How Chatbots Can Enhance Employee Onboarding Process?
The famous American author and salesman Hilary Hinton ‘Zig Ziglar’ once quoted a research indicating that the employees have three prime needs: interesting work, recognition for doing good job and being let in on the things that are going on in the company. While the first two parameters are motivation for working hard, the last one can be recognised as the human need for being a part of something bigger. A new employee joining a company has expectations of being briefed about their roles and responsibilities while also being thoroughly guided about the company’s ways and its expectations from them. According to statistics listed by the Glassdoor, every new job opening attracts an average of 250 resumes and the overall average time taken to fill the given position comes out to be 42 days. The HR department undertakes the recruitment process with its expertise, however, the overall procedure is repetitive and time-consuming. Incorporation of AI-powered Chatbots for recruiting and employee onboarding will not only enhance the initial experience of the new hire but also liberate the HR personnel to focus on more pressing issues. While sorting of potential applicants based on their eligibility and skill is still done by the recruitment professionals as this
feature is yet unexplored territory for Chatbots, however, the subsequent steps of the onboarding strategy are effectively streamlined with the help of the HR Chatbots. Notifying the applicants about the interview procedure and the significant dates, informing about the offer, completion of documentation and helping the employee get acquainted with the company is what Chatbots can do efficiently without any human error and intervention.
Challenges Faced By HR Professionals During Employee Onboarding Whether we like it or not, first impressions matter the most. HR is solely responsible for making sure that the first few interactions that a candidate has with a company are positive for them. Also, the first few days of an employee in the company are packed with onboarding sessions, team interactions, getting set-up in various IT systems and so on. It is hugely important as well as difficult to provide the employee a delightful and easy experience during their onboarding. Some of these factors lead to this challenge:
Ineffective Communication
The key to successful recruitment drive is effective communication. Once the qualifications and skills required for the position are sorted, the applicants are invited. Communicating with the potential aspirants and updating them about the interviews, joining dates and other important events
of the procedure require continuous involvement of the HR professionals. Inability to keep a track may lead to errors and prolonging of the process.
Exhaustive Documentation As the new hire accepts the offer letter, the next step is the submission of meticulous documents. The previous employment records, bank statements and tax forms are some of the requirements from the employee’s end while confidentiality documents and non-disclosure agreement are to be submitted according to the format provided by the company. Making sure the newly onboarded employees are aware of this paperwork and ensuring their timely submission becomes a time-consuming process.
New-Joinee Orientation
Once the employee is onboard, comes the responsibility of briefing about the company policies, introducing to the team colleagues and making them comfortable with the working environment. The HR professional has to either guide the employee about the expectations and roles of their job or direct them towards the team lead who will do the same. While the orientation comes under job responsibility of the HR, it needs coordination with various departments for making sure onboarding is not just relevant but also personalized.
Challenges Faced by New Employees Inept Joining Information
Due to the ineffective recruitment drives resulting from human ignorance or mismanagement, the new employee often receives incomplete information regarding the joining procedure. If there is a long gap before the joining and employee does not receive any communication in-between, it leaves them hanging in the middle and unsure about the employment. At times, the list of documents and amount of paperwork required is missed out hence making the joining process cumbersome.
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