“More mindless paperwork, please!” On a list of phrases you’re likely never to hear someone in HR say, that one is right up there with, “Yes! Another leave of absence I get to manage,” and “oh no no, I’d much rather do that manually.”
People looking to get into Human Resources aren’t driven by a fiery passion for paperwork, because no one looking to get into any career ever is driven by that. Be that as it may, administrative burden remains a major drain on the satisfaction and productivity of People teams throughout countless organizations.
While HR is required to perform many functions, it’s reported that 40% of the department’s time is spent on administrative tasks, with one report claiming that number actually eclipses the 70% mark. Following these tips can dramatically improve the effectiveness of People Teams so they can spend less time pushing paper, and more time.
1) Remove Manual Processes
In a recent survey on the hindrance of HR success, the majority of HR professionals rated their HR departments’ efficiency as average or below average, with 59% citing “too many inefficient manual processes” as a contributing factor. An engaged People Team is free to strategically serve employees and yet a whopping 76% in the survey say they play the role of administrator; just 34% say they are viewed as strategists.
From empowering employees to self-serve to automating any and all manual processes that can feasibly be automated, the freedom for HR departments to do impactful work is only held in check by the trivial tasks automation can handle.
2) Adopt Better Software
A good way to remove manual processes is to adopt better software. This is a friendly reminder that HR technology is advancing at such a rapid clip that better certainly doesn’t have to mean more expensive. There is a great chance that the software you have in place today is not only more expensive but can be personalized to fit the specific needs of your business.
It’s a common mistake to assume that just because you have “a” software solution in place you’re really doing all you can to lift administrative burden. How common of a mistake is it? Well, the 76% of HR professionals who say they view their role as an administrator tells
3) Outsource Operational Tasks
When internal software and equipment upgrades aren’t feasible or don’t quite solve the administrative burden problem, the best solution might be to seek out tech solutions that specialize in smoothing out your rough waters.
Outsourcing operational tasks, like the many that are involved with leave of absence management, not only ensures HR managers aren’t being held back by some of their least favorite to-dos, but also gives you access to an external partner whose primary function is to excel at delivering an optimal result for HR teams’ most burdensome tasks.
4) Get Smart With Data
Data doesn’t lie. Sure, it might bend the truth from time to time, but the smartest organizations leverage data to gauge efficiency and ROI with everything they do. Using data properly can inform your decisions in order to adjust and make smarter ones. With so much time spent on administrative tasks, HR departments are often hard-pressed to find the bandwidth to compile meaningful, actionable data.
Knowing where your least efficient, least impactful hours are spent can help you identify where your biggest bottlenecks reside, and help you make the case to upper management that extra resources are needed to save time, money and run the business more smoothly.
4.5) Audit Your Processes
This is only a half-tip because it’s really more of a reminder than anything. When processes become habit it’s easy to overlook opportunities to improve them. Every 6 months it’s important to take inventory of the processes you currently have in place to see if there are opportunities to leverage data, outsource operational tasks, push for innovative software and remove manual processes.
Follow the tips above and start making your life easier.
About Tilt
Tilt is leading the charge in all things leave of absence management through easy-to-use tech and human touch. Since 2017, our proprietary platform and Empathy Warriors have been helping customers make leave not suck by eliminating administrative burdens, keeping companies compliant, and providing a truly positive and supportive leave of absence experience for their people.
