The future of employee experience relies heavily on the ability of chatbots — bots that conduct real-language conversations with human users via an interface such as a company's HR portal or Slack — and the fact that they can act as 24/7 guides to HR policies, answer questions, and create ticket requests for those questions they cannot answer. ServiceNow conducted a survey at their HR Tech Conference and Expo and here are the highlights.

The Struggles of HR Departments in a Snapshot

99 percent of those surveyed by ServiceNow said that it is valuable for employees to feel they can easily find key HR information, such as information about maternity leave or other company policies, in the evening and after hours. However, only 12 percent can say that it's easy for their employees to do so.

More than 1 in 3 respondents reported that it was difficult — or even impossible — for employees to find that information on their own. This makes employee access to crucial info difficult, especially considering only four percent of employees are willing to wait the amount of time it takes to make an appointment to speak with HR.

So what's the solution? Create an HR consultant that can work for you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Create a chatbot. Companies need to be able to provide crucial HR information when an employee needs it, not just within the confines of the 8-hour workday. Most HR teams see chatbots as a natural way for employees to get the information they need, in a fast and easy-to-use manner.

Want a more in-depth look at how chatbots can change the way you do business? Check out our free Chatbots 101 Whitepaper here.

Chatbots are the Future of HR

To improve HR service delivery, ServiceNow offers chatbots as a part of ServiceNow HR automation solution.  92 percent of HR teams agree that chatbots are going to be important in directing employees toward finding the information they need in the future. Two-thirds of respondents in ServiceNow's survey felt that their employees are already very comfortable using chatbots for the retrieval of information concerning PTO, open enrollment, leave of absence, and many other common HR policy questions. Of those surveyed, more than 13 percent were actually already using chatbots, virtual assistants, or machine learning apps to deliver employee services — and this number is only set to continue growing as time goes on. This year, 21 percent of HR teams will be working to employ those types of intelligent machines to deliver employee services, and it's projected that within the next three years, 75 percent of HR teams will be employing intelligent machines. While having human HR consultants is still vital, many of the menial tasks HR teams have to waste time on can be automated through the use of chatbots and virtual assistants.

Things to Consider Before Implementing Chatbots in HR

Before companies think of implementing chatbots or other new intelligent technologies, it is important to take a step back and assess their needs. This technology, while impressive, is not a stand-alone for an HR department. Rather, they're part of a broader approach to delivering a consistent employee service experience.

Before employing chatbots, your HR team should ask:

• Do we have a strategy to provide employees with great employee service experiences across all departments in the enterprise?
• Do we have a formal HR Service Delivery platform as the means to provide and ensure productivity, consistency and quality?

It's an exciting time to work in the HR field, as tech is rapidly changing the way we live and work! If you'd like more information about chatbots, check out our free Chatbots 101 Whitepaper, here: