RPA for HR: How automation can maximize human resource efficiency?

Robotic Process Automation in Human Resource

Basically, there are software bots that automate the rule-based, highly transactional processes of the  HR department. These are the processes that need little or maybe no human intervention. 

So this is the primary work. The bots handle the high-volume repetitive operational tasks for HR employees. For example, to get new hires on-board, benefits enrolment, payroll processing, and compliance reporting. All of them require manual and repetitive labor. 

Not only can RPA increase the accuracy and data processing speeds, but it can also cut overall HR-related costs. The Human Resources Department is the backbone of any organization. It supports employees and enhances the overall environment. Hence, the department ensures that employees perform their jobs efficiently. However, the massive amount of data management makes the job daunting.  For example there are forms to fill, records to update and validate, and different requests to process.  

Enabling RPA streamlines the workflows of the department and increases productivity. It gives quicker return-on-investment and works smartly in the background without requiring any human attention.

Let’s explore how RPA is benefiting HR in its day-to-day routine tasks.

1.  Increased Productivity & Accuracy

The technology that Robotic Process Automation uses is pre-coded. It minimizes the margin of errors. Staff is free to focus on tasks that provide a higher value in the core business operations. The direct contribution of the technology is visible in the productivity and strategic goals of the company.

2. Consistency

It helps accomplish HR tasks without any hassle and at a consistent level. RPA can create perfect replication and zero-error performance. It leaves zero probability of any output variations during an operational term.

3. Scalability

Companies can easily ramp up and down the cost per task or effort on RPA. That is because it is low when operated at scale. Consequently, they get to enjoy the maximum output from their efforts and the minimum downtime of the overall system.

4. Flexibility

The level of flexibility allows RPA solutions to follow the programmed procedures. Therefore, the dynamics of the deployment environment do not matter.  

5. Reliability

The bots work 24×7 with consistent performance. Hence, it increases efficiency since bots are up and running all the time. 

Use Cases of RPA Services in Human Resources

RPA, no doubt, takes off the burden of all the repetitive tasks for every department of an organization. Let us discuss some of the many things RPA has to offer to the human resource world. So, it is easier for businesses like you to start the RPA journey for your Human Resource. 

Resume Screening & Shortlisting 

Perhaps, this is one of the most time-consuming tasks in HR.  It is daunting to handle a massive number of applications for new positions. Software bots can make this easy to handle. They can gather applications and compare all of the information against the list of specific job requirements. 

Bots use the RPA technology to see the job requirements in the light of predefined rules. Hence, they guide throughout the selection procedure. After result compilation, it can send the interview invitation notification to the selected candidates and rejection notification to others. The voluminous pile of paperwork that haunts HR managers gets out of the way. The complicated recruitment process morphs into a smooth one. RPA helps both attract and retain talent.

Simplify Onboarding

HR onboarding is a tedious job. It takes coordinated efforts of several people to let one candidate join. There should be fine synchronization in the data that comes from several systems to create a new user account. Then you have to grant the access rights for applicants, assign email addresses and IT equipment. How can you find a perfect fit between the company’s procedures and the employee’s profile and preferences? It needs robust data integration capacities. 

RPA services can streamline the entire procedure. It can automatically activate a particular template for the onboarding workflow of a user account. The bots can make the rule-based decision. These can be about which documents to send at which stage. Or what credentials to assign the new employee, etc. It is possible to automate the processes like employee ID creation to accelerate the hiring procedures. Here  are few of the RPA advantages in the onboarding procedure: 

• Reduce the costs by automatically transcribing information from multiple resources. 
• Increase overall onboarding process speed. 
• Reduce the error rate in this. 

Employee Data Management

Employee Data Management is a primary human resource task. Systematic and consistent performance is required across several databases. It all ranges from employee benefits to company regulations and payroll, etc. The constant influx of data makes the job difficult. Data is in the form of new hires, contractors, existing staff, etc. 

RPA can simplify the entire procedure. It also reduces the risk of incorrect data. After regular intervals, the bots can perform data cleansing tasks. Hence the department does not have to worry about data compatibility across multiple databases. In turn, HR services become more efficient and quick. RPA, for example, can generate important documents. Gone are the days when HR personnel had to transfer all the employee data from the HRIS to a document template.

Payroll Processing

Here is another monotonous HR task – the payroll processing. No company can avoid it. It also involves the risk of multiple errors. Moreover, a massive amount of data has to be entered regularly. What further intensifies the complexity are changing tax laws, the ever-evolving reporting requirements, and system troubles. RPA has an immense potential of collecting and connecting the data between multiple systems. For example, between employee management, general ledger, account tracking, and accounts payable. 

They can verify the employee’s hours that have been recorded in the system. Also, the software robots generate automated reports. If there is any high number of registered hours, missing hours, overtime, or excessive usage of a timeout they show it. Hence, payroll processing becomes easy with the auto-generated reports. 

Expense Management

There are many contributing factors that make expense management difficult. HR managers have to struggle with late expense submission, missing receipts, messy spreadsheets, and out-of-policy spending. Applying RPA solutions for expense management can make HR’s job less hectic. Therefore, companies can extract all the primary fields from expense receipts easily.

It saves time as well as prevents the hassle of carrying around expense receipts. RPA takes the pictures and reads the data. The rule-based procedures can identify the type of invoice submission and help the RPA technology approve genuine expenses. After ensuring that the claim follows all of the compliance requirements, the software processes the expense claim. 

Maintenance of Compliance Policy

Companies have to prioritize smooth and error-free compliance. Some strict laws and regulations require compliance maintenance, and the HR department has to deal with it. It is a detail-oriented job. 

The concerned party has to analyze every single detail thoroughly. So, ensuring high compliance at an organizational level takes time. Avail RPA software to speed up the process, minimize delays and eliminate the human error factor.

Employee Exit Management

Employee exit management is also a hectic process for enterprises just like employee onboarding. It is an important job role for every HR manager. Several tasks require attention when employees quit. For example, revoking of system access, full and final settlement, and the generation of exit documents. Even minor errors can result in audit flags.

RPA pre-defines each of the processes to facilitate the department. Bot captures the relevant details from the final report and updates the same in the finance application for validation if all mandatory information is correct. Then it sends an email to the concerned department for an update. 

Once the concerned department confirms, the bot sends an email to the employee. When everything is clear from the employee’s end, it will close the process. However, for the final approval, it pings the finance department. It also coordinates with the respective bank in the next stage.

Employee Induction & Training

RPA can also automate the induction process. The new candidates get the digital profile right after they apply and receive the job offer. Then the software will trigger an automatic process of onboarding new hires under this digital profile. 

It will also make sure that candidates know about all compliance standards, business processes, and other regulations. RPA-based automatic induction can improve the effectiveness and adoption of training with the help of well-designed e-learning and training support platforms.

Performance Management

Industries are now exploring how RPA can help their HR departments with performance management systems. RPA services can help keep productivity high, whether it is incentive calculation for awards or employees’ goal setting. It makes the whole process much more simple and less time-consuming by automating it. 

Shift Allowance Accuracy

Some employees work in different processes for international clients across various time zones. Many companies give them the shift allowance. To calculate it, they take the employee swipe-in/swipe-out from multiple HR backend systems. Of course, this process is manual. It takes a lot of time, and there is a high probability of mistakes because of the large datasets.

Introducing RPA services for shift allowance calculation is the best solution. The bots from multiple backend systems automatically read and validate the data. They can do this periodically. That ensures on-time clearance of allowances and reduces the average handling time and manual efforts.

Speedy Documents Verification

You need cross-verification of all the details of the interviewed candidates. For example, name, address, and date of birth, etc. The problem is big when there is a ma

ssive set of multiple databases. A high level of accuracy is required, which makes the process cumbersome.

RPA technology receives the details from input sources, cross-checks the details with a backend database, and creates process reports. None of this needs human intervention. Software bots collect data from all these reports and make a final master report. Then it uploads the final report into the backend system. For more facilitation, it divides the load across many RPA bots. That delivers the results in a much shorter time.

Attendance Tracking

The large size of the organization and the carelessness of employees while punching time records make attendance tracking a cumbersome process for HR. RPA cross-checks the self-reports against the time logged in the company record to make it easy.  Hereafter, the software robots report HR managers about inconsistency, if found any. In case of high absent instances, they may recommend the reallocation of some workforces. Thus the HR department can prevent interruptions in the workflow.

Putting It All Together

Robotic Process Automation is at an exciting point. Many businesses have not yet realized all of its benefits, but most will in the next few years. The industry is expected to reach as high as $3.1 billion within the next few years. 

It liberates your human workforce by taking over the monotonous tasks. RPA promises engaging employment. Since most companies have not prioritized RPA services yet, the one that does can enjoy tremendous competitive advantages. 

RPA implementation in human resources comes with many benefits. Some of them are labor savings, improved accuracy, improved employee satisfaction, and reduced processing time. RPA services provide innovative solutions to everyday human resource operations and revolutionizes the way it operates. 

Tkxel helps enterprises automate their business processes and stay ahead of their competitors. Let’s collaborate to streamline your workflow, simplify your repetitive and rule-driven tasks with robotic process automation services. Let’s connect Today!