It may seem strange in a blog about technology and HR automation software being the way forward to pull out a quote from 275 years ago, but in an essay published in 1748 Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Remember that time is money”. When you apply that thinking in the modern world of business then it still rings true and one of the best ways to create time is by automating business processes.
Below we explore exactly what HR automation software is, the benefits it brings and why your business should be implementing this technology within your organisation, if you haven’t already.
What is HR automation software?
HR automation software does exactly what it says on the tin – it is software that is used automate HR processes. Insights For Professionals says it is, “software that can be used to automate mundane and repetitive tasks without sacrificing the quality of the work involved”. The very nature of HR means that not everything done by HR can be automated, but using HR automation software will change the lives of HR professionals and those who have HR as part of a broader range of responsibilities within their role.
What are the benefits of HR automation software?
The perception of many is that the world of HR is heavily paper based, slow moving and very policy driven. Therefore automating at least part of the work of HR will benefit not only your HR team, but the wider business as a whole. Using HR automation software will improve efficiency by getting rid of paperwork such as annual leave request forms. When you remove paper, you also remove the costs associated with it and in the long run HR automation software will provide a positive return on investment in that respect alone.
By automating many HR processes, you will gather data which then becomes far more easy to access and analyse. This data then improves the insights you have about your employees. This can help you to identify areas which might be affecting the success of your business, such as patterns of sickness absence. By using HR automation software, staff with HR responsibilities will have more time and that will allow them to focus on the part of their job which requires more of a human touch. This could be supporting staff, delivering training or recruitment and retention.
HR automation software is also beneficial to other employees outside of HR. It makes their lives easier as through a self serve log in. They can perform a number of tasks and have access to their own information and records at the touch of a button whether they are in the office or not. Again this saves them time, saves money and allows them to focus on their actual job rather than spending time doing their bit of HR administration.
Which HR processes should you automate?
HR teams, and those who have HR responsibilities, are involved in many tasks and processes within a business and whilst that may vary slightly from company to company, fundamentally HR is about dealing with all things people related. It would be impossible to automate all HR processes but there are many which easily lend themselves to automation including:
- Annual leave requests and approvals
- Sickness absence recording
- Timesheet completion and submission
- Expenses claim forms
- Employee onboarding
- Employee offboarding
- Creating and updating employee records
How can HRX work for you?
At HRX, we fully understand that for most SMEs, time really is money. That’s why we have designed our system to give you and your team back as much time as possible. HRX will automate many of your day to day HR processes and in doing so will give you the gift of time. To see how HRX will benefit your business, sign up today for our FREE 30 day trial.
