Recruiting the right people can be the difference between success and failure for your company. You want your employees to support the company and help it thrive and a team you can trust to work independently. The right people will do that. With more employees using a VoIP system to work from home due to Covid-19, this is more important than ever.
Your employees are also promoters of the company. They should want to influence the company's reputation and help it to grow. But how do you ensure that you hire the right people?
Enter the chatbot.
Photo from unsplash.com.
What is a chatbot?
You've probably come across a chatbot before, even if you didn't know it at the time. A chatbot is a software application used to conduct online conversations with customers.
For example, when you visit an online shop, a chatbot window may appear, asking if you need any help. The chatbot will screen your responses and, if your query is straight-forward, it will respond. They are often utilized in a call center, working hand-in-hand with agents. If the query is more complicated, it will be screened and processed to someone in the customer service team.
It's the same concept in recruitment, except the chatbot will be scheduling interviews and collecting screening information from candidates.
Say you're recruiting in tech, for example. You'll be looking for high-profile candidates with certain skills. A recruitment chatbot will analyze whether the candidate has transferable skills and should be put forward to the interview.
So, how can a chatbot help streamline your hiring process?
Responding to queries
Chatbots get the administrative work done. Say you've posted a role on LinkedIn or another job site and worked on your marketing and SaaS SEO strategy to gain attention.
If you've done well, you'll have hundreds of queries from people asking for specific details. A chatbot can screen these queries and respond, giving an HR employee the time to focus on something else. Responding to these queries can be time-consuming and tedious - especially when many of the people asking won't apply for the role.
A chatbot helps to streamline the first stage of the process and free up time for more emotionally challenging work.
Screening applicants
Once your job post has plenty of applicants, they're going to need to be reviewed. The chatbot comes in handy here, as it can screen the applicants and check if their skills and experience match the job specification. Recruiters don't want to spend most of their time skim-reading resumes, which helps eliminate candidates who aren't right for the role.
Source from chatbotslife.com.
Messaging
Emailing and calling candidates is becoming a thing of the past. If you're using a virtual telephone number, a candidate might not pick up a call due to a lack of recognition.
An email might get sent to spam by accident. Sending text messages is a great way to connect with candidates. Chatbots can do this automatically, sending job alerts, reminders, and answering any queries.
The relationship between a business and its customers is built on trust. See your potential new employees as customers. If you come across as a trustworthy, reliable, and quick to respond employer, they will want to invest in you and your business.
Sharing information
One of the most time-consuming elements of recruitment is repeating the same information to candidates. A chatbot can identify potential candidates and share the next steps with them.
While the candidates aren't being fooled into thinking they're communicating with a human, it's better than feeling ignored. Advanced chatbots ensure there is a professional and considerate way of communicating. It's a technically advanced way to communicate - much like omnichannel contact center solutions.
Preconceptions about chatbots
Of course, as with all new technology, companies have their reservations about using chatbots. Often, these are based on preconceptions about chatbots that aren't necessarily the case. Here are a few examples.
- Emotional capacity. Some employers worry that chatbots don't have humans' emotional capacity, and therefore they might not understand the complexity of someone's position. While this is an understandable concern, the best chatbots are programmed to register emotions and process complex queries. And of course, you can always set them to escalate to a person when needed.
- Data security. As AI systems and chatbots collect large amounts of personal information, so of course, people worry about them being hacked. However, this is only as likely as the website as a whole being hacked - and less likely than human error leading to a data breach. Advanced chatbots are now incredibly secure and are using new technologies and secure coding practices.
- Reducing jobs. A common concern around using technology in the workplace is that it will reduce human employees' need. No-one wants to be replaced by a machine. Chatbots reduce the amount of administration work, meaning that employees can focus on more complex workplace tasks. Chatbots create the time to improve employees' skills and focus on their own skills and development. By learning things like how to record a webinar, new graphic design skills, or basic coding, they become even more valuable - not less. Don't forget to recognize their work.
Source from LinkedIn.com.
Reasons to use a chatbot
Now that the concerns have been eliminated, why should you recruit using a chatbot?
- It works 24 hours a day. One of the best things about chatbots is that they can respond to queries 24/7. A chatbot doesn't need to sleep like a human being. This can be great if you're recruiting for roles across the globe with different time zones.
- It gets the menial work done. Sure, you aren't going to rely on a chatbot to interview a candidate. But a chatbot gets the administration out of the way. By the time you need to interview, you'll already know that the candidate is qualified and experienced for the role. This means that you can focus on whether the candidate is the right personality fit for your company.
- Breaking language barriers. When you're recruiting globally, you can have language barriers. Chatbots can be programmed to a specific language. The best bots understand jargon and slang, too.
- It's up-to-date. People are looking to work in advanced workplaces that are staying relevant. Chatbots, infographic software, and AI systems do just that. A potential candidate might be attracted to your company and want to work there because you're using modern technology to streamline your company and make it more efficient.
Conclusion
All in all, the time has come to forget complex, clunky, and time-consuming recruitment techniques. Streamline your hiring process and embrace the chatbot.
