Chatbots in Recruitment & HR – your new colleague for the daily routine tasks

Companies are using more and more Chatbots. But did you also know that Chatbots are increasingly used for Recruitment and HR? Chatbots are therefore not only used for external purposes of a company, such as marketing, sales or customer service, but also for internal processes, such as hiring candidates and maintaining the relationship with the employees. Do you want to know how? Read this blog post and learn all about the excellent application of Chatbots for the Recruitment and HR of companies.

Chatbots in recruitment

A good recruiter is worth a lot because of his or her judgment, reach and personality. But unfortunately recruiters spend a lot of time on repetitive routine tasks in which they can not make use of these qualities, for example scheduling interviews, screening applicants, sourcing and sorting resumes. With the help of a Chatbot, the recruiters can focus on more interesting and crucial tasks, such as face-to-face interactions with candidates. And recruiters appreciate this as well, according to a recent survey more than 80% of recruiters believe that sourcing and testing should be automated. And Chatbots can be used very well for this automation, they for example can communicate one-on-one with candidates via platforms such as Facebook Messenger or SMS. Chatbots are therefore perfect for daily, repetitive HR tasks. But what do we exactly mean with this?

Collecting data

A Chatbot can be used to collect information and data, which they can then present in a structured way to the recruiter who assesses this further. So instead of filling in a long application form, Chatbots can ask candidates for the same information in the form of a user-friendly, text-based conversation. And while up to 74% of candidates drop out after starting the application process, Chatbots can remind them actively to answer questions and fill in incomplete information, as opposed to a static application form that requires the recruiter to do so. After the first contact, bots can deliver status updates to candidates, schedule an interview or even reject candidates.

Maintaining contact with candidates

Chatbots can also be used very well for the (basic) contact with the candidates, for example by answering frequently asked questions. And many candidates experience this as pleasant, because they immediately receive an answer and the information they need for submitting their application. But Chatbots can also help with the challenge that many recruiters and candidates encounter: the uncomfortable radio silence between submitting the resume and the announcement of the next steps. Recruiters rarely have the time to personally reject dozens of applicants on a daily basis, here a Chatbot can be put to good use and this way it can be ensured that candidates hear something back much faster. But this is not all, the Chatbot can also help with the contact with the candidates that are hired and the further relationship that will be developed onwards.

Chatbots in HR

Also in Human Resources, Chatbots are often used for everyday routine tasks, allowing the HR department to focus on labor-intensive and strategic tasks that are very crucial but for which normally they have not enough time. Chatbots can very well deliver information to (new) employees, for example information about salary, holidays, expenses and other HR-related matters. This is standard information in which a “real” HR employee often does not have to be involved at all. A Chatbot makes internal communication faster and easier. But Chatbots can do more than just simply send information.

Answering questions

Through the bots it can be ensured that the HR department can be reached constantly via mobile devices. Chatbots are available 24/7 and employees will always receive an appropriate response to standard questions with the help of the question and answer function of the bot. This is also useful for employees who work remotely or for companies with flexible working hours, as all employees get direct access to HR and they won’t encounter any problems if they are in a different time zone.

Collecting employee data

Chatbots can easily be used to collect employee data and to make assessments that contribute to the creation of more efficient processes. Chatbots can, for example, conduct research into which questions employees often ask. By analyzing the frequently asked questions, HR can determine what is still unclear or does not work well and what needs to be improved. Furthermore, HR teams can conduct a satisfaction survey through the Chatbot and find out efficiently and quickly what employees think and feel. And instead of employees having to fill in endless questionnaires, the Chatbot can ask them daily questions and eventually fill in a form.

Help with employee reviews

Annual performance reviews seem to be the most important and also one of the most difficult parts of the job description of an HR manager. This process is time-consuming because the HR department has to review assessments of all employees for months. All employees must complete questionnaires, surveys and extensive forms at the end of the year. This again hinders the productivity of a company, because the staff is busy completing questionnaires instead of concentrating on their tasks. The use of bots in HR helps collect accurate data from employees, saves time and ultimately results in increasing productivity.

So what can we conclude?

Chatbots can of course not replace the Recruitment and HR team, this is something that should not be aimed for at all. Chatbots are a great addition to these teams and can take care of daily routine tasks so that the team can focus more on personal, crucial matters such as one-on-one contact with candidates or employees.