Top Header bar

(888) 510-3453 sales@dynafile.com DEMO DYNAFILE

DynaFile

Scan to Cloud HR Document Management Solutions

Electronic Filing

How to Switch to Electronic Personnel Files in 2016

by

Human Resource departments across the nation are making the switch to electronic personnel files. Here’s how to take your HR files paperless this year.

Make a modern shift in 2016! Transition your HR from traditional to electronic personnel files effortlessly. Our guide breaks down the benefits, strategy, and solutions for a paperless HR system. DynaFile offers a comprehensive tool to enhance your HR workflow. Get started with a free demo!

It’s 2016. Is your Human Resources department still managing personnel files the old fashioned way? Managing employee files on paper can be a huge inconvenience that impacts productivity more than you may think. Making the switch to electronic personnel files can bring significant benefits for your HR team and beyond. Here’s a quick guide to switching to electronic personnel files in 2016.

Step 1: Paperless HR Goals

What are your paperless goals for HR? It’s important to start by thinking about what your team’s current pain points are so that you can design a strategy to effectively relieve them. You may be surprised by just how many productivity issues electronic personnel files can actually help resolve. Does it take too long to pull a personnel file or find specific documents inside? Could the process of actually filling out and signing paper forms be improved upon? Are you simply running out of storage space in your office? Once you have a list of pain points afflicting your HR team, you can easily turn that into a list of goals that will help your department run more efficiently. Put your goals in order of importance to help you through steps 2 and 3.

Step 2: Designing Your Paperless HR Strategy

Now that you have a list of goals that are specific to your Human Resources department, it’s time to start designing your paperless strategy. Transitioning to electronic personnel files can mean many different things to different companies. It’s important to consider things like your staff availability, security roles, technology level, locations, turnover rate and more while getting your paperless HR strategy in place. Here are 3 questions to help you take your HR team paperless in 2016.

Step 3: Choose the Perfect Paperless Solution

Once your HR team has designed a basic strategy for moving to electronic personnel files, it’s time to explore solutions! There are tons of different kinds of Human Resources software on the market today. From HRIS to ATS to Document Management and Onboarding – Knowing what categories of software to look at will help you narrow down your options quickly. From there, look for solutions that will help your team meet their paperless goals. Is your most important goal having the ability to onboard new employees completely paperlessly? Is your main goal to just convert your existing paper to electronic personnel files? Choosing the solution that will best meet your needs is essential.

Learn More: A Complementary Paperless HR Guide

If you would like to learn more about moving to electronic personnel files this year, get a copy of our complimentary Paperless HR Guide! In this guide we explore:

✅ Companies that will see the highest ROI
✅ Time and cost benefits to be expected
✅ Paperless strategy design
✅ Differences in paperless HR solutions
✅ How to go paperless fast

DynaFile’s Paperless HR Solution

DynaFile’s paperless HR solution has been helping companies make the switch to electronic personnel files for over 15 years. Unique scan-to-cloud features let your team take the entire department paperless fast. From there, online workflows replace traditional pen-and-paper processes like employee onboarding. Advanced security features give your team full control of access permissions for different kinds of staff and for specific types of folders and documents in employee files. If you’re looking to move to electronic personnel files, DynaFile is an easy-to-use HR solution that is as powerful as it is practical. Contact us today for more information and a free demo.

Electronic Filing Software Makes Personnel Files Instantly Available to HR

by

One of HR’s biggest challenges is keeping personnel information organized and accessible. Electronic filing software makes this easier than ever.

Tackle HR challenges with DynaFile! Electronic filing software revolutionizes personnel file management, ensuring compliance and quick access. Dive into indexed filing systems, swift document retrieval, and automated audits. Enhance your HR operations and integrate seamlessly with popular tools. Book a free demo today!

One of the biggest challenges of using a paper filing system is actually keeping the information organized. Filing cabinets that have been in use for a number of years can inevitably become very disorganized. This makes finding files an enormous challenge and keeping track of required documentation in folders becomes impossible.

In a bustling Human Resources department, this can be a serious issue. Having the ability to keep personnel information stored in compliance with regulations like HIPAA/HITECH and ensuring that information is easily available to authorized staff is paramount in HR. To make file management and document retrieval easier, many Human Resources departments have switched over to electronic filing software. 

Index Files for a Higher Level of Organization

“Indexed” filing systems are highly preferable to traditional folder-based systems. Indexed systems categorize your documents by different identifiers. For example, an electronic filing system for a Human Resources department may index documents by things like: Status, Employee Name/ID, Department, Division, Office Location, etc.

The system will use this indexing information to automatically file your documents in the correct location. This way, there is never a need to manually drill down through various levels of folders to find the correct location to store your document. You also no longer need to worry about naming conventions. Best of all, you can retrieve documents based upon their indexing information as well. 

Instantly Retrieve Personnel Information With Index Search

Since an indexed filing system will keep all of your electronic personnel files categorized for you, retrieving documents becomes extremely quick and easy. A simple “Index Search” can bring back exactly the documents you’re looking for with just a couple of clicks. You can search across any of the categories you have set up in your electronic filing system and cross-reference categories to narrow down search results further.

Here are a few common searches for an HR staff member, for example.

  • “John Doe’s” entire folder.
  • The “Performance Review” section of “John Doe’s” folder.
  • All “I-9” forms for “Active” employees.
  • All “Onboarding” documents for “Active” staff added to the system in the past “6 months”.
  • All “Benefits” documents from the past “2 years” for “Active” staff in the “Sales” department from the “New York” office.

By utilizing an index search to retrieve documents, HR staff can bring back exactly the files they are interested in with just a couple of clicks. 

Keep Track of Required & Expiring Documents in Staff Folders

When you can’t find the files you’re looking for, it can become nearly impossible to keep track of required documents in employee folders. Indexing fixes this. Since all of your electronic personnel files are categorized, you can report on all of that information. This is commonly used to ensure all staff folders are up-to-date with all required documentation via an “Exception Report”. An “Exception” or “Audit Report” will query your electronic filing system for any documents you deem as required in staff folders. You can also have the same report look for expiring documents to ensure all of your personnel folders are up-to-date.

For example, staff may be required to have the following 3 documents in their folder at all times: An I-9, a W-4 and a current Handbook Acknowledgement. Your staff can access a report for this information on the fly or have it automatically emailed to them. The report will tell you exactly which staff members are missing which specific required documents from their folders and which employees have a Handbook Acknowledgement that is due to expire within the next 60 days. In this way, HR can always be assured that all employee folders are up-to-date with all required documentation. 

Start Managing Your HR Files Easier Today

DynaFile is an electronic filing software that has been helping Human Resources departments manage their files more efficiently for over 15 years. Scanning automation tools allow your team to take the entire department paperless fast. From there, you can instantly retrieve the documents you need with a simple index search and run on-the-fly internal audits using custom reports. Best of all, integration with popular electronic onboarding solutions like DocuSign and iCIMS means that HR can stop generating paperwork all together – from the minute an employee is hired! Please contact us today for more information and a free demo!

Filing with Barcodes Helps Automate Document Scanning

by

Taking your files paperless can be a time-intensive process. Utilizing barcode cover sheets can help automate the process.

Revolutionize document scanning with barcode cover sheets. DynaFile's scan-to-cloud system leverages barcodes for swift, accurate document sorting, bypassing traditional “scan, name, save” methods. Explore our streamlined approach to going paperless and optimize your file management. Schedule your free demo now!

Anyone who has scanned hundreds of documents knows that the biggest time sink is not feeding the paper into the scanner. The difficulty arises when you have to separate out each document and putting them into the correct folder. Organizing each document, separating it, naming it, and sorting the document into a folder takes a lot of time. One of the best solutions to this problem is straightforward: filing with barcodes via cover sheets.

Cover sheets are easy to use. Simply print them out one time and they can be reused over and over again. When you’re ready to scan a folder, just add the cover sheet to the folder, directly in front of the appropriate section. This method allows for a way to separate documents by collating in advance. Once all the collation is done, the entire folder is fed into the scanner. The software can then pick up which document goes where based upon the cover sheet. An assembly line of scanning and adding cover sheets maximizes labor hours.

So how does software recognize these cover sheets and know where to sort them? The answer is simple, but powerful. Barcodes placed on each cover sheet make it easy for the scanner to read and sort. In addition, bar codes are resilient against the variety of printing problems. If artifacts (little “printer hiccups” such as dots) get printed, the bar code is long enough to avoid problems. The same is not true of QR codes, where one tiny misprint can ruin the entire QR code. This is also an advantage over OCR or “text recognition” methods that have a hard time reading hand-written text and dealing with paper shifts that commonly occur during scanning. Also, bar codes do not need any special, unique printer or scanner. Every printer on the market has no trouble printing out a bar code and your document management system has the tools to read the barcodes.

Not all systems need to incorporate barcode scanners into their workflows, but this is a very powerful tool for making the switch to a paperless filing system. Many companies use barcode recognition methods to convert their existing paper files to electronic format. It cuts out a great many steps and saves staff a ton of time over traditional “scan, name, save” methods.

If you would like to learn more about using barcode recognition, contact us today. DynaFile is a scan-to-cloud filing system that allows for the use of barcode cover sheets. Just one of DynaFile’s scanning automation methods, barcode recognition can be used to take an entire department paperless quickly and easily. From there, DynaFile lets you take all of your pen-and-paper workflows online so you can stay paperless going forward. Contact us for a free demo!

91% of Managers are Unhappy with Your Onboarding Process

by

Did you know that 91% of managers are unhappy with their company’s onboarding process? Paperless employee onboarding can help.

Transform your onboarding process and satisfy the 91% of managers unhappy with traditional methods. DynaFile’s paperless onboarding system not only streamlines HR tasks but also offers new hires a seamless, paperwork-free start. Let's redefine the onboarding experience. Request a free demo now!

Did you know that a recent study by ADP found that only 9% of managers are happy with their organization’s onboarding process? That is a dismally low figure from those interacting with your staff on a day-to-day basis. If 91% of managers are unhappy with your onboarding process, just think of how your new-hires feel. The question is, “How can we improve our onboarding process?” The answer may lie with a paperless onboarding solution.

Going paperless improves the onboarding experience.

“The first days and weeks on the job for new employees are crucial and make or break a new employee’s impression on whether or not they want to stay. It is both an exciting and stressful time. The last thing a new hire wants to do is sit in isolation, wading through mounds of paperwork.” – Anna Carsen, ADP. Think back to your first day on the job and I’m sure you will agree with Anna. No new employee wants to waste their first day with a stack of relentless paperwork. The good news is, with a paperless onboarding process, your new staff can review, fill out and legally sign all onboarding documents online BEFORE their first day on the job. Your new hires show up on Day 1 ready to join the team and hit the ground running. Don’t stifle their enthusiasm with a day full of paper-pushing.

Paperless onboarding saves a ton of time for HR.

Assembling paper onboarding packets can be a real chore. It involves a lot of printing, copying, scanning, stapling and review before all is said and done. If your organization has a high turnover rate or is growing quickly, using this paper onboarding process can be incredibly tedious. With a paperless onboarding process, your HR team will have templates for all of your different onboarding packets ready to go. When a new employee is hired, HR simply has to select the appropriate onboarding packet and enter the new-hire’s name and email address. Workflow and routing for the packets can even be built directly into those onboarding templates so you know the appropriate people have always reviewed the information they were supposed to. Best of all, completed and signed onboarding documents are automatically filed in that new employee’s folder automatically.

Learn more about paperless onboarding.

If you would like to learn more about improving your onboarding process, contact us today. DynaFile has been helping HR departments operate more efficiently for over a decade. Our paperless onboarding solution gives your new hires a easy experience and can save your HR team a ton of time. Please give us a call today to see a free demo.

3 Tips for Boosting HR Productivity

by

Keeping HR running smoothly is a serious challenge. Switching to electronic personnel files can help boost productivity in a number of ways.

Enhance your HR department’s efficiency with DynaFile’s electronic personnel files. From instant document retrieval, paperless onboarding to automatic audit reports, simplify your processes and skyrocket productivity. Ditch the chaos of traditional filing and embrace a streamlined solution. Request a free demo today!

Human Resource departments are incredibly important to any organization. On any given day, your HR team is working on a variety of responsibilities and dealing with a ton of paperwork. With that much paper-pushing involved, there is a lot of room to make things run smoother. Switching to electronic personnel files can help streamline your existing workflows and save your team serious time and money. Here are 3 simple ways electronic personnel files can help boost productivity across your entire HR department. 

Instant File Retrieval

We all know how frustrating managing paper files is. Many of us envision bulky filing cabinets, overflowing with paper folders that are bursting at the seems.. And many times, this is HR’s reality! No matter how often your team goes through and re-organizes everything, you can rest assured that your file draws will return to chaos quicker than you would like. This makes finding documents incredibly irritating and time-consuming.

Electronic personnel files allow HR to do away with disorganized filing cabinets. Instead, your personnel files are stored in an electronic system that allows your team to retrieve files instantly, from anywhere. Pull up files based upon the employee’s name, ID number, department, or other identifying factors. You can even run filtered searches to pull up files based on department, document type, region, etc. With electronic personnel files, the documents you need are always right at your fingertips.

Paperless Onboarding

​Onboarding a new employee requires a lot of paperwork. From HR’s perspective, this process is extremely inefficient on paper. Everytime a new-hire joins the company, your team needs to download, print, copy, assemble and prepare the onboarding packet for your new employee to sign. These repetitive tasks can be completely eliminated with a switch to electronic personnel files.

With paperless onboarding, online forms and esignatures take the place of pen-and-paper onboarding forms. Instead of filling out all of their paperwork in your office on their first day, new hires can review, fill out and legally sign all of their onboarding documentation before their first day on the job. Once finished, all completed onboarding documents are automatically filed in the new-hires electronic personnel folder. The best part is that it only takes HR about 30 seconds to send out an onboarding packet this way.. Simply select the appropriate onboarding template, enter the new-hire’s name and email address – and you’re done.

Automatic Audit Reports

Human Resources spends a lot of time ensuring that their records comply with state and federal regulations. One of the most important aspects of compliancy is making sure all of your employee folders contain all required documents and that everything is up-to-date. With a paper filing system, this can be a complete nightmare. With electronic personnel files, however, you can maintain compliance automatically.

Electronic personnel files allow you to run automatic reports on your staff folders. These reports will check to see that all personnel folders contain all required documents and that all time-sensitive materials are up-to-date. With an electronic system like this, your team can be automatically notified when an employee’s folder is missing required documentation or when a training, certification or policy acknowledgement is coming up for renewal.

See How It Works

Are you interested in making the move to electronic personnel files? If so, contact us today for more information. DynaFile’s paperless HR solution has been helping companies operate more efficiently for over 15 years. Our system allows your team to eliminate many redundant tasks typically centered around paperwork to boost productivity and streamline the entire department. Contact us today for a free demo!

57% of Turnover Happens in Under a Year

by

Did you know that 57% of new-hires that leave their job will do so within their first year? Electronic onboarding can help.

Boost employee retention and streamline HR efficiency with DynaFile's electronic onboarding. Navigate the challenges of high turnover seamlessly and offer new-hires a modern, efficient onboarding experience. Transform HR processes with automation and eliminate redundant tasks. Discover the future of onboarding – request a free demo now!

Hiring’s a tricky business. There is a delicate balance between getting someone that is perfectly qualified for the position and making sure that person is secure and happy in their new role. This predicament is all too clear in a recent study showing that more than half of new-hires that leave their job will do so within the first year. So, the question becomes, how does the company better retain employees? Or, at the very least, how to make HR as efficient as possible in dealing with turnover? Here are a few ways moving to an electronic onboarding process can help.

Improve employee retention with electronic onboarding.

The onboarding process is one of your new employee’s first experiences with your company – so, let’s make it a positive one! Having a well-defined onboarding process in place will help your new-hire feel at ease and give them confidence that they have joined a modern company that values efficiency and progress. Electronic onboarding solutions also help your new employee move through their packet easier. Information that they have already entered will be auto-completed on forms that come later on in the onboarding packet. Not only does this save a ton of time and effort for your new-hires, but it also cuts down on typos as they only have to enter important information like their address and SSN one time.

Electronic onboarding helps HR manage high turnover.

In certain industries like Retail, Leisure, Transportation and Temporary Staffing; high turnover can be something that is hard to avoid. For HR departments in these areas of business, an efficient electronic onboarding process is essential. The most important thing to avoid are redundant tasks that your Human Resources team typically does every time a new employee is hired. Electronic onboarding systems allow you to create templates for your different onboarding packets. When it is time to onboard a new employee, simply select the appropriate onboarding template, enter your new-hire’s name and email address – and you’re done. Your new employee can review, fill out and sign everything paperlessly from their desk, in your office, on a tablet or even from home (before their first day on the job). 

Implementing electronic onboarding is easier than ever.

Getting started with electronic onboarding is a quick and simple process. Paperless HR solutions like DynaFile combine employee file management with electronic onboarding. So, once your new-hire’s onboarding packet is completed, it is automatically filed in their digital folder. Best of all, onboarding templates can be sent out time and time again so HR no longer needs to waste time copying, scanning, faxing and mailing documents.

Want to learn more about switching to an electronic onboarding process? Contact us at DynaFile today. Our robust HR solution has been helping companies go paperless and improve efficiency for 15 years. Contact us for a free demo!