Electronic Filing

Dealing with paper documents in HR can be a real nightmare. When bulky filing cabinets start to fill up with overflowing manila folders, it becomes impossible to keep information organized. This makes finding an important document or being prepared for an audit a seriously stressful situation. Because of this, many organizations are making the switch to paperless HR processes like online employee onboarding and electronic personnel files. Here’s how to leverage paperless HR software to streamline your department and make managing employee information much easier. 

It All Starts With Onboarding

Much of the documentation that is added to an employee’s folder is actually generated in the onboarding process. To avoid creating all of that paper every time a new employee is hired, electronic onboarding software has become extremely popular. New hires can review, fill out and sign all of their onboarding paperwork online. Now the question is, “What to do with those completed files?” Many HR departments are still printing it out and putting it in a paper employee file!

Electronic Files Replace Paper

Now that your onboarding process has gone paperless, it’s time to take a look at how you’re storing your personnel files. It certainly doesn’t make much sense to print your staff’s onboarding forms out after they are completed electronically! Instead, utilize an electronic filing system to make it easier for HR to store, manage and report on your personnel files.

An electronic filing system allows your team to retrieve the files they need instantly, from any where. Instead of digging through multiple levels of folders and section tabs, simple retrieve documents by various categories. For example, an electronic system allows you to pull up documents by identifiers like Department, Document Type, Expiration Date, Division, Office Location, etc. These identifiers can be configured specifically for your own HR department and ensure your files are always stored in the correct location.

You can also use your electronic file system to run reports on your documents using the identifiers mentioned above. A very common report used in HR is an internal audit or exception report. This report can be used to keep track of required and expiring documents in staff folders. For example, it can tell exactly which staff members are missing which specific required documents from their folder. The same report can tell you which staff members have a particular time-sensitive documents coming up for renewal in the next 60 or 90 days. In this way, these reports act as your automatic audit protection – always ensure all employee folders are up-to-date with all required documentation.

Digital Archiving Removes The Need For Off-Site Storage

Once your employees have been retired or terminated, there needs to be an easy way to archive them in order to comply with retention requirements. With an electronic filing system, there is no longer a need to archive your files on paper. This can free up a huge amount of space in your office as well as save your company significant savings that would normally be spent on off-site file storage. Best of all, your retention rules can be automated with an electronic system. For example, you can set your retention rules to automatically delete off personnel files 7 years after termination date, but wait 11 years before purging I-9’s. This way, your team never has to worry about time-consuming file purging projects.

A Completely Paperless Employee File Lifecycle

If you’re interested in taking your Human Resources department paperless, contact us today at DynaFile. Our paperless HR software has been helping organizations improve efficiency and cut costs for over 15 years. Scanning automation tools allow you to take the entire department paperless quickly and easily. From there, your team has instant access to files, custom audit reports to keep folders up-to-date and segmented access for HR, Payroll and Managers.

DynaFile also integrates with popular onboarding software like DocuSign and iCIMS. New hires can complete and sign all of their onboarding paperwork online. Once finished, signed onboarding documents are automatically filed back in that new staff member’s folder inside of DynaFile. 

Finally, DynaFile can sync information coming from your existing Payroll system or HRIS. So, when an employee changes to “Termed” status, switches departments or even changes their name after they get married; that information can be automatically updated in DynaFile when changes are made in your Payroll system or HRIS. This way there is never any need for redundant updates. Automated retention rules can also be triggered when an employee switches status to, say “Termed”. If you would like to learn more, please contact us to see a free demo!

Many of the documents stored in an employee’s folder are generated directly from the onboarding process once they have been hired. For this reason, employee onboarding software has become extremely popular for Human Resources departments. Unfortunately, there are still a huge number of companies that will print onboarding packets once they have been completed and electronically signed online. This is a huge pain in the neck for HR because personnel files are a serious challenge to manage on paper. Here’s how to stop printing your completed onboarding forms.

The Disconnect Between Paperless Processes and Paper Files

Employee onboarding software is an incredible tool for Human Resources. It streamlines onboarding paperwork for both your HR team and your new employee. Preparing onboarding packets for new hires goes from a lengthy process to a 30-60 second task. New employees are able to review, fill out and sign all of their onboarding documents at their leisure online. Best of all, HR can specify “required” information on onboarding forms so that they will never receive incomplete information from a new hire.

This is a great way to get the information HR needs from the new hire, but what happens to all of those documents once they have been completed and signed? Many companies still will still print out completed and electronically-signed onboarding forms after they have been finished. These are typically filed alongside the rest of their personnel and other HR documentation in manila folders, in bulky filing cabinets. As we all know, managing paper files can be a huge challenge. Finding documents and keeping track of required and expiring forms in employees’ folders can be nearly impossible for a larger workforce. 

Electronic Personnel Files Narrow The Gap

Since managing employee information on paper can be extremely difficult, many companies have started switching over to electronic personnel files. Unlike paper files, electronic documents are much easier to keep organized and maintain. An electronic filing system can automatically file documents in the correct location by “index” without any need for naming conventions or browsing to the correct folder.

This makes retrieval instantaneous by a number of different categories. For example, pull up documents based upon the employee’s name, department, office location, the type of document expiration date, etc. The best part about your files being “indexed”, though, is that you can also easily keep track of required and expiring documents in employees’ folders. A simple audit or “exception report” can tell you exactly which staff members are missing required documents from their folder and which employees have a time-sensitive documents coming up for renewal in the next 60 or 90 days.

An End-To-End Paperless HR File Solution

Believe it or not, you can take your onboarding process and all of your active employee files completely paperless, but still may need to print and scan. To avoid this, a simple integration between your onboarding solution and your electronic filing system can remove the need for any paper generation. Once an onboarding packet has been completed and e-signed, it can be automatically published into your electronic filing system and create the new hire’s folder for you without any data entry whatsoever. You can then add additional documentation to the employee’s folder throughout the lifecycle of their file and automate retention requirements for specific documents and sections in their folder. 

Learn More

If you would like to learn more about the end-to-end paperless HR process described above, please contact us at DynaFile. Our paperless HR solution has been helping companies streamline their workflows for over 15 years. Integration with popular onboarding solutions like iCIMS, DocuSign and Taleo allow HR departments to eliminate the need for any paper generation from the minute the employee is hired. Scanning automation features allow you to convert your existing paper files fast and then manage them easily from the DynaFile cloud. Indexed filing makes retrieval instantaneous from anywhere, at any time and allows for custom exception reports for self-auditing. Once an employee file has been termed, retention requirements can be set to run automatically. Contact us today for more information and a free demo!

Paper files are inherently tough to deal with. They take up a ton of space in the office, they are nearly impossible to find when you need them, and they can take up a majority of staff’s time to manage and keep organized.

Due to the numerous inefficiencies involved with handling paper documents, many Human Resource departments are switching to electronic personnel files. The challenge is coming up with a paperless solution that will work for you and your HR team.

Here’s how to have a success HR scanning project.

1. Is Paperless HR Right for Us?

The first step in your HR scanning project is to ensure that electronic personnel files will indeed be a good fit for your organization. Discuss with your team to find out what both your short-term and long-term goals are for the department. Most businesses find that they can benefit from updating their existing administrative strategies in HR. Companies that can benefit the most have:

• Paper filing system or network file share
• High turnover or rapid expansion
• Multiple office locations or remote staff
• Frequent audits on employee files
• Annual acknowledgements or contracts

If your company fits into one of the categories above, it is a good bet that electronic personnel files will be an improvement for your team. Continue on to the next section for step 2 of a successful HR scanning project. 

2. Decide on a Practical Paperless Strategy

Once you’ve decided that going paperless will help streamline your HR department, it is time to come up with a practical strategy to get you there. Your HR scanning project can easily get out of hand without a proper plan in place. It is a good idea to discuss the goals of your department with your HR team to come up with an appropriate scope for your project. Here are some important questions to consider when taking your HR department paperless. Once you have a good idea of the scope of your HR scanning project, it is time to move forward with a software solution.

3. Choose an Appropriate Software Solution

Converting your paper to electronic personnel files can be time-intensive. A practical HR scanning strategy will help your team move through the process more efficiently, but paperless HR software can help make the transition easier as well. Once in digital format, you will need a storage and management solution for your new electronic personnel files. When considering different paperless HR solutions, it is important to think about what system will allow you to manage your files easily, but also help you get your files into the system with little stress. Some HR file management software include scanning automation tools to help you convert your paper files quicker and get them into the system easier. 

More Information on Taking HR Paperless

Learn more about taking your HR department paperless below. Our complimentary Paperless HR Guide has a few tips and tricks for running a success HR scanning project.

If you would like to learn more about taking your HR department paperless, please contact us today at DynaFile. Our paperless HR solution has been helping companies operate more efficiently for over 15 years. With DynaFile, you can take the entire department paperless quickly and easily for immediate file retrieval, segmented access and audit reporting. Best of all, you can take all of your pen-and-paper processes like employee onboarding completely electronic as well so there is no longer a need for any paper generation. Contact us today for a free demo!