How to Implement HR Process Automation Best Practices

Human resources (HR) automation has the potential to transform your organization and improve your operational efficiency. But HR automation isn’t a single, one-time decision to streamline your business practices. It’s a series of choices you make every time you choose to use automation — or not — for an HR task.

HR process automation allows you to streamline time-consuming tasks and reduce your administrative burden. But first, you’ll have to identify inefficiencies, choose the right HR automation software, and optimize your workflows to account for real-world scenarios.

Follow these HR process automation best practices to implement the right automation solutions and begin your digital transformation.

What Is HR Process Automation?

HR process automation refers to the use of HR automation tools to perform recurring or repetitive tasks, including form-filling, document generation, and data entry. Automating HR processes saves HR professionals time and money by streamlining their workflows and reducing the time spent on administrative tasks.

HR automation systems include leave management platforms, payroll processing tools, employee engagement platforms, applicant tracking systems, and more.  

They may take the form of standalone products, human resources information systems (HRIS), or cloud-based HR management platforms like Pulpstream. Many tools feature integrations with other platforms so you can link multiple HR systems together.

Some HR automation platforms use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data, identify trends, and support real-time decision-making. They may also offer built-in reporting dashboards so you can track the outcomes of your workflow automations.

Why HR Process Automation Matters

The benefits of HR automation extend far beyond cost savings — although the ROI of HR technology shouldn’t be dismissed. HR software can also help you reduce human error, improve data security, and increase employee satisfaction. Here are just three ways HR process automation can benefit your organization.

1. Improves Efficiency

Manual processes aren’t just tedious — they can result in bottlenecks and inefficiencies when a team member has to wait for someone on your HR staff to review or process a request. Automated workflows allow your HR department to complete manual tasks in less time and send out real-time notifications when someone needs to take action.

For example, Pulpstream’s HR platform allows you to create an onboarding checklist for new employees, removing the friction involved in new hire onboarding.

2. Reduces Compliance Risk

HR compliance risks include failing to maintain a paper trail of employment records and running afoul of employment law. HR process automation reduces compliance risks by ensuring that your leave policies, payroll systems, employee benefits administration, and other HR practices are in line with the latest regulations.

Leave management alone can present a major compliance risk, as HR departments struggle to keep up with leave laws. By running leave requests through Pulpstream’s automated rule engine, you can ensure that you comply with state and federal leave laws, and maintain accurate records of the entire process.

3. Enhances Employee Experience

Implementing HR process automation isn’t just good business sense; it’s also good for your employees. The more streamlined and efficient your HR operations, the more likely employees are to have a positive experience at your organization, leading to increased retention throughout the employee lifecycle.

Attendance management platforms are a great example of how you can turn clunky leave of absence (LoA) and scheduling processes into efficient, streamlined workflows that keep everyone on the same page. By replacing shared spreadsheets and calendars with modern time tracking software, you can simplify the payroll process and ensure employees get paid accurately and promptly.

5 HR Process Automation Best Practices

HR process automation offers plenty of benefits for HR departments, but it isn’t without its challenges. Some organizations make the mistake of implementing HR automation too quickly, without getting full buy-in from employees and other stakeholders. Others get locked into legacy systems and find it hard to modernize their operations.

With the right software solutions, you can take what’s already working and automate it to meet your needs. Follow these HR process automation best practices to ensure an efficient rollout that aligns with your long-term strategic initiatives.

1. Identify Inefficient HR Workflows

First, determine which of your existing workflows are candidates for HR automation and which ones require human oversight. For example, recruitment process automation can help with job posting, resume screening, and interview scheduling, but you’ll still need a human to conduct interviews and make job offers.

The workflows best suited for automation are those that involve repetitive tasks and don’t require much human approval or decision-making.

2. Centralize Data and Store It Securely

Automating HR processes can improve your data security by digitizing employee data and storing it in a central location. Physical paperwork is easy to misplace, and digital documents can end up in hard-to-access data silos — or worse, be exposed to other employees in violation of your confidentiality requirements.

Instead, choose a platform with role-based permissions and robust security and data protection features to keep employee data safe from end to end.

3. Provide an Employee Self-Service Portal

HR automation empowers employees to take a more active role in HR processes, from choosing personalized employee benefits to submitting leave of absence requests. With an employee self-service portal that employees can access on their desktop or mobile devices, you can provide instant responses that lead to faster resolutions.

Pulpstream’s leave of absence automation tools do exactly that, allowing employees to view their own leave balances and submit LoA requests online. Not only can they check how much leave they have left, but also they can upload supporting documents to confirm their eligibility for leave and skip the back-and-forth with your HR department.

4. Track Relevant Metrics

The only way to know if your HR automation practices are working is to measure their impact over time. After implementing HR automation, track KPIs and other employee performance metrics to ensure they’re heading in the right direction.

If employees are spending more time on tasks rather than less, or making more human errors, you may need to reevaluate your workflows and further optimize them. Consider using a workflow chart or using Pulpstream’s built-in reporting dashboards. 

5. Don’t Neglect Onboarding and Training

While today’s HR automation platforms are user-friendly, don’t assume everyone on your team knows how to use them. Use the employee onboarding process to orient employees to your HR systems and provide ongoing training programs for existing team members who need extra support figuring them out.

Pulpstream’s drag-and-drop workflows are intentionally designed to be intuitive, even to non-technical users. Once everyone is on board, no-code automation platforms can be an efficient, scalable solution to your HR challenges.

Discover HR Process Automation With Pulpstream

HR process automation can streamline many HR functions, from performance reviews to the offboarding process. Automating HR processes saves time and money, reduces human error, and improves compliance — but it’s important to choose the right tools and apply them to the appropriate workflows to achieve optimal results.

Pulpstream’s intuitive platform allows for custom automations and rapid onboarding so you can roll it out quickly without having to know any code. Pulpstream supports leave management, employee relations management, and performance management. Plus, it includes a user-friendly self-service portal to improve employee engagement.

By automating HR processes in a centralized platform, you can get one step closer to a complete digital transformation. Request a demo today to see how!