There’s no doubt about it: chatbots are in high demand. With 69% of consumers now preferring to interact with companies through chatbot rather than phone call, and the global chatbot market projected to increase in valuation by $85.12 billion over the next six years (Mordor Intelligence), chatbots are solidifying their place as a standard form of both B2C and B2B communication.
From a staffing agency perspective, the rise of chatbots has major implications for how we interact with our workforce moving forward; more specifically, how we address ongoing HR challenges with workforce scheduling and communication. For example, how can companies effectively communicate with hourly workers that may not have reliable access to cell phones, or who require increased flexibility in scheduling because they work more than one job?
That’s where chatbots like Casi come in. Casi (which stands for Communication and scheduling interface) is a chatbot designed specifically to assist HR managers with improving the scheduling and communication process for hourly workers. The chatbot integrates with tools that workers already have in place (text messaging, messaging apps, and/or email) to automate call outs, shift pick-ups, and time off.
This effectively frees up managerial time that can then be spent on more cognitively heavy tasks, while providing workers with 24/7 access to HR support and more flexibility in their scheduling through messaged shift pick-ups, voluntary overtime, and more. One timely feature — the ability to track and automatically follow up with employees who call out (in this case, message out) sick — can prove to be a crucial prevention in the spread of COVID-19.
With more and more of the population shifting to contingent work for flexibility and an increased interest in on-demand communications, the integration of chatbots into the staffing industry and HR departments makes perfect sense. The one question that remains at the forefront of our minds is, “What’s next?”
