HR Automation Tips Part 2: How to Get Started with HR Automation

Retaining employees is getting harder and it’s making human resources (HR) teams stress out.

Morar Consulting recently found that 95 percent of HR leaders are worried about the impact of employee burnout on retention. But HR teams have little time to tackle this problem. They’re too busy keeping up with the day-to-day. There’s no time for the big picture.

With HR automation software, you’ll be able to free up HR to focus on retention—and that can have a big impact on your bottom line.

But where should you start automating HR?

Well, that depends on your HR department’s needs. Here are a few areas to get started automating HR…

1. How You Capture HR Documents

How do you receive documents and forms from your employees? Odds are, you’re receiving more of them electronically than on paper.

Paper is on the decline in HR. And many HR departments are looking for ways to eliminate the paper trail before it starts. Studies from AIIM show that the use of paper is down 49 percent in recruitment and 48 percent in employee lifecycle management.

The employee lifecycle needs to be managed, and that is a never-ending feat. Once-in-an-employee-lifetime events, like onboarding and offboarding, are naturally part of the employee lifecycle. Performance reviews will come and go seasonally, as will benefits enrollment. Each and every one of these documents needs to be available to HR at a moment’s notice.

When you choose HR automation from Fortra, you’ll go a step beyond cutting back on paper.

Here’s how it works: the software detects incoming documents and automatically saves them into the document management system. There’s no need for your HR team to lift a finger.

Plus, electronic documents are easy to reference at a moment’s notice.

By automating document capture in HR, you’ll:

• Eliminate the chance of human error
• Avoid losing paperwork
• Maintain visibility over documents
• Keep documents secure

2. Where You Capture Employee Information

Every HR document and form is packed with employee information.

In the onboarding process alone, there’s a ton of employee information that needs to be captured. Employee name. Social security number. Marital status and dependents for insurance purposes. Bank account information for direct deposit. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Managing employee information is much easier with HR automation with Fortra.

Onboarding goes a lot more smoothly. New employees enter their information once on a web-based form—and have it instantly replicated across all relevant forms.

And the entire employee lifecycle is simplified. If an employee needs to change something (e.g., his or her name or marital status), it can be changed once—and populated everywhere.

Plus, by capturing employee information electronically (instead of on paper), you’ll be able to keep it secure. There’s no need to worry about someone going into a filing cabinet or seeing a form on a desk.

By automating the capture of employee information, you’ll:

• Say goodbye to manual data entry
• Speed up onboarding by syncing information across forms
• Keep employee information private

3. How You Manage Processes Every Day

HR’s day-to-day life varies widely.

There’s the known and planned processes, like recruitment. And there’s the unexpected processes, like employee requests.

With HR automation with Fortra, it’s easier to manage every daily process.

Take employee recruitment. Web-based forms can be used for employee applications. And mailboxes can be automatically monitored for incoming applications. With HR automation, you won’t lose sight of any potential hires.

There’s also routine processes—like benefits enrollment. You can use the software to automate email reminders when the enrollment period approaches. Plus, the software makes it easy to integrate updates to employee information across your systems.

HR is also expected to handle the unexpected: employee requests. With HR automation, these requests won’t fall through the cracks.

Here’s how it works: the software uses data extraction to recognize specific content in emails. It can then automate a response or put the request into a workflow. This ensures that requests are handled the same way each time.

Plus, HR automation makes it easy to handle employee reviews, training and development, and so much more.

By automating daily HR processes, you’ll:

• Respond to requests instantly and consistently
• Keep up with changing regulations
• Free up HR time to focus on the two Rs: recruitment and retention