Recruiters and talent acquisition professionals say their biggest challenge is their work to engage and communicate with passive talent, according to a study by Sense and the Talent Board. The research found that about 42% believe that poor talent communication adds pressure to what’s already a struggle to recruit.
Targeting passive candidates through outbound recruiting is another top priority of TA teams, the study found, especially as they try to remain competitive in today’s market. Other challenges include candidate communication, creating persuasive job descriptions and ensuring candidate diversity. Each of these was was cited by 30% of the survey’s respondents.
“Candidate communication is demanding and time-consuming work, especially for TA teams that are busy and typically stretched thin,” the study said. “Fortunately, there’s a growing array of robust yet easy-to-use recruiting technologies helping TA teams manage all of their communication challenges more effectively.”
Conversational A1 & Basic Chatbots Rank High
Since 2018, Talent Board said it has measured a 40% increase in the use of chatbots. Companies with the highest-rated candidate experiences use them to answer job seeker questions nearly 30% more often than the average company.
The study also found that the primary recruiting technologies used by TA teams with high levels of success in contacting and communicating with candidates include conversational AI and basic chatbots (36%), candidate relationship management software (30%) and texting (28%).
In addition, the research found that the top three reasons companies have implemented a chatbot are to improve the responsiveness of their candidate communications (61%), free up recruiters’ time and enhance their productivity (54%) and enhance the overall quality of the candidate experience (45%).
“In our research, the top benefits of communicating with candidates via conversational AI chatbots included helping candidates submit job applications more easily at 23%, automating screening at 21% and automating interview scheduling at 19%,” the study said.
As a direct result of implementing chatbots, Sense and Talent Board said, 51% of the study’s respondents cited a “significant improvement” in candidate satisfaction. When asked about the top benefits of chatbots, another 51% said the technology has improved their responsiveness in candidate communications .
Meanwhile, some 49% say their chatbots have enhanced the overall quality of their company’s candidate experience. Another 35% agreed that chatbots have freed up their time and improved their productivity.
“It’s obvious … that these technologies (conversational AI and basic chatbots and texting) deliver a win-win for TA teams and candidates alike by ramping up the speed and responsiveness of candidate communications while also improving the overall quality of the candidate experience,” the study said.
Source: hcmtechnologyreport.com
