How automating HR will benefit your business

HR automation – usually in the form of an HRMS or similar system – is increasingly ubiquitous in businesses of all sizes. However, although the advent of cloud HRMS has meant that even smaller businesses can benefit from automated people processes, there are still many yet to make this particular technological leap. Let’s summarize the opportunities available with HR tech.

Impact of automation on HR

An HRMS offers a number of positive impacts on the running and management of the HR function:

• Accuracy – from good hiring decisions to performance evaluation to just running the monthly payroll, HR depends on accurate data. And that’s where human error is the biggest potential problem. Yes, any software or automated system is only as good as the information inputted, but with far fewer touchpoints between people and the HRMS data, there are fewer chances of a mistake.
• Time – through HR process automation, mundane and repetitive tasks can be delegated to the software, freeing up HR staff to address more complex, human-necessary issues.
• Cost – the above two impacts, in turn, have an impact on your HR budgets and overheads. Greater efficiency and accuracy mean cost savings.
• Consistency – one key benefit of HR automation for the whole workforce is that automated processes work the same way every time. Inconsistencies of approach and variations according to which manager or HR advisor you’re dealing with become a thing of the past. 
• Better security and compliance – data stored on a server tends to be more secure than a paper system, less prone to security breaches (deliberate or accidental) and reputation-damaging losses of sensitive information. What’s more, automatic reminders and other programmed actions can help ensure your business’s compliance with mandatory labor laws.

HR automation best practices

Those are the wider impacts but HRMS and HR automation offer improvements to specific HR processes and practices…

• Recruitment, hiring, and onboarding – hiring the right people and getting them up and running in the job quickly are the fundamental first steps in creating a high-performing workforce. Automation offers more sophisticated recruitment processes, with applicant tracking, automatic vetting of resume details, and assessment and testing of candidates. 
• Time and attendance – manual timesheets and mechanical punching in are a recipe for errors and even fraud. They’re also very labor-intensive as processes. Biometric time clocks avoid the possibility of ‘buddy punching’ and automatically gather accurate timesheet data which, in turn, can feed directly into your payroll processes.
• Performance management and appraisal – traditionally, the annual process of appraisals and performance reporting is difficult and unwieldy to manage, leaving the HR team constantly chasing managers for reports. Far better to have a system that sends automatic prompts to keep the process flowing smoothly, and also offers opportunities to more easily gather data and performance examples.

"HRIS software allows companies to increase payroll accuracy by up to 85% according to a recent research. By removing the administrative hassle from the HR managers’ workload, they are able to focus on more human tasks. Another advantage of working with an HRMS provider with time and attendance system, is it helps to spot significant workplace threats such as absenteeism or presenteeism. You can also export attendance and absence insights in the form of HR reports.” Reza Madjidi , kiwiHR.

Assuming you can find the right HRMS for your business needs, the benefits of automating your HR processes will always outweigh the investment, whether you’re looking to boost efficiency, reduce complaints, or just save some money, whatever the size of your business, there’s an HRMS for you.