Let’s make this introduction a little more like a Disney-Pixar, sci-fi animation movie. Visualize this: The protagonist opened a small t-shirt printing business; he used the hand press to print the orders. As the company expanded, he got more orders, he hired more employees, the hand press was replaced by a heat press machine, the book of accounts was replaced by the accounting software, the delivery van took the place of the delivery bicycle, and the in-shop visits were reduced as the on-website visits increased (Beautiful transition, isn’t it?).
Now what our protagonist faced is known as digital transformation. The evolution of business operations from manual to automated ones. This transformation can be seen in every phase of the business – in every department, in every aspect. Going through the phase of such changes is inevitable as for the company to keep running, the ultimate solution is to walk hand in hand with the dynamic technology.
What Is Digital Transformation?
It is the incorporation of digital technology in all business areas, basically changing how your business operates and delivers value to the customers. It is considered as a cultural change for it requires organizations to constantly challenge the status quo by conducting experiments and getting comfortable with failure.
Moreover, depending on the individual companies, the definition of digital transformation varies. However, the common denominator is that it is an amalgamation of the business operations and digital technology in every business aspect. This sometimes means that you may need to walk away from the long-running business processes that were built with the companies in order to accommodate the latest practices that are still being defined. In the case of HR, the transition from traditional HR practices to using human resource management software is the digital transformation.
1. Enhanced Employee Productivity
Employee engagement is a hot issue. Employers look for new ways to upgrade the productivity of their workforce. While the traditional methods of boosting workforce participation are still effective, they take a long time to show results. Digital transformation offers an opportunity for business functions to leave the manual processes and automate the key areas enabling the leaders to focus on broader opportunities of work.
In simpler words, automation and digitization of the business tasks can save workers’ time and allow them to focus on essential tasks. For example, the traditional approach of writing a leave application and sending it to the higher authority takes a lot of time. You have to wait for days as the application sits on the superior’s table, hidden under the burden of all the critical files, until finally the superior takes notice of that application, reads it, and approves it. On the other hand, if the employee sends a digital leave application, the superior receives a notification about the same. He can read and approve (or reject) as soon as he gets the notification and the employee is pinged about the status update of their leave application.
With such quick processing, the employee does not have to be distracted by thinking about the status of their applications, and they can give their undivided attention to their work. When the organizations use technology to make the employees’ jobs easier, they pay you back by doing more and improved work, thereby increasing the productivity of the overall business.
2. Safe And Secure Data
You may have faced circumstances where your employee submitted an application, but it was misplaced, or an important file was suddenly nowhere to be found. Maybe the employee you allowed to access his worker file to correct their address stole the address and phone number of his crush working in the IT department. All these are forms of data loss/ theft.
In the modern world, data theft, data loss, and data breaches are the major inconvenience that business operations face. In a traditional system where all the official data is stored physically in files, the chances of unauthorized people getting access and ultimately altering or stealing the official papers are very high.
However, when you start storing the data in digital formats on the cloud platforms, this risk is minimized. The security of data is assured asd there is limited access to such files, and you can allow only the authorized people to view, edit, and update the documents. Moreover, the cloud platforms give three-level encryption that protects the data from being hacked or broken into, thereby increasing the level of security.
3. Encourage Self Dependence
While the employees have to depend on the superiors or admin for updating or editing their information in the traditional HR approach, with digitization, they are encouraged to be independent and free from long processes.
With the employee self-service in many human resource solutions, the employees can be their own admins. They would not be required to go to separate departments for editing and updating their documents. With this module, the employees can complete their jobs and then proceed with the applications/ documents submissions, etc., in a time that is feasible to them. They do not have to depend on a separate department for the same, nor do they have to rush to make it to the appointments.
This increases your workforce’s confidence in themselves. It is the basic human instinct to feel proud and confident when you do not need the help of superiors or admins to operate your leave/ attendance regularization applications or update your latest documents. Moreover, this indirectly enhances the employees’ productivity, for they do not spend time in rushing from one department to another with their papers.
4. Better, Faster Decision-making
Big data can advantage the businesses by placing human resource data and analytics at the core of the digital transformation strategy. Today, entrepreneurs have access to much larger volumes of data than they had ever before, all thanks to the Internet of Things. You, as a business owner, can convert this data into valuable performance evaluations that can be utilized to make decisions that are more informed and quicker. The integration, as well as the impact of the analytical tools, depending upon how deep they have been planted into the productivity measurement.
Data and analytics are the fields where constant innovations are constantly coming into the light. The integration of those with the emerging AI capabilities that can modernize the current applications and sort the workforce efficiency data rapidly and more reliably allows the leaders to make better decisions that lead to the development of not only the employee but also the organization as a whole.
It is nearly impossible to observe all the developments in the information technology that assists in smoothing the transition from manual performance evaluation to the digital one. However, one way to stay ahead of the trend is keeping a close watch on the evolution of AI, which can pillar the big data initiatives. Digital transformation creates the tools to cause time and resource gains, thereafter, strengthening the business’ relationship with its employees.
5. Enhanced Accuracy And Compliance
In the HR processes, the most complicated issues are payroll and lawful compliance. The former because of its complicated calculations and the latter because of its dynamic nature.
Calculating payroll is not an easy process. You need to calculate an employees’ attendance, multiply it by the hourly or daily wage, deduct the tax, add the bonuses, calculate their leaves (paid and unpaid), etc., and that is just for one employee. Imagine that to be repeated for every employee you have. It is as tedious and problematic as it sounds. Without digitization, it is impossible to have zero errors in this process. Moreover, imagine you forgot to calculate the payment for an employee or two. By what amount would their morale be reduced?
Similarly, while following the lawful regulations, it may be possible that the HR forgot one or two rules. It is very much possible that legal actions would be taken against the organization in such a case. Moreover, these are the things that keep evolving constantly. If the person stays under a rock for even a little time, he is likely to miss some of the important updates.
Transforming from manual processes to digital can help overcome all these problems. With automated payroll process solutions, you can sit back and relax while the software does the entire work from attendance calculation to salary transfer for you. Automation helps you achieve 100% accuracy. Ultimately, it leads to happy and content employees as they get their complete salaries on time, without any errors. The software also ensures that all the necessary provisions under the law are followed. It enables the company to avoid any lawsuits that might be a result of not following the legal regulations.
Conclusion
To survive in the market, it is essential that the organization walks hand in hand with the current techniques and practices. Having an HRIS solution in the organization not only assists the business to overcome all the loopholes in the current system but also assists it to go paperless and support the environment. With increased technological advancement, the cost of such solutions is not high. Moreover, as a result of increased competition in the SaaS market, the software comes with modern tools like timesheet management, geo-tracking, geo-fencing, and many more that assist you to make your workplace a better place for you and your employees.
Author bio:
Divyang Metaliya is a Business Consultant working with factoHR. Apart from managing and improving business processes, his hobby is to spread his vast area of knowledge to the people out there. He loves to create content that is innovative and engaging for the readers.