Reducing or eliminating the use of paper forms is one of the prime goals of transactional onboarding.
Collating and mailing out new hire packets is a waste of labor hours, funds, and natural resources in today's technologically
advanced workplace. A virtual environment can support practically unlimited forms and store them without taking up space.
The system can also be designed to grant access to authorized users from any computer. This means
the "paperwork" part of onboarding can take place at an HR kiosk or-better yet-at home as soon as the new hire receives the emailed
job offer letter and logon.
Employees Enjoy A User-Friendly System
New hires are usually nervous and
anxious to start productive work on their first day. Nobody likes to fill out paperwork, especially on their first day at their new
company, and few HR professionals today have time to personally wait on an employee to complete new hire paperwork. A wizard-based
onboarding system that walks new hires through an improved and structured version of the process not only can ensure completeness
and accuracy of the paperwork, but also makes a good impression on an employee's first day.
In addition, well designed software can actually reduce the time it takes to fill out forms by 75% or
more. Identifying information (name, address, contact information, social security number, date of birth, etc.) only needs to be filled
out once during the onboarding process. After that, the data is automatically populated to all applicable new hire forms. For employers
who have an electronic employment application program or a recruiting system, such information can even be loaded into the forms before
the new hire logs in.
HR Staff Members Appreciate Automation
The onboarding system automatically
routes the completed set of new hire documents to the hiring manager for review. This process is quickly completed since everything
is automated and business rules are consistently enforced by the onboarding system. HR doesn't have to go back and chase down employees
who left forms unsigned or incomplete; the system just doesn't let this happen.
Back-end integration is also completed without the need to rekey data between applications. HRMS,
Payroll/Benefits departments, third party vendors (including learning management companies), E-verify, state new hire reporting, and
other systems can be interfaced with onboarding software. User-defined workflows ensure that data is automatically routed to the correct
end points on time, every time.
An Easy Monday Gives You Shortcuts - Not Paper Cuts
Here's a recap of how
onboarding software streamlines the experience of both the new hire and HR on the first day of work:
- All necessary forms are already collected in one place online (and only the most current versions are used). HR doesn't have to put together packets or mail them out.
- Virtual documents aren't limited to state and federal forms; any onboarding system worth it's salt can also include company-specific documents. Policy agreements, benefits forms, and more can be integrated into the onboarding platform.
- The new hire just needs a username and login (which is automatically generated and sent via email along with the job offer) to access these documents.
- If you're encouraging new employees to complete the process before their first day (and why wouldn't you?) make sure the system you select is compatible with all commonly used browsers and is not affected by popup blockers. Otherwise you're just asking for a new set of support issues dealing with new employees who attempt to onboard from computers that don't run Internet Explorer and have pop-up blockers.
- A wizard format takes the new hire through each step; questions and confusion requiring intervention by an HR specialist are unlikely.
- Data fields automatically populate from one form to the next. The employee never has to enter the same information twice.
- Data entry errors (such as a phone number missing a digit) are immediately highlighted in the form so the employee can correct the mistake.
- Every required field must be completed or the employee cannot advance to the next screen. This eliminates common omissions.
- Electronic signatures are fully supported. The employee never has to print out and sign a physical document. HR can review and sign off on each form virtually as well.
- The new hire does have the option of printing out pdfs of each form for his/her records if desired. This is a must!
- The employer can automate the workflow within HR and beyond. Staff members don't have to expend labor hours rekeying data or sending it manually to other departments or third parties.
- All federal and state regulations and internal business rules are automatically enforced ensuring a high level of compliance.
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