42 AI Prompts HR Can Start Using Today

AI has entered the chat. And the near-constant discourse about this new technology means HR leaders are under pressure to incorporate more AI into their regular processes.

But all the hype can make it hard to know where to start. Lattice’s 2025 State of People Strategy Report found that in HR, the use of AI has stagnated. Since 2023, only 15% of HR professionals said they have implemented AI. 

This inertia means most HR teams are still stuck informally talking about artificial intelligence, rather than embracing it as a way to support productivity, highlight bias, or identify employees who may be overlooked for promotions. 

If you’re not sure where to turn, here’s good. We’ve rounded up some of the most promising use cases for AI in HR, plus caveats to consider before you start. We’ve also included 42 AI prompts you can use to support hiring, employee engagement, manual HR functions, performance management, and more. 

The Role of AI in HR

When it comes to HR, the robots haven’t taken over. But when HR teams know how to use AI effectively, it can add value across a broad range of processes.

Anu Mandapati, culture and leadership strategist and founder of Qultured, says that while AI isn’t a magic fix, it can be a powerful partner in helping HR focus on what really moves the needle. 

“AI takes repetitive work off our plates, things like data entry, payroll, and scheduling,” explained Mandapati. She added that this means human resources teams can focus on higher-value priorities, like employee engagement, talent management, leadership development, and workforce planning, because they’re spending less time playing catch-up on a long list of daily to-dos. 

AI helps us bring a more data-informed lens to decision-making — identifying trends, predicting turnover, and helping us plan more proactively.

As a tool for reducing time-consuming manual HR tasks, AI is an excellent choice. Our report found that the most popular ways for HR professionals to use AI include writing job descriptions, performance reviews, and employee handbooks.

But the applications don’t stop there. Our report also found that while these popular use cases for AI in HR are undeniably effective, the real magic happens when AI is used for more strategic, high-level applications.

We’re talking about using generative AI to identify bias, flag employees who may be overdue for a promotion, and quickly summarize job interviews. While these use cases are less common, they also meet and exceed expectations. 

Using AI in these ways taps into some of its biggest strengths. Natural language processing (NLP) models can analyze data in near-real time, condensing interviews into key themes and responses. Predictive analytics allows AI to quickly identify patterns, helping HR departments make the kinds of data-driven decisions that support more equitable career development processes. 

In short, AI helps HR departments move from reactive to proactive. “AI helps us bring a more data-informed lens to decision-making — identifying trends, predicting turnover, and helping us plan more proactively,” explained Mandapati. She added that these kinds of data-driven insights also make HR teams more valuable to the business. 

Mandapati said that all this helps make HR processes smarter, faster, and more strategic. But most importantly, “AI gives us back time to focus on what matters most: our people.”

Centering the conversation around people is essential. AI is great, but just like other tools, it needs to be used responsibly. 

Handle With Care: Caveats for Using AI 

Joana Aviziute, HR leader and director of HRDOT Consultancy, noted that for companies using this technology, an AI policy is essential. 

An AI policy typically contains guidelines around the ethical, responsible use of AI, including:

• Data privacy: Never upload sensitive or identifying employee data to an open-source large language model (LLM). Even when using a closed or paid-for model, confidential information shouldn’t be uploaded unless approved by legal or data protection teams. 
• Checking for bias: Since AI algorithms are trained on historical data, outputs may reflect existing biases. This means they should always be carefully reviewed for fairness, inclusion, and equity. 
• Using AI to help people, not replace them: AI technology is great for creating a first draft, summarizing comments, or analyzing data, but it’s no match for a human touch, empathy, and expertise. Before using any AI-generated outputs, always check them for accuracy and relevance. 

Ready to start building your AI policy? Our AI usage policy template can help create a structure that fits your organization. 

42 AI Prompts HR Can Use

The best AI outputs rely on the best AI prompts. These prompts are the questions or instructions given to the AI to get a specific output. 

The clearer and more detailed your prompt, the better the outcome. Here’s an example of a poor prompt versus a good one:

☹️ Poor: Make this policy better.

😀 Good: I’m updating our policy for paid time off. Create a clear, employee-friendly policy following [company name]’s tone of voice. Include sections for process, expectations, eligibility, and a point of contact for any questions.

Here are 42 prompts to get you started across a wide range of HR processes. 

Gaining Executive Buy-In

• What’s the formula used to calculate ROI for a [insert the specific initiative you’re interested in, for example, a leadership training program or other initiative]? I’m looking to present this to leadership with clear financial framing. 
• I’m looking for statistics to support a new people program for [insert the people program you’re looking to implement, for example, flexible work policies]. Can you provide data that shows this initiative can improve specific metrics like productivity, engagement, or retention? 
• Help me calculate [insert rate you’re calculating, for example, turnover, retention, employee lifetime value, or average cost per hire]. What information do you need to complete this calculation? 
• I’m trying to get approval for this initiative [insert details, without specific identifiers]. Can you suggest ways to make this proposal more compelling to my leadership team, including framing it in terms of ROI or business outcomes?
• I’m creating a presentation to justify increased investment in HR technology. Please summarize recent statistics on how AI improves [insert specific metric you’re interested in, for example, employee engagement]. Present the data in bullet points, with links to each source. 
• Our goal is to reduce turnover by 10% next year. Draft an executive summary that links this goal to potential cost savings. Format this as a one-page summary that includes key metrics and business benefits. 

Hiring Processes

• Draft a job description for [job role] that emphasizes [key skills] and follows this format [provide details of the sections the job description should include, based on previous examples].
• Create 10 interview questions that a hiring manager can ask to assess an interviewee’s general suitability for [job role] and evaluate [specific key skills].
• Suggest five behavioral interview questions designed to assess [key skill, for example, adaptability or problem-solving].
• Write a take-home assessment for [job role] that tests [competencies and skills of the role] and reflects our company values of [insert details]. Include clear instructions, evaluation criteria, and an estimated time to complete. 
• Review our current talent acquisition strategy and recruitment process, and suggest changes to help us attract a diverse candidate pool. Please present recommendations in a list format with supporting rationale. 
• Our HR team wants to ensure that unconscious bias isn’t affecting our hiring and interview processes. Please create a checklist for interviewers to reduce bias and ensure a fair interview process for all candidates. Present this as a clear, one-page document with a short introduction followed by bullet points. 

Onboarding 

• Design a personalized 30-60-90 day onboarding schedule for new employees, tailored to [insert details of the company’s culture and training objectives]. Break the schedule down into months, with key goals and activities for each section.
• Create a template for a welcome email from a hiring manager to their new team member. Include space to add the new hire’s role, start date, and next steps. 
• Create a template for an email introducing a new team member to the wider team, written from the hiring manager’s perspective. Include a section to highlight key skills the new team member will bring, and follow [company name]’s tone of voice. 
• Create 8-10 questions for a post-onboarding survey designed to assess how supported and prepared new hires feel in their roles. Include a mix of Likert-scale and open-ended questions. 
• We want to help our remote employees feel like they’re part of a team. Suggest some virtual onboarding activities that help build connections. Provide a list of 10 activities, with a brief description for each one. 
• Our company places a strong focus on continuous learning and development. Design an onboarding schedule with training modules on job skills and company values. Create a weekly agenda template with brief details of what’s covered in each module.   

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Employee Engagement 

• I’m creating an engagement survey to assess [insert specific metric, for example, employee experience, satisfaction, motivation, or morale]. Draft 10 survey questions, grouped into those themes. 
• We’ve collected open-text feedback from exit surveys. Analyze this text and identify any trends or patterns. Summarize the top five themes, and suggest potential actions to help improve each of these. 
• Our engagement surveys show [insert detail of any problem areas, for example, low scores for career development or high levels of disengagement]. Please create an action plan with ways to improve these, including a timeline.
• We’re planning a team offsite, designed to [insert goal, for example, boost engagement]. Create an agenda that balances [insert objectives, for example, team bonding and strategic work]. Include a schedule, activity list, estimated budget for [region], and an event planning checklist, and make a note of anything else we should include.
• Recent engagement survey results show lower-than-average engagement in one department. Analyze the attached employee comments to see if it’s possible to identify the main causes of this low engagement. Present the results in a brief report, with key themes highlighted. 
• We’re looking to improve the feedback culture at our company. Suggest some strategies to increase the frequency of public praise and peer-to-peer feedback. Provide five actionable recommendations, with explanations of why they’re effective.

HR Administration 

• I’m updating our policy for [insert details, for example, paid time off or remote work]. Create a clear, employee-friendly policy following [company name]’s tone of voice. Include sections for process, expectations, eligibility, and a point of contact for any questions.
• I need to track multiple HR metrics across the company as a whole and for specific departments. Help me create a dynamic spreadsheet that tracks and visualizes these metrics over time. Provide a spreadsheet structure with suggested columns, formulas, and built-in charts for easy reporting. The spreadsheet needs to include these metrics: [insert metrics].
• Our company operates across [define region, for example, multiple US states]. Please review the attached internal policies and identify any gaps in compliance with state or federal law. Highlight any areas that need updating, and suggest updates by category. 
• Some of our HR workflows are time-consuming, repetitive tasks, including [list processes, for example, onboarding or salary reviews]. Please recommend how we can streamline these administrative tasks using HR tools, AI, or automation strategies. Create a table showing important considerations for each strategy, including pros, cons, cost, and anything else found during research. 
• We need to conduct a salary benchmarking analysis to ensure our compensation packages are equitable. Create a framework for collecting, organizing, and analyzing internal and external pay data. Include a step-by-step process and a sample spreadsheet layout we can use. 
• Our HR team aims to make promotion processes more equitable. Analyze this employee data to identify anyone who meets common criteria for raises or promotions, for example, tenure, performance reviews, and compensation levels. Provide a prioritized list of employees who have yet to be promoted, alongside explanations of why they qualify. 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) 

• I want to make sure our job descriptions are inclusive. Please analyze the language in the attached description and suggest improvements for inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility. Please show which sections have been changed, and explain why.
• We’re reviewing this company policy [insert details] through a DEIB lens. Please suggest edits to make this more equitable and inclusive.
• I’m planning new DEIB initiatives for our company. We’ve already completed [list any relevant initiatives]. Please suggest a list of five potential initiatives we should cover next, including detailed descriptions and expected outcomes for each one. 
• We’re updating our internal communications to make sure they use inclusive language. Please review this sample and suggest any edits for inclusivity. Highlight the suggested edits and include a short reason for each one. 
• We’re analyzing our promotion processes for fairness. Please identify any potential biases or gaps that might be impacting underrepresented employees. Provide a checklist of areas for review, and include suggestions for equity-focused practices. 
• We want to expand outreach to underrepresented groups. Suggest effective channels or strategies that would help us reach a more diverse candidate pool within [state the specific industry, region, or other qualifiers]. Create a list of suggestions, with a description of how each one can be effective. 

Performance Management 

• Here is the 360-degree feedback for a mid-level manager. Please summarize the feedback, pull out key themes, and highlight areas for growth. For each key theme, provide a range of supporting quotes. 
• I’m reviewing performance feedback across teams. Can you identify any areas where bias may have contributed to high or low scores? Highlight these areas and suggest how HR could address them. 
• Some of our managers struggle with providing effective, regular feedback. Provide a range of coaching phrases for these scenarios [for example, recognition, employee performance, or teamwork]. Please group these by scenario, providing 10 examples for each. 
• I need to design a performance improvement plan (PIP). Please create a template, including:
  
  • The purpose of the PIP
  • Which issues have been identified
  • Space for manager feedback
  • Space for employee comments
  • Performance goals laid out as [insert your goal-setting framework, for example, SMART goals]
  • Support and resources 
  • Timeline 
  • Consequences for not meeting the plan’s goals 
  • Section for acknowledgement of the plan
• We want to improve the transparency and fairness of our performance rating system. Create a rating scale and criteria that reduce subjectivity and encourage objective, unbiased evaluations. Provide an explanation of each rating level, plus examples of behaviors or outcomes linked to each level. 
• Our company struggles with recognizing the informal, day-to-day achievements of our people. Help me design a peer recognition program that encourages frequent, meaningful feedback.  Break down the key parts of the program, provide ideas for how to get everyone involved, and offer some example messages people can use to recognize their teammates. 

Prompt Writing Tips 

The above prompts are a great starting point for integrating AI into various processes, but you can also create your own. 

For best results, follow this structure, which includes three specific elements: 

• Context: Tell the AI what you’re working on. Include a description of the project, for example, a job description, feedback comments, or an onboarding process. 
• Objective: Explains what you need help with, for example, drafting an email, suggesting interview questions, or reviewing feedback.
• Format (optional): Provides details of how you want the output delivered, such as bullet points, a list, or in the same format as an example you’ve included, like a job description. 

Once you’ve written your prompt, try pasting it into an AI tool and asking for any improvements. 

Tips for Integrating AI into HR Processes

If you’re ready to move from discussing AI to using it, here are some expert-backed tips.

Aviziute recommended playing around with different generative AI prompts and becoming comfortable with the output. “Just be curious and open to learn,” she said.  

Research and select AI solutions that integrate with your existing HR systems seamlessly, and actually address your team’s pain points.

Once you’re more familiar with AI, start small. Mandapati suggested identifying one or two processes, like resume screening or employee surveys, that could benefit from automation. Experiment with asking how these could be streamlined, and see what the output looks like. 

Mandapati also said it’s important to choose the right tools: “Research and select AI solutions that integrate with your existing HR systems seamlessly, and actually address your team’s pain points.” 

Next up is AI adoption. Don’t assume that everyone will be comfortable using AI-powered tools from the get-go. “Upskill your team on how to use these tools and interpret their outputs,” said Mandapati. She added that it’s also important to accept there’s a learning curve, so normalize this with your team and encourage experimentation and discussion. 

And lastly, just like with any other platform, Mandapati noted it’s important to regularly assess the impact of AI on your HR processes and make adjustments if needed. 

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