We all want our employees to be able to work at their very best. To enjoy what they do, and have the support and systems in place to enable them – and their teams - to thrive. Because if they thrive, our businesses thrive too.
But sadly the systems all too often don’t help but hinder, which can lead to missed opportunities. The question is just how can businesses fully automate their processes across the business to speed and smooth the process and deliver faster, better outcomes without sacrificing security and quality?
Take the situation in HR. Research by Personio and Opinium across Europe suggests that in HR alone up to six different tools are required to manage the workforce. That’s an average.
And according to Okta there are 40 plus digital applications in use in SMEs - many of which touch upon people processes and data. There is no one click solution here.
Instead we have multiple systems, none of which work together as smoothly as they could. Instead of working at their best, HR teams are having to manually swap between applications, and are reliant on input from other teams, such as IT and finance, to get things done.
The problems arising from this are obvious. Just consider this example. Imagine the frustrations for employees of trying to cope with multiple systems and the delays which arise from trying to get the data they need and just when they need it.
If 200 employees have five delays each, and each lasts 35 minutes, that’s 35,000 minutes of lost work time. In just one single day. In an average eight hour day that could add up to the equivalent of 75 full-time employees being absent. It’s inefficient, costly, and completely unnecessary.
Introducing People Workflow Automation
Processes should enable people, not slow them down. Which is why we’ve developed the idea of People Workflow Automation. If the fragmentation of systems is an issue, the solution is to develop a way to enable those systems to communicate with each other so that the employee doesn’t even notice that they are dealing with multiple systems.
All they know is that the information they need is there at a single click.
Instead of endless micro delays which could add up to missed opportunities, processes which were dependent on human input are now automatic, and run across different teams, freeing employees to concentrate on the real issues which drive the business forward. HR can go beyond HR to get the job done.
For example, take the process of hiring a new employee. People Workflow Automation starts with a template-based offer document. This is automatically – and securely - filled with all the candidate’s relevant vital information.
When signed, the onboarding process begins with everything from the ordering of equipment or new uniform to security passes all delivered on-time without any further human input. No reliance on other teams that may have conflicting priorities, and no missed opportunities if the candidate can sign quickly – and before they might be tempted by another employer.
Not only that, but People Workflow Automation can deliver real benefits for SME’s and smaller businesses. Large organisations can afford the major technological investment and time needed to address workflow issues. Now, with People Workflow Automation, that same level of competitive benefit is available in a very cost effective way to everyone, no matter what size the business, number of employees or sector.
Sounds too good to be true? Far from it. The systems to deliver People Workflow Automation exist right now.
So just how can you access this new technology? To discover more about just how it works and can deliver for your HR team and business, Personio has created a White Paper – People Workflow Automation: Enabling HR to go beyond HR – which you can download right now.
So take your first step towards ensuring there are no more frustrations, no time consuming mistakes, no wasted potential. Just the creation of automated systems which really get your business moving. And it starts, of course, with just one click.
Sam Richards is country manager UK & Ireland at Personio
