Among the dozens of activities that a HR professional does, filing, documentation and storage claim the a large amount of time. Many relevant HR activities take a back seat due to this. This imbalance hampers overall productivity of the organisation. Security of documents is another challenge which HR teams have to cope-up with, especially when files are managed manually. We have to accept that the HR teams are performing to the best of their efforts but, when 40% of their efforts are going towards unproductive activities like managing papers. It’s time for HR departments to explore the option of using an online document management software to become more productive.
HR teams can manage their key activities effectively by going paperless:
Recruitment: There are several software tools, where the forms and formats which are related to recruitment can be easily stored electronically. This way dependency on one person can be eliminated. Functions which are related to recruitment, like managing job postings and applications, can be efficiently managed digitally.
Orientation & On-boarding: Electronic documents and digital signatures are more reliable now than they were some years ago. HR teams of large organisations hire every month and it involves handling of documents like education certificates, identity proofs, PAN card, passport etc.
Training & developments: Continuous learning of employees is a key activity and HR has to ensure that it’s managed in a very professional manner where every employee gets a chance to get up-skilled. Keeping a digital record using a HR document management system eases the process and ensures that no employee is left out. Also, in case employees are at multiple locations, they can be managed centrally using a e-leaning software.
Performance Appraisal & Increments: Annual assessments are managed by HR along with respective managers. Many organisations prefer to keep the process confidential be not allowing selective access to important information and documents. Chances of leakage higher if managed in physical form.
Go green: Setting rules and creating workflows on a digital document management system is yet another advantage which a HR department can use to ease employee records management. Employee information can be accessed quickly in case of any emergency. In case a particular document of an employee is missing from the HR records, the system can auto validate and alert the HR manager.
Reputed organisations with history have to store employees records s for longer period of time. Imagine the number of papers a HR department of an average sized organisation will have to store if they keep the employee records for more than 10 years. Managing them digitally can not only help in reducing storage space of physical documents but also provide the faster accessibility when required.
So gear up to the digital way of working, not only will this help HR to work effectively, it will also make organisation working smooth. Yes, it may require some initial hard work of scanning the documents and getting used to the whole system, but since there is a bigger aim to achieve such change is part and parcel of the job.
It’s time we accept the fact that being on cloud you have tons of benefits which are unmatched with the old manual ways of working.