Human resources teams need to strike a balance between maintaining standardized HR systems and launching new initiatives in response to changing regulations and employee expectations. As industry practices evolve and new HR software arrives on the market, many HR departments are taking steps to improve HR processes.
By taking an intentional approach to HR process improvement, you can automate and standardize workflows with minimal disruption to your organization.
Here’s what HR process improvement is all about, including when to use it, and five HR process improvement ideas you can put into practice today.
What Is HR Process Improvement?
HR process improvement is the practice of making changes to your HR systems so they operate more efficiently. While that might sound abstract, process improvement can be very methodical. Some approaches to business process improvement include:
- The Kanban method, in which you sort individual tasks into columns in order to identify bottlenecks
- Six Sigma, in which you define, measure, and analyze your existing processes before making changes
- Continuous improvement, in which you make small, incremental changes to a process over time, rather than all at once
No matter which method you choose, it’s important to take stock of where you’re at and define your goals so you can assess whether or not your changes have been effective. For example, if you’re updating your recruiting and hiring process, track your new hire turnover rate so you can compare this metric before and after the improvements.
Benefits of HR Process Improvement
The benefits of HR process improvement will depend on which business goals you want to prioritize. Are you trying to improve efficiency, increase employee satisfaction, or offer more consistent HR services? Here are three outcomes to aim for:
Increased productivity
Use HR process improvement to address delays or inefficiencies in your HR workflows, such as time-consuming administrative tasks that are holding up the whole team. You can reduce or eliminate repetitive tasks with HR process automation, which frees up your HR staff to focus on more pressing issues.
Reduced human error
Better processes don’t just save time — they can also reduce the likelihood of human error by standardizing workflows and automating data entry. HR automation platforms like Pulpstream can fill out forms, generate documents, and even analyze datasets to identify red flags and aid in decision-making.
Improved employee experience
HR process improvement can have a material effect on employee engagement. From employee onboarding to offboarding, every interaction an employee has with your HR team is a chance to provide a positive experience and reinforce company culture.
Common HR Challenges
While today’s HR professionals face many challenges, which areas of human resource management are most in need of an upgrade? Here are three ways that traditional HR management systems can complicate HR workflows and slow down your HR staff:
Data silos
Data silos are data repositories that exist in isolation or can’t easily distribute information between different team members or departments. Even after digitizing your business practices and going paperless, you may still end up with redundant datasets or incompatible spreadsheets.
By eliminating data silos with a centralized data management system like Pulpstream, you can streamline data entry and take better care of employee data.
Slow response times
Slow responses to inquiries can negatively impact the employee experience — and even dissuade jobseekers from working with your company. HR teams who fail to respond to employees promptly risk damaging their brand and reducing employee retention.
HR teams can empower employees with self-service portals and HR chatbots that field employee requests and resolve common employee relations issues.
Compliance issues
Poor HR processes can raise compliance issues, whether it’s a failure to respond to an employee’s leave of absence request or provide appropriate ADA accommodations. By streamlining your LoA process or remote work policy, you can provide a positive work environment for all of your employees and improve HR compliance.
5 HR Process Improvement Ideas
Whether you’ve already digitized your HR department, or are just beginning your digital transformation, it’s never a bad time to optimize your HR strategies. Let’s take a look at five ways to implement HR process improvement at any organization:
1. Digital forms
Managing documents is one of the most time-consuming tasks in the HR department, and one of the most prone to human error. From providing onboarding documents to new employees to collecting FMLA forms related to family and medical leave, these documents serve as a paper trail and help to ensure HR compliance.
But the benefits of document automation in the modern workplace go beyond saving time and improving efficiency. Digital documents are more secure than paper forms, helping you project your employee data from security threats.
2. Self-service portal
When you store employee data in the cloud, you can provide access to employees and other stakeholders who may need to verify or update their information. Often, this takes the form of a self-service portal, where employees can look up their payslip or update their direct deposit details without having to call your HR team.
A self-service portal can also empower employees in other ways, such as verifying their eligibility for FMLA or checking their paid leave balance. Use Pulpstream’s self-service portal to streamline benefits administration, facilitate leave of absence requests, and oversee performance management and disciplinary procedures.
3. AI in HR
HR departments are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline and improve processes. But what does that look like in practice? One option is to use AI in the recruitment process, which takes some of the manual labor out of posting job ads, writing job descriptions, and reviewing resumes.
Companies can set up an AI chatbot to answer common questions about employee benefits or your company culture, and use an applicant tracking system to reply to unsuccessful candidates, ensuring that job applicants aren’t left hanging.
4. Real-time updates
One of the most effective ways to improve HR processes is to use a system that can provide automated notifications and updates in real time. For example, Pulpstream’s cloud-based interface is accessible on desktop and mobile devices, and features integrations with third-party systems like DocuSign and ADP.
Whether you need to assign a task, request a signature, or schedule a performance review, keep stakeholders updated instantly. Plus, Pulpstream’s built-in dashboards help you conduct HR data analytics and make better, data-driven decisions.
5. Automated onboarding process
The onboarding process often involves a mix of online and offline activities, such as a tour of the work environment along with online training. It’s easy for a new hire to get overwhelmed or for a manager to lose track of where their trainee is in the process.
By implementing employee onboarding automation, you can standardize the process with a consistent workflow that employees can move through at their own pace.
While you’re at it, you can also automate the employee exit process, so you can gain insights from departing employees and wrap things up on a positive note.
Streamline HR Operations with Pulpstream
Many HR processes like recruiting, onboarding, and benefits administration can benefit from a refresh as new forms of HR tech promise to transform the HR department. HR process improvement involves reviewing and transforming a specific HR function or workflow to make it more accurate, efficient, or convenient.
Pulpstream’s no-code digital transformation platform gives HR teams the tools they need to optimize their most time-consuming workflows. Remove data silos, reduce human error, and empower your employees to access HR services online.
Request a demo today to see how it works in just 30 minutes!
