AI Chatbots in Talent Management A Reason For HRM To Cheer

Impact of AI on talent management is noteworthy and the trend continues to gain rapid traction.

Technological advancements such as Natural Language Processing (NLP), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, among others, and subsequent integration has resulted in the emergence of a number of artificially intelligent solutions and tools in today’s world. AI-chatbot - also referred to as virtual assistant (VA) - is one such tool that has been asserting its position across a variety of sectors, industries, and end uses and applications and areas, and especially in talent management and Human Resource Management (HRM) applications in the recent past. While the tool has initially been used to improve candidate experience and greater recruiter efficiency, integration into more advanced tasks such as talent management, has been bringing more benefits and advantages into HRM.

AI chatbots have been gaining access into areas and domains that were once upon a time ‘humans-only’ dominated zones and this is certainly paving the way into a whole new world of tomorrow and beyond. As the world becomes increasingly digitized and aided and assisted by AI, ML algorithms, and other artificially intelligent solutions and smart technologies, one small step by man yesterday in the development of artificial intelligence, is certainly proving to be a giant leap for mankind tomorrow in the world of employment.

Human Resource Management (HRM) in all its early and later forms has always been a challenging arena in any industry or sector since the inception of the concept. Statistics suggest that approximately 52% of HR professionals say that one of the toughest parts of talent acquisition lies in identifying the right fit from a large number of candidates. The statistics also state that 56% of talent acquisition leaders say that their hiring volume might increase and 66% state that either teams will stay the same or contract. While various eras have witnessed slow or no changes, the last less than half decade alone has been one of unimaginable evolution if perceived from a distance and with start and end points discerned in 2019 and mid-2023 respectively.

From the days of singularity in terms of every HR process - in the string of many processes and formalities - being pursued and performed manually, yet with slower than desired progress and much resource investment, to an age where Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms get the job done in a mere fraction of the time, we have certainly come a long way. The task does not end there and HRM entails numerous other procedures and efforts to ensure onboarded employees are monitored for performance, assessed and evaluated, provided necessary uptraining and support, and compensated appropriately, and the list can go on indefinitely.

Currently, a must have HRM solution in majority of organizations is Applicant Tracking Software or ATS, which is AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms-based, and this tool is designed to optimize the recruitment and hiring process and streamlines end-to-end hiring process - from job posting to onboarding. This, however, had raised fears during the initial emergence of AI and the debate remains whether the concerns were well-founded or not. Well, these concerns are being addressed and proving in favor of AI over manual processes and efforts owing to a number of factors. AI proves to be a powerful transformative force as it continues to revolutionize various sectors despite being demonized during initial emergence phases due to association with automation and its ability to create a displacement of human jobs. Also, besides proving positive outcomes thus far, impact of AI on talent management is noteworthy and the trend continues to gain rapid traction.

Talent management is a key area of importance for both, employee and organization, and entails how the workforce is recruited and developed to optimize productivity and ensure long-term association between organization and assets. Strategic implementation, however, is key to ensure improvement of overall performance of business and maintaining competitive edge. Critical aspects that are challenging to evaluate manually include asset job requirements, competencies, training required, types of developmental plans that are best suited for each asset, and performance gaps, and individual goals, among various others. This has been proving complex and time consuming if being done manually, and there are numerous aspects to consider such as appraisals, increments, productivity and performance, additional capabilities and skillsets, potential need for uptraining and further initiatives, positive outcomes versus negative, and numerous others that need to be addressed on a timely basis to ensure cooperation and commitment from both sides.

Artificial Intelligence in talent management streamline and optimize and ML algorithms analyze vast data volumes and differentiate relevance between candidate data, identify the relevant qualifications needed, and then rank applicants on the basis of specific role suitability. This process also enables the creation of talent acquisition systems to zone in on any accurately specific or suitable candidate for a role. In addition, AI enables reduction of around 70% less time-to-hire otherwise taken for manual recruitment processes, besides ensuring high quality of hires and arriving at best matches. Moreover, statistics indicate that organizations with a strong onboarding process have an 82% new hire retention rate and 70% higher productivity rate compared to others. Furthermore, AI talent acquisition ensures bias-free selection of candidates, personalized learning and development, accurate selection of educational resources, advises on career progression steps, identifies areas of skills deficiency, augmented decision making and collaboration, and makes it an overall professional experience.

Now for the best part. The data, information, and knowledge AI is capable of generating on talent management and candidates needs to be efficiently and accurately disseminated and this requires a proper channel or interactive platform. When mentioning earlier that AI would be capable of taking human jobs, it was not far off from the truth, as this is where AI chatbots play a crucial role. This role is as crucial as all others AI plays along the pathway to successful outcomes and for the solution to be effective and reach absolute goals of design. The vast capabilities of AI are not yet fathomable and cannot be incorporated into a human-only interface, and this is why chatbots are more capable of ensuring high accuracy and efficiency of relevant information dissemination.

Also, delivery or provision of information or results of analysis and predictable outcomes of AI-conducted candidate talent assessments and evaluations as well as prescribed advice and instructions for improvement or uptraining, steps to be taken ahead, or plan of action would simply be too much information to comprehend or too complex and/or repetitive a task to be managed or delivered by human counterparts in the HRM on large scale. Besides, these AI chatbots are available round the clock and on all holidays, which is a major advantage and convenience to be leveraged and appreciated.

Going the extra mile, AI chatbots can also interact with and source and screen candidates, analyze resumes and job applications, conduct pre-employment assessments, predict success and cultural fit of a candidate, assess skills and competencies of employee, create training and development plans, among others. This all mind you is being done by a single entity on multi levels and with multiple candidates simultaneously, while potential of errors or incorrect information is zero. 

And it does not end there because AI chatbots are capable of a lot more while also functioning seamlessly with other processes. AI chatbots are currently being deployed across various domains, including HR, and have consistently optimized talent management. AI chatbots can also assist and ease HR manager workload, scan quickly through thousands of profiles, analyze digital credentials to evaluate proficiency, eliminate profiles not matching relevant search criteria, filter through millions of resumes online, scan through social media profiles for talent to acquire, send personalized messages to potential candidates, and analyze resumes using ML. To conclude on a human-friendly note, AI chatbots in talent management and other tasks and domains can be seen as a rather powerful tool if used well in the proper hands and not as a taker of jobs. In addition, AI chatbots are actually serving the exact opposite purpose AI was initially despised for and is instead serving to provide humans with the best job or employment, along with assistance and suggestions as to how best to get the right job, how to enhance career, and maintain a healthy balance. The same would apply to organizations and most of all the HRM, as this tool if used well, can be something we all will have to ‘chatbot’ well into the future.