Chatbots have proven to be a cost-friendly, time-efficient solution for recruiting practices all over the world. Now, conversational AI isn’t just taking over simple tasks — it is becoming a provider of value throughout the entire talent acquisition process.
The era of conversational AI
As radio evolved into television and television evolved into on-demand streaming — recruitment is seeing a similar technology change subtly taking place. Recruiters once spent hours on end putting together simple communication with candidates. Chatbots then came and got rid of some of the simpler stuff. But now, a new era has dawned upon on recruitment: that of conversational AI.
According to Aptitude Research, 47% of companies are using or are planning to use conversational AI solutions in 2021 compared to a mere 7% in 2019.
Whether it’s Siri or Alexa — there’s an excellent chance you asked either of them a question today. Amazon and Apple’s digital voice assistants have become a huge part of our everyday lives. For talent acquisition, conversational AI is rapidly trickling into strategies. According to Aptitude Research, 47% of companies are using or are planning to use conversational AI solutions in 2021 compared to a mere 7% in 2019.
The research also found that companies aren’t just limiting conversational AI to sourcing or applying. Instead, it is becoming a provider of value throughout the entire talent acquisition process — as well as core HR tasks. According to Aptitude, 12% of organisations are now using conversational AI for internal mobility, while 19% of organisations are using it for onboarding.
Impacting essential recruitment factors
The usage of AI in recruitment has recently come under siege, with European lawmakers currently deciding on regulations for AI-based ‘job decision tools’. For many opposed to more AI, It seems Amazon’s AI debacle, consisting of a new recruiting engine that didn’t like women, set a precedent that it did more harm than good. But beyond bringing upon a cost-friendly, efficient solution — many do in fact deem AI as an important factor in creating fairer, more diverse hiring methods.
Aptitude’s research doubles down on the notion that it can impact diversity — in a good way.
For conversational AI, Aptitude’s research doubles down on the notion that it can impact diversity — in a good way. The research company found improvements in recruitment-essential factors such as: time-to-fill (+33%), conversion rates (+36%), quality-of-hire (+35%), quality of applicant (+33%), and diversity of hires (+27%) within the first year of using it, as opposed to not using it.
‘It’s an assistant, not a bot’
There are a few roadblocks in place, mainly stemming from confusion between chatbots and for conversational AI. Per Aptitude Research, 42% of organisations say they ‘only want humans to communicate with candidates’, while 35% believes ‘candidates do not like these solutions’. “Too often, companies confuse chatbots with conversational AI, diminishing the value the latter provides in talent acquisition”, Madeline Laurano, Founder of Aptitude Research writes.
“Conversational AI supports strategic talent acquisition, strengthening the relationship between employer and candidate. Communication is not shifted away from employers.”
“Chatbots solve efficiency for one specific use case, typically sourcing or applying, shifting the communication and responsibility from an employer to a chatbot. Conversational AI, on the other hand, supports strategic talent acquisition, strengthening the relationship between employer and candidate. Communication is not shifted away from employers – it is encouraged and strengthened. It’s an assistant, not a bot.”
