Employee Onboarding with an HR Chatbot

Introduction: The Role of Chatbots in Employee Onboarding

Today, the BotLabs team will simply and clearly explain how to onboard and train new employees using a chatbot—not just an interesting text, but also useful illustrations!

The first day at the office is always an exciting event for a newcomer. Lots of unknowns, confusion, and the desire to adapt as quickly as possible.

Let’s figure out how a chatbot can be useful in onboarding and training employees: what advantages it offers, how it works in practice, and what cool features you get!

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO CREATE A CHATBOT?

To understand this, it’s important to know what a chatbot consists of:

1. Script — the information the chatbot provides, its sequence, and timing of delivery to the user.
2. Code — the technical implementation of the script.
3. Channel — the platform where the bot operates.

Chatbot Script

Script
The main effort—at least 80%—goes into creating the script!
Technically, launching a chatbot isn’t difficult, but creating a high-quality script with engaging and creative content is a real challenge. It should be an interactive, programmed personality that keeps the newcomer’s attention and motivates them to interact.
For example, in a large construction company, the "Dyubel" chatbot helps new employees go through onboarding so they stay with the team as reliably as a screw in the wall.

Code and Platforms for Chatbots

Code
There are many platforms for creating bots, but most of them focus on sales and don’t take into account the specifics of HR tasks in the Ukrainian segment. Facebook already has over 300,000 bots—from pizza delivery to CNN news—but they don’t always have the mechanics important for HR.

Channel
Telegram and Viber currently have several advantages over Facebook, which operates under the "24+1" rule: you can reply within 24 hours after an interaction, after which you can only send one more message. This is how the platform fights spam. Slack and other messengers are also popular in Ukraine, though Slack is used less often.

THREE TYPICAL CHATBOT STRUCTURES

1. Linear Structure

1. Linear Structure
The simplest structure, where information is provided to the newcomer step by step, in sequence.

For example, for basic onboarding, the employee receives answers to the most common questions: where the cloakroom, kitchen, ATM, stationery, lounge room, etc. are located.

Such messages shouldn’t be too long—no more than 125 characters. A large text will only tire a confused newcomer. Add pictures, GIFs, or short videos with a positive tone—this will lighten the mood!

Questions about the company, values, and internal processes arise a bit later. Therefore, the linear sequence of information can be planned approximately, taking into account the standard onboarding path.

2. FAQ — Question/Answer

2. FAQ — Question/Answer
A convenient menu with answers to top questions.
The user selects the questions they’re interested in and instantly receives an answer, for example, "How do I get access to corporate email?", "Where can I get a badge?". The answer may contain a structured, detailed instruction. After selecting a menu item, the employee can access additional information or return to the main menu.

3. Mix