Many people think of virtual assistants in terms of classic e-commerce. The virtual assistants are also useful in human resources management however, where they enable budget savings. In principle, bots are suitable wherever communication takes place. This also opens up numerous areas of application for HR departments. How bots can support HR departments exactly, you can find out in this article.
Poorly digitised industry
While other departments such as marketing often lead the way in terms of digitisation, human resources in many companies still lag. There is a reason why HR is considered the least digitised department in companies. Although HR departments are the figureheads for its employees and external applicants.
Many American companies have now recognised the importance of a digitised HR department and have therefore already invested more than 5 billion dollars in HR Tech in 2019 alone. German companies are still lagging far behind, but they too are beginning to realise how important digitisation is in HR.
These are the advantages of HR bots
Artificial intelligence and bots are a good way to promote digitisation in the HR department. After all, virtual assistants bring numerous advantages that benefit HR staff, applicants, and employees alike.
Permanent availability
Unlike people, HR bots enable 24/7 accessibility to a company. An applicant can, therefore, send an inquiry both on Monday morning at nine and Friday evening at eleven and still receive feedback from the bot within a very short time.
Easy to use
Particularly in the digital world, users are now used to getting immediate answers to their questions. A bot can fulfil this wish because it delivers answers within seconds or forwards the request to the responsible personnel employee. And all this without having to open the mail program first, but rather via a chat window on the website or in the communication tool.
Attractive public image
For applicants, the first impression is an important prerequisite for whether they apply for a position in the company at all. In times of skill shortages, an HR bot on the career website can provide an enormous competitive advantage here. Because a competent bot presents the company in a modern way and makes it more attractive for applicants.
Higher efficiency in HR
HR bots can be used to automate part of the internal and external communication. Especially routine tasks, which often take up a lot of time, can be outsourced to the bot. HR staff then have the appropriate capacities for complex tasks and other topics.
Relief for recruiters
HR bots provide an enormous relief, especially in the applicant management. Instead of replying to constantly repeated e-mails, recruiters can then focus more on the selection of applicants. The bot answers interested applicants’ questions, provide orientation, or forwards the information that visitors want to receive.
Numerous applications for HR bots
While bots are already commonplace for other areas of application, they are currently still rather the exception in the area of human resources. But in many companies, a rethinking is slowly taking place. They increasingly recognise the potential of HR bots and are therefore playing with the idea of implementing the virtual assistant in their company.
It is up to each company to decide which task the HR bot should ultimately perform. However, the possibilities for internal communication processes and external applicant management are manifold and that is one of the reasons why HR bots are so interesting for companies. Application areas for HR bots are for example.
For working time regulation
The regulation of working hours is a very complex issue in many companies, which is why managers and employees often struggle with legal foundations. If internal communication platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Slack are available, a bot can be extremely practical. This is because it automatically provides information on legal or collective bargaining regulations and can forward working hours to the supervisor or enter them into the system.
For onboarding
The onboarding of new employees takes a lot of time. Particularly in larger companies, it is easy to lose track of payroll accounting, holiday applications, or file sharing. If a bot is implemented for this purpose, it can not only support new employees from the first day on with their onboarding but also assist them in the future if something has been forgotten.
For general and recurring questions
In companies, many general questions come up time and again. Whether an employee wants to know what is available in the canteen today or where exactly a particular colleague is sitting – these questions are usually asked on the intranet. However, many companies have problems to prepare this flood of information clearly so that it is easy for employees to find it. Here, a bot is ideal, which can provide the desired information through simple question-answer processes. But it is also important that the HR bot is integrated into the communication tool used mainly by the team, such as Slack or Skype for Business.
When recruiting on career sites
A classic use case of HR bots is certainly the applicant management. Instead of having to search through countless job advertisements, applicants can simply ask the bot for help. For example, the bot can direct the interested party to suitable positions by asking the applicant about his or her knowledge, experience, and preferences. Deutsche Bahn and Audi have implemented an HR bot from e-bot7, which answers questions about career, salary, and training opportunities in the respective company. The aim is to help interested talents find suitable positions quickly and to make the application process as simple as possible. In the “war for talents” Audi and Deutsche Bahn thus create an enormous competitive advantage over their rivals.
HR bots on the advance
We no longer encounter bots only in e-commerce. In personnel management, too, virtual assistants have now turned out to be practical helpers who can make internal communication and applicant management more efficient. This brings enormous relief for HR staff and recruiters, who can now concentrate on more complex tasks and do not have to answer repetitive inquiries.
