Human Resources | Sperto Consulting

When we consider business automation our minds tend to take us to thinking about CRM (Customer Relationship Management). While CRM is the best known and utilised technology tool in use, there are other opportunities offering greater interaction between all departments where the benefits can offer substantial improvements.

Bearing this in mind in this edition we are looking at how automation can develop the role and efficiency of the Human Resources department, particularly focusing on those time-consuming administrative tasks as well as how the wellbeing and welfare of employees is enhanced.

Automation in HR

In this 21st century business world dealing with the multiple tasks passed down the chain of command offer challenges not previously identified. These can include not only people strategy but also legal compliance and local regulations, as well as those unplanned issues that somehow fit into the HR world. In this document we explore how an automation platform can assist in improving agility, allowing a strategic approach and ultimately effectiveness of role.

Any HR professional can describe in detail how repetitive administration tasks can take up many hours each day reducing time that can be spent focusing on people and strategy. By applying an automated approach many tasks, from onboarding to offboarding and everything in between can be addressed. A reusable series of workflows can be utilised for any process covering any detail. Importantly this can be achieved with no technical experience. Most importantly this releases time needed to allow the HR staff to concentrate on strategic projects.

Consider the advantages of a centralised social media like homepage for all company information. All can view birthdays, work anniversaries and company stats, with links to access features of interest. This homepage would also show critical information for those remote or home workers and teams. They can see who is on vacation or off sick, working remotely or travelling. A welcome to new staff, employee announcements, the recognition of an employee or team can be included, with employees able to react with comments. In short, all the company news in one place.

This homepage can also report concerns or misconduct safely and without fear of retribution.

Some Key Benefits

As always in these articles we look at how we can list key benefits. Below we list methods utilised by organisations and companies who have introduced automation and the advantages seen. By reflecting on some tasks that can be easily automated we can see how time saving and levels of efficiency can be achieved.

The creation and use of a centralised repository for all HR docs offers untold benefits. From employee contracts to handbooks can be organised and secured allowing quick and simple access. Privacy of access can be set with defined permissions ensuring that sensitive data is guaranteed to be safe.
The creation of a dedicated workflow process that can be broken down into tasks easy to understand and complete.
Schedule tasks to individuals with timelines.
Set reminders ensuring tasks are completed on time.
Allow individuals to update personal information.
Automate onboarding processes. Offer a warm and positive onboarding experience with access to colleagues and the company culture.
Set manage and measure set goals and demonstrate how these align within the team and also company development.
Manage a compensation process to include salary reviews, bonuses, and payment documentation. Payroll data is automatically updated and applied in real time.
Run employment surveys which can review and analyse feedback divided by role status and length of service. These can offer employee satisfaction reports.
Requests and approval of vacations.
Measure work cycles through online timesheets. Where appropriate these can be used to generate payroll.
Use e-signature tools for legal documents creating templates that automatically fill in employee details ensuring all detail is correct.

Workplace Efficiency

Many HR professionals have stated that staff appear less and less engaged, Trends identified as ‘Quiet quitting’, and ‘The great resignation’. These have resulted in the need to nurture a sense of belonging and connections. The good news is that HR tech can boost engagement. A recent Gartner report states that 57% of global HR leaders have employee experience as their first priority.

The right technology can be used to give managers the tools they need and promote a positive work culture, and intuitive enough to be simply integrated into daily working lives. In an environment when many employees work remotely a key challenge for HR today centres around transparency. Employees want and expect to be kept updated, and when they are, this leads to higher retention rates. A platform that centralises information providing a single place of access, ensures easier communication with all staff having a single location for all messages and information.

Conclusion

Automation in HR allows the seamless creation of reports seamlessly creating reports, safely storing all HR documentation in a single location whilst allowing all employees to feel and experience a sense of belonging whether working on site or remotely.

Above all the key advantage is the opportunity to do more with less, streamlining tasks, communicate directly with all staff, improve accuracy, and ultimately improve employee experience.

"The only way a company can grow, stay true to its soul, and remain

consistently successful is to attract, hire, and keep great people.”

Danny Meyer, CEO of Shake Shack