The Best HR Chatbots: A Comprehensive Guide

Sifting through thousands of resumes, engaging employees, and reviewing company policies can take a toll on the HR department. But chatbots for human resources can ease this burden by performing repetitive and straightforward tasks.

This blog post will save you the agony of finding the best HR chatbots for your company. First, we will define HR chatbots and then look at their benefits and implementation in other companies. Lastly, we will explore different easy-to-use but handy tools for human resource teams.

Part 1. What Is an HR Chatbot?

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome the new member of our human resource department, who is not a human.” While it might not be as dramatic, this has been the case for over 13% of HR teams using chatbots and machine learning to automate or ease some of their work.

But wait a minute, what is an HR chatbot?

An HR chatbot can be defined as a tool that uses generative AI and natural language processing (NLP) technologies to automate HR operations by offering instant support to employees, interviewees, and other stakeholders.

Through ML and NLP, the tools can receive, interpret, and respond to queries by retrieving information from the database and HR policies. The chatbots can receive instructions through text, attachments, or voice recording.

Some of the operations that HR chatbots can do include:

• Responding to employee queries
• Assisting in recruitment and new employee onboarding
• Automating repetitive tasks like employees’ feedback analysis

Depending on the tasks they can perform, there are different types of chatbots for human resources. The most common include recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement, training and development, performance, and employee benefit chatbots.

Part 2. Benefits of using HR Chatbots

One thing that has caught the attention of many is AI taking our jobs, which has watered down the benefits of this technology. In this section, we use data-backed facts to explore the positive impact of HR chatbots. Let’s dive in.

Improved HR Efficiency

Although the general consensus is that the HR team should respond to queries within 24 hours, this is not usually the case. Understandably, there are a lot of different aspects of the departments to handle. HR chatbots help resolve 80% of the queries instantly, which could have taken more than a day.

24/7 Response

Research published by Airbus shows that over 60% of candidates ask questions outside regular working hours. You can use Chatbots to respond to frequently asked questions (FAQs) around the clock by compiling them and their answers. This eases the pressure on your HR team and helps them to focus on other tasks.

Unified HR Workflow

Leave requests, recruitments, turnovers, expenses, and HR policies can be overwhelming to manage on different platforms. Human resource chatbots centralize these operations and help in analyzing their relationships. A report by McKinsey shows that automating processes, especially in HR, reduces operation costs by 30-40%.

Part 3. Examples of Companies using Chatbots in HR

The average cost of hiring a new employee is between $4,000 and $20,000, according to Indeed. Artificial intelligence is one of the tools HRs can use to reduce or eliminate some hiring expenses, like CV assessment. Some companies that have adopted this technology are listed below, showing the implementation and impact on their recruitment, employee engagement, and information sharing.

1. General Motors

For a company that receives one to two million annually, there is no other way around it – processes have to be automated. As the global head of candidates for the company put it, they had a candidate management problem rather than a candidate flow problem.

Like many other companies, scheduling an interview for their shortlisted candidates could take an average of five days. With the competitiveness in the labor market, five days could mean losing an ideal candidate to another company or, even worse, a competitor.

Knowing the problem led the GM to create an HR assistant called Ev-e. The chatbot for human resources led to the following gains:

• Reduction of interview scheduling from 5 days to 27 minutes
• Decrease in hard hiring costs by $2 million
• Saving over 180,000 days of manual work
• Over 500,000 scheduled interviews

This implementation shows the direct impact HR chatbots can have on revenues, human resources, and candidate satisfaction.

2. Airbus

As Dave Mills, the Recruitment Innovation Leader at Airbus, says, “If you don’t keep up to date with technology, you’re dead in the candidate market.” One of the top aerospace industry companies found itself at an edge with the changing dynamics of the labor market. Unlike 20 years ago, the competition for digital profiles has intensified.

This change led Airbus to create Bessie the Chatbot, to improve the global candidate experience. The tool was aimed at helping the company increase engagement with candidates, provide 24/7, position Airbus as a leading employer, and eradicate repetitive tasks.

After implementation, Bessie the Chatbot has helped Airbus:

• Interact with over 12,000 candidates every month
• Answer more than 74% of all candidate questions automatically
• Receive more than 60% of FAQs beyond regular working hours

The technology has not only placed Airbus in a better place to compete for digital talent but also reduced operation costs from candidate engagement.

3. iFood

Integrating HR chatbots with social media platforms like WhatsApp can make recruitment and candidate engagement easier. iFood is setting the pace by streamlining the hiring process for drivers and other employees. The Brazilian food delivery company introduced an onboarding chatbot to WhatsApp Messenger and their website.

Food delivery became a booming business during the pandemic, and iFood was in a tight spot. With the increasing demand, drivers were asking more questions, and there was a need to increase the number of employees. The company developed a platform that could answer most logistics questions and onboard new drivers and other employees.

Since its inception, the iFood Chatbot has led to:

• Reduction of delivery costs by 70%
• Automation of more than 45% of the incoming inquiries
• More than 90% increase in employee satisfaction

iFood controls around 80% of the food delivery market in Brazil, and its innovation has cemented its market domination.

4. Aite Group

Working remotely has come with its fair share of advantages and disadvantages. Aite Group is a research and advisory company that found itself between a rock and a hard place in managing the growing number of its global employees. Working with a remote team across the globe meant a dire need to streamline HR operations.

Aite group needed a platform to centralize the sharing of formal training documents, distribute best practice documents, and encourage collective knowledge sharing.

The company used Bloomfire to build a chatbot for human resources that helped onboard new recruits, train employees, and encourage resource-sharing among team members. Through the platform, the company has:

• Created a database of hundreds of resources to support the onboarding resources
• Enhanced sharing of knowledge between the team members without the need for technical support
• Enhanced feedback sharing, which helps the HR team make informed decisions on adjustments

Aite Group has used information sharing with new employees and among team members as a good strategy to reduce the cost of training.

Part 4. 6 Top Chatbots for Human Resources

When choosing a chatbot for human resources, it is advisable to understand your needs because, like in any other market, you can buy what you don’t need. On this list, we’ve compiled diverse tools so that you can choose one that aligns with your objective.

Our HR experts have tested each chatbot builder to confirm its efficiency. Let’s get started.

1Paradox

Paradox has humanized its AI tool through natural language processing, giving it a name and a face. Olivia is an AI chatbot for hiring developed by Paradox. It is named after the wife of Paradox's founder, and its avatar is based on her image. This detail clearly demonstrates the level of care and dedication Paradox has invested in this chatbot.

From the word go, you can feel an aspect of human touch from the chatbot – which is what most human resources chatbots lack. Adopted by some global giants, like Amazon, General Motors, Unilever, and Nestlé, Olivia has received a warm reception in the industry. But what makes the tool stand out?

Paradox’s Olivia is compatible with top human resource platforms, including Indeed, Workday, and SAP. This allows recruiters to centralize operations and increase productivity.

Pricing

Paradox has no fixed rates on their platform, but you have to book a demo for the team to understand your needs. However, according to an answer in a popular recruitment subreddit, the cost is around $1500 for a mid-size business. This could be lower or higher, depending on your needs.

2MeBeBot

It can be overwhelming trying to handle all the questions from your recruits, an employee trying to schedule a leave, and a colleague asking you to update the HR policy. With a hybrid or remote team, it is even more complex.

MeBeBot is a no-code platform that allows the human resource, information technology, and operations teams to create a comprehensive database to handle employee queries. The tool has a conversational interface, which makes it interactive.

The 300 FAQs template allows you to edit the questions to your company’s relevant queries. Besides, the tool supports different languages and geographical locations, making it ideal for a global workforce.

Some companies already using MeBeBot are CrowdStreet, Care.com, Massage Envy, Terminal, and Toyota Insurance Management Solutions.

The chatbot is found in Slack, Teams, or SharePoint, which makes it easily accessible to employees.

Pricing

The vendor doesn’t provide pricing on the website. However, a Microsoft review suggests that the cost starts at $2 per employee and is also dependent on your needs.

3ChatInsight

ChatInsight is an AI chatbot used in the HR field. It can understand text and provide human-like interactions based on ML and NLP technologies. ChatInsight is mainly used to handle internal FAQs in the company, such as answering common questions about company policies, conducting employee satisfaction surveys, etc.

With its advanced technology, ChatInsight ensures a seamless workflow and helps HR teams focus on more strategic tasks by reducing the time spent on daily inquiries.

Pricing

ChatInsight provides a fully functional and long-term free version. Its starting price is only $16.58/month.

4Leena

This tool uses NLP technology to reduce workload by automating all possible HR operations. Leena uses an interactive dashboard where employees can ask questions, share information, submit leave requests, resolve payroll issues, onboard new employees, and collect feedback.

The chatbot for human resources is accessible in more than 100 languages, making it ideal for managing a multilingual team. Apart from that, it is a handy tool for creating good employee-employer relationships, thanks to the relevant surveys that give instant data to the HR department and other stakeholders.

Some brands currently using the tool include Puma, Coca-Cola, Etihad, Airbnb, Sony, and Nestle.

You can integrate Leena with Workable, SAP, Oracle, SharePoint, Dropbox, OneDrive, and ServiceNow.

Pricing

Leena has three pricing tiers, starting at $1-$20 per use per month for the first tier. The second and third tiers cost $20-$90 and $90+ per user per month, respectively. The cost could be higher if you want features like advanced data analytics and goal management.

5Eightfold

As they put it, the HR chatbot is tailored to help human resource teams work smarter, not harder. The platform helps organizations hire, retain, and develop employees through job matching, feedback sharing, and unified experience.

EightFold uses deep learning to analyze and match candidates with available roles in your organization. This saves recruiters hundreds of hours trying to analyze candidates and their suitability for open positions. The chatbot analyzes candidates’ skills, experience, and potential to rank them according to suitability.

Companies like LG, NTT Data, Vodafone, Bayer, Sorvia, Ubisoft, Nutanix, Amdocs, Persol, and Trimble have adopted the HR chatbot.

You can integrate Eightfold with tools like IQ Talent Xchange, Workable, Oracle, Greenhouse, WeCP, and CodeSignal.

Pricing

The packages start at $10 and vary depending on the features and team size.

6Espressive

Espressive is a chatbot for human resources that uses generative AI and NLP to help resolve HR queries without burdening the team. The platform can also receive requests like the installation of software and execute them. Besides, the platform also allows you to create a database of common questions to handle requests from other employees.

The tool is also tailored for talent onboarding and the continuous development of human resources. The company’s virtual support agent, Barista, can reduce HR workload by more than half. This allows your team to focus on other departmental aspects that require human intervention.

Espressive is currently used by Alteryx, Trimble, Lumentum, Caterpillar, Dexcom, TDK, SurveyMonkey, Honda, AT&T, and Guardant.

You can connect Espressive with other API-enabled tools. These include Workable, Workspace, Ivanti, Google Space, and Slack.

Pricing

The company provides flexible prices depending on your needs.

Conclusion

Finding a reliable chatbot for human resources can be hard to crack, with hundreds of tools promising heaven but falling short of the basics. This list includes tried and proven HR chatbot builders you can rely on for all your operations. Their diversity helps you choose the one that meets your goals.