Until your company experiences records-related litigation, a data breach, or non-compliance fines and penalties, the important role of your employee file management system might not be apparent. In addition, every day HR employees must deal with productivity loss, response delays and documentation gaps associated with outdated document handling methods.
A lot of these problems come back to paper-based HR workflow processes. Employees have, on average, over 50 documents in their HR files. Employment forms have different requirements and regulations governing how they should be managed. HR departments find rampant inefficiency in their policy review and approval processes, too. It’s a lot to keep up with, and paper-based systems simply do not work, especially in today’s virtualized, global workspace.
And millennials, now the largest share of the American workforce, present an entirely new challenge. They consume almost everything in digital format. Paper simply does not register with them, and HR departments find they must adapt to serve this demographic.
It’s not surprising then, that companies are increasingly turning to workflow automation to bring HR documents and processes in line.
What should you expect from an employee File management automation solution?
HR teams don’t ask for much. As far as documents and files go, HR workers just want to:
- Process employee inquiries
- Provide documents on request
- Take quick action when recruiting
- Give prompt attention to audits
- Satisfy compliance requirements
- Maintain information security and confidentiality
- Communicate metrics to management, such as policy compliance levels and recruitment progress
Employee file management automation supports many of these requirements. It provides a central, integrated platform to easily find and manage employee files. When these needs are met, HR departments and the companies they serve benefit in several areas:
- Transparency and access
- Security and compliance
- Productivity and costs
We’ve organized the 16 benefits of HR workflow automation into these three categories. See how many of these resonate with your organization:
Transparency and Access
1. Enterprises increase operational efficiency by integrating documents and files with HR information systems such as SAP, Oracle and Workday.
2. Personnel can quickly and securely retrieve employee documents and data without leaving familiar interfaces and systems such as ERP, HRIS and HCM.
3. HR staff can capture and store employee files electronically, whether scanned, faxed or emailed, for inclusion in digital workflow.
4. HR staff and management have a complete view into all employee file documents, from recruiting and selection to offboarding.
5. Employees themselves can easily access all their personnel documents at once, from desktop computers, mobile devices or HR kiosks.
Security and Compliance
6. Central document management and workflow help ensure the correct forms are available and completed accurately.
7. Multi-level security and access controls let administrators determine who has access to the HR system and what they can do.
8. Workflow automation facilitates document retention in accordance with applicable government and organizational policies.
9. Enterprises increase compliance and security by eliminating risk of inappropriate access to paper-based records and files.
10. HR can instantly determine compliance standing with real-time reporting into status of required employee documentation.
Productivity and Costs
11. Employees and HR staff can access employee files when and where they need information, in effect providing self-service delivery.
12. HR teams deliver better service by quickly responding to employee requests.
13. Automation eliminates the need to manage multiple paper-based copies of documents, reducing associated costs and process delays.
14. Improved document shareability across departments helps minimize document duplication and errors associated with out-of-date document versions.
15. Workers spend less time searching for content and managing files, and focus more on employee retention and professional development.
16. By reducing HR operational costs, the savings can be rolled into other areas of the business.
Organizations of all kinds recognize there are many reasons to automate their HR workflow processes. How many of the 16 benefits listed here apply your organization? If you’re convinced workflow automation holds value for your business, you should know that some of the newest solutions for HR workflow automation come from Xerox. Learn more about them here.
