5+ HR Automation Best Practices
In today’s fast-paced business world, HR professionals are often stretched thin. They have to juggle numerous responsibilities– from hiring and onboarding new employees to managing benefits and payroll.
With so much on their plate, it’s no wonder that HR automation has become increasingly popular in recent years.
By leveraging technology to streamline repetitive tasks and eliminate human error, HR automation can free up valuable time and resources for HR teams.
In this article, we’ll take a look at which HR tasks are ideal for automation and lay out 5 best practices to keep in mind if you’re looking to implement HR automation in your organization.
Tasks That Can Be Automated in HR
While every organization is unique, several common HR tasks can benefit from automation. Here are a few examples:
- Candidate screening and resume parsing
- Scheduling interviews and sending reminders
- Background checks and reference verifications
- Employee onboarding paperwork and new hire orientation
- Benefits enrollment and management
- Performance reviews and goal-setting
With tasks like these automated, HR professionals can focus their efforts on more strategic initiatives, such as talent development and workforce planning.
HR Automation Best Practices
Now that you’ve decided that automation is right for your business, let’s look at 5 best practices that will make the process smoother and more efficient.
1. Figure out What to Automate
The first step in automating your workflows and HR processes is identifying repetitive and time-consuming tasks.
Look for processes that involve manual data entry or require multiple steps– we’ve already helped with a list of everyday tasks above.
Sheet Best can be a valuable tool in this regard. It allows you to turn spreadsheets into REST APIs, making it easier to integrate your data with other systems and automate repetitive tasks.
For example, you can use Sheet Best to automatically schedule interviews based on candidate availability, update employee records with the latest information from your HR system, or update your internal knowledge base.
2. Find the Right Tools
Once you’ve identified the processes that are ripe for automation, it’s time to evaluate the available HR automation solutions.
Look for user-friendly, customizable software that integrates well with your existing HR setup. Of course, you need to look at the cost of the software and the potential ROI in terms of time and resource savings.
Here are some popular automation tools for People Ops and HR:
These platforms offer a wide range of features, from payroll and benefits administration to time and attendance tracking.
You can also use Sheet Best to integrate these platforms with your other HR systems, making it easier to manage your data and automate your workflows.
3. Set up Workflows and Notifications
Once you’ve chosen an HR automation solution, it’s essential to set up workflows and notifications that will help streamline your processes.
Workflows can help ensure that tasks are completed consistently and efficiently, while notifications can help keep everyone in the loop and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.
4. Keep Your Data Safe
Okay, now let’s talk about data security.
It’s super important to ensure that your automation tools comply with data privacy regulations and that your HR data is stored securely.
You don’t want any hackers getting their hands on sensitive employee information. Regularly audit your systems and processes to make sure everything is in order.
5. Keep an Eye on Your Automation
Don’t just set it and forget it!
You’ll need to monitor and evaluate your automation efforts to ensure they’re actually helping you out.
Regularly check your automation tools to see if they’re still relevant and practical. And don’t be afraid to make changes or try out new solutions.
You should also work to continuously improve your processes.
This means you need to stay up to date with new technology trends and solutions (no-code, wink-wink) that could further streamline your HR processes.
Encourage feedback from employees and team members to identify areas for improvement.
6. Don’t Forget about Your People
While HR automation is a great way to reduce the time and effort needed for routine HR tasks, remember that HR is ultimately about people.
Automating processes doesn’t mean you should ignore the human side of things.
You’ll still need to maintain open communication lines with your employees and provide support where needed.
This can involve things like answering questions about benefits, helping with technical issues related to the tools you use, or providing guidance on performance management.
7. Adopt Agile Principles
When it comes to HR automation, it’s a good idea to adopt Agile principles. This means starting on a small scale, iterating, and testing before implementing the automation throughout the entire organization.
With this approach, you can identify and address issues early on, make changes quickly, and avoid the risk of large-scale failures.
Start with a pilot program or test group to try out new automation tools or processes. Use feedback from this group to refine your approach and improve the automation.
Once you’ve ironed out any kinks, roll out the automation to a larger group, and repeat the process.
This will help you fine-tune your automation efforts and ensure that they’re effective for your organization.
8. Make Sure Your Automation Aligns with Your Company Values
Finally, your HR automation efforts should align with your company’s values and goals.
This means considering things like sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and ethical business practices when evaluating automation tools and processes.
When HR automation and your organization’s values are in harmony, you’ll be better positioned to create a positive and productive workplace culture.
By following these 8 best practices, you can be confident that you can fully leverage the power of HR automation and avoid running into issues down the road.
And with Sheet Best, you can make the process even easier by turning all your spreadsheets into usable REST APIs that can be integrated with a wide variety of HR automation tools.