar to the above analogy, a chatbot also takes time to learn. Unlike human interactions, however, a chatbot learns exponentially faster than a human. That is the power of Artificial Intelligence. Sometimes it’s nice to take a step back and think of what an HR chatbot’s day looks like too. That brings us to our next question – why now?
Why should you implement HR Chatbots NOW?
There are 2 reasons that have accelerated the need to integrate HR Chatbots in the workplace.
1. The rise in Workplace Communication Platforms
The digital workplace has an abundance of tools that encourage and facilitate communication. These include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat (erstwhile Hangouts), FB Workplace, etc.
2. An explosion of App Ecosystems
Employees nowadays have a plethora of apps for every use case. For sales, there’s Salesforce CRM, for marketing Hubspot, and different apps for each of the benefits, for payroll, et cetera functions. Your employees have their hands full trying to remember the passwords across so many applications. In addition, mobile phones are overloaded with so many apps. This has led to a change in employee expectations. The solution to the above can be an integrated Chatbots interface. Hr chatbots provide a single interface across all employee needs. They can be deployed in spheres of sales, marketing, emails as well as storage of information.
9 reasons why you should invest in HR Chatbots
1. Lowers HR and Payroll Costs
Chatbots help in the overall reduction of your company’s budget by reducing employee costs. Your hiring expenses decrease as your chances of getting better talent increase. Chatbots in hr can be deployed on corporate websites to answer basic queries to interested candidates.
Additionally, chatbots reduce your employee replacement costs. As some of the points below highlight, chatbots help engage employees which reduces turnover. Since chatbots can access the company knowledge base, they quickly source out information that increases accuracy and lowers operational costs. A chatbot for payroll inquires can also ensure that your payroll management remains efficient and effective.
2. Promotes HR Efficiency and Saves Valuable Time
Up to 80% of customer service questions can be answered by a chatbot according to IBM. By now you know that chatbots can process loads of questions at a much higher speed than me or you. This saves a lot of the HR department’s time. Some of the tasks include developing workflows and communicating organization goals. By saving this time, your routine tasks become more efficient.
HR Chatbots can also make complex tasks such as providing customer support a seamless process. By creating an effective payroll ticketing system, HR’s responsibilities such as managing employee interactions, self-service, case management, etc become more efficient. The Asanify bot is an example of an HR Chatbot.
E.g. Asanify Slack Chatbot clarifying employees’ tax queries
3. Enhances Onboarding Experience
Onboarding is the most critical function of HR CHROs. A strong onboarding process helps recruits to get to know one another and learn how to communicate effectively. A large number of companies are pushing for AI in these times. The main reason for this is because HR bots are improving the employee experience. Because chatbots are seen as cool, tech-savvy assistants, they allow for onboarding through a variety of cloud-based tools. In addition, they make it easy for new employees to get familiar with the internal systems of an organization because chatbots truly don’t require any training to learn.
4. Improves Employee Productivity
Employees are often unable to maximize productivity due to menial tasks. Automated chatbots provide the option of applying for leaves and checking leave balances. This ameliorates productivity levels by easing the load and liberating the talent.
5. Enables Remote Work
Due to COVID-19, remote work has become the only kind of work that exists. To make the remote work experience less stressful for employees, chatbots provide 24/7 support through stored knowledge. They improve the employee-employee interaction and make attendance marking processes seamless. One of our customers, Propelld – uses AsanifyBot to completely automate attendance management.
6. Upgrades Corporate Learning and Development
As I said, HR chatbots are a portal of knowledge and information. This is beneficial in another sense; it helps refine the organization’s internal knowledge management systems. We all know how overwhelming it can be to have to scroll through several documents of information to look for that one thing you truly need. FAQ bots make that process seamless as they organize information better and give you exactly what you need.
7. Engages Employees
Chatbots help increase your employee engagement score through their conversational interface. They enable interactions in natural language instead of typing information into long forms. Moreover, HR chatbots can transfer information across different departments quickly which encourages employee collaboration.
8. Builds Employer Reputation
Let’s be real, no one likes to work with clunky, inefficient, and frustrating software. Specialized cloud HR software, such as Asanify comes with built-in chatbots. Not only do HR Chatbots assist HR to fulfil their roles better but also improve employer reputation. When you invest in automation and chatbot applications, you are viewed as innovative which gives your image those extra stars!
9. Provides Quick Feedback
A lot of businesses fall short on understanding user needs due to the lack of suitable feedback systems. Chatbots allow you to build feedback loops that provide insights into user preferences and allow for user-adaptation. Furthermore, you also get a range of possibilities to optimize HR tasks such as performance reviews. For example, a chatbot can activate appropriate awards and send alerts when an employee has achieved a performance goal.
Wrap Up
So if you are a CHRO or aspiring HR leader, please act now! Today, we covered the basics of how HR Chatbots help you. Additionally, we have listed where HR Chatbots can be used in the HR department. We’ve also scratched the surface of chatbot technology. Because of COVID-19, work has become remote. In addition, workplace communication platforms along with a number of enterprise apps have exploded. It is thus clear that if you don’t integrate HR chatbots in your workflow, you will be left behind. Finally, we looked at how chatbots help HR Heads achieve their key objectives. From lowering recruitment costs to increasing productivity and employee engagement, HR Chatbots are the solution. Therefore the time to act is NOW.
Not to be considered as tax, legal, financial or HR advice. Regulations change over time so please consult a lawyer, accountant or Labour Law expert for specific guidance.
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