As an organization, proper document management is a critical part of a seamless operation. For a smooth flow of your processes, integration of other functional systems with electronic document management systems (EDMS) would bring together all the organization’s documents into a central repository. It brings organization in the way the documents from all the departments are stored. This would also ease document access and controls. Increase in workflow efficiency and productivity is enhanced. Even in an organization with multiple locations this is a no brainer.
Examples :
In the finance department the accounting system has to be working smoothly. If integrated with the Electronic document management system the financial documents lifecycle is well managed and all are stored in the central repository. In the human resource department if the human resource management system (HRMS) is working efficiently and it’s integrated with the EDMS, the document lifecycle is top notch. Retention and disposal of documents can be managed automatically in one place.
Human Resource Management System (HRMS) is a system designed to manage employee based processes and data for example payroll, performance reviews and leave applications
With today’s focus on the human resource department as an important function of an organization, if the records are not right the effect on the company at large is enormous. Efficiency and compliance can be compromised and this can affect the overall employee experience. Use of paper documents leads to a wide range of challenges if not managed well. And if it is to be managed well a lot of effort has to be put into it.
Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) is a system that manages digital documents across departments and stores them in a central repository of an organization.
What Challenges affect a paper based human resource department ?
#1 Duplication of records
Duplication of records in employee files increases the cost of maintaining these files.
Documents occupy more space than required, increasing cost of storage. This comes with unnecessary wastage of resources.
#2 Missing documents
which occur when documents are removed from files and not returned. With paper documents a log sheet is used.
If there is no log in and log out sheet or it’s there but not being used consistently documents would go missing if removed from files and not returned.
#3 Storing outdated data
Examples of documents that can be outdated but are still being stored include payslips, benefits and personal information.
These are documents which may have reached their retention period but are still occupying cabinet space.
#4 Inconsistent data formats
Some Human resource data would be in paper formats and data entered manually and some would be in digital format. This leads to difficulty in reconciling reports.
Difficulty in search of documents for audit purposes or legal queries takes a lot of the employees time which would be used in productive work.
#5 Non Compliance
Inaccurate records and inconsistent tax forms would lead to non compliance with labor laws and regulations.
#6 Data Breach
There is a potential for data breach due to failure to secure sensitive documents.
This can be due to an oversight in access control of the storage area.
#7 Human error
With paper documents, manual entry of data is done which is tedious and inconsistent.
This can lead to high frequency of human errors thus inaccurate information, errors in payroll and performance reviews.
#8 Time wastage
and delay in processing of payroll, updating of employees information and handling of benefits.
#9 Document access
Accessing documents in real time is difficult because locating where they are stored takes time and is tedious.
For companies with multiple locations the documents are stored in different places leading to a fragmented system and confusion.
A company with remote workers and multiple locations can limit access to the required documents slowing down processes.
#10 Integration
When the documents are in paper format integration is an impossibility causing inefficient work flows in the human resource department.
#11 Employee morale
Employees and managers may be frustrated by the long delays in processing their requests such as leave application and correcting payroll.
A lot of time wastage in managing employee enquiries by the human resource which is manually done.
#12 Poor communication
Paper documents may lead to poor communication due to lack of efficient systems for notifications and updates.
#13 High Cost
It is expensive to manage the paper documents. This would require additional staff to manage inefficiencies.
Workarounds and frequent corrections are done manually leading to time lost in retrieving missing data and resolving errors.
#14 Inaccurate reports
Tracking key human resource metrics is difficult because of the disorder.
Unreliable and inaccurate data leads to incomplete insights into the workforce trends.
Conclusion
To eliminate these challenges the use of technologies would be required. The Human resource management system can be put in place to streamline the process in the human resource department.
This can then be integrated with the Electronic document management system to enable coordination and smooth flow of documents in the organization as a whole.
This would work perfectly even in an organization with multiple locations.
But first digitization of the paper documents needs to be done to have all documents in digital format for storage in the central repository.