Solving the Top 3 HR Challenges with Chatbots
If we are not solving challenges, what is even the point?
The purpose of any company-facing chatbot is to solve one or more challenges. HR is, of course, is no exception.
There are many challenges modern day HR departments face. I thought we could make a top three and see how a chatbot solution can help in each case.
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Picking three HR challenges
First things first, we need to pick the three challenges we are going to tackle with a super smart HR chatbot. Chatbots bring many benefits to HR but we need some focus for this article.
To build the top three, I picked from our HR executive interviews, problems we have already solved with customers, and some Googling (to spice things up).
So, here is our top three.
1. Leadership development
Leadership development is a recurring problem in HR. The challenge is to develop the leadership skills of employees who rise through the ranks.
There are quite a few related issues. For instance, many HR execs we interviewed mentioned it is tough to stay up to date with the latest best practices. HR needs to stay on top of that, then pass it on to the leaders. This is extremely time-consuming.
Most HR departments end up hosting training days to teach the latest best practices to the leadership team -- again, a slow and time-consuming fix to this challenge.
How HR chatbots can help
For this challenge, we can take a page from the chatbot for education's book. In that article, I wrote at great length about the benefits of assisted learning through a chatbot.
In HR, the chatbot could be there to help keep leadership up to date.
Each new employee who rises through the ranks gets access to a 7-day crash course through the chatbot. You can even train the leadership via another platform and support the lessons with a chatbot. See this article to learn more.
Then, the chatbot is there to keep the leadership on track. A new best practice came out? HR can feed it to one central hub, alert the team leaders, and have it there available 24/7 to review.
2. Data and effectiveness measurement
Truly, we could split this one into two sections. I decided to keep them together because they both relate to one central topic: metrics.
Tracking data is tough. Data is required to measure the effectiveness of any action. Therefore, effectiveness measurement is tough. Data management is often cited as an issue in HR. In a recent study, 67% of respondents reported they lack data and analytics capabilities.
This, in turn, makes measuring the effectiveness of the work they do hard, if not impossible.
How HR chatbots can help
A chatbot is an always on, always listening helper. It is also a fantastic tool to gather, retain, and store data.
We recently built an HR solution that includes an employee sentiment metric. Without going into too much detail, it allows the HR team (and higher management) to monitor the responses of their employees to the different conversations they have with the chatbot.
Do they sound happy? Stresses? Anxious? Angry? What sort of words are they using? Are they typing sentences in fast succession or a couple of words here and there?
Anything that goes through a chatbot is storable, analysable, and actionable data.
3. Keeping up with culture
Finally, culture. It is often forgotten how much of an impact the HR department has on the culture of a company. They pretty much hold the fort.
Aside from keeping the company culture going, HR must also keep up to date with culture in general. Today's new recruits (i.e. Millennials) have different expectations. They want instantaneity, quick answers, special treatment.
How HR chatbots can help
This is the easiest of all. Chatbots are at the forefront of technology innovation. They help HR departments meet employee expectations in terms of availability and instantaneity.
Instant messaging is the way consumers (and not just young consumers) communicate. By implementing a messaging chatbot, HR departments can offer their workforce something they cannot find anywhere else.
Conclusion
What is your biggest HR challenge? Tweet us and we'll find a solution.
In the meantime, look over the top three we covered above. Each of these challenges can be softened or downright solved with a top-notch HR chatbot. The time is now.
