Human Resource Departments have had a tough time over the past couple of years… Having to deal with the impact, not just on business but also on staff, as a result of:
- The Pandemic
- Remote Working
- Civil Unrest
- Natural Disasters
- The Unstable Economy
- Loadshedding
- Retrenchments
- The Great Resignation
- Skills Shortages
- Employee Retention
We often forget that HR teams are not just worried about themselves and how they will survive, but also everyone else in the business and how the events over the past 3 years have impacted everyone.
Many HR departments adopted a work-from-home policy after the pandemic and some are still running a hybrid model. HR is one of those departments where, with the right technology in place, working from home is achievable. Meetings via Teams are not new and even though some are back in the office, we still often find HR practitioners in meetings with staff via a Teams session.
One of the major challenges for many working at home was how to get better and more secure visibility into Employee Records and documents. EDMS (electronic document management solutions) definitely assisted in this area and with POPIA compliance coming into focus for many businesses recently, EDMS definitely were and are the winning ticket for HR teams.
But as HR departments face their greatest challenges, “retaining their Top Talent, finding new Top Talent, securing new Talent quickly and building a Talent Pipeline”, how is technology going to assist them?
Below are the key areas technology can assist HR Departments sign up new employees quickly, and retain existing employees:
- Automated processes – HR Administrators and HR Practitioners can move documents around for approval with automated processes. Not only moving the document around, but checking where the document is stuck or has reached a bottleneck in the process. This will ensure the HR teams can follow up quickly to secure the required Letter of Offer has been approved before a competitor steals your candidate.
- Document Generation and Standard templates for quick and easy document compilation. Having the contract as a template, and allowing for it to be auto-populated based on critical information captured during the interview or evaluation stage will speed up the onboarding process.
- Digital signatures for signing documents electronically from any device from anywhere. Getting that contract, onboarding documents and critical sets of information signed while the prospective employee is still at their old job secures them as an employee of your company quickly. It also shows you are a forward-thinking employer and adopting technology in HR means similar technology will be in place within the business.
- Knowledge libraries for storing policies, procedures, working instructions, guidelines, reference documents and general knowledge. Having information about the business, processes and other key business rules available online for employees and prospective employees means you want the employees to know what to do and when to do it.
- Learning and Talent management. Creating Learning management solutions and programs to help grow individuals but also ensure employees know what to do and when.
- Skills Development and managing employees to ensure they are growing their skills effectively. Employees need a plan on how to develop skills and how to get better at what they do. Solutions monitoring how you are developing as an individual and what you still need to do are critical for employee growth and business growth.
- Secure Document and information Repositories so the right information is seen by the right people and for its intended use. Manual files are not going to cut it, and storing employee records on a file share comes with a fair share of risks. If you have not already invested in an EDMS, make haste and do this as a top priority.
- Self-Service Portals allow employees to apply for requests online but also track what is happening. Staff want to be more self-sufficient. Filling out manual forms is so old fashioned in today’s electronic world. Moving toward e-forms and being able to track them through their process, brings employees and businesses closer.
- Create an environment for social information sharing within the business. We are all social creatures by nature, so being able to share social information on a platform allows us to feel part of a team. Whether it is a birthday celebration, company team building photos or voting for the monthly office superstar, taking these milestones to a social platform allows dispersed teams to feel part of the company family.
- Celebrate your employee’s achievements with the rest of the business. We should be bragging about certifications, great wins and personal or career achievements on social platforms allowing colleagues to congratulate you from dispersed teams.
Did you know the team from VM Consulting can achieve all the above requirements using our solutions M-Files and Lightico, combined with our experience of implementing the above ideas in other HR departments?
Give us a call today to find out more about how to transform your HR Department, but more importantly how the above can help you in your challenge to find, onboard and secure Top Talent.
Vanessa Miller
Managing Director, VM Consulting.
For more information reach out to one of our specialists at:info@vmcs.co.za or give us a call at 031 564 3938.