Your human resources team is responsible for many of the operations that keep your business running: employee onboarding, benefits administration, and leave management. But if you’re relying on manual HR processes to perform these functions, you may be spending more time and effort than you need to on repetitive tasks.
Manual HR processes aren’t just inefficient; they can lead to employee dissatisfaction, bottlenecks, and compliance issues. That’s why many organizations are switching to HR automation to reduce their administrative burden and streamline HR processes.
Here’s how modern HR software reduces time spent on manual tasks so your HR staff can spend more time on decision-making and strategic initiatives.
Manual HR processes rely on traditional tools and communication channels to perform HR functions instead of using modern HR tech. These processes may involve:
Manual HR processes aren’t necessarily paper-based. Many of them use digital tools and computer software, but they require human input. For example, manual data entry or payroll processing may involve putting employee data into a spreadsheet or HR system. But these processes tend to be inefficient and can result in data silos.
This is in contrast to automated processes, in which your software performs a series of HR tasks without requiring nearly as much human oversight.
Manual HR processes have their place, especially for small businesses with only a few employees or minimal labor laws to comply with. But once you reach a certain size, manual processes can slow you down and make it harder to sustain your HR operations. Here are four problems with manual processes that HR leaders should look out for:
HR professionals have more important things to take care of than to spend their day on time-consuming administrative tasks. It’s not that your HR team shouldn’t have a role in these operations. Still, manual processes often involve repetitive tasks, such as entering the same information time and time again.
This results in lost time and productivity while holding your team back from addressing other pressing matters at your organization.
Manual HR processes increase compliance risks in several ways, from human error to employment law violations. Data entry mistakes can create payroll errors, misplaced forms can compromise data security, and failing to keep up with leave laws can mean hefty non-compliance fines.
Even the most experienced HR department is no match for an HR automation platform that can automatically account for state-specific leave laws and company policies.
No one wants to be stuck on a long call with HR for something that they could easily resolve on their own. Employees increasingly experience streamlined workflows in other areas of their lives, like mobile banking and online grocery shopping. As a result, manual HR processes can negatively impact the employee experience.
Self-service portals are one solution. They allow employees to view their benefits and leave balances, and update employee information in real time, turning what was a tedious manual process into a modern, user-friendly workflow.
Finally, manual HR processes make it difficult to collect and process the HR data needed to make informed decisions. Digitizing your business practices can help, but the data you collect can still end up in disparate spreadsheets and data systems.
Without interconnected systems, it can be difficult to monitor employee performance metrics, track absenteeism rates, and maintain consistent employee records.
Now that we’ve covered the problems with manual HR processes, how can HR leaders make the transition to automated HR management? And what does that look like in practice? Let’s take a look at three examples:
Streamlined HR processes can increase employee satisfaction and improve employee retention. But how? It all starts with the onboarding process.
With Pulpstream’s HR automation platform, you can use a digital onboarding checklist to welcome new hires to your team. Instead of spending their first few weeks filling out paperwork and emailing back and forth with your HR team, you can guide employees through the process using a single, user-friendly platform.
Collect employee information once and use it to pre-fill forms and documents. Inform employees about their access to benefits and leave of absence entitlements through a self-service portal. You can even connect Pulpstream to other HR software, such as your human resource management system, to reduce data silos.
By providing a consistent employee experience throughout the employee lifecycle, you’ll reduce employee turnover and spend less time and money on talent acquisition.
Performance management is one of those processes that can easily become routine — an annual performance evaluation that has little impact on productivity. But what if you could turn written performance reviews into a 360-degree feedback process?
Automated performance reviews aren’t about turning up the pressure, but about taking the time to understand what’s really going on for your employees. Solicit feedback from managers, colleagues, and employees themselves, and use it to identify opportunities for mentoring, upskilling, and further training.
It’s not easy to provide that level of personal support when you have a large team and rely on manual HR processes. Automation facilitates performance management by sending out reminders, scheduling check-ins, and analyzing the data you collect.
Leave management is one of the most challenging HR functions to perform manually. Small businesses may be able to get away with a manual leave approval process. Still, once you surpass 50 employees, you’ll be a covered employer under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). You’ll also need to keep up with state leave laws.
Under a manual leave process, you’ll need to:
With automation, you can turn this lengthy workflow into a 15-minute process. Pulpstream’s leave management platform automatically assesses FMLA eligibility for you. It allows employees to automatically upload medical documents via a secure, cloud-based portal; it also tracks an employee’s remaining leave balance.
By running every leave request through a custom rule engine, you can approve or decline leave requests more efficiently and reduce compliance issues.
Manual HR processes are administrative tasks your HR team has to do by hand or with basic software. These tasks can include form-filling, data entry, scheduling, and more. In contrast, automated HR processes use advanced technology to do most of the heavy lifting, saving you time and eliminating repetitive tasks.
Automated HR platforms are scalable, provide ongoing cost savings, and can reduce inefficiencies. They also provide stronger security and data protection.
Pulpstream’s HR automation platform offers a comprehensive set of tools for HR teams to streamline leave of absence management, performance management, new employee onboarding, and more. Plus, our cloud-based portal gives employees the ability to resolve straightforward cases on their own, increasing employee satisfaction.
Request a demo today to see how Pulpstream can improve manual processes.