When your job is to make sure your organization’s digital operations run smoothly while keeping hackers at bay and employee data protected, it can be a little nerve-wracking to audit some of your more complex processes.
HR leaders and CIOs therefore sit at a crossroads of operational effectiveness and keeping the company and employees protected at all costs.
The security of employee data is a top priority for any business, particularly if that business plans to stay in business for any meaningful length of time, and because of that CIOs have been increasingly shifting their focus to their organization’s leave of absence management process.
HR professionals know all too well that leave management is an increasingly complex process that’s been left on the technological back burner for far longer than it should have.
Failing to secure sensitive data related to leave management can lead to legal repercussions, loss of customer trust, financial penalties, and damage to your organization’s reputation.
Not exactly ideal.
With one-third of executives claiming that their budgets aren’t sufficient to ensure cyber security as is, and with the cyber-attacks and data breaches continuing their trend upward (up 28% from Q4 2023), protecting sensitive employee information is more important than ever before and CIOs are finding more gaps than in their processes than in strip malls in the early 2000s.
How does that pertain to leave of absence management specifically, and why do CIOs care so deeply about this particular HR function?
Let’s dive in.
Why CIOs Suddenly Care About Leave Management Data Security
In an effort to not make sweeping generalizations, many CIOs today understand the data security risks of managing leaves of absence.
Manually tracking leave data on a spreadsheet, storing sensitive information in a shared drive, or relying on siloed, outdated systems to keep their employee information accurate and secure is the stuff of data security nightmares.
A CIO’s biggest data security concerns regarding the management of leaves of absence may include, but certainly aren’t limited to:
- Sensitive Information Protection: Leaves of absence typically involve handling highly sensitive personal information, including medical records and certifications, names, and financial details. Ensuring that this data is securely stored and accessed only by authorized personnel is paramount.
- Compliance with Privacy Regulations: Managing leave data requires strict adherence to regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR. Non-compliance is a serious risk that can result in major legal and financial consequences C-suites would like to avoid (to put it lightly). Regulations change and can expand over time, yet the responsibility to adhere to regulations remains the same.
- Data Access Control: Ensuring that only authorized employees have access to sensitive leave data is crucial and often overlooked.
- Cybersecurity Threats: Protecting against external threats, such as phishing attacks, ransomware, and data breaches, is a continuous concern. Regularly updating security protocols and training employees to recognize potential threats are essential.
- Internal Threats: Monitoring for potential internal threats, including disgruntled employees or inadvertent data mishandling (i.e. an employee’s managers sharing information they shouldn’t) is also important. Implementing role-based access and monitoring user activity can mitigate these risks.
- Data Integrity and Accuracy: Ensuring that leave data is accurate and up-to-date is crucial for effective leave management as data corruption or loss can lead to operational disruptions and compliance issues.
- Backup and Recovery: Establishing robust backup and recovery procedures ensures that leave data can be restored in case of a system failure or cyber-attack. Regular testing of these procedures is necessary to ensure reliability.
- Employee Training and Awareness: Ensuring that all employees, especially those handling leave data, are trained in data security best practices and are aware of the latest threats is vital for maintaining overall data security.
- Vendor and Third-Party Risks: If third-party vendors are involved in managing leave data, ensuring that they adhere to the same security standards is critical. This includes conducting regular security assessments and audits of third-party systems.
By addressing these concerns with intelligent leave management software, CIOs can help ensure that their organization’s leave management processes are secure, compliant, and resilient against potential data security threat
Tilt Recap: Administering a single leave of absence comes with countless security risks that old leave solutions aren’t equipped to handle. From data integrity to access control to compliance with privacy regulations, CIOs are now looking to address these risks with an approach to leave of absence management that can adapt to the rapidly evolving leave landscape.
Better Leave of Absence Management Means Better Data Security
Implementing strong security measures in your leave of absence management process requires taking an honest look at your existing process and making intentional changes to eliminate the risks.
As an HR leader, you may have been pleading for a modern leave management solution for a while now, but whether you’ve been down this road before or not, you’ll likely need the C-suite’s support to improve your process.
Getting your CIO to see a more secure future with a simple yet sophisticated leave management solution is your ticket to escaping leave management purgatory.
How can a modern leave of absence management solution go beyond providing empathetic support to employees and administrative relief for HR by also ensuring data security?
After all, as mentioned above, a CIO will also understand the risks associated with outsourcing your leave management. If you want your CIO on your side when getting leave management relief, it’s vital that whatever leave vendor you choose they’re as serious about data security as your organization is.
Tilt’s approach to leave of absence management takes all your CIO’s security concerns and puts them to bed.
The secure platform houses all leave data under one protected digital roof by leveraging data encryption, both at rest and in transit, which is critical to prevent unauthorized access or interception during communication.
Additionally, Tilt’s software includes multi-factor authentication to help ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive leave management systems.
Worried about sensitive information or important medical documents getting lost in an email thread or being shared with the wrong people? Tilt provides secure document storage and role-based access so that the only people who stay in the know are the people who need to know.
Take a walk around the platform within each role to see how Tilt’s approach to leave makes this complicated process easy for employees, a relief for HR and above all else, safe and secure for your employee data.
When it comes down to effective leave management that prioritizes security, nobody does it quite like Tilt. Learn more about how Tilt keeps your data private and secure here, and visit https://trust.hellotilt.com/ if you or your CIO want to get granular on the specifics.
Tilt Recap: An easier way to manage leave is within your reach, and sharing with your CIO how Tilt makes your leave of absence management process secure from data risks can make it a reality. Put their worries at ease and your team’s stress to rest with the one leave management solution that automates the leave experience, provides human support to employees in their time of need and keeps your data safe and secure.
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.
