Steps to a Paperless Future for HR

Making the decision to go paperless in your HR department will have far-reaching benefits across the whole organization. In a paperless world, HR can focus on important tasks to enhance collaboration and develop cohesive strategies that will build an engaged and industrious workforce.

Start your Journey to a Paper-free Future

Going paperless isn’t instantaneous and requires commitment from the HR team to lead the way and make the switch to a more efficient and secure system. While it may seem like an overwhelming task to transition to a digital platform, starting with small changes will provide invaluable results for a more sustainable and productive future.

With increased global awareness of climate change and the environment, going paperless will one day become a requirement and not just an option.

Invest in Technology

The first step is to get buy-in from the organization’s executives to invest in technology by presenting the indisputable advantages. There is a multitude of benefits such as considerable cost savings and an improved operation that will validate the need for a paperless solution. Once you have executive buy-in, nominate a leader who will drive the initiative.

Employee Training and Awareness

Educate the workforce through presentations to highlight the following:

• Problems with current paper-based processes.
• Identify how an HR solution will transform everyday tasks.
• List the environmental benefits.
• Start implementing small changes that make paper usage a hassle, like phasing out or restricting access to fax machines and printers.
• Get employees excited, which will make the transition easier.

Embrace Digital Signatures and eForms

• Instead of requesting physical signatures, start the process of scanning documents or creating documents that are converted to PDF to implement digital signing.
• Identify common HR documents that can be translated into electronic formats such as leave requests and performance appraisals.
• Request electronic statements, receipts, and invoices from vendors and service providers.

Prepare for a Paperless Solution

Identify a team who will help scan and organize all existing paper records and identify a temporary online storage system for the new digital formats until a full solution is implemented.

• Paper documents that have long expired or no longer needed should be put through the shredder.
• Set a date when all documents should be organized digitally for entry into the new HR system.

Deploy the Solution

While the team is preparing the documents, it’s time to find the right HR document management system.

• List all the features and functions you need from a paperless system and start researching vendor solutions.
• After selecting the right software, your software provider should guide you through defining a unified system, create automated workflows to manage HR processes, and get all your scanned documents into the system.
• Provide software training to the employees that will access the system.

Automating Existing HR Processes

The next step is working with your technology solutions provider and HR team to identify the processes and repetitive tasks that can be automated by creating workflows. Workflows facilitate the routing of digital forms between employees, managers, and HR to initiate notifications, process requests, get approvals, and electronically sign documents.

Start by listing common manual processes that HR deals with on a day-to-day basis:

• Inflow: onboarding new employees
• Throughflow: requests for different types of leave (annual, sick, maternity), promotions and lateral position changes, appraisals, travel requests, and purchases.
• Outflow: offboarding employees through resignations, dismissals, retirement, and redundancies.

With the HR management solution being the hub of all employee-centric processes, you can accelerate the streamlining of workflows to ensure higher efficiency throughout the department.

Need an HR Paperless Solution?

KRIS Document Management System (DMS) can help you realize the benefits of a new paperless era. Our document management systems and expertise will ensure you can move away from the expense and clutter of a paper-based approach to a consistent, efficient, and organized online system.