By Katie Badeusz, EPAY Systems
You’ve heard it time and again—happy employees lead to greater productivity and creativity at work. When morale rises, sales and profits do, too. But less than half of U.S. workers are happy at work, according to The Conference Board’s latest job satisfaction survey.
No wonder so many companies are seeking new ways to improve employee job satisfaction—such as leveraging human-centric HR technology that provides their people with a positive work experience. Yes, the most thoughtfully-designed human capital management technology does more than simplify life for management and the HR team: it makes the workday better for mainstream employees, too.
How is this possible? On one level, by alleviating common employee frustrations with HR forms, rules and “red tape” via streamlined workflows and processes. On another, human-centric HR technology can actually keep employees engaged and connected in a number of ways you may never have considered.
Let’s take a look.
Applicant Tracking Systems Can Lead to Happier Hires
An applicant tracking system can save HR and hiring managers both time and money by automating job postings and facilitating an efficient process for reviewing resumes. Thus, companies can identify better matches more quickly. And the better the match between the company and the employee, the more likely employees will thrive.
Further, an applicant tracking system can provide an improved experience to all candidates. For jobseekers, few things are more discouraging than not hearing back from a prospective employer one way or the other. Because an automated applicant tracking system can generate prompt, automated (but personalized) communications, applicants are treated with greater consideration.
Once a candidate is chosen, integrated human capital management technology will convert a new hire’s applicant data into a new hire record, which jumpstarts the employee onboarding process. New employees can be brought into the fold more quickly, which not only benefits the employees, but their departments and the entire company.
Standardizing Onboarding Best Practices with HR Technology
Unfortunately, companies don’t usually get a second chance to make a first impression with new employees. That’s why it’s smart to implement onboarding best practices that make all new hires feel welcome and valued, while preparing them for work as effectively as possible.
For new employees, the onboarding process can be overwhelming, but well-designed HR technology can guide new hires step-by-step through a thorough, digital onboarding process, helping them feel grounded from day one.
With a human capital management system, orientation schedules, handbooks, benefit forms (more about that below), and even training materials can be hosted online for employees to easily access, along with checklists to ensure they’re meeting all their onboarding requirements.
An integrated human capital management system creates a single employee record, eliminating the amount of forms and fill-ins new employees must complete. And with electronic signature functionality, employers can ensure accurate tax reporting and I-9 compliance right from the get-go.
Getting off on the right foot helps employees feel great about their new company, while ensuring onboarding best practices are followed.
Benefits Administration Software Can Ease Open Enrollment
There are few things employees (and HR staff) dread more than open enrollments—largely due to the deluge of paperwork that’s part of the manual enrollment process. Benefits administration software eliminates that overwhelming mountain of paper and the frustrations that come with it.
When benefit enrollment takes place online, it’s easier for employers to provide employees with targeted educational materials and decision-support tools, resulting in a more positive, less confusing experience. Because HR staff is spared the task of distributing and collecting forms, they can also have more face-time with employees to answer questions.
In addition, benefits administration software provides employees with a self-service portal that allows them to view their confirmation statements and access plan summaries whenever they’d like.
Consider this: according to an Aflac survey of large employers, 80% of employees believe that having quality benefits are very important to job satisfaction. That’s not surprising. However, this might be: 79% of them also said that a well-communicated benefits program would make them less likely to leave their jobs. It matters.
Is Your HR Technology Human-Centric?
Many employers are already engaged in the process of upgrading their existing HR technology. They’re looking to implementing a single, integrated human capital management system to help them streamline HR work processes and vendors, improve workforce management and keep up with shifting compliance requirements.
But given that many companies are also under intense pressure to acquire and retain talent, they should be evaluating HR technology for its human-centricity as well. Improving the employee’s workplace experience is important, and will only continue to be more so. When evaluating HR technology, it’s helpful to look beyond the obvious benefits to HR and management, and decide if it will make life better for your employees, too.
Katie Badeusz is a senior marketer at EPAY Systems is a leading SaaS provider of seamless human capital management technology and services designed to help medium to large businesses manage their workforce in a lot less time and with a lot less work.