State of the art HR teams use HR workflow automation and data integration to streamline everyday tasks and drive efficiency. Across the three main HR workflows of recruitment, onboarding, and payroll management, automation offers bountiful benefits. HR automation reduces errors, saves time and money, increases productivity, and improves employee morale. Through real-world examples, let’s examine how HR automation helps companies succeed.
What is HR automation?
Think of automation as a finely tuned engine, powering HR processes with precision, and accelerating business growth while enhancing employee engagement. HR automation is designed to improve efficiency, accuracy, and productivity while enhancing the overall employee experience. Automation truly shines brightest when integrating different HR systems to create seamless workflows. Data integration automates the repetitive and time-consuming manual tasks that HR teams routinely perform. Eliminating these manual tasks allows HR professionals to focus on strategic initiatives that grow a business.
3 Most Common HR Workflows
Within HR, several key workflows effectively manage talent and support the needs of both employees and the business. Among these, three are critical: recruitment, onboarding, and payroll management. Let’s delve into each of these workflows, exploring their importance, common challenges, and the role of data integration in optimizing their efficiency and effectiveness. By understanding these core HR processes and the benefits of data integration, organizations can achieve streamlined operations, enhanced employee experiences, and overall business success.
Recruitment
In the recruitment workflow, HR advertises openings, screens applications, conducts interviews, and extends job offers. This workflow involves collaborating with hiring managers, assessing candidate qualifications, and coordinating the entire onboarding process for maximum success.
Imagine data integration as the architect of recruitment efficiency, seamlessly designing smooth transitions between HR systems to construct a streamlined hiring process. Just as a skilled architect crafts fluid, interconnected spaces, when a candidate assessment app integrates with an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), data flows easily. Once a job candidate reaches a certain state in the interview process, they’re guided through personalized assessments while results are funneled back for evaluation.
“Previously, we had to manually enter data into the Predictive Index website, adding multiple items for each candidate. With Flexspring’s integration, we’ve saved countless hours by avoiding manual administrative tasks, allowing us to focus on recruiting. We don’t have to think about the integration—it just happens!” — Jeremy Schwartz, Corporate Recruiter, M3
Onboarding
In the onboarding workflow, HR collects required documents from new hires and guides them through orientation sessions. This helps to familiarize workers with company policies and culture during workspace set-up and access.
Data integration automates the HR onboarding workflow. When a company hires a new employee, data collected in the ATS is shared with multiple HR systems like payroll, HCM, benefits, and more. Instead of manually reentering new hire data across multiple systems, data integration automates the process.
For example, integrating an ATS with a payroll system streamlines onboarding and payroll processes. When a hiring manager presses the new hire button in the ATS, data seamlessly syncs with the payroll system in near real-time, ensuring smooth payroll processing. This integration simplifies the onboarding process for HR professionals.
“One connector liberated our HR team from over 20 hours of laborious manual data entry each month, boosting overall team satisfaction and contributing to a remarkable 100% increase in morale. Easiest integration solution I’ve ever experienced.” — Theresa Mastellon, Director, People Operations, Hopscotch Primary Care
Payroll
The HR payroll workflow is understandably complex. Accounting typically collects employee time and attendance data, enters it into the payroll system for processing, calculates salaries, wages, deductions, taxes, reviews the payroll run, and distributes payments to employees. Monitoring accuracy and compliance throughout the process is crucial.
HR payroll workflows can often cause chaos between HR and accounting departments. Entering data incorrectly invites major headaches for accountants, who must then spend tedious hours finding and fixing the errors.
Data integration removes human error in payroll workflows, making the process smooth and hassle-free. When integrating new hires from an ATS or core HR app to payroll, the system automatically syncs new hire data in near real-time, providing the essential information needed to process payroll when a new hire enters an ATS or core HR application.
“With data integration, we no longer manually duplicate work in both Workday and ADP. Our HR administrator saves about 15 hours a week by not doing manual updates. We now have data integrity and never worry about mismatched data between systems because everything connects. I definitely recommend data integration to anyone in HR.” — Cristi Johnson, Compensation/Benefits Manager, EOS North America
Benefits of HR Automation
Data integration provides HR professionals with a wealth of benefits by boosting efficiency and creating a productive and stress-free workplace. Here's a glimpse into the key benefits:
Reduced Errors
Automating manual tasks through data integration virtually eliminates human error. Manual double-data is mind-numbingly tedious, requiring one data set to be entered multiple times in various systems. No one in HR wants to do that. Data integration automates the process, allowing employees to enter the data set just once, avoiding double-entry errors across all HR systems.
Time Savings
HR automation saves valuable time for hard-working professionals. When HR teams work with multiple systems, manual double-data entry can consume a significant part of a workday. Data integration frees workers from the drudgery of entering data across multiple systems. Automating the process through data integration lets HR teams focus on the human side of human resource management.
“We’re hiring new people every week. If you include new hires and all other employee updates and changes, automation saves about 20 hours a month.” — Dany Saade, Corporate Controller, One Concern
Improved Productivity
Data reentry is a repetitive task that consumes valuable time that could be spent on more productive endeavors. Data integration automates these manual tasks, providing a welcome relief to HR teams. Once this burden of monotony is lifted, employee productivity soars to new heights.
Increased Morale
Over time, manual data reentry can become a daunting task for HR professionals. Tedious and time-consuming tasks do little to inspire or motivate employees. Data integration automates these HR workflows, liberating HR professionals from double-data entry and giving them time to focus on more productive and fulfilling initiatives. HR professionals can now work on more fulfilling projects, increasing morale within HR departments.
Conclusion
HR workflow automation, powered by data integration, revolutionizes HR operations. From recruitment to payroll management, automation liberates HR professionals from repetitive tasks, enabling them to focus on strategic initiatives.
By delving into recruitment, onboarding, and payroll workflows, we've highlighted the crucial role of data integration in enhancing efficiency across HR functions. Furthermore, the benefits of HR automation—including reduced errors, time savings, improved productivity, and increased morale—highlight the importance of automation to drive organizational success. Companies that embrace automation and data integration fling open the door to a more efficient and productive HR landscape, fostering employee satisfaction and greater business growth.
