Human resources (HR) is an essential department in each business but also an area that is often overwhelmed with plenty of paperwork. If your HR team is handling piles of documentation and sensitive data is everywhere within those piles, the chances of errors become very high. Every single paper must be signed, dated, and filled in a secure way, and potential errors can have serious consequences in the future.
From another perspective. HR departments are some of the areas where Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can come in handy – especially solutions such as intelligent automation. Surveys have shown that the use of RPA has increased in the HR sector, and businesses are finally seeing the benefits that automation brings when it comes to saving time and resources or freeing up the daily plate of their HR professionals.
For instance, one survey by Deloitte found that around two-thirds (more than 60%) of HR departments were using AI-based automation tools to assist workers. If you ask top managers about this, most of them would agree that the number of HR jobs will stay the same or increase as a result of intelligent automation. But what is that all about?
The best way to see it is through some of the HR processes that it automates. Below, we are listing six HR processes that can be “intelligently automated” with ease.
1. Screening resumes and candidate selection
If you ask an HR professional what is one of their most time-consuming tasks in the workplace, most of them would say it’s screening the candidate’s resumes and selecting the right candidates for interview. Shortlisting potential employees certainly need some preparation, but not something that cannot be automated.
With RPA and the practice known as intelligent automation, you can create intelligent software “bots” that would process data found in resumes and CVs or extract specific keywords from the list of job requirements. For instance, you can filter out the type of degree, specific software candidates know to work with, or sets of office skills. You can also create rules for these bots, such as a rule where they would send request-for-interview emails or informational emails that they were not chosen for the role.
2. Employee onboarding
Now that you know how intelligent automation can help HR professionals in the process of candidate selection and gathering of data, let’s see its benefits in the onboarding process. We know that this is often a practice that has plenty of people involved – from hiring managers to IT, security admins, and others. With RPA, bots are trained to follow specific rules and gather documents in the right order. They will also notify specific people within the organization that needs to approve or sign off on documents.
All of this leads to a reduction of errors and a process that may stall unless all documents are gathered. Intelligent automation may also include sending automatic timely notifications as means to avoid unnecessary delays.
3. Training of employees
Next in our list of HR processes ripe for automation is employee training. One wouldn’t guess that this could be an area that needs automation, but with the use of technology such as robotic process automation (RPA), candidates can be assigned permissions based on job templates that you create. Moreover, you can closely adhere to details regarding compliance, regulations, and best practices.
4. Handling employee data
Employee data management is one of those jobs that are simply prone to more errors. One of the reasons for that is data silos, which result in HR workers having to navigate through multiple systems. On top of that, we know that data is continuously changing as new employees get hired, and others quit. Working with human resources (HR) teams can help you update all systems and ease the burden of keying or rekeying data, easing up HR professionals and freeing up time off their shoulders.
5. Employee exits
Just like the process of gathering documents and employee training, intelligent automation can also be applied in employee exits. During this process, exit documents need to be generated and signed, email or system access needs to be revoked as employees leave the firm, and final payroll needs to be issued. All of this needs to be completed with a degree of accuracy due to regulatory issues, but it is not something that cannot be automated. Intelligent bots keep on checking that all exit requirements have been fulfilled and all forms are signed on the dotted line.
6. Payroll processing
Finally, intelligent automation can be easily set up to process payroll – a practice that is often fraught with plenty of risk of errors. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) makes it easy to do so, automating systems and taking care of employee management, payroll, general ledger, and time tracking. Your HR team can program bots to confirm employee hours that are entered in the system, identify discrepancies with other sources of data, aggregate or analyze data from different sources, and so on.
In Need of Intelligent Automation For Your HR Department?
If your HR department is full of manual processes that are prone to errors, you are more than prepared to face the wonders of intelligent automation. With robotic process automation (RPA), you can see tremendous benefits and relief to your workers – according to research, people prefer to deal with humans wherever possible. To make that happen, you can configure bots to assist you with all the manual and repetitive tasks, freeing up your HR professionals’ time for important client interactions.
In the end, it is people that transform organizations. Technology can only help with automating tasks and making processes easier for everyone. A future-ready HR function like intelligent automation can only bring your workplace benefits and show your team that things can be done more efficiently and cost-effectively.
