This really was our HR system before we started Air. Now its only use is as a doorstop. Here’s a 2017 resolution you can actually keep — make this the year you bin the HR files forever and adopt a simple, smart HR platform.
A successful year relies not only on growing revenue but looking for simpler, smarter and cheaper ways of doing cumbersome processes. Take a look at your HR management. If you employ more than a handful of staff chances are you are spending far too much time — possibly up to 6 weeks — on HR admin.
It used to be that HR software was designed and built for large corporates. And small and medium business entrepreneurs had to muddle through with spreadsheets, forms and documents.
Things have changed, and cloud based software exists to make life much easier.
If you’re not sure how an HR platform can save you time and money, we’ve put together this round up for you.
Save time.
Keeping records of holidays, sickness and other types of time off manually is time consuming and error prone. If you are responsible for recording, approving and checking each and every time off request, this can mushroom into a big job when the number of people you employ grows. With a simple self –service software platform, employees can see how much holiday they have taken and have remaining, view their team-mates time off, and request time off themselves. All you have to do is approve the requests.
Making sure key people are working when you need them to.
Most businesses have key members of any team that cannot all be away at any one time. Or, there are critical projects that need more people to be at work to deliver them. Planning your people resources is a laborious task without a smart software solution in place that draws everything together into a calendar in real time. And you risk losing out on lucrative opportunities if you can’t guarantee your key people are there to deliver for clients.
Looking after the wellbeing of your people.
As an employer, it’s your responsibility to look after the wellbeing of your team. If you give them a set number of holiday days, it’s vital they actually take them. Do you allow unlimited holidays? This is something that is becoming much more popular, but the risk with this policy is that employees fail to take adequate time off to rest and the risk of burnout and stress becomes very high. A simple HR platform can track how much time your people have taken — and you can step in and insist they take a break when they need to — helping them stay fresh and motivated!
Save money and hassle on a multitude of solutions.
Many companies realize they need a software solution when it comes to processing payroll, expenses, employee surveys and other management tasks. But problems arise when several solutions are needed just in one small or medium business. Each HR platform has its own costs to consider, and that’s before you’ve considered integration between these workflows, set up, and ongoing support from each provider. Far better to look for one platform that can do everything you need, with an easy, seamless integration. The last thing you want to be doing is paying hefty consultancy and support fees when you just need to get on with running your business.
Reduce mistakes and errors.
Manually entering records in spreadsheets puts the workload onto you or your employees to check that people’s holiday, sickness and other time off records are kept up to date. Making holiday balance calculations is complex as soon as you have people working part time, shifts, or hourly work patterns. Your employees won’t thank you if you miscalculate their holiday entitlement, monthly pay, or pension contributions. Not only does it suck up time processing these and putting them right, you could be liable for fees, interest charges, and other costs, not to mention the effect on the employee who feels let down and mistreated. Doing the basics right is essential.
Underpin a great employee experience and retain your best people.
When your employees come to work they expect you to use the best tools to enhance their productivity. At home, they are comfortable with using Amazon, Facebook, Netflix and Uber for their daily needs and leisure hours. So when they come to work why should they be expected to fill out bits of paper to request holidays, when this doesn’t happen in any other sphere of their lives? If you drag your feet here it sends a strong negative message to your employees about your mindset. Your best talent will soon look elsewhere for a forward thinking employer who values personal development and puts a premium on helping their people be productive.
Enable employees to input their own data.
Who knows more about your people — you or them? A smart HR platform will allow your people to take ownership of their own data. They are in charge of updating their records (with your approval) if they move house, change their name or job role. This saves hours of your time, plus ensures people engage with the HR system and get the full benefit of its time saving power.
Allow you to do HR while out and about.
Most people now expect to be able to work productively and achieve just as much from their day whether they are in front of their office desktop, or in a train or coffee shop. And with the latest HR software you can — choose a HR platform that’s fully mobile compatible and both you and your employees can use up dead bits of time while travelling completing essential HR admin, leaving you all free to focus on what matters.
Be future proof.
We all know that the world changes in the blink of an eye and that just as we have got used to one technology another comes along and sweeps the old ways away. Your business needs to adapt and change or you risk becoming obsolete. HR software is here to stay. Your employees expect and demand it and will regard you as a dinosaur if you don’t provide it. Choose a future proof platform, and expect to pay a monthly fee — this way the software company will have a sustainable future and can continue to invest in the product and keep it up to date — protecting your investment and your people’s data.
Find out if Air is for you at www.joinair.com. Happy New Year!
