If your human resources department reviews hundreds of applications, facilitates employee orientation and attends job fairs, chances are that it is already using artificial intelligence in recruitment and selection. Companies have even set up chatbots on career portals to answer commonly asked candidate questions. This allows staff members to focus on interviews, background checks and preemployment assessments.
Staff are also freed up when AI drives employee onboarding with automated paperwork and the delivery of training modules personalized to the new hire.
More work for AI in hiring
Generative AI provides virtual assistants. A key question for many companies concerns how to interact with this virtual help. One way to start may be with AI-generated HR content, especially documentation. Another path may be to see whether chatbots can predict which channels might attract the right candidates for specific roles. It is possible that AI will soon be able to predict a particular candidate's success within a company.
While many companies are interested in exploring these AI uses for their potential cost savings, it's important to remember the potential drawbacks. For example, questions have been raised about
biases inherent in AI-based selection materials. A key challenge for HR then is how to limit or redirect biases in AI-generated assistance.
Other HR functions and AI
AI may soon be used to refine remote work experiences. In addition to optimizing virtual collaboration, AI may be able to support hybrid and remote workers by analyzing individual work patterns, preferences and productivity levels. From these analyses, AI will provide personalized recommendations of optimal work hours and break times, helping employees tailor their work routines for efficiency. These analyses may promote employee well-being.
AI can help reduce benefits administration, including open enrollment and eligibility verification and tracking, by creating side-by-side comparisons of benefits plans (from health insurance to employee assistance programs) to help HR decide the best combination of coverage and affordability based on employee data and by analyzing utilization rates and replacing programs with low enrollment.
AI's role in training and development will be a huge benefit to HR.
- AI excels at creating presentation slides and handouts, designing scenarios for role-playing exercises and summarizing training sessions for employees who missed a session. AI can also be used to refine training materials, writing clearer, more accessible explanations and expositions.
- AI can write multiple-choice, true/false and fill-in-the-blank quiz questions based on your training materials.
- AI is terrific at data analysis, calculating your training cost per employee or course completion rate. AI also can utilize its natural language capabilities to help HR analyze open-ended responses or provide interactive progressive queries based on answers. HR can use this data to provide a deeper understanding of employee sentiments and concerns.
- AI can generate online training sessions for someone who missed the in-person sessions, allowing the employee to stay current without HR having to redeliver content for just one person.
AI can help HR comply with federal, state and local laws by conducting background checks, displaying required posters/materials, staying on top of reporting deadlines and monitoring changes in laws.
AI can be an important tool in succession planning. It can:
- Identify future staffing needs by seeing what gaps exist now and predicting what gaps will arise
- Assess employees' skills, preferences and career aspirations so that they can be prepared, using AI-generated personalized trainings, to take on new roles within your company
- Tailor professional development engagement and skills acquisition
HR can enhance decision-making with AI's data, using AI to uncover insights, understand trends, monitor and enhance employee productivity and make informed choices that align with company goals.
AI chatbots will soon be able to help with the routine activities that are often employees' most frequent use of HR, such as downloading pay slips or confirming paid time off balances. This may lead to a better sense of engagement and support. Employees could also use AI chatbots to find the optimal time for PTO based on overall staffing and the employee's PTO balance.
AI will be able to significantly enhance efficiency and accuracy in HR. But human oversight and expertise are still crucial. AI should be used as a tool to support and augment HR professionals' work, not replace their judgment and decision-making capabilities. Nonetheless, it is clear that AI is on the path to playing a pivotal role in the HR landscape. The future of HR is not about managing people — it's about leveraging intelligent systems to make decisions that propel your company forward.