Onboarding is the course of initiating a new employee into an organization. Hence, it is crucial because it marks the first impression the company and its culture will make on the new hire. Onboarding has grown more complex over time as the hiring process needs to adapt to changes.
One of the trending methods today is adopting AI for employee onboarding automation. An automated onboarding process gives HR more freedom and time to focus on improving employee life cycle management and their benefits and welfare. For most companies, technology is woven into the business process, and for HR, it is now used to recruit, retain, and assign employees more effectively and efficiently.
Understanding onboarding automation
With the increasing implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, HR can accomplish their tasks without too many hitches.
New employee onboarding is a complex scheme involving several elements, including procedures, departments, and individuals within a firm. In addition, onboarding includes plenty of documentation. When companies use AI to improve employee onboarding, the technology ensures that errors are reduced, repetitive tasks are automated, and the recruitment system is AI-enabled.
AI-enabled systems are easier to utilize because the company can program them with predefined instructions, allowing new employees to understand the employment process. Moreover, AI simplifies the onboarding process, as the integrated system can provide real-time feedback on new employees’ performance. AI can track new hires’ assignments, create responses, and answer new hires’ queries.
The role of AI in human resources
Nearly nobody escaped the pandemic, and for people who are working, it transformed their environment. For one thing, the pandemic gave a new meaning to employee onboarding and compelled HRs to develop a more flexible, fluid, and adaptive workforce. Moreover, they had to create a process to match the new work system. Companies started leveraging AI in their HR departments to provide better employee experience, make strategic business decisions using real-time information, and improve employee hiring and onboarding processes.
Employee onboarding with AI’s help
Although the application of AI varies from company to company, its impact on employee onboarding usually includes these aspects:
Collate complete employee data. Organizations collect and compile data on candidates and employees efficiently. AI helps the company fully use the data during the onboarding process by analyzing it and creating segments such as demographics, race, marital status, and past employment and salaries.
Personalizing employee experience. With AI, the company can automate the onboarding process, such as:
- Carefully-crafted welcome messages
- Assigning an onboarding buddy
- Automating the first-day checklist
- Running new hire engagement campaigns throughout the onboarding process
- Automating new hire interactions from conversations to feedback to fulfilling requirements
Multilingual experience. It makes new hires more comfortable in their first few months in the company. Organizations setting up location-specific teams have to deal with multilingual employees. With the multilingual capability of AI, the onboarding process becomes a welcome experience, helping them to adapt better to their new job and employers.
The HR’s role does not end after introducing the new hire to their role in the company. Instead, HR should enable their journey within the company continuously. AI helps with their transitions, guides them through changing situations, and ensures that their offboarding is as smooth as possible.
