document management solutions for human resources€¦ · from a records retention standpoint, a...

Document ManagementSolutions for Human ResourcesThe Impact of Automating the HR Onboarding Process

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Table of Contents

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The Content Conundrum ............................................................................................................................................ 3

Security Stressors ............................................................................................................................................................ 4

Regulation & Rules ........................................................................................................................................................ 5

The Onboarding Process ............................................................................................................................................. 7

Setting a New Course ................................................................................................................................................... 9

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................................ 10


As a Human Resources (HR) professional, you operate in an increasingly complex business world. You’re not only grappling with some tough business challenges within the organization but you’re also managing a heavy workload – possibly with less staff and fewer funds to complete the necessary programs.

Among the trials and tribulations faced is the aspect of documenting a variety of activities. All of the paper typically used is tough to track. For example, employee onboarding can be a mammoth task as there is a myriad of information to manage – from resumes and applications to forms, e-mails and PDF documents.

By the time a new hire joins the company, his or her file is already crammed with content and with even more to come in the future. The result is that instead of becoming a strategic asset to an organization, Human Resources professionals are bogged down with focusing on completing and locating necessary forms.

Ideally, HR should be guiding new hires through this exciting time in their career track with an organization. Instead, the paper process turns them into “enforcers” due to the need to manage these physical records.

Traditional, paper-based methods can send a negative signal to new employees directly affecting their perception of the company that can damage morale and motivation. The manual paper process especially affects Millennials as they overtake the Baby Boomers as America’s largest generation. Millennials are very comfortable with new technologies and expect to work for organizations who embrace the digital transformation age. In general, as more organizations adopt varying aspects of technology, the employees’ experiences become additionally enhanced.

The Content Conundrum

Millennial’s digital tendencies mean organizations, especially Human Resource Departments, need to “step up their game”

to attract new talent and keep them engaged.


A second pressure point HR professionals struggle with regarding content management is maintaining record security and preserving appropriate information. An employee’s file contains sensitive data like health information, subject to HIPPA regulations. Controlling and limiting access to employee records can be challenging when working with paper due to potential breaches. How does a professional limit access to more sensitive elements within an employee file beyond simply locking the file cabinet?

From a records retention standpoint, a manual document management process can get an HR professional into serious trouble for not keeping records for a required time period. The department can also get into trouble for keeping records past a required deadline. Yet, monitoring paper records for proper policies is difficult – especially when retention guidelines are subject to federal and state regulations. The complexities of this issue can increase when an organization has offices in more than one state.

If an audit occurs and it is discovered records important to a legal case are destroyed or held past the expiration date, penalties can range from a slap on the wrist to major financial retribution.

In short, there is no easy way to manage documentretention with a paper-based process.

Security Stressors


In many industries, developing and implementing policies as well as procedures, is critical to operating within the law. Records in paper form can be misfiled and tough to find when they are especially needed.

Challenges in preparing for an HR audit when not automated can be painstaking. Depending on what’s being audited – whether that is immigration, COBRA, equal employment is stressful. When these documents are mainly paper-based, files need to be reviewed, which results in a painstaking, time-consuming experience. It can take weeks to prepare for an HR audit due to the requirement of sifting through papers to discover what content is there and what isn’t.

Incorporating a records management and retention policy are critical when creating audit trails and offering greater visibility into the lifecycle of various data and forms.

Litigation by employees – current or former – is another concern.

In these cases, a smarter document processing solution can make an immense difference. Integrating an enterprise content management (ECM) system reduces the time it takes to complete tasks while optimizing the quality of the work.

A cost-effective solution to employee litigation, as well as avoiding e-discovery, is to take proactive measures, ensuring the appropriate

documents are quickly and easily accessible.

Regulation & Rules


Organizations – especially an HR department – can benefit from an ECM system by:

Importing documents whether – digital or paper – into a digital repository

Allowing appropriate employees access to retrieve and edit necessary documents while ensuring files in a standard format can be safely shared across computers in varied locations

Archiving records and adhering to a records retention schedule

Providing quick “findability” to deliver better service for employees to prepare for audits

Eliminating manual data entry and possible entry errors as well as preventing the lossof paperwork

Regulation & Rules


G A T H E R D O C U M E N T A T I O N

In this stage, critical information like paper forms or digital files can be collected from varied locations – be it a scanner, e-mail, or computer.

A U T O M A T E T H E P R O C E S S

These collected and captured documents, housed in a central location to store employee files, are then set up to route to various departments such as IT or Accounting to start their own onboarding and enablement procedures, generating a more collaborative environment. This process can eliminate bottlenecks by reducing extra data entry, ensuring accuracy and processing speed.

E N S U R E A P P R O P R I A T E A C C E S S

People involved with the process can access the necessary document needed based on set permissions. This maximizes security and controls access yet also integrates with other HR applications, Line-of-Business (LOB) applications and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to automate many back office functions.

T A G D A T A

The ability to tag and classify data increases operational efficiency in terms of system performance and storage usage.

How does this work? By utilizing different tools that automate the process, resulting in an organized, consistent onboarding process:

The Onboarding Process


When information found within the directed content is tagged, it facilitates the collection and sharing of data between the main system as well as the various technologies and applications used

that rely on this information.

The Onboarding Process

M E A S U R E & A N A L Y Z E

Analytics and data can be discovered while studying activities. This readily accessible information aids leadership in decision making. This also assists in audit preparation by listing what information is available.

S T O R E & M A N A G E

Documentation is placed in a records management system to ensure business content is stored and securely protected. This process can automatically destroy content that is no longer necessary.

S E A R C H & R E T R I E V A L

Forms, files and other information can be accessed to future reference or retrieval, allowing staff to concentrate on services instead of digging through files. Collaborating is easier, more responsive.


How will an HR professional’s life change after the implementation of an automated HR system?

• Less time spent searching for necessary files and documents

• Elimination of paper creates much needed space within the department’s work space

• Seamless integration into your company’s workflow, employees requests, performance reviews and recruiting as well as on-boarding will be come self-serving activities

• The ability to become more of a guide than an “enforcer”

• Events like compliance audits won’t be so time consuming nor stressful

• Eliminate or reduce time consuming duplicate data entry and routing of information by transforming paper into intelligent digital data

A document processing solution offers an HR professional with a well-rounded view of the necessary information within a sole location, which enables staff to easily to follow the entire onboarding process and oversee activities across the necessary departments.

In other words, you and your staff can focus on providing service to employees and become a key strategic partner within your organization. And, as a strategic business partner, an HR department can carve out its rightful places as a vital element of an organization.

Setting a New Course


At KnowledgeLake, we strive to make it easier for organizations to make the HR function what it is meant to be – a strategic asset and valued partner to senior management and the overall organization. As a result, we have developed award-winning capture and imaging solutions designed to help HR professionals automate critical business processes and manage employee records with ease.

Learn how we enable professionals in the Human Resources industry to experience effective and efficient HR document management.

For more information, call us at 888-898-0555.

Conclusion

www.knowledgelake.com888-898-0555

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