Wherever they are, your employees have access to a host of information and activities, thanks to their ever-present smartphones. Whether checking their bank account balance, hailing a ride to the other side of the city or scheduling a virtual doctor visit, your employees are used to getting what they need (and need to know) via app technology.
Unfortunately, the workplace – in particular, the HR sphere – hasn’t caught up. And when your employees can’t access their own HR data or conduct basic HR activities themselves, that’s an issue for them and for your HR team. In fact, Ernst & Young recently conducted research to identify the financial costs of complicated manual HR processes. See how they add up in our white paper.
However, if you have HR technology, but it’s only being used by your HR team, you’re still missing out. It’s like buying the newest 4K TV and only watching PBS. Why underutilize such a game-changing technology? Here are two ways to get the most out of the HR tech you’ve already purchased.
Give the people what they want
When employees can access their own information and take necessary actions – such as updating a home address or requesting vacation days – without interrupting HR, your HR professionals are able to maintain focus on finding and developing talent, instead of endlessly churning through transactional tasks.
Today’s employees expect near-instantaneous access to information about every other area of their lives, from dating to dog-walking. What about when they want to check their time-off accruals, double-check their health insurance details or print a copy of their W-2? Is it quick? Easy?
Give them access to their own employee data, and you’ll cut down on a significant amount of tedious HR tasks that don’t further the company’s mission.
If you’ve invested in technology that allows them to do those things, and employees aren’t using it, you’re wasting tech spend and missing out on a potential area to increase employee engagement.
Consider mandating employee usage of the technology you’ve already purchased to ensure you’re receiving a real return on that investment. As with any tech investment, you’re really only going to see full ROI with full usage. Make this an initiative for the rest of 2019 and see how much more your HR team can accomplish when they aren’t wasting time on transactional activities.
Encourage screen time
Your employees can access almost everything they need in their personal life, from banking to food delivery, from their mobile phones. That convenience could be translated to many aspects of their working life as well – if you have the right technology in place.
A large retailer, for example, has instituted a “bring your own device” policy, allowing employees to use their cellphones to perform key aspects of their jobs, including scanning products, reviewing sales data, and checking inventory and prices. Another way organizations introduce efficiency and convenience for their workforce is by making sure their HR technology is easy for employees to use, even on their mobile phones.
If your employees aren’t using the HR software you’ve invested in – for tasks such as watching a training video, submitting expenses for reimbursement, completing a performance review and turning in timesheets – consider how simple that software is, or isn’t, for the typical staff member not in HR. User-friendly software can bring significant ROI by reducing both manual costs and duplicated tasks. (Just how much savings?
To ensure you accomplish these efficiencies companywide consider – again – mandating usage of your HR tech. You’ll see the greatest economic and time-saving benefits when everyone in your company commits to these streamlined processes.
