HR’s administrative functions are time-consuming and labor-intensive when they’re paper-based or rely on technology like Excel spreadsheets, shared drives and other software that can’t share data with other systems. Replacing paper processes with digital workflows results in streamlined functions that range from recruiting and onboarding to performance reviews.
Replacing paper processes with automation means increased efficiency in processes that range from recruiting and onboarding to separation. Workflows that improve communication between HR, managers, and employees contribute. This is a brief overview of some of the functions where digitization with a document management system has a significant impact.
1. Serving remote employees
Digital document management secures employee files in an encrypted repository and protects them from unauthorized use with controlled access rights. Employees working from home, or in the office, get easy access to benefits information including flexible spending accounts, employee assistance programs, and time-off requests. Yet, their records are private and secure. Time saved through employee self-service results in quicker response times when they do have questions.
Your HR team can also check on the status of activities like performance review completion from anywhere and on any device. So, these processes never stall because someone is working from home.
2. Employee records management
A document management solution easily adapts to your corporate policies and procedures, scales as your organization grows, can accommodate your unique HR workflows and integrate with other software like payroll or your Human Resource Management System. It also eases the stress of internal or external HR audits for I-9, payroll taxes and workers compensation claims.
When HR releases information, like a new employee handbook, document management software makes distribution easier and provides an audit trail that confirms receipt. In addition, electronic forms and digital signature capability make obtaining all employee sign-offs faster, easier and more cost-effective.
3. Recruiting
Filling open positions with the right person is more difficult than it’s ever been before. In a tight labor market, competitive salaries and benefits are still a must-have. However, today’s prospective employees are just as concerned with company culture, meaningful work and whether the position offers opportunities for personal and career development.
Now that most recruiting takes place online, speedy responses are important if you want to hire top talent. A document management system sends resumes to the right person for initial review and sends a notification of their arrival by populating a task list or via email. Then qualifying resumes can be sent to the correct hiring manager quickly. Internal electronic resume distribution ensures that everyone who will be interviewing a job applicant has access to the information. An automated process is consistent and repeatable and creates an audit trail of all hiring activities.
4. Onboarding
Competition for talent is fierce right now. After a great deal of time and effort spent finding a qualified candidate, some companies are finding that the amount of turnover occurring during the first few months of employment is rising. The employee may feel that the company didn’t prepare them to start their jobs confidently or that its culture doesn’t line up with their values.
The first three months a new employee spends at an organization often determines how quickly the employee becomes an engaged member of the workforce. Some new employees who were interviewed online, may not have met you or their manager before they start work. Automating onboarding ensures that new employees feel welcome and well-equipped to make their first days on the job stress-free and productive.
To make sure all the bases are covered you can create an onboarding checklist of required tasks, including acknowledgment of employment, confidentiality agreements, employee handbooks and initial training plans. You can easily manage new hire provisioning to get employees set up with computers, monitors and other hardware they need to start the job – and even have this equipment delivered to their homes rather than to your office.
5. Performance management
With automation, you can use online forms to customize performance appraisal templates, set review dates and reminders, and easily capture and store all the information in the employee’s record. Hiring reviews, salary approvals, annual raises and performance-based increases are all streamlined into efficient workflows that benefit the business and its employees receiving the boost. On the flip side, you’ll have a clear, consistent trail of documentation detailing an employee’s work record if you’re dealing with performance issues.
How Young Automotive automated hiring and onboarding remote employees
Young Automotive Group is comprised of 15 automotive dealerships located throughout northern Utah and southern Idaho. The company needed a document management system to manage its HR onboarding and hiring workflow, which was a complex paper process. Employees traveled long distances to complete onboarding tasks at the corporate office. Frustrations for both the employee and the business were common, and access to documents was limited.
When the company implemented DocuWare, all electronic forms for job candidates and new employees were uploaded into their online resume center. Then managers could, after deciding to hire an applicant, send the offer letter to the applicant automatically. Each form triggers an automated workflow process within DocuWare. Now there is reliable communication between HR and the employee; the local managers have valuable insight into their employees’ records by having remote digital access.
DocuWare increased the productivity of the HR and payroll departments by allowing them to control the flow of documents and information from one centralized digital location. Using DocuWare Forms and Workflow, they have an end-to-end process to capture employee information during onboarding, create the desired documents for processing, and deliver the key tasks required to make this an efficient and predictable process for all remote employees.
In the current business environment, companies can no longer afford to be slowed down by paper processes. This is particularly important in HR departments. Digitizing the processes related to resumes, applications, onboarding forms, payroll reports, tax forms, and performance reviews saves time and reduces spending. It’s an essential component that frees HR staff from routine tasks and makes it possible for them to take on new responsibilities without added stress.
In an article,
What Will HR Focus on in 2023, analyst firm Gartner reports that in a recent survey of 800 HR leaders, they identified the employee experience as one of the top 5 priorities of their departments in 2023. When HR processes operate smoothly, employee satisfaction can increase exponentially.