HR is one of the most vital elements of any successfully running business. Your HR team is responsible for the vast majority of your company’s administrative tasks, from the distribution of employee benefits and payroll processing, to the hiring and onboarding of new employees. They are even responsible for the tough job of conducting disciplinary procedures when something goes wrong, as well as ensuring that each and every process conducted throughout the company is done so adequately and ethically. In short, your HR department ensures the smooth running of a whole host of day-to-day operations – and no business could foster a positive, effective workplace without it.

Historically, each of the responsibilities we’ve mentioned would be managed by HR manually. However, as businesses put more and more energy into streamlining their processes, automation systems are becoming a more popular tool for working. In this guide, we share a few of the HR tasks most commonly automated, as well the great benefits that doing so can bring to your business.

Payroll

Once you’ve selected the right automation software to suit your needs, there’s not much that you have to do in the way of manual tasks to get your new payroll system up and running. Of course, you’ll need to know details of each colleague's tax code, pension status and payment details as well as any HMRC coding notices. Then, the process is easy – and payroll tasks are performed for you, at the click of a button.

There are many benefits to automating your payroll processes. Ultimately, the system is a whole lot more efficient than completing the process manually. It also has the potential to lower costs, reduce the likelihood of human errors, and better protect the security of employee (and company) information.

Employee Recruitment and Onboarding

By automating your recruitment processes, you can easily dispense job adverts, screen candidates, and book in interviews. Where you once had to sift through hundreds, even thousands of applications, you can now pre-screen your candidates in a matter of moments. Plus, you don’t have to worry about missing messages from a potential candidate, as when it comes time to schedule an interview, they can automatically block out a convenient time slot in your virtual calendar.

As well as communicating with candidates timely and efficiently, an automated recruitment process will allow you more time to devote your attention to other areas of the business. You may even want to consider supplementing your automated recruitment process with a virtual receptionist in order to free up more of your day, and act as a round-the-clock answering service for any candidate queries.

Performance Tracking

It can be tedious and time consuming to keep track of performance statistics on an out-dated and likely overpopulated spreadsheet. Luckily, an automated HR system will be able to auto-generate the relevant information that you need on employee attendance, working hours, and number of tasks completed.

By relying on a software system to gather this crucial information, you’re a lot less likely to be faced with any miscalculations – a crucial mishap when it could mean the difference between an employee succeeding in their work, or flagging up as underperforming. It also allows you to easily compile performance data, and offer feedback to employees on a more consistent basis.

Why should you automate your HR services?
 

Ultimately, the proof is in the pudding, as a large number of companies have already shown to have improved their HR processes through automation softwares. Let’s take a look at Coca-Cola: through automating their HR audits, they managed to add 16 extra hours to each working day. While Dell, after implementing recruitment automation, found that their HR productivity increased by up to 85%.

So, the results speak for themselves. Once you’ve chosen your automation software, each and every HR process becomes smooth sailing, allowing for a slick, simplified way of conducting business.