HR Management in the age of automation
Businesses can successfully adopt HR automation when they identify the challenges to their HR teams and process efficiency and build the solutions that help them achieve both short-term and long-term goals. More importantly, they must train end-users in using these new solutions for a smooth transition.
Automation adoption is on the rise among enterprises globally, be it through the use of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms, or custom-built solutions for specific functions. Some of the most popular use cases of intelligent automation include sales and marketing, project management, customer service, financial management and reporting, and more. But in prioritizing digitization of these core business functions that are directly related to revenue generation, most organizations overlook a key function that is as important to business success – human resource management.
There are dozens of ways artificial intelligence (AI) can improve HR management processes – from template-based tasks such as onboarding a new employee to very practical and dynamic ones such as improving compliance efforts, among others. But that’s just scratching the surface. HR automation goes beyond “just” reducing administrative workloads but also automates other less prominent but important roles that keep HR departments running and achieve business objectives. Let’s take a look at what HR automation is and the scope of functions it covers.
What is HR Automation?
HR automation is the use of pre-built or customized applications or software using AI, ML, and analytics with an architecture based on Robotic Process Automation or Intelligence Automation technology. HR automation platforms can be used for orchestrating human resource management processes across the employee lifecycle, from onboarding, training, learning and development, performance evaluations, to off-boarding and exit processes.
An HR automation solution increases the efficiency of the HR department by taking care of repetitive tasks and allowing employees to concentrate on higher-order tasks like strategic planning and decision-making. Organizations can automate standard and repetitive HR activities to reduce costs and time spent on manual HR processes such as employee onboarding, managing and verifying documents, payroll management, attendance tracking, and more.
Benefits of HR Automation
Some of the biggest benefits of HR automation include:
- Improved process efficiency,
- A bigger picture of employee performance and engagement,
- Efficient and accurate records management,
- Improved resource allocation,
- Enhanced productivity, and
- Operational consistency across locations.
Needless to say, when the team that drives employee engagement is functioning optimally, your business gains an edge over competitors and employees have smoother experiences.
Use cases for an HR automation platform
Recruitment processes
The HR department’s recruitment activities have a major influence on the company’s performance. Selecting the right candidate for a job entails both data entry and sorting as well as strategic decisions. For example, sourcing resumes is a laborious task that can be automated to make it more efficient. With an automated platform, the most relevant resumes and candidates can be picked faster from large databases, saving the need for human intervention and evaluation at the sourcing stage which can be applied to the more crucial, subsequent stages of hiring.
Offboarding and onboarding
An average medium to large-size enterprise onboards and off-boards several employees every month. Both of these processes are predictable and repetitive. To automate these HR processes, from document collection to training to exit interviews, makes business sense. By automating them, HR functions can gain deeper insights and feedback that can be used in the future to improve these functions.
Monitoring performance
Performance evaluation is a dynamic process that involves standardizing, measuring and analyzing employee performance against functional objectives and organizational goals. Automating these processes with HR software can improve efficiency and reduce completion time. Conducting employee performance appraisals becomes easier with a digital platform wherein performance parameters for each function and team can be benchmarked to make evaluation easier for managers. A performance management solution will streamline workflow, eliminate bias, make decisions more efficiently, and enable ease of use.
Analyzing data and making data-driven decisions
Traditional decision-making in HR management primarily depends on human judgments, employee profiles, behaviors, attitude, etc. New-age technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning enable the HR department to make purely data-driven decisions. These systems also take into account human factors and psychology for making the most accurate decisions possible.
Recruitment and interview
It is not easy to choose the right candidates for interviews from potentially hundreds of applications received on email or applicant tracking systems (ATS). Artificial intelligence-based systems can sort data, monitor applications, predict workforce demand, and filter the right candidates within a few clicks.
Accounting & payroll
Organizations are introducing remote workers, freelancers, and contractors due to a large-scale global workforce transformation. To retain your employees and vendors, timely payroll processing is crucial. Automation software can help make this process run smoothly for overall efficiency. Automation can streamline employee benefits administration, which is also a responsibility of HR departments.
Analyzing HR data
As a result of their wide range of responsibilities, HR teams deal with massive amounts of data. HR functions can provide a valuable understanding of how to advance the organization. Employee engagement and productivity are measured in various ways, from simple data on tasks done in a specific time period to more sophisticated metrics. Custom automation platforms for managing HR functions and employee engagement can leverage data analytics and dashboards to simplify different actions and measure outcomes more easily.
Time management
When companies are moving to digital for everyday operations and productivity, it is quite inefficient to use manual time-tracking systems and assign one person or a team to keep track of it. Instances of delays in updating the information, and the possibility of inaccurate data being filled in are usually high with such manual systems. Using an automated timesheet application allows HR teams to store employee data digitally, including their profiles and attendance records. This way, organizational timesheet management processes will be more efficient and accurate.
Compliance
Human resource teams can record and process employee data, such as cost to company (CTC), additional benefits given, etc., using automation. When audits are conducted, these records prove useful in demonstrating compliance.
Leave management
Calculating and approving vacation days, and providing accurate information to payroll teams manually can be complicated due to the following tasks. Automated HR solutions with leave management modules make it easy to record the data and share it with accounting and payroll teams to accurately process employee salaries and benefits for a given period.
Conclusion
In every industry, automation is an ongoing process. An automated HR management system can meet all stakeholders’ expectations and enable ease of processes and information management. The entire notion of automation may seem daunting if you’re just beginning your HR digitization journey. When choosing the right HR software for automation, you should identify what your HR team needs to achieve its goals. And most importantly, make sure that the end-users are trained properly to ensure a smooth transition.
