RAG for HR: Onboarding and Internal Knowledge Base

TL;DR

An HR RAG chatbot instantly answers employee questions about PTO, benefits, internal procedures... Free your HR team from repetitive requests and offer a modern employee experience. Bonus: accelerate new hire onboarding.

The modern HR challenge

Daily reality

HR teams are overwhelmed by:

• Repetitive questions: "How much PTO do I have left?", "How do I report sick leave?"
• Scattered documentation: Intranet, emails, SharePoint, paper...
• Time-consuming onboarding: Same explanations for every new hire
• Lost knowledge: HR departure = lost know-how

The RAG solution

Use cases

1. Automated HR FAQ

Most frequent questions:

• "How do I request time off?"
• "What are the holidays this year?"
• "How does health insurance work?"
• "Where do I submit travel expenses?"
• "What are the remote work hours?"

Example conversation:

Employee: "Can I take advance PTO days?"

Chatbot: "According to our PTO policy (updated January 2025):

• You can take up to 5 advance PTO days per year
• These days are deducted from next year's balance
• Request requires manager + HR approval
• Form: [Link to advance request]

⚠️ Advance PTO is not an entitlement and remains subject to approval.

📄 Source: PTO_Policy_2025.pdf, page 4"

2. New hire onboarding

Create a dedicated integration assistant:

New hire: "It's my first day, where do I start?"

Chatbot: "Welcome to [Company]! 🎉

Here's your onboarding journey:

Day 1 - Today:

1. ✅ Pick up your badge at reception (ground floor)
2. ⏳ Set up your PC (see attached IT guide)
3. ⏳ Activate your HR session on [tool]
4. ⏳ Read the welcome booklet (30 min)

Week 1:

• Meeting with your manager
• Job tools training
• Team lunch (Thursday)

Need help? I'm here for all your questions! You can ask me where to find meeting rooms, how to book a desk, etc."

3. Manager support

Help managers on HR topics:

Manager: "How do I handle a termination agreement request?"

Chatbot: "Here's the termination agreement procedure:

Step 1: Preliminary meeting with employee

• Listen to their motivations
• Don't commit immediately

Step 2: Inform HR

• Contact: [HR email]
• Timeline: Within 48h after meeting

Step 3: Negotiation

• HR takes over for legal aspects
• Severance calculation based on tenure

📄 Source: Manager_HR_Guide.pdf, section 7

⚠️ Important: Never sign any document without prior HR validation."

4. Compliance and policies

Quick access to company policies:

Employee: "Can I get a second monitor for remote work?"

Chatbot: "According to our Remote Work Equipment policy:

Company-provided equipment:

• Laptop (mandatory)
• 24" monitor (on request)
• Keyboard and mouse (on request)

Procedure for additional monitor:

1. Submit request via [IT tool]
2. Manager approval required
3. Delivery within 5 business days

📄 Source: Remote_Work_Charter.pdf, appendix B"

Implementation

Data sources

Identify your key documents:

📁 HR Knowledge Base/
├── 📄 Employee handbook.pdf
├── 📄 Collective agreement (excerpts).pdf
├── 📁 Policies/
│   ├── PTO policy.pdf
│   ├── Remote work policy.pdf
│   ├── Expense policy.pdf
│   └── Training policy.pdf
├── 📁 Procedures/
│   ├── Sick leave declaration.pdf
│   ├── Training request.pdf
│   └── Expense report.pdf
├── 📁 Onboarding/
│   ├── Welcome booklet.pdf
│   ├── IT guide for new hires.pdf
│   └── Org chart.pdf
└── 📁 FAQ/
    └── Complete_HR_FAQ.pdf

Chatbot configuration

Prompt for general HR assistant:

You are the virtual HR assistant for [Company].
You answer employee questions about policies,
procedures, and benefits.

Rules:
- Always cite the source document
- Be precise about timelines and conditions
- For sensitive questions (termination, harassment),
  direct to HR: [contact]
- Don't give personal legal advice
- If you don't have the information, say so clearly

Prompt for onboarding assistant:

You are the virtual buddy for new employees at [Company].
Help them integrate during their first week.

Style:
- Warm and encouraging
- Friendly and approachable
- Emojis ok sparingly

Priorities:
- Guide them to essential resources
- Reassure them about "dumb" questions
- Proactively offer useful info

If a question is beyond your scope, refer to:
- IT questions: [IT email]
- Manager questions: their direct manager
- HR questions: [HR email]

Environment integration

Option 1: Intranet

DEVELOPERhtml
<script src="https://app.ailog.fr/widget/[ID].js"></script>

Option 2: Teams/Slack

• Bot integration
• Dedicated #ask-hr channel

Option 3: Dedicated HR portal

• Internal page with embedded chatbot
• Accessible from employee space

Expected results

Typical metrics

Calculated ROI

For a 500-employee company:

• HR time saved: 15h/week × $50/h = $750/week
• Faster onboarding: 10 new/year × 5 days saved × $300/day = $15,000/year
• Ailog cost: ~$200/month
• Annual ROI: ~20x

Best practices

1. Keep docs updated

• Review documents quarterly
• Update after every policy change
• Clearly date versions

2. Prepare for sensitive questions

Some topics shouldn't be handled by AI:

• Individual requests (raise, transfer)
• Conflict situations
• Personal health issues
• Harassment

→ Configure redirects to human HR.

3. Measure and improve

• Analyze unanswered questions
• Identify missing docs
• Collect employee feedback

4. Communicate about the tool

• Officially launch the assistant
• Train managers to recommend it
• Show time savings

Advanced use cases

Payroll period

During paycheck question spikes:

"Where can I see my December paycheck?"
"What's the 'SSI' line on my paycheck?"
"How is my 13th-month bonus calculated?"

Vacation period

During peaks (summer, holidays):

"Can I carry over unused PTO?"
"How do I modify dates already requested?"
"What's the priority for school vacation?"

Annual reviews

Manager and employee support:

"How do I prepare for my annual review?"
"What are the evaluation criteria?"
"How do I set SMART objectives?"

Privacy and GDPR

Data processed

• General HR documents (no personal data)
• No access to individual files
• No storage of sensitive conversations

Compliance

• France/EU hosting
• End-to-end encryption
• Data deletion on request
• No use for model training

Conclusion

An HR RAG chatbot transforms employee experience while freeing the HR team from repetitive tasks. Questions get instant answers, onboarding accelerates, and documentation is finally leveraged.

Ready to modernize your HR? Create your HR assistant →

---

Related guides

• RAG + Google Drive - Connect your documents
• Introduction to RAG - Understand fundamentals
• RAG as a Service - Overview

---

Need personalized support? Contact our team →