Even though we are all aware that robots are becoming a part of our everyday lives, it sounds outrageous that the human resource department could be replaced by robots. However, predictions about chatbots are coming true: they are already changing the HR industry.

In this article, we would like to emphasize the most impactful researches about chatbots in order to provide a better insight into them and the chatbot market in general. We can say that chatbots are the present and their future seems to be even brighter. Gartner predicts that by the end of 2020, roughly 80% of customer interaction will be handled by chatbots and without a human agent.

A break-up with mobile apps

Enterprises will start abolishing mobile apps, mostly because of the saturated market. This leads to a prediction that 50% of the companies will be investing way more into the chatbots than mobile apps just 2 years from now (Gartner). Due to increasing trends in the chatbot market and positive perception of their advantages, Juniper predicts that in 2022 the worth of cost savings will be around $8 billion. In addition to that, 2.5 billion hours will be saved combining customers’ and businesses’ savings by 2023 (Juniper). In light of the above, we expect that the overall market value will reach 1.3 billion $ by 2024 (Global Market Insights).

Human-centred industry

It seems reasonable that the chatbot market is evolving in the e-commerce, real estate and travel industries – industries where human contact is less important. Nevertheless, nowadays the potential is prominent also in the HR segment, where chatbots are perceived more positively every day. To put it simply, The HR department is the main department in the company which handles the soft factors and the difficulties of employees. This can make it difficult to understand how can it be “replaced” by robots. Considering this, we divided HR chatbots into three main fields based on the solutions they provide and internal communication.

Recruitment bots

Some companies aim for a total replacement of employees working in the HR department, and we see recruitment bots as perfect assistants. In majority the recruitment bots offer features such as onboarding, scheduling the interviews, screening the candidates and answering queries. They handle the administrative tasks that take a lot of time when done by a person, but a moment, when done by the chatbot. As mentioned above, some recruitment bots have the feature of interviewing and picking the appropriate candidate. Yet, the process can be problematic because of the lack of empathy, language barriers, the sense of security in case of sensitive topics, etc. There is also a threat of knowing the algorithm behind the bot that could make an imperfect candidate a perfect employee in the eyes of the bot. Or vice versa.

Therapist bots – employee support and improvement for the company culture

Therapist bots are mainly used and perceived as bots providing a solution in healthcare. Such a bot, for instance, Woe bot, makes mental health accessible to everyone and breaks down communication barriers. This is a chatbot which is specialized in making human interaction on an emotional level, which could be interesting also in the future for HR chatbots. Regardless, people are the company; their satisfaction is one of the most important factors for their retention or making a decision for leaving the company. Such bots would support employees on an emotional level and keep them happy. It may be a milestone in the HR department as well.

All in one bot – CHEQbot

All in one is a segment that offers solutions from managing administrative tasks to making employees happy and appreciated. The general idea of chatbots is to be accessible to everyone everywhere. The problem remains within the enterprises where the workers are out on the field. However, this is not the case in this segment. All in one solution covers the top-down, bottom-up and two-way communication. CHEQ is an internal communication channel with specific features gathered in one product. These features include:

• lifecycle management
• different roles and personalized approach
• recruitment, onboarding and training
• quizzes, satisfaction surveys, feedbacks
• requesting/approving sick leaves or vacations
• offboarding
• and many more.

It is a great solution for companies searching for support in the HR department. It utilises popular chat applications and has been successfully integrated into Microsoft Teams.

Although we are in a major developing process, the human touch and relations among people in the company are very important. Due to the positive perception among consumers and understanding of usability by enterprises, we expect that the predictions about a better and bigger chatbot market will become true sooner or later.