Automation – Streamlining HR Processes

If HR is only focused on posting job ads, interviewing candidates, and managing benefits, it is only accomplishing the basics. A company's HR department builds the bedrock the company stands on. To have a strong base, you need robust, defined processes that allow your HR to attract, recruit, and develop top talent to your team. The idea is that in finding the best employees to make your business successful, your HR department should run smoothly and create a beneficial influence on the growth and resilience of your business. A company can benefit from creating a defined human resource process in three ways:

• Optimized Resources: When you define and automate HR processes, you can focus the department resources on other areas – like improved employee development and training. Anytime you can free up HR time, your workforce gains confidence and has the resources necessary to give your company its best performance.
• Faster Decision Making: With clearly defined steps, every decision or action within HR is quicker and in line with the company's goals and values.
• Develop Organizational Goals: By creating processes to follow, you can collect data on each action and measure the performance of your HR team in meeting overall goals. Developing focused metrics can help improve any noted weak areas and verify areas where the department is thriving. In addition, with every repeated process, the data helps to continue refining and streamlining the hiring process.

Read further to learn about basic HR processes, ways to streamline processes, how automation improves performance, and where to get started.

Table of Contents:

1. The Seven Basics of HR Processes
2. HR Management Tools
3. Six Methods for Streamlining Your HR
4. Custom Integration, Automation, and All-in-One Platforms
5. Help With Custom HR Automations and Integrations

The Seven Basics of HR Processes

Yesterday if you asked someone what Human Resources was for, some might suggest that HR is for the workers. HR had been previously defined as a department that helps workers with employment matters and benefits. Today, such a basic definition of HR would be missing some significant points. Successful companies use human resource management to develop the human side that forms the foundation of any business.

When you create defined steps for HR or any department, your workers are then clear on getting started and what comes next. With processes in place, your HR managers will not make decisions on a whim but can develop a documented justification for each decision. The HR department has seven basic processes to review, improve, and design.

1. Recruiting: Your HR department should be organized, efficient, and practical to attract top applicants.
2. Onboarding: It is essential to get this right. Onboarding is your future employee's first impression of your organization and its management. Don't let quality candidates slip through your fingers by not being polished and organized.
3. Workforce Goals: Setting goals helps to improve HR processes and strategies but gives HR more day-to-day employee involvement. Plans can include procedures and solutions to staffing, absenteeism, scheduling, and managing overtime needs.
4. Managing Top Talent: Once you've obtained great talent, your company needs a plan to keep them. Leaving employees to self-manage and wait for employee reviews won't support them. Nurture top employees, offer to further their skills through training, or develop creative ways to recognize their efforts.
5. Manage Performance: Yearly performance review only addresses issues and does not benefit the company or employee; however, it has been a standard for many years. Today, successful companies are automating continuous performance metrics to enhance goals and find training for employee improvement in needed areas.
6. Training and Development: With your newly automated performance metrics, you can develop an ongoing training solution. Training should be a top priority at onboarding and throughout your employee's career. When you include learning and development opportunities, both the company and employees benefit. Employees gain improved morale and confidence; your business has greater retention rates – which saves overall costs in new employee development by lowering turnover.
7. Offboarding: Offboarding is a relatively new concept. In previous years, HR departments would work to remove an employee as quickly as possible and retain or transfer the current knowledge needed to fill the job with a new hire. Reputation management begins in-house. Having a standard procedure for offboarding and easing an employee out the door leaves the company and the employee with positive impressions.

HR Management Tools

The first step to streamlining your HR department includes HR management tools or platforms that can automate manual tasks. Automation will free up your human resource managers' time for other areas like training and development. HR management can track employee performance, schedule additional training based on need, and create new goals with the right tools. The ability to track and visually chart metrics when discussing reviews with your employees helps them quickly grasp areas in which they perform well and where they could improve. Human Resource Information Systems or HRIS are specialized platforms geared to help automate HR processes.

Some top HRIS tools include:

• Gusto
• Deputy
• BambooHR *Editor's Choice Winner by PC Magazine.
• Zoho People
• Namely HR

These top HR software tools help boost the effectiveness of your HR department as its responsibilities continue to grow. HR tools can manage payroll, benefits administration, performance metrics, reviews, and even schedule that yearly sexual harassment training seminar. It makes the job of your HR management much more manageable than burying your staff into hours of managing spreadsheets; their time is optimized to focus on developing genuine employee relationships, improving morale, and boosting productivity through training.

Six Methods of Streamlining Your HR

When you consider streamlining workflow processes in your HR (or any department), there first has to be a clear understanding of tasks associated with the department or position. Automating repetitive tasks with a robust HRIS can organize and manage employee data. Integrating an HR platform will help improve some of these processes and more: 

1. Payroll Integration
2. Employee Demographics and Personal Data
3. Handle Time-off Requests
4. Manage Benefits
5. Performance Metrics
6. Training Data

When you put this much data in the hands of your HR department, it becomes a single go-to source for reports, improving weak areas, and setting future goals.

Custom Integration, Automation, and All-in-One Platforms

Companies wanting to automate and streamline their HR departments likely use automation to simplify other business areas. Each department likely uses different software or platforms to perform tasks, including a content management system for the marketing department or customer relationship management platform: so many tools and so little time to learn them all. Two commonly used platforms are Airtable and Zapier. Airtable has an excellent reputation for all business types and sizes. Airtable is also the trusted choice to nearly 90% of the Fortune 500.

If your company can manage all services, automation, data, and integrations from a single platform, the more significant advantage you have in all areas of company performance. All-in-one platforms allow all teams and departments in your company to work together, fluidly and intuitively, using the same data. Real-time data is available to all departments for task management or resource allocation. All-in-one platforms are flexible solutions to total, organization-wide workflow automation and integration of necessary tools.

Households, sole-proprietorships, and small business owners may be able to use these types of platforms right out of the box. However, larger companies who come with much larger databases and more complex needs may need expert integration consultants to help ensure that their system effectively links and works while accurately and securely handling data. In addition, workflow automation experts can help businesses use the platforms more effectively. It can add structure to your workflow, reduce redundant action and help convert your assets into valuable products and services. Better data control also means more overall visibility, improved product or service quality, and accelerated growth.

Help With Custom HR Automations and Integrations

Custom integrations for businesses can quickly become complex. Damaged or lost data due to poorly thought-out systems can be damaging to the company's profit and could damage reputation. Data is the gasoline that drives your company's engine. Protecting its quality and security is paramount. At DataCose, we provide solutions to your automation and integration needs. If you use Airtable, Zapier, or any other all-in-one platform – expert coders who can make the most of your software, your department's favorite tools, and your data will help you succeed and gain an edge on your competition.

For help with HR automation, workflow automation, software integration, or other development needs, contact DataCose. Our team of expert software developers can customize your platform to your unique business needs. So get started on your future today!