Dive Brief:

• Career-site chatbots may be able to boost application rates, according to March 4 study results from Phenom.
• The company, which provides HR services including chatbots, said the tool led 40% more candidates to apply in its study, Chatbots for Recruiting: 2020 Benchmarks.
• "Consistent, personalized candidate engagement is vital to driving applicants through the recruiting funnel," Mahe Bayireddi, Phenom's CEO and co-founder, said in a press release. "Serving as the communication channel for critical touchpoints throughout the talent journey, chatbots are invaluable in shifting activity into productivity, which is the next evolution of recruiting."

Dive Insight:

There's no question technology is reshaping recruiting. Chatbots, as Bayireddi noted, bring personalization to the process — something that may improve hiring outcomes. 

But such tech is increasingly finding its way into talent management, too. Referring to chatbots as "conversational agents", KPMG said in a recent report it expects the tech soon will be helping companies boost worker productivity and engagement.

In a separate report, Information Services Group agreed. HR faces an arduous task in maintaining an agile organization while simultaneously hiring and retaining quality talent, it said. Crediting software providers with acquiring and expanding new technologies, the report said that "emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and HR chatbot solutions are flourishing, and new automation is being used to improve operational efficiency and employee experience."

As HR is called on to serve as a strategic business partner, these technologies promise to lighten practitioners' administrative loads. Just how much they can do so, however, remains to be seen.