Originally published April 12, 2022.
Human resources probably isn’t the first area of the business you think of when you imagine innovation. However, automation and HR document management software technology are changing the way HR teams operate.
HR employees are notoriously knee-deep in paperwork as they handle so many different types of personnel issues, from onboarding forms to retirement paperwork. Now, technology is changing the way HR departments support their organization and help other employees. Here are the top ways document management software makes HR more effective.
Save Time with HR Document Management Software
Any owner or manager knows that training people and dealing with HR formalities takes time and money. Typically, training and onboarding take other people away from their responsibilities while they help bring the new person up to speed. However, HR document management software can make these processes more time-efficient.
With automatic templates, HR document management software can help HR professionals craft onboarding documents that are easy to fill out and understand. Every new hire fills out the same documents, so HR can use templates, and the process becomes standard and easy to replicate. That means new employees can become productive faster. Since the forms are digital, they are easy to change. Simply make the edits and save the new template, and the updated documents are ready to go. Additionally, through easy-to-use search features, new employees can easily find the paperwork they need without having to sift through different files and drives.
Cut Down on Paper Waste by Printing Less
Another advantage of automation is that it doesn’t require printing. Electric documents can be “printed” to the document management system, where they will be saved to access at any time. This eliminates much of the paper waste that companies create. It’s better for the planet and helps you move toward your company’s sustainability goals. Instead of being physically printed, all documents are stored in a central, secure digital hub. This reduces the chance of data breaches that come with printed paper, and the information is more easily accessible.
There are other bonuses of eliminating printed paper too. Bypassing the printing step saves time for HR IT teams. Printers are known to have issues and break down frequently. With the right document management platform, you will never have to submit another IT printer help ticket again. Your company can also save on expenses that were formerly allocated to printers, paper, ink, and other print-related supplies.
Protect Your Organization Legally with Automatic Templates
Managing people can be challenging, and unfortunately, HR manages the legal issues related to other employees. Personal conflicts arise, accidents happen, or miscommunication occurs that can lead to legal action. You can preempt many legal incidents by using HR document management software.
A helpful feature of HR document management software is automated templates. Automatic templates generated by HR document management software help protect HR teams from unnecessary legal exposure because there is a smaller chance for human error or other mistakes that could trigger a legal issue. Automatic templates are clear and consistent every time they are used, which limits the possibility for misunderstandings that could lead to legal trouble.
In addition, these forms help you avoid legal problems because the data is kept secure inside the document management platform, which also helps protect organizations. HR paperwork often contains sensitive employee information like Social Security numbers, home addresses, salaries, direct deposit information, and more. It is vital that this data be kept secure and that it can only be accessed by designated employees. With a document management platform, all documents (whether in storage or in transit) are encrypted. Access rights can also be granted to any document. Grant access to the designated HR staff and the employee who filled out the paperwork, and no one else will be able to access the sensitive information.
Collaborate with Partners Using Automatic Templates
Many organizations have to outsource or partner with other groups as they grow and manage challenge in a new field or sector. HR document management software allows teams to seamlessly share templates across groups. Managers can control who has access to what, and, in a pinch, can generate new automatic templates if the situation demands. Ultimately, they help ensure partner teams know an organization’s standard procedures and are held to the same standards.
This standardization through automatic templates is essential to the organization of a business while helping your operations appear more thorough and professional. In addition, the management software is extremely secure, so partner teams can know that any documents they are working on are encrypted, decreasing the risk of stolen information. Document management platforms also often have eSignature capabilities. This is a helpful feature to have when working with partner teams. Documents can be signed electronically. Instead of mailing hard copies or dropping them by the partner team’s office, HR can obtain signatures as simply as transferring the file via the document management platform. Digital signatures are legally binding and comply with the e-Sign and UETA Acts.
Increase Efficiency with Automated Workflows
HR document management software has automated workflow features that can increase efficiency. Using the software, HR can route documents and tasks to others in the company for completion. The HR employee can start a workflow with attached documents and various tasks included. Each task can be assigned to a specific recipient. As the tasks are completed, employees check them off as done, and HR will be notified. The documents are saved in the system so they can be easily accessed.
HR employees will become more efficient thanks to these automated workflows. They will have full visibility of task status without ever having to reach out to the employee working on the tasks. With automated workflows, you will see a boost in productivity from your HR employees since they now have the chance to work on more tasks instead of getting bogged down with mundane details like tracking down files.
How Vasion Helps
Your HR team is there to support your company, and Vasion is here to support HR. Vasion has been providing HR document management software solutions to clients for years. As a result, we know the benefits of features like automatic templates, secure document storage, and automated workflows for HR work and other areas of operations. To understand how document management software can boost your HR team’s efficiency, schedule a demo today.