How to reduce the cost of recruiting a new employee with AI?

Recruiting an employee is an important but also very costly process, and a lengthy one at that. Fortunately, thanks to automation and artificial intelligence, this process can be shortened and costs can be reduced at the same time. Find out why you should support your team of recruiters with Apifonica's voicebot and how to reduce the cost of recruiting new employees.

Challenges and costs of employee recruitment

From the publication of a job advertisement to the conduct of interviews and final hiring, each stage of recruitment requires an investment of time and money. It is estimated that 40% are hard costs (advertisement costs, recruiters' salaries, placement agency costs, etc.) and the remaining 60% are soft costs (SHRM). The soft costs of recruiting new employees include the time managers and department leaders invest to support recruiters in the hiring process. It is therefore worth remembering that the recruitment process involves not only the HR team, but also the new employee's potential supervisors and colleagues.

In addition, recruiters working under already high time pressure face a shortage of candidates meeting requirements, difficulties in arranging and conducting interviews (due to the unavailability of candidates or department managers), and challenges in reviewing and assessing applications. Here, it is easy to make a mistake or overlook relevant information, as well as for recruiters themselves to become overtired and burnt out. And it is through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and tools such as voicebots that the time and cost of recruiting a new employee can be significantly reduced. By making the process of finding and vetting candidates more efficient, we can also avoid the cost of unsuccessful recruitment. 

How can the cost of recruitment be reduced with AI and voicebots? 

Companies aware of how much it costs to recruit an employee and aiming to optimise the process are keen to use modern tools. All of these problems are due, among other things, to the lack of effective tools for pre-qualifying candidates, which can lead to prolonged time for reviewing, selecting, and verifying applications, as well as unsatisfactory results. Burdened with tedious, repetitive tasks, recruiters cannot devote enough time and attention to what is most important – building candidate engagement or properly assessing their fit with the job and the organisation's culture. Thanks to intelligent solutions, many tasks can be automated, thus freeing the company from previous mistakes resulting from the inattention of overloaded recruiters.

Such a solution is the HR-Voicebot from Apifonica, which, thanks to its advanced algorithms and voice recognition capabilities, can pre-qualify candidates, provide feedback and update the HRM system. By automating this process, the bot can save more than 100 hours of work, resulting in a reduction in the hiring cycle by up to 5-8 times. This, in turn, leads to a reduction in employee recruitment costs by reducing costs associated with consultants and other staff. 

How does AI-Voicebot for HR work? 

The AI-Voicebot for HR from Apifonica is able to select CVs, schedule and conduct initial interviews at a convenient time for applicants, answer the most common questions, enter data into HRM, and recommend the best candidates to the recruiter. By automating these steps, the recruiter is already contacting only the best-fit people and can spend more time with them. Automation not only frees HR professionals from the most time-consuming recruitment steps, eliminating the cost of unsuccessful recruitment but also improves the candidate experience by ensuring a smoother and more efficient process.

What do job candidates think about this? 

Some companies are concerned that using a voicebot in the recruitment process may be uncomfortable for candidates. However, Apifonica's clients’ experiences show that many respond positively to this modern form of communication. Getting a quick response from the company and receiving a voice response can be rewarding for candidates. It gives them a sense that the employer is innovative and cares about the efficiency of the recruitment process. Candidates also appreciate the convenience of using a voicebot, especially if they can apply for a position anytime, anywhere. The experience of companies that use voicebots confirms that they not only reduce the cost of recruiting a new employee but also generate positive reactions and contribute to an even better recruitment experience for both parties.

For Enel-Med, a network of medical centres, we prepared a virtual assistant which conducted interviews with each candidate. "In our opinion, this is an invaluable benefit" – Paulina Zdunek, Recruitment Manager at Enel-Med, concludes. “Our goal was to speed up the hiring process and provide candidates with a virtual assistant who brings comfort by responding immediately to the application. Voicebot conducts phone interviews with candidates and gives them basic information about the position without involving recruiters. The candidate feels cared for, and we collect the data we need for further decision-making” – says Paulina Zdunek. Apifonica voicebot helped to pre-qualify 3660 applications and speed up the selection stage 4 times.

Anna Krawczyk, Recruitment and Employer Branding Expert at BGK bank, is equally optimistic about the candidates' contact with voicebot: "Voicebot helps us to build a modern image of BGK as an employer, and as an organisation that implements modern and user-friendly solutions. Thanks to this tool, we are reaching out to candidates even more effectively, giving them the opportunity to apply efficiently and quickly." Apifonica's Voicebot helped the bank automate responses for candidates for summer internships. It processed more than 5,000 applications, providing an immediate response.

How much can you save with an HR voicebot? 

Another example of the use of AI-Voicebots in recruitment is the company Wakacje.pl, a website selling holiday deals and travel arrangements. The company decided to implement a voicebot in its recruitment process to pre-select candidates for sales positions. Candidates were able to apply via voicebot, which conducts a short interview with them. This allows the company to verify candidates' skills and experience in an automated way (including automatic updates to the HRM system after completed interviews), without involving human resources early in the recruitment process.

The results of implementing HR Voicebot were impressive. The company saved around 1.5 months of recruiters' work. In addition, the ability to apply via voicebot increased candidate conversion, allowing as many as 1,800 applications to be processed, with 80% of candidates progressing to the further interview stage. 

Another of our clients, a courier company, calculated that processing 625 CVs via our Voicebot saved them 145 hours of work and as much as 1500 Euro in 30 days.

Examples of companies already using AI and voicebots support in the recruitment process confirm that they provide savings in time, resources and money. Automating the pre-qualification process, shortening the hiring cycle and increasing candidate conversion are just some of the opportunities offered by the use of modern technology in recruitment. As a result, companies can reduce costs and increase the efficiency of employee recruitment, as well as provide a better experience for candidates and greater job satisfaction for recruiters themselves. 

If your concern is how much it's costing you to recruit an employee, contact the Apifonica team and ask for a free 14-day pilot programme.