With the advent of technology and Artificial Intelligence in HR, the field is finally getting its share of smart and intelligent solutions. For long, HR has been dependent on manual intervention to deliver solutions across its functional areas. Today, businesses view HR as a strategic partner and look up to the function for solving crucial business cases. Technology is helping a great deal by taking over the repetitive and volume-heavy tasks in HR. As a result, the roles of HR managers are evolving with a singular focus on strategy formulation and execution.
One of the main deliverables of HR is ensuring a high level of employee engagement. A disengaged workforce can cost an organisation in multiple ways. Firstly, an organisation’s employee experience is its employment brand. Secondly, a disengaged workforce is unproductive. Such employees do the bare minimum to get by the day and do not contribute to their full potential. Lastly, disengaged employees are always on the lookout for another job. As per SHRM, the cost of replacing an employee can range from 50% to 200% of the employee’s annual salary.
In this scenario, organisations are giving high priority to enhancing the experience of their employees. A survey by Gallup found that only 15% of employees are engaged in their jobs. The figure is an eye-opener and an indication that a lot more needs to be done.
This is where chatbots are making their mark.
Having conversations is a vital element of an HR manager‘s job. These discussions can be with prospective candidates, hiring managers or employees and help in developing strong relationships. Unfortunately, the long list of manual and cumbersome tasks leave them with little time for these conversations.
Chatbots can effectively take over some of these duties and transform the HR scene forever. Chatbots are conversational platforms that can handle one-on-one conversations with multiple users. The best thing about chatbots is that they can be customised as per the organisation’s needs. One of their main uses is to enhance employee engagement by providing instant information at their desktops.
Here is how chatbots can enhance the employee experience by giving unbiased responses.
- Speedy resolution of queries – Chatbots can be programmed to handle employee queries. All the employees can get their answers in real-time irrespective of the hierarchy. In such cases, chatbots act as a knowledgeable personal assistant that is always ready with the right answers.
- Impartial responses – Machines do not differentiate while responding to users. Due to this, the answers are consistent across the board. HR has struggled for long to remove bias from the department while answering queries from the employees. With chatbots taking on the employee questions, there will be no element of bias and employees will feel valued in the organisation.
- Handling delicate situations – Since chatbots do not have a face and are free from judgement, employees may be more comfortable in discussing sensitive subjects. They can put forth their grievances without any embarrassment. Moreover, chatbots can ensure that the responses are in-line with the organisation’s policies and not influenced by personal biases.
- Transparency in the workplace – Human intervention can cause biases, and there is always a scope of error. Chatbots can remove such prejudices and treat everyone equally, regardless of their roles or grades.
- Clarity on career growth – Chatbots can review an employee’s performance over the years and show the performance card. Employees can use this to understand where they stand and improve their performance in-line with this feedback.
In conclusion
Chatbots can anchor the next phase of HR which will be more strategic. They can effectively take on the repetitive and manual tasks to increase the productivity of the function. Moreover, chatbots can help in enhancing the employee experience by giving unbiased responses across the organisation.
Sara is a chatbot feature in Adrenalin HRMS that offers intuitive answers and cutting-edge functionalities. It is loaded with features that can transform the employee experience in your organisation.