The HR department is an integral part of every organisation. Unfortunately, business leaders are typically more client-centric and revenue-focused. This then leaves the HR department at the backseat.
Most organisations are usually not interested or only do the bare minimum when it comes to HR-related matters. Very often, people find it boring as it involves repetitive administrative work. However, as boring as it may seem, HR does have an unreasonable amount of workload every month. Aside from the occasional onboarding and employee relations, there is the monthly payroll and taxes filing which requires a lot of documentation and paperwork. On top of that, HR must also find time to focus on the human side of their job, which involves keeping a lookout for potential talents, who needs to be fired or promoted etc. Very often, these administrative tasks are the main culprits in stealing away valuable time from the HR staff, when they could be focusing on the more important, specifically the human side of HR.
Not to fret, there is a better way around this. Here are five routine HR processes that are costing organisations unnecessary amounts of time and resources and how to get rid of efficiently.
Make Onboarding Electronic
New hires are critical to any organisation as the first impression that they get will set their expectations of the organisation. Whenever a new hire comes on board, there is bound to be tons of paperwork. Their first day on the job should not be spent filling out forms. Rather, they should be learning more about the company and their new role.
Encourage new hires to fill up the necessary forms online before joining the organisation. Automating this onboarding process can save the HR department valuable time and reduce the amount of paperwork. Additionally, enforce electronic signature so that it would be easier to transfer data rather than having to constantly request for the new hire to come to the HR department simply for their signature.
E-Learning
New hires (and sometimes even existing employees) can bombard HR with numerous HR-related questions, some of which HR staff might not know off-hand. Instead, engage modern technology and create an e-learning platform to guide new hires, and existing employees, through the onboarding processes. The platform should also have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section for employees to refer to. This can then save the HR department some time from having to prepare orientation presentations and employees can also fall back on the e-learning system should they forget.
Automate Payrolls and Timesheets
Paper timesheets are often difficult to keep track and not accurate. Very often, there is always a chance of mistakes. Hence, it is critical to introduce an automated time clocking so as to accurately keep track of every employee’s working hours. To automated the process even further, use a time tracking system that can be integrated directly with payroll. Not only does this reduce the time spent on keying in the working hours into the payroll system, it is more efficient and greatly reduces the possible mistakes that might be made during payroll.
Faster Empoyees’ Requests
In most organisations, requesting for a time off can be quite manual. Employees will need to fill up a form, puts it on their manager’s decks and wait for his or her approval before it goes to the HR department. At the HR department, it is buried together with the mountain of employees’ time off requests before it is being documented into the payroll system. This processes is extremely time-consuming and is prone to getting mixed up or lost somewhere along.
Create an automated electronic system that can take in employees’ requests and triggers an alert to their respective managers immediately. Their requests can then be quickly approved and sent to the HR department immediately for their documentation.
Updating Employees’ Information
Most of the time, the HR spends a large portion of their time verifying and updating employees’ information. Instead, implement a system whereby employees can log in to view their information and update accordingly. Spice up the human factor by introducing fields like birthdays or performance milestones. This will add a more personal touch to their employee profiles and encourage them to update their profiles regularly. With this, it will help the HR department to keep up-to-date on employee data without having to email or request from them in person.
