What is HR automation?
HR departments are responsible for payroll, taxes, employee onboarding, off-boarding, benefits, and on and on.
But as we all know, “With great responsibility comes a tremendous amount of paperwork.” Tedious, mind-numbing, time-draining paperwork. The kind that can make HRs mutter under their breath, “I didn’t sign up for this!”
So, what exactly is HR automation? How can it streamline your HR processes? What are the best tools available today? And what are the best practices?
In this article, we’ll discuss all that and more so you can free up your team’s schedule for higher-impact activities.
HR automation uses software to accomplish HR tasks such as helping employees navigate benefits, onboarding, offboarding, data entry, and collection. Today, AI is being applied aggressively to HR automation. The better the HR automation platform, the better the potential results.
This type of automation allows the HR staff to spend less time on monotonous work — hence, freeing up their time to focus on things like higher-level, strategic moves that can have a more significant positive impact on the company.
The results of AI are expected to be huge. According to a White House Report, “AI will also drastically change how we design our workplaces and companies’ business models.” The results of AI on HR are no exception.
Entering data on a spreadsheet, answering the same employee questions, and sifting through paperwork don’t have to be typical day-to-day tasks for the HR team.
HR automation can do all these on autopilot and quicker than humans do — all the while freeing up the HR staff’s time, allowing them to shift from administrative tasks to higher-value activities like brainstorming strategies to increase employee satisfaction and engagement.
HR teams deal with tons of spreadsheets, calendars, etc. Expecting HR staff to manage these manually is like begging for errors. The larger the company, the more expensive mistakes can be. In extreme cases, a single typo can result in losses in the millions, not to mention headaches for the whole organization.
HR automation can help minimize the risk of human error and ensure data is processed accurately and consistently. That said, it’s essential to be sure the information given to the HR software is accurate and that the HR software is top quality and set up correctly — which is why working with a good provider is so important.
Good HR automation software will provide a user-friendly data display that can then be used to identify patterns, workforce trends, and, ultimately, make data-driven decisions for the company.
Manually entering the same data in multiple spreadsheets for hours a day can be painfully boring for most anyone. Software, on the other hand, doesn’t mind at all — and it can do the same work much faster and with more efficiency. Automating repetitive tasks allows the HR team to focus on more mentally stimulating projects — making for happier HR staff.
Also, HR automation can streamline many employee-facing processes like onboarding, benefits navigation, and leave requests. That can make the employee experience much smoother — making for happier staff throughout the organization.
The implementation of Generative AI in HR automation has been shown to cause “dramatically increased self-service” since employees can figure out employee benefits communication on their own.
If you’ve ever worked in an oldfangled company that kicks and screams like a toddler to resist adopting new technologies, you know that they don’t scale well. Now, let’s leave aside the fact that most tech-phobic companies probably aren’t scaling much at all anymore anyway — because they simply can’t compete. However, to understand why HR automation is so critical to scaling, imagine what needs to happen when one department grows quickly.
This means the HR team will need to manage significantly more employee documents, schedules, and other menial tasks.
But with a more automated HR system, you’ll have more leeway to aggressively scale other departments without overburdening your HR team.
Like any solution, HR automation has both advantages and disadvantages. Here are some of the most common factors to consider:
Resistance to change is expected in any organization. Employees, including HR staff, may be reluctant to adopt new technologies. And even if they are willing to, there’s a learning curve.
Migrating data from old systems to new automation tools can be complex and error-prone.
Consider common data migration issues, like incompatible data formats, data loss, or inaccuracies during the transfer. And, when considering a new HR automation provider, be sure to ask them in detail how they can help you have a smooth transition.
Typically, automating HR tasks can save the company a lot of resources in the long run. However, the systems may need a considerable amount of investment.
Also, ensuring that the new HR automation tools integrate seamlessly with existing IT infrastructure can be difficult.
One of the benefits of automating HR processes is having access to a wide range of company data. However, This can be a double-edged sword because it also means the systems handle sensitive employee data, which must be protected against breaches and unauthorized access.
Automating redundant HR tasks doesn’t replace the human HR team. Rather, it helps them be more effective in their roles. One of the biggest traps companies fall into — especially those who are new to integrating automated HR systems — is to over-rely on automation.
Over-reliance on automated systems can lead to a lack of human oversight. Not only can it potentially cause costly errors to go unnoticed, but it can also lead to perceptions of reduced human interaction within the workplace. So, it’s worthwhile to maintain a balance between automated and human-driven processes.
Starting small isn’t only a cost-saving measure for companies, but it also helps minimize risks associated with automation. Automating one or a few tasks at a time makes it easy to identify potential problems and address them quickly without disrupting the entire operation.
Plus, starting small creates an ideal testing environment — because if you implement several HR automations at once, it will be hard to pinpoint the effects of each.
With pre-defined objectives, companies can effectively allocate their resources to those areas that deliver the most impact.
These objectives can also serve as benchmarks so companies can assess whether the implemented solutions achieve the desired outcomes and where adjustments may be needed.
High-quality training is the key to equipping the HR team and other end-users with the knowledge they need to use the newly automated systems effectively. Without proper training, the likelihood of errors skyrockets, and even the most sophisticated tools can be underutilized, which defeats the purpose.
Also, highly engaging trainings help mitigate the fear or discomfort with new technologies. This results in reduced resistance from the end-users.
HR teams handle sensitive data on a daily basis. So, it is important to have a secure database when automating HR tasks — not only for complying with legal requirements (which is super important) but also to keep the employees’ trust that their personal and professional information is secure.
Closely monitoring system analytics enables organizations to identify any issues or bottlenecks in automated processes quickly. Continuous monitoring helps companies understand which processes benefit most from automation and which might need re-evaluation or further optimization.
This is related to the previous point of utilizing user analytics. But this time, you shouldn’t settle with monitoring metrics. Instead, you want to actively seek feedback from your end users as early as possible.
When users constantly give feedback, they are likelier to feel a sense of ownership and commitment towards the new system. Which then translates to higher adoption rates and less resistance.
HR teams constantly spend time handling employee benefits inquiries. Especially during open enrollment seasons, when employees ask questions about their health plan details and other coverage info.
Here’s how the Healthee app automates employee benefits communication from hours to mere seconds.
Healthee’s AI assistant is just one of the many ways Healthee automates repetitive and laborious tasks for HR. Here are a few more examples:
Curious to learn more about how Healthee can streamline HR processes? Click here.
HR automation is important because it can significantly enhance the productivity and accuracy of a company’s HR. And by automating routine tasks, the HR team can redirect their focus toward more strategic activities that can have a greater impact on the whole organization.
The most common types of HR automation include: payroll automation, recruitment and applicant tracking, onboarding and off-boarding, performance management, and benefits navigation and administration. AI is making a huge impact on all of these, too.
According to a recent study, 60% of business leaders said that they plan to increase AI automation in HR within the next five years.
Start by identifying repetitive, time-consuming tasks within your HR operations. Then, select appropriate HR software that integrates well with your existing systems and meets your specific needs. It’s important to train your HR team on how to use this tech effectively. Finally, the performance of the automation solutions must be monitored. Make adjustments as needed to ensure they continue to meet the evolving needs of your organization.
HR robotic process automation (HR RPA) uses software robots to automate routine HR tasks by mimicking human actions in rule-based processes. In contrast, general HR automation streamlines specific tasks with regular software.
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