Human resources and automation are concepts that often seem like oil and water—they have little in common. But the truth of the matter is, automated HR, a subtle combination of the two, holds benefits too obvious to ignore.
At its core, automated HR can dramatically increase business efficiency, boost productivity, and free up workers to focus on other more important mission-critical tasks.
In this post, we’ll explore how automated HR can improve the efficiency of your business and benefit your organization as a whole.
What is Automated HR?
To put it simply, automated HR involves using technology to tackle tedious, recurring manual tasks related to the HR function.
Automation is slowly but steadily permeating the HR space, and soon enough, everything will be automated. By automating standard HR tasks, businesses can reduce the cost and time they spend on manual HR processing and strategizing.
5 HR Automated HR Best Practices
Here are five ways you can use automation to ramp up efficiency:
1. Simplify Employee Onboarding
Onboarding might be one of the most crucial HR functions, but it’s also the most tedious. So much time and resources go into manually verifying documents, planning and scheduling interviews, orienting new hires, and so on.
With automation, however, the majority of these manual onboarding tasks can be shifted from human to computers. On top of enhancing efficiency, automating the onboarding process eliminates the risk of miscommunication between relevant parties. In other words, you’ll have a complete overview of the entire onboarding process, so nothing falls through the cracks.
2. Keep a Closer Eye on Employee Timesheets
Manually sorting through time sheets is perhaps the most time-consuming HR task there is. Managers spend 15 or more hours every month on average organizing, validating, and approving employee sheets.
While it’s tempting to use spreadsheets to reduce time wastage, this method isn’t any better. Not only are spreadsheets inefficient and arduous, but they are also riddled with the possibility for human error. That’s where automation comes in.
Introducing automation into the timesheet approval process makes the whole thing faster, more efficient, and error-free. Collecting, verifying, and tracking employee data happens at record speed and accurately so. Ultimately, you get an efficient HR department that can positively contribute to your company’s bottom line.
3. Streamline Performance Appraisals
If there’s one chore that HR managers dread, it’s manually updating employee performance records. It simply sucks the oomph out of them.
Most times, managers will either postpone this chore or ignore it altogether. And when evaluating performance isn’t made a priority, workers will likely suffer. So will your bottom line. You need to consider HR automation if at all you want to make your business more efficient and productive.
Adopting automated HR makes performance appraisals a tad bit easier. Not only are employee records automatically and accurately updated, but you also get timely data-backed metrics. More metrics translate to better, smarter business decisions in the long run.
4. Motivate Employees
Truth is, very few enjoy handling minor, repetitive, mindless HR tasks such as entering employee info into a spreadsheet. Your employees certainly do not. Research has it that employees are most engaged and productive when their work has a purpose, and data entry definitely doesn’t fit that bill.
By automating HR, you can free up your talented team to focus on what they do best—managing change, driving company strategy, and supercharging the bottom line. In other words, automation motivates employees and prompts them to push their limits. In the grand scheme of things, you get a business that’s truly efficient.
5. Smoothen Out the Bumps in HR Workflows
Let’s face it—most legacy HR workflows, processes, and tasks are highly complex and redundant.
Each phase typically involves a series of manual steps that must be followed to the latter. There might even be a whole team of employees involved. Everything seems like it’s dragging on forever. Not to mention the monstrous resources needed to facilitate such workflows. That’s the exact opposite of efficiency.
With automation, tracking, checking, and completing these HR workflows is much easier. For instance, checking and approving sick leave is super easy when it’s automatically done. Employees don’t need to line up outside the HR office just to get approved. As for the HR team, they don’t need to manually pull up files or do errands here and there. It’s all fast, seamless, and accurate.
Reap the Fruits of Efficiency with ASAP Payroll
Are you tired of manually approving timesheets, physically conducting performance appraisals, or generally getting your hands dirty with arduous HR tasks? Time to embrace automated HR! With ASAP Payroll, you’ll find it easy to automate your HR and save time and money in the process. Get in touch or request a quote to find out how our customized solutions can benefit your business.