Modern HR professionals have a lot on their plate, but many HR management systems still require significant human intervention. HR workflow automation is a way of using software to streamline manual processes so they require less time and effort.
With HR workflow management solutions, you can automate workflows like employee onboarding, performance management, and payroll, all while providing a streamlined, user-friendly experience to your employees and HR staff alike.
Here’s what HR teams need to know about HR workflow automation, and what to look for in an HR workflow automation solution.
What Is HR Workflow Automation?
HR workflow automation involves using HR software to perform repetitive tasks in your human resources department. A workflow is a series of steps that form an end-to-end process, such as onboarding a new hire or approving employee leave requests.
While other types of HR automation focus on tasks or business processes, HR workflow automation focuses on routines. Workflow automation software can complete some or all of the activities in a workflow, reducing the workload for your HR staff.
By standardizing practices and eliminating time-consuming tasks, workflow automation can streamline HR processes and enhance productivity in your HR department.
Why You Need HR Workflow Automation
As HR workflows get more complex, workflow automation allows you to take some of the pressure off of your HR team and provide a better employee experience.
Here are four key benefits of automated workflows in your HR department:
- Save time: Workflow automation saves time by reducing the number of manual tasks your HR team has to complete in a workflow.
- Reduce errors: Automated HR workflows allow less room for manual error by taking care of data entry and other administrative tasks automatically.
- Increase compliance: Automated HR systems help you avoid HR compliance issues by enhancing decision-making with a customizable rules engine.
- Focus on strategic initiatives: By automating HR functions, you free up your HR professionals to focus on higher-level business needs.
5 Use Cases for HR Workflow Automation
Business process automation can be applied to nearly any business process, no matter how large or small. In this case, we’re focusing on HR workflows, or the administrative tasks your HR team needs to complete every time you hire a new employee, handle an employee relations issue, or receive a new HR request.
Here are five practical use cases for HR workflow automation.
1. Recruiting
The recruiting process requires significant amounts of time and energy, from creating a new job post to sending out an offer letter. HR workflow automation can do the heavy lifting for you by sorting resumes, screening candidates, and scheduling interviews.
Not only does workflow automation streamline the recruiting process, it provides more transparency to candidates by sending out automatic notifications when their application progresses. You can also use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to store resumes and contact information and keep applicants informed about future openings.
2. Employee onboarding
The employee onboarding process is your chance to make a good first impression, but it involves many tedious administrative tasks, like collecting employee information and enrolling new employees in payroll and employee benefits.
Automating the employee onboarding process allows you to welcome new hires to your organization in a seamless and user-friendly way, imparting your values and company culture and increasing employee retention throughout the employee lifecycle.
You can also use workflow automation for employee offboarding to revoke access to your systems, administer exit surveys, and more.
3. Performance management
Performance reviews help you keep track of how your employees are doing at work, but they can be tedious to administer and don’t always give you real-time insights into your team’s productivity levels or employee engagement.
With HR workflow automation, you can generate performance review templates, gather feedback, and monitor employee performance metrics.
Platforms like Pulpstream also let you track employee attendance so you can identify problems in advance and take action to reduce absenteeism in the workplace.
4. Leave management
Effective leave administration requires your team to stay up-to-date on state and federal leave laws and adhere to your company’s leave of absence policies. From tracking paid time off (PTO) to approving a medical leave of absence, your HR staff needs to be able to navigate complex eligibility requirements while respecting employees’ privacy.
Leave of absence management software makes it easy to assess each case against a customizable rules engine. You can automatically request a medical certification, track employee leave balances, and initiate the return-to-work process.
Employees can self-service their own requests by logging into an online portal, where they can view their leave balance, update their contact information, and more.
5. Payroll
Payroll is one of the first processes that come to mind when organizations choose to outsource HR functions. It’s tedious, time-consuming, and requires close attention to detail. But you can also administer payroll in-house by making use of HR workflow automation tools that integrate with your time-tracking software.
With the right HR software, you can automatically verify timesheets, create payslips, withhold taxes, administer employee benefits, and more.
Key Features of HR Workflow Automation Software
No two organizations follow the exact same HR workflows, so it’s important to choose workflow automation software that you can customize to match your unique business needs. Here are three features to look for in workflow automation software.
Cloud-based platform
First, choose a cloud-based platform that offers integrations with other apps and tools that you’re already using. This will allow you to build HR workflows based on existing practices, rather than get locked into rigid processes that you can’t change later.
For example, Pulpstream’s integrations include Zoom, Slack, Office365, GitHub, and more, allowing you to create workflows that flow seamlessly across platforms.
No-code automation
Next, look for workflow automation platforms that offer no-code automation. No-code platforms typically feature a drag-and-drop interface, so you can easily visualize and customize your workflows without having to write a line of code.
Whether you want to send out email notifications to stakeholders, schedule interviews with job applicants, or automate performance reviews, no-code tools can do it for you without the need for custom business process management software.
Self-service portal
Finally, consider providing a self-service portal that employees can use to access their own accounts and manage their own HR requests. This reduces the amount of manual labor your HR team needs to perform, and increases employee engagement by giving them more control over their schedule, employee information, and benefits.
By digitizing and automating processes with a platform like Pulpstream, you can keep employee data safe and resolve common employee relations issues faster.
Implement HR Workflow Automation with Pulpstream
HR workflow automation involves using software to automate recurring tasks that your HR team would otherwise have to perform manually. Not only does this save time and money, it can reduce manual errors, increase HR compliance, and allow your team to focus on other higher-level business processes.
No-code tools like Pulpstream enhance workflow automation by empowering your HR team to create and deploy custom workflows without any coding experience. Use our drag-and-drop editor and third-party integrations to create end-to-end workflows that eliminate steps, standardize processes, and improve the user experience.
From employee onboarding to performance management, there’s no HR process that won’t benefit from workflow automation. Request a demo to see how Pulpstream can help you optimize your workflows and streamline HR processes today!
