3 Major Benefits of Automation in HR Operations

Are you one of the companies embracing digital transformation or fighting against it? There are many reasons why today’s businesses are still shying away from AI and other emerging technologies, not to mention established ones that have already been tried and tested. Some are still rooted in tradition while others are fearful of scary headlines like “robots taking our jobs”. 

The fact is, if you’re not embracing digital transformation, then you’re missing out on some amazing and even essential capabilities, and automation is right at the top of the list. In this article, we highlight the benefits of Automation specifically in Human Resources.

What is Automation in HR?

Automation is the use of technology to automate tasks and processes. It takes out the manual labour behind certain workflows and functionality so that professionals can save time and focus their energies on areas that can’t be automated. AI has excelled in this area further, with automatic processes that learn and adapt over time to become even more accurate and efficient.

Contrary to fears, AI automation is great news for businesses and HR in particular. Automation in HR operations can take out the manual labour and costs of some processes so that managers can focus on others. There are some things that only a human can do, such as giving ongoing mentorship and one-to-one support to nurturing the talent of future leaders. Automating time-consuming paperwork processes or sending automatic alerts to keep managers and employees in the loop means that more time can be spent in these other kinds of areas.

How is Automation Helping HR?

Today, automation is helping HR at almost every level. Sophisticated solutions like SuccessFactors are helping HR professionals find efficient and more productive ways of working from hiring to retiring as well as providing a more effective and engaging experience to employees. Here are some of the ways in which you could start benefiting from automation in HR operations today:

Onboarding

The first year of an employee’s experience is the most important. Most choose whether to stay with their company within the first six months, so delivering the best possible experience right from the outset is essential to keeping that hard-earned new hire.

Unfortunately, onboarding is also one of the lengthiest processes. There can be a lot of paperwork to sign and information to send with many stakeholders involved. The volume of information and pressure on communication can make it difficult to keep deadlines at each stage, keep everyone on the same page and keep employees engaged.

It can make for a frustrating experience that could see you lose employees to more efficient competitors at the early stage, or even after a year if they’re not given the resources and tools to engage with their new role properly.

That’s where automation in HR processes comes in. Many of the processes that make onboarding so lengthy and tedious can be automated. With SuccessFactors Onboarding, for example, integration with DocuSign means paperwork is digitised and automated workflows can automatically send off the right forms at the right stage and to the right stakeholders to sign right away from any device.

As well as making onboarding processes quicker, automation can also make them better. Handy reminders can alert stakeholders such as the HR team, line managers and more when they have outstanding tasks to do. This can eliminate communication break down and ensure that the onboarding process doesn’t get stalled for long periods at each stage.

A typical onboarding workflow, for example, might involve an offer letter being automatically sent as soon as a candidate is marked as ‘hired’ in your system. Signing the letter could trigger alerts to HR and IT to send over a welcome packet and set up email and network credentials for the new hire. Finally, calendar invites are automatically sent to relevant stakeholders for the new hires’ first day. This new automated process means a less human error, less paperwork, and better visibility.

Performance Management

Performance tracking and management are essential to maintaining and improving employee’s performance, not to mention overall business success. While it makes sense to have a consistent and standardised approach to performance tracking, many businesses today still don’t have a standard format for how they track, measure and give feedback on performance.

Those that do are also still relying on time-consuming manual methods, and that often results in many companies reducing feedback and other important performance reviews to an annual review. This may save time but it isn’t the most effective approach to performance tracking. A yearly review simply isn’t enough to make sure employees are meeting key goals, let alone excelling beyond these to develop into the future leaders that today’s businesses need. But how can companies invest the time and resources necessary to achieve more?

Automation in HR processes is revolutionising the way businesses approach performance by making time-consuming manual processes more efficient. This enables managers and HR teams to have more regular performance reviews and significantly invest in the ongoing development of their employees. Solutions like the SuccessFactors Goals & Performance module helps managers set goals and development plans that are consistent with the company’s pre-established standardised formats.

When it comes to tracking ongoing performance, today’s automated solutions can track the benchmarks set for each employee alongside any achievements or missed goals. Managers are alerted when an employee meets their goal or misses it, such as when they complete training on time or missed a deadline. This means they can respond with constructive feedback in real-time rather than waiting until an annual review to realise some goals were missed months before. Not only does this enable managers to take a proactive approach to performance and help employees get back on track before any real damage is done, but it also means that top performers can be recognised and rewarded as soon as they meet their goals to help motivate and nurture your best talent.

Succession and Workforce Planning

Planning your future workforce is no easy task. There isn’t a crystal ball that can tell you when an employee is going to leave or what type of leader you’ll need in five years’ time. Workforce and succession planning is one of the most challenging tasks HR professionals face, so it’s no surprise that many are now seeing the consequences of mismanagement in this area. A widening skills gap across many industries is just one of the emerging problems, affecting many businesses’ ability to provide the expertise they need and even generate effective employee morale.

Fortunately, with the right succession and workforce planning solution, there’s no need for a crystal ball to make the right decisions for the future of your business. In fact, today, automation in HR operation processes is making succession planning efficient and streamlined. Solutions like SuccessFactors can provide a centralised holistic view of your entire workforce including their skills, abilities, current performance and much more. Combined with powerful analytics, it provides all the information you need to help build up a talent pool of skills and abilities that you can nurture into your future leaders. HR Automation can then take out of the manual process of filling new vacancies by automatically finding the existing employees with the right skills and expertise to fill the new role. Not only does this save significantly on the time it takes to fill roles to minimise downtime and disruption, but it also improves your ability to recruit from within your organisation to save on heavy recruitment costs.

Automate Your HR Operations

There are many other areas of HR where automation is stepping in to streamline processes, reduce costs and ultimately improve business success. We’ve seen how the key to unparalleled efficiency and productivity is automating the processes that can be automated so that HR teams and managers can focus on the areas that can’t. With the foundation of a superior HRMS solution, it’s easier than ever to achieve this kind of streamlined employee experience. 

Talk to one of our team about SuccessFactors, a world-class solution with automation and much more to help you deliver the experience your employees deserve and make the decisions your business needs to succeed. Book your free SAP SuccessFactors demo today