Automation has been revolutionizing business processes for more than a century.
In recent years, though, new automated technologies have held the promise of replacing employees in sectors ranging from the service industry to manufacturing and beyond, with speculation rampant about which jobs could soon be replaced by robots – including chefs, financial analysts, journalists, lawyers and even drivers.
In fact, McDonald’s recently announced plans to install self-service ordering kiosksOpens a new window at all its US locations by 2020.
Although HR seems to be safe from the takeover clutches of automation, relevant technological advances – especially Robotic Press Automation (RPA)Opens a new window – have the potential to transform an HR professional’s job.
Everyone agrees: HR has to spend far too much time on menial tasks within the recruiting and onboarding processes. Finally, that may be about to change.
Robotic Press Automation (RPA)
HR processes are often bogged down by large amounts of repetitive and time-consuming paperwork, processes and management. Although companies invest significantly in HR management tools and solutions, Human Relations departments still must manually perform most administrative tasks.
Due to the available software’s limited functionality, HR departments generally update processes or find workarounds in order to get results.
RPA, though, could change the HR game by implementing a software “bot†to assume the high-volume, repetitive, operational tasks that traditionally require significant manual labor. Moreover, these systems often improve accuracy and speed of data processing.
Ultimately, this technology is able to improve efficiency, reduce costs and improve overall data management, freeing the department to focus on what matters most: growth.
While RPA will introduce operational efficiencies across the HR landscape – and beyond – below are some of the key ways it will help HR professionals do their jobs and avoid chasing a never-ending paper trail.
– Automate and compress business processes
Simply put, RPA will significantly shorten the HR checklist. Gone will be the days of manually updating applicant and new-hire tracking systems and creating a new employee file in the payroll systemOpens a new window . Various software systems will be capable of communicating with each other automatically, while RPA will also be able to verify that HR operations comply with new and existing regulations.
– Improve relationships
The operational benefits from these new automated processes will also have a ripple effect. Key logistical challenges facing HR departments such as time and physical presence can be solved. HR professionals who were tied down by lengthy processes – e.g. spending hours pushing paper – will now gain time to build meaningful relationships and conduct high-value interactions with employees, ultimately boosting company culture and values. Moreover, the HR department will be enabled to focus on more value-added activities for the organization.
– Enhance the onboarding experience
The improved systems will support efficiencies, which means that new employees will be provided more personalized and efficient onboarding experiences. These advances will allow the employee experience with HR to be personalized from the start, emphasizing that they are valued by the company.
The increase in speed, quality and efficiency will be especially evident in the way automation accelerates the onboarding process, which can last a month. With RPA, this process can be reduced to days.
– Provide cost efficiencies
As in other sectors, automation generally promises to cut HR cost. HR software firm BambooHR says that automation in the onboarding processOpens a new window can save a company some 50% over traditional methods.
– Reduce and replace administrative tasks
RPA will introduce new processes that simplify many repetitive recruiting functions including interview scheduling, provision of feedback and resume sourcing. By automating various traditional administrative tasks and reporting that often overwhelm HR, recruiters and HR executives can focus more energy on strategy.
What RPA means for the future of HR
With so much room for improvement across most HR processes, the potential for RPA is vast. And the automation of HR operations is not as expensive of complex as is commonly believed.
In the coming years, businesses will begin to realize the full range of benefits that automation technologies can bring, helping HR to upgrade from dated and disconnected document management systems and support organizations to overcome the many inefficiencies that hold HR back.
Investing in HR will improve efficiency of a company’s entire workforce, reduce administrative costs, facilitate flexible scale, provide a better experience for employees and keep the entire company running smoothly.
There’s an opportunity for HR innovators and pioneers to be at the forefront of the incoming RPA rollout. Will you be among them?