HR Automation – The Most Effective Way to Efficient HR Operations

The human resource function takes care of the most valuable asset of the organization – employees. From managing employee work satisfaction and employee engagement to hiring the right talent to manage compensation and benefits for all employees – the HR department is incharge. Carrying out a host of such critical functions with a minimal resource pool can be quite challenging without streamlining the HR processes.

HR automation to the rescue! HR process automation helps organizations save time, money, and human capital. This blog explores human resources automation, how automating human resources improves process efficiency and the challenges in HR automation. 

Importance of the HR Function

Before we get into the discussion of automating human resources processes, understanding the importance of the HR function is essential. Understanding the importance of the HR function will help appreciate the value that HR automation can bring to the overall performance of the organization.

HR is responsible for recruiting, onboarding, and offboarding employees, payroll processing, timekeeping, training and development, tracking vacation and sick days, and employees being within the organization. Without the HR team, no organization can operate smoothly.  

In order to drive value from organizational talent, the HR team requires the bandwidth, resources, and time to focus on strategic initiatives rather than mundane admin activities and voluminous paperwork. 

The HR department plays a key role in building and maintaining company culture. Positive business culture drives employee engagement, job satisfaction, and staff retention. HR personnel play a key role in developing, reinforcing, and changing the culture of the organization. Other HR processes like payroll management, performance management, training and development, and recruitment and onboarding, are all essential elements of the business culture covered by HR.

Maintaining seamless business communication, both internally and externally, is another important function carried out by HR. So often, the way communication occurs in a business is defined by HR. Strong communication eliminates misunderstandings and improves employee engagement, which forms the basis for better client relationships and encourages innovation and creativity. 

Maintaining legal and regulatory compliance is another important function performed by HR. HR personnel have a full understanding of the employment law and regulatory requirements of a business and its employees. Non- compliance can even lead to the suspension of the business’s license. HR plays a crucial role in maintaining compliance in an organization so that the business does not get into any legal issues. 

With so many crucial functions to perform, HR is always expected to do more with less. If the HR teams rely on manual methods to carry out HR processes, they would probably be sucked into mundane admin activities, rather than strategic activities.

With the HR department drowning in admin and paperwork, there is very little time for critical work like employee engagement, or performance appraisal, or being part of strategic discussions with the management. Automating human resources processes is the best way to do the heavy lifting from HR processes and give them time to focus on activities that add value to the organization. 

Why should you Automate HR Operations?

There is not an iota of doubt about the importance of HR in an organization. Automation of HR processes is no longer a luxury, but a must-have for the HR teams. Manual HR processes come with many disadvantages, and failure to automate labor- or data-intensive processes only compounds as your business grows. Here are 3 reasons why you must consider automation in HR. 

1. More efficient process output

HR processes that are repetitive and labor-intensive take up a large part of the HR team’s productive time. When teams spend more time on such tasks, the efficiency and productivity is affected negatively. The HR team ends up spending more time on monotonous and unproductive tasks. 

2. Lesser errors

Data-intensive HR processes like timesheets, payroll calculations, or tracking leaves, are prone to errors and are time-consuming. When such tasks are done in between several other tasks that HR handles, the occurrence of errors is very high. Also handling these tasks manually opens up higher error margins. Automation of such tasks eliminates errors and biases. 

3. Better candidate experience

Seamless employee onboarding helps create the right impression on the new hire. HR needs to follow up regularly on the status of the onboarding process, which takes up a huge chunk of their productive work time. Moreover, they are swamped with a mountain of other tasks, making them unknowingly forget or miss out on getting back to new hires. When such admin tasks are automated, it enables a seamless onboarding experience. 

Human resources automation is a great way to improve the productivity of HR operations and eliminate errors and biases that come with manual HR management. Not only can the HR team get rid of redundancies and inconsistencies, but they can also boost their productivity by automating key HR processes. 

Key HR Processes Prime for Automation

So, what can be automated in HR? In general, any process that has repetitive steps that do not require human intervention is prime for automation. How do you decide the process that is right for automation?

Here are a few characteristics of processes that are right for automation –

• Repetitive processes
• Labor-intensive
• Involves a number of resources
• Time-sensitive
• Involves auditing and compliance trails
• Rule-based and standardized
• Impact other processes and systems within the business
• Produce predictive outcomes
• Have potential for high return on investment 

Choose processes that satisfy one or more of the above conditions for automation. 

We have listed 10 HR processes that are prime for HR process automation. 

1- Recruitment

As per the latest survey, 69% of HR professionals who have used automation in the hiring process reported that it significantly decreased the time spent on the hiring process. The recruitment process includes tasks like –

• Posting job ads
• Tracking responses
• Screening resumes
• Pre-employment assessments
• Shortlisting and prioritizing candidates based on set criteria

All of the above tasks are repetitive and tedious and eat away a major chunk of the productive hours of the HR team. As a result, the productivity of the team comes down drastically. Such tasks are better off when automated. Not only does automation accelerate work execution, but it also relieves the HR team from performing such mundane tasks. Automation of pre-employment assessments also eliminates the chunky paperwork that the process involves. Paperless background checks, automated follow-up emails to candidates, and automated applicant tracking are huge time and cost savers for the organization. 

2- Employee onboarding

This is another HR process that involves a number of time-consuming and tedious tasks like document verification, signing forms, granting access to new hires, raising device requests, and scheduling induction sessions. Impressing the new hire the right way depends largely on the outcome of the onboarding process.

Automated employee onboarding provides an easy-to-follow checklist during the process of onboarding. Such checklists, enable the HR team to create automatic notifications and approval workflows that simplify and streamline employee onboarding. E-sign forms can be easily shared with the new hires and official PDF documents can be automatically generated in automated employee onboarding. This way, new hires can gain access to official portals and also get devices allocated to them without waiting for IT support. 

When a new employee joins the organization, they will require a host of permissions and accesses to be granted to the relevant applications. This often leads to wasted time on the first day trying to get an employee fully set up and gain access to relevant apps so that they start working. HR process automation enables you to go through the entire process without any human intervention based on predefined criteria. 

3- Employee offboarding

The exit process of an employee also needs to be smooth, so that the exiting employee feels valued. More often than not, employee offboarding is not given the importance it is due. When employee onboarding is done right, the company’s assets are protected and the exiting employee leaves with a good impression of the company. Manual offboarding is not very efficient in protecting the company from compliance and security issues. The risk of losing forms or incomplete exit processes is high when employee offboarding is done manually. When you automate the employee offboarding process – 

• You can complete and upload documents electronically
• You can schedule exit interviews efficiently
• You can update personal information easily
• You can arrange for the employee’s final paycheck 
• You can create requests for the company’s assets/equipment to be returned before employee exit
• You can revoke access to applications on a predetermined date
• You can delete employee records from the directory promptly on their last working day

All of the exit processes can be automatically done without human intervention (almost nil) with an automated employee offboarding process. 

4- Leave Management

Manual calculation and approval of vacation days involves a series of tasks listed below – 

• Checking leave balance
• Compared with approved leaves
• Getting manager’s approval
• Recording leaves for payroll calculation

If any of the above steps are not executed accurately, it could result in revenue loss for the company. It also affects the morale of the team on the whole. The margin of human error in these tasks is quite high. The HR team that is already burdened by several other tasks is likely to approve leave requests, without verifying leave balances or without updating availed leaves for payroll calculations.

HR automation eliminates the errors or inconsistencies that manual leave management is ridden with. Automating leave management calculates leave balance, notifies corresponding managers for approval, and updates payroll systems accordingly. 

5- Payroll management 

Payroll calculations have a direct impact on business finances. Even minor errors in payroll calculation start a chain reaction. When payroll calculations are done manually, the room for error is huge, which leads to higher financial risk for the business. Moreover, underpaid or overpaid employees pose a risk to employee performance as well. While overpaid employees are a business risk, underpaid employees are a flight risk.

Automating payroll management simplifies the process of payroll calculations and employee payments. Automated payroll management systems can be integrated with other systems like leave management and compliance management so that data is updated and accurate calculations are carried out. Payroll management automation makes it much easier to find and track data for compliance audits whenever needed. 

6- Tax filing

Local, state, national, and international laws for taxation vary widely. The location of the organization, and where it operates decides taxation laws. The HR department needs to adhere to the tax laws that apply to the locations where the organization’s operations are spread.

This can be challenging, especially when laws are frequently updated and changed. Automating payroll taxes based on relevant laws ensures that employees and contractors receive and complete their tax forms. Automation also provides a digital file that is easy to locate and audit at a later time. HR software accelerates tax filing and eliminates the stress associated with it. 

7- Employee benefit management

Managing employee benefits includes management of healthcare benefits, retirement plans, employee compensation, and other employee benefits. Typically, when employee benefits are managed manually, employees have limited visibility into the type of benefits that are available for them during their employment.

HR automation software can track all employee’s situations/roles and display the benefits available to them. The software automatically updates the benefits as and when employee roles change. Automated benefit management is the best example of employee self-service. 

8- Employee performance tracking

Employee performance determines promotions, salary raises, bonuses, disciplinary actions, or terminations. Relying on manual methods for tracking employee performance opens up room for incomplete tracking and updation of employee records. Inefficient tracking of employee performance results in undermining their contributions, which in turn affects their morale.

Automating employee performance tracking means that the company has access to data that determines their salary raise, bonus, disciplinary action, or termination. When employee performance tracking is automated, the process is streamlined and free from bias, which enables accurate decision-making. Both managers and employees can take the performance tracking system as a reference for performance improvement. 

9- Time management

We are all well aware of the pain of managing employee timesheets manually! Not only is manual timesheet tracking inefficient, but it is also difficult to integrate it with other systems like payroll or leave management to gain a comprehensive picture of employee time. Moreover, manual timesheets can be filled out days later and also misplaced. Automated time management apps allow you to digitally store employee profiles, attendance records, and other information. Accurate capture of timesheets also allows for efficient estimation of project delivery deadlines. 

10- Expense reports management

Submitting employee expenses is an integral part of an employee’s work. Since the employee spends out of pocket, expense reimbursement is expected to be done quickly. Manual expense approval may take anything from days to months, which is quite frustrating for the employee.

HR process automation can make it easier for employees to submit expenses as well as get the required approvals on time. From submitting an expense report to reimbursing the expense, all the steps in between can be automated. Automated expense report management saves time for the HR team and also ensures that only legitimate expenses are approved. 

How Workflow Automation Helps Improve Efficiency?

So what are HR automation benefits? Although manual HR processes may work fine in the early stages of a business, the inefficiencies expand as the business expands its operations. Here are the main benefits of HR workflow automation. 

Centralized HR management

An automated workflow is a series of steps that you can follow to accomplish a specific objective. When you automate HR workflows, you will be able to manage all the tasks from a central console that gives real-time updates on task statuses. 

Improved visibility

Workflow automation enables teams to create an “as-is” map of the process, which gives deeper insights into the way the process unfolds and the bottlenecks and areas of improvement within the process. Analysis of HR workflows is easier and more effective, which in turn makes it easy to automate the workflow. 

Single source of truth

Data silos are one of the main drawbacks of manual HR processes. Having a depository of inaccessible data is as good as having no data. To make informed business decisions, you need a comprehensive view of all the task statuses. Automation provides a single source of truth of the process, so you can make informed business decisions. 

Lifts manual burden

One of the most common reasons why project teams underperform is that they spend way too much time on low-value, tedious tasks. Routine admin tasks are both labor- and data-intensive, which tires out employees and makes them lose interest in working. Automation takes care of the heavy lifting in HR processes so that the team can focus on initiatives that utilize their potential and add value to the business. 

So, if your HR team is spending too much time on manual tasks, or they find it difficult to track tasks, or approvals are coming at a snail’s pace, or the team is constantly switching between disparate systems to get their work done – it is high time you consider HR process automation. 

Why Cflow?

So, which HR automation software must you consider for automating your HR workflows? With several no-code/low-code workflow automation software flooding the market, making the right choice can be quite a task. Look no further when you have a no-code cloud BPM software that can automate all your HR workflows within minutes by simply dragging and dropping visual elements. Enter Cflow! Cflow is a versatile workflow automation software that can orchestrate processes with automated workflow apps. All key HR processes can be easily automated with Cflow. The reports and analytics feature in Cflow lets users stay updated on the status of the tasks at all times. 

Employee onboarding

Cflow allows you to onboard your employees on day one with a well-defined workflow process that can be customized to suit the onboarding workflow within your organization. 

Leave application process

When the leave application process is automated with Cflow, your employees no longer need to fret about sending their leave applications via email or an archaic app. The easy-to-use form in Cflow provides a modern interface to track leaves. 

Recruitment process

Finding and hiring potential candidates has never been this easy. Automated recruitment workflows built using Cflow make it easier for the HR team to gather all information into a central database, share company policies, negotiate salary packages, and release customized offer letters. 

Employee exit process

Gathering crucial information in the form of feedback or suggestions from employees leaving the organization can be easily done with Cflow. 

Cflow can provide customized workflows for all the HR workflows so that your HR team can focus on more important work rather than mundane activities. 

Challenges in HR Automation

While HR automation may provide several benefits for the organization, there are some limitations to implementing automation in HR processes. Some of the HR tasks involve tasks that require a personal touch, emotional intelligence, and soft skills that cannot be provided in automated workflows. Here are the main challenges in implementing HR automation – 

Integration with current processes and architectures

The features of specific HR processes are unique, which makes it difficult to integrate into current infrastructures. 

Cost of AI initiatives

Evaluating employee experience or recruitment sometimes requires human expertise. Organizations need to find ways to use data from HR automation software to drive decision-making and process efficiency. 

Privacy and security

HR automation software gathers a significant volume of data that can be structured or unstructured. The software must provide clear guidelines on how the data should be used in order to mitigate or avoid ethical concerns. 

Conclusion

HR process automation is no longer a luxury, but a must-have for organizations that focus on their most valuable asset – their employees. Investing in HR automation provides notable benefits for the HR function. From improving productivity to maintaining compliance standards – HR automation software can help in all processes.

Choose Cflow to automate your HR process, so you can rest assured of streamlined HR operations. You will understand what we are talking about if you try Cflow! Sign up for the free trial right away.