The challenges HR leaders face follow a common theme, regardless of the business or industry. The principal pain points are overworked, under-resourced HR teams striving to deliver a positive employee journey whilst drowning in admin and unable to add real value to the business. There is also the challenge of competitive marketplaces and access to the best people.
Unleashing the potential in people
From onboarding, through company culture, career progression, learning and development, reward and recognition, and personal/professional growth - in addition to a myriad of unique-to-individual obstacles placed along the way - HR automation is helping remove the burden of administration and unleashing the potential in people.
It's also helping companies enhance culture and the overall employee experience. A recent G2 survey revealed that 80% of HR employees believe HR technologies will improve employees attitude toward the company. In addition, the majority of the employees surveyed believe that employee engagement is vital for company culture to thrive.
Many of the typical challenges are out of HR's control. The solution is to find a way of controlling what you can to enable a more strategic approach to the things you can't, which will ultimately lead to a higher-performing HR department. Employee experience and satisfaction matter the most - particularly to a generation of fresh, young talent whose priorities have shifted. This is evidenced by Virgin Pulse 's findings that 78% of businesses say employee wellbeing is a critical part of their business plans.
A company that supports its people offers a flexible work/life balance, cares about wellbeing, and can demonstrate innovation across the organisation is far more likely to attract the new cohort of professionals ahead of the traditional employer who pays more but is averse to transformation.
In an age when word-of-mouth matters most, and digital platforms enable information to spread quickly, creating a culture that is fit for purpose is critical. According to the American Psychological Association research, 89% of people at companies that support well-being efforts are more likely to recommend their company as a good place to work, putting them at a significant competitive advantage.
Knowing it’s time to change
The starting point of every journey to HR process automation is knowing it's time to change. Unfortunately, many organisations simply accept time-consuming, paper-based administration as part of the process. Taking hours and even days to complete a single request, filing mountains of paperwork, and having to repeat the same tasks over again are signs to take action.
To demonstrate just how much time HR process automation can save, a recent survey by CareerBuilder found that HR managers lose an average of 14 hours a week manually completing tasks that could be automated. More than a quarter of HR managers waste 20 hours or more.
HR automation completely eradicates repetition. Routine processes that take the most time but the least skill are no longer part of the day-to-day, and HR audits reduce the required time and effort from weeks and months to merely the touch of a button.
Suppose your company has a high turnover or a proactive mergers & acquisitions programme. In that case, an automated HR process makes traditionally complex integrations seamless, bringing together several different policies, benefits, and taxes in one place.
Some organisations rely heavily on email and even offline communication tools to manage HR processes such as attendance. The simplicity of having all employees on one virtual platform, with all the tools they need to self-serve, removes the need to track down email trails, paperwork, appraisals, feedback, and other information.
The emergence of more flexible working - accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic - is also a significant catalyst for change. For more than a year, people have worked remotely. The expectation now is the permanent adoption of a hybrid approach to remote working, making HR automation even more valuable to businesses with a diverse workforce enabled to work from anywhere, at any time, on any device. Employee retention is always a priority for HR staff, and workflow automation can contribute significantly to the employee experience.
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