Busy Work Be Gone: Human Resources Workflow Processes

Ever wonder why you have to fill out all that paperwork? Getting sick of figuring the ins and outs of tax deductions and benefits? Well, no more!

What if we told you, you could automate all your HR busy work, and nine times out of ten you’d get better results than if you would’ve stuck with a human? We’ll tell you all about Human Resources Workflow Processes in this article. 

Whether it be sales, management, or human resources, a workflow makes everything faster and more efficient. A workflow is about finding repetitive tasks and putting in place automation to allow employees to focus on more pressing issues. It can save your teams a considerable amount of time and energy, energy that can be directed towards focusing on the bigger picture, instead of mundane paperwork. 

There are multiple ways implementing workflows can help you and your business. First, as we said, cutting out repetitive tasks saves your teams a massive amount of time. Nobody wants to spend hours filling out the same documents every day. Beyond the time-saving factor, workflows can also have the added benefits of:

• Cost-savings: According to Wrike, a project management software program, implementing common sense workflows can save you up to 15% of your company’s annual spend. 
• Fewer errors: Mistakes cost money, what if you could cut out mistakes, almost, completely? According to Zerion Software, implementing workflows can reduce mistakes by a whopping 80%. Say goodbye to spelling mistakes. 
• Better base for decision-making: This goes along with the reduction in errors. Having a more reliable database allows you to make better quality decisions. 
• Mood boost: It’s never fun spending the workday filling out dry forms and documents. In fact, according to Wrike, implementing HR workflows can save managers 153 hours a year, and employees 498. That’s almost 4 full weeks for managers, and over 12 full weeks for employees. What’s more, getting rid of busy work can dramatically increase empathy and overall employee well-being.

When it comes to figuring out which processes you want to automate, the sky’s the limit. As long as the task is repetitive in nature, then you can put a workflow in place. The most common ones are:

• Onboarding: Give all the necessary information to new employees without moving a finger or uttering a word. 
• Time sheets: Keep track of when employees clock in and out for their shift.
• Employee self-service: Set up a portal for employees to look at and manage things like benefits, time-off, and more.
• Time off/leave management: No more overloaded inbox asking for a day off, employees can automatically request days or time off.
• Performance tracking/evaluation: Get updates on the performance of individual employees, and even alerts if there’s a worrying sign.
• Continued training/education: Pre-record videos or training simulations and save yourself hours. 
• Job postings: Post job offers on all the major job board sites in just a few clicks.
• New hire management: Automatically approve or reject candidates based on a preset profile.
• Payroll: Automatically pay and issue pay stubs to employees. 

Although it may seem pretty self-explanatory, implementing workflow processes in any part of your company may be tricky. Here are three steps to help you make the whole process easier:

• Identify your HR’s needs and develop a strategy: Pointing out the main repetitive tasks that can be automated before deciding on a software option  can save you a lot of time. Furthermore, you should come up with a strategy, figure out how HR’s needs can align with the larger and more global strategy of the entire business. You should be asking yourself questions like: “How would automating this help the company?”, “Would I be able to focus on more important things for the company by automating this?”.   

• Inform concerned parties: Tell the stakeholders that you’re going to be implementing an HR workflow system. Not only is this the logical thing to do, but it’ll allow them to adapt their strategy if needed. 

• Create Measurable Objectives: Set goals with dates, for example, “HR managers should be well-trained in managing workflows by March 11th”. This allows you to track the progress and evaluate the implementation of workflows. 

As we mentioned before, implementing common sense workflows to your HR department, can save them and you, heaps and bounds of time, energy, and money. All of that can then be directed to other places, that actually matter for your business. 

So what are you waiting for? You and your HR department won’t regret it.