No matter which industry your business operates in, one fact remains: Having an efficient and reliable human resource (HR) management solution is a must.
From recruiting and onboarding new employees to handling tedious paperwork and ensuring labor law compliance, HR professionals play a very important role in keeping your business running smoothly.
Of course, HR departments face some unique challenges that could also be costing your business money. These challenges are inherent to the field and not necessarily your HR team’s fault, but require addressing, nonetheless. Some of these common challenges include dealing with repetitive employee forms/documentation and frequent compliance law changes.
To overcome some of these obstacles, many businesses are now turning to some form of human resources automation. Not convinced this is the right solution for your organisation?
Learn more about how human resources automation software works and how it can help to benefit your business and better manage your teams. From there, find out more about what to look for when selecting the automation software that best suits your company.
How does human resources automation software work?
While every human resources automation program is different, the reality is that all of these programs have a single goal: to streamline common HR processes and improve overall efficiency in the workplace.
Some everyday HR tasks that can be automated with the right software may include:
- Searching for/filtering job candidates
- Filling out certain forms
- Creating files and sharing documents
- Handling onboarding tasks
To better understand how HR automation software works, it can help to look at an example. Many of these programs, for instance, will handle many aspects of the onboarding process that can be automated to save time and resources.
Rather than your HR representative using valuable time posting job openings, sifting through job applications, and filling out new-hire paperwork, the right automation software can handle these tasks. By automating these processes, your HR employees can free up time to spend on other meaningful tasks while keeping things running smoothly at your organisation.
Benefits of using the right human resources automation software
There are countless reasons to implement human resources automation software at your place of business if you haven’t done so already. However, we’ll cover a handful of the most compelling reasons below.
Improve HIPAA compliance
From HIPAA to other governing boards, there’s a good chance your business has some strict compliance laws and regulations to follow. At the same time, these laws can change frequently, and it can be time-consuming and cumbersome for your human resources staff to stay on top of these changes.
Of course, failing to comply with these regulations can also mean big trouble for your organisation, resulting in potential audits, fines, and other penalties that can be difficult to recover from. By automating some of your human resources tasks, you can enjoy greater peace of mind that you’re following all compliance laws (including HIPAA laws, where applicable).
This, in turn, can protect your business from fines and penalties while also doing your duty to keep client/employee information secure.
Automate tasks and save time
While not all HR tasks can be automated, the reality is that automating the ones that can be frees up valuable time, which ultimately saves your business money. Rather than spending hours each week filling out forms that could be handled by your HR software, your human resources workers can be focusing on other aspects of keeping your organisation running smoothly.
For example, with more time to spare, your human resources employees may be put to better use tackling projects that will benefit your employees and business as a whole. They’ll have more time to focus on providing relevant training to your team, working to retain existing employees, and taking on other roles to further your company’s success.
Streamline payroll and benefits
Ask any member of your current human resources team which task they spend the most time on, and they’ll likely have a similar response: dealing with payroll and benefits.
No matter the size of your company, handling payroll and benefits is a tedious and time-consuming task. However, it’s also one that you can solve with the right automation software.
Rather than having your HR workers manually enter each employee’s hours worked, the right automation software will make it possible for your employees to enter this information themselves or for data to be input automatically. From there, the software can also calculate tax withholding and other payroll processes.
By eliminating manual information and data entry, there is less margin for error. Automation software also makes it easy to keep detailed payroll records, making your life easier when it comes time to file business taxes.
Meanwhile, employees can rest assured that they’ll be paid on time and in the correct amount—which can boost morale and overall retention rates. It’s a win-win for everybody!
Image: Pexels
Access information remotely
With the right HR automation software, it may even be possible for HR workers and employees to access important information outside of the workplace. That’s because many of these automation programs use cloud-based servers to keep information secure yet readily accessible from any device.
What to look for when choosing human resources automation software
These are just some of the key benefits of implementing human resources automation software at your place of business. Still, it’s essential to understand that not all automation programs are created equal; the program that’s right for one organisation may not be quite right for another.
With so many different automation programs to choose from, finding the one that’s just right for your business may feel overwhelming. By having a better idea of what to look for, you can more confidently narrow down your options and make a decision.
Easy integration
The last thing you need is to have to spend a lot of time and resources getting the software implemented at your place of business. Ideally, you’ll be able to select a program that can integrate seamlessly into your existing business plan with as little disruption as possible.
User-friendliness
Along the same lines, you’ll also want to minimise the amount of training required for employees to understand how to use the new software. This is where selecting a program with a user-friendly interface can make a huge difference and can help to reduce the learning curve required of both HR employees and regular employees.
However, this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be prepared to allocate some specific time and training hours to get employees familiar with the new software. This will be important regardless of the program you select, though opting for a user-friendly program can make the transition go a lot more smoothly and cut back on errors as everybody gets used to the new software.
Excellent security
There’s no overstating the importance of data security when implementing any human resources automation software at your place of business. After all, you will be trusting this program to handle potentially sensitive data and information.
When shopping for HR automation software, be sure to ask specifically about data security and storage. What measures should you take to keep your information safe? Are data backups included? What kinds of other fail-safes or redundancies are in place for your protection?
Regulatory compliance
Suppose your business operates in an industry that requires regulatory compliance (such as through HIPAA or another governing board). In that case, you’ll want to make sure that your provider designs the automation software with this in mind.
In Summary
Choosing the right human resources automation software can make all the difference for your organisation. By streamlining certain processes and improving efficiency, you’ll find that you’re able to get the most out of your existing HR team. Meanwhile, the rest of your employees will have an easy-to-use program that they can rely on for their payroll, benefits processing, and much more.
While there’s a lot to keep in mind when choosing the right automation software, Square 9’s human resources automation program is a sensible solution for many businesses. Specifically, this program addresses common HR challenges such as repetitive forms, lack of organisational effectiveness, and compliance issues in a user-friendly solution.
With features like secured document storage to meet HIPAA compliance guidelines, automatic notifications, and digital signatures, your HR team can free up valuable time and resources that lead to significant savings for your business. Likewise, you’ll reap the benefits of a boost in productivity while your HR team enjoys access to records and data from any mobile device.
About the Author:
Alexa Pritchard is the Marketing Communications Specialist at Square 9 Softworks. As a marketing strategist, she develops, drives and executes communication plans that effectively support Square 9’s overall marketing goals and objectives.
