Moving from paper to electronic personnel files can significantly improve productivity. HR scanning software is making the transition easier than ever.
Is your Human Resources department still managing employee information on paper? If the answer is “yes”, you have most likely thought about moving to electronic personnel files. Compared to paper documents, electronic personnel files allow for easier maintenance, instant retrieval and a higher level of security. When combined, these benefits add up to a significant improvement in efficiency across the entire office. The challenge lies in the conversion process. Now HR scanning software can provide companies with a shortcut to electronic personnel files.
The Old Way
The old fashioned conversion process is not a quick one. It utilizes the standard scan-to-desktop method that most of us are familiar with. Unfortunately, this is not the quickest way to move to electronic personnel files. The old way looks something like this:
- Choose an employee file, take our the first folder section and scan the first document in the folder
- Find the scanned document file on your computer
- Name the scanned document file correctly
- Create or find the appropriate folder location to save the newly scanned document and save it
- Repeat for every single document in an employee’s folder
Not only does this process contain many steps and take quite a bit of time, but it also leaves a lot of room for error. It’s not uncommon for staff to forget to follow strict naming conventions when converting such a large number of documents. Furthermore, maintaining a cohesive folder structure from employee to employee can be a serious challenge. If a document in accidently named incorrectly or filed in the wrong location, your team is in trouble.
The New Way
The new way to move to electronic personnel files utilizes HR scanning software to help automate the conversion process. HR scanning software has “scanning automation” features built-in. Designed to work with your existing multifunction copier or dedicated desktop scanners, your HR team can now take a shortcut through the traditional file conversion process. Here are two scanning automation techniques popular in HR:
Barcode Recognition
With Barcode Recognition, barcoded cover sheets are used to separate an employee’s folder into its various sections. Your staff can then scan the entire folder in at once. From the information on the barcodes, the system will recognize which employee all of these documents are for and label the documents in each folder section accordingly. This is a HUGE time saver when converting your existing personnel files.
Batch Processing
When you have a bunch of paper documents for many different employees, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to scan them using barcode recognition. Instead, your staff can utilize “batch processing” to scan in a stack of unrelated paperwork and then quickly break that scan down into individual documents on-screen. Batch processing is most often used as an easy way to get miscellaneous paper documents into your electronic filing system on an ongoing basis. Its also commonly used to convert your I-9 forms to electronic format when they are stored together in separate binder or folder. Finally, batch processing can also be used to break a previously-scanned document down into smaller documents.
Learn More
Are you interested in taking your Human Resources department paperless? Give us a call today! DynaFile has been helping companies achieve a higher level of efficiency for over 15 years. With a focus on HR, our scan-to-cloud system makes going paperless easier than ever. Scanning automation tools like Barcode Recognition and Batch Processing let you take your existing files paperless fast, while still being able to easily manage miscellaneous paper coming into the department. HIPAA-compliant cloud storage keeps your files up-to-date with all required information and makes document retrieval instantaneous from anywhere. Finally, you can take all of your pen-and-paper processes like employee onboarding completely digital with online forms, electronic signatures and automated workflows. Want to learn more? Contact us today for a free demo!
