Automation has helped so many organizations improve productivity. When tasks are automated, they standardize procedures and get everyone on the same page. It cuts down on busy work and frees up employees, volunteers, and others to be creative and innovative. Generally, people respond positively to automation. They enjoy being able to contribute to an organization’s larger goals and help move the needle forward. Indeed, one of the most positive recent trends in automation has been helping HR groups with automatic templates. HR employees are notoriously knee-deep in paperwork as they handle so many different types of personnel issues, from onboarding forms to retirement paperwork. HR document management software has had a huge impact on standardization. It makes such work easier and more efficient. Here are four of the top ways automatic templates make HR work more effective.
HR Document Management Software Saves Time
Any owner or manager knows that training people and dealing with HR formalities takes up time. Onboarding takes a large investment of time and money. Typically, it takes other people away from their responsibilities while they help bring the new person up to speed. However, with automatic templates, HR professionals can craft onboarding documents with HR document management software that are easy to fill out and understand. Every new person goes through the same templates, so 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. You won’t be stuck forever with the same forms you originally created. Simply make the edits, save, and the updated documents are ready to go. In addition, through easy-to-use search features, new employees can easily find the paperwork they need without having to sift through tons of different files and drives. The best part about this automation is no more printing! E-documents can be “printed” to the document management system, where they will be saved to access at any time. Bypassing the printing step saves so much time. 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, etc.
Automatic Templates Help Protect Organizations Legally
Managing people can be challenging. Personal conflicts arise, accidents happen, or miscommunication occurs that can lead to legal action. Most organizations have a story about how an HR issue led to a day in court or a settlement agreement. Automatic templates generated by HR document management software helps protect HR teams from unnecessary legal exposure. There is less chance for human error or some other mistake that could trigger a legal issue. Automatic templates are extremely clear and consistent every single time they are used. In addition, these forms are kept very secure inside the document management platform, which also helps protect organizations from a legal standpoint. 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 is kept secure and can only be accessed by certain designated employees. With a document management platform, you can rest assured because all documents (whether in storage or in transit) are encrypted. Access rights can also be placed on any document. Grant access to the designated HR staff and the employee who filled out the paperwork, and no one else will ever be able to access the sensitive information.
Automatic Templates Help with Partners
On occasion, most organizations have to outsource or partner with other groups as they grow or to manage a challenge in a new field or sector. HR document management software allows teams to seamlessly share templates across groups. Additionally, managers can control who has access to what, and, in a pinch, can generate new automatic templates if the situation demands. Ultimately, they help make sure partner teams know an organization’s standard procedures and are held to the same standards. This consistency of standards through automatic templates is essential to the organization of a business. It makes you appear much more thorough and professional. In addition, the management software is extremely secure so partner teams can rest assured that any documents they are working on are encrypted, decreasing the risk of stolen information. Document management platforms also often have e-signature capabilities. This is a very helpful feature to have when working with partner teams. Documents can be signed electronically. Instead of mailing hard copies or dropping by the partner teams’ office, it is as simple as transferring the file via the document management platform and acquiring the signature. Digital signatures are legally binding and comply with the e-Sign and UETA Acts.
Automated Workflows Increase Efficiency
HR document management software can have automated workflow features. This is a way for HR to 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, the employees will check them off as complete and HR will be notified. The documents are saved within the system so they can easily be accessed. HR employees will become much more efficient thanks to these automated workflows. No longer will they be expected to deliver or email documents and then attempt to track whether they have been completed or not. 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.
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 to HR work and other areas of operations. For help with document management software, contact our team today.