Record Compliance

If personnel files are on paper or just difficult to access from outside of the office, now is the time to prioritize HR’s file management strategy.  Here are a few things to consider when it comes to personnel files and remote access for your HR team during the coronavirus shutdown. 

Instant Access

How long does it take to find a specific document for any given employee?  What if you’re working from home and unable to be in the office?  It’s crucial to know that HR can reach important personnel documents with just a couple clicks – from anywhere.  A secure HR file cloud provides an easy to way to stay connected. 

Audit Readiness

A file request can come from an auditor, attorney, or management at anytime.  Are your personnel files ready when the time comes?  Ensuring folders include all required documents – and that those documents are not expired – keeps your team prepared.  With the right HR file solution, you can track important documents to always know personnel files are ready for upcoming audits.

Document Updates

What if your personnel files are missing critical documentation?  Are you able to append and update files remotely?  HR should be able to easily add documents to personnel folders and have staff complete forms online if need be.  Nowadays, there’s no reason not to have an up-to-date personnel file, even when working from home.  

Get Up To Speed Today

DynaFile is a secure HR file cloud that makes managing personnel documents easy from anywhere.  Be up and running fast with expert assistance and over 20 years of experience.  Contact us to get setup today. 

The HR team is responsible for ensuring employee files are up-to-date and managed with compliance.  When an auditor inevitably requests to check on your files, it’s critical that HR knows their files are current with all required information.  Here’s how to prepare for an HR audit the easy way using electronic employee files. 

File Audit Reports

With all of your HR files in digital format, keeping track of what’s in an employee’s folder becomes a lot easier.  Long-gone are the days of manually thumbing through each employee’s folder to find required documents and checking on renewal dates. 

Instead, use your HR filing system to automatically wrap up actionable documents into a summary audit report.  With these audit reports, keeping track of files become so much easier because HR knows exactly which documents need to be updated for specific staff and when. 

Paperless Renewals

When an employee has to renew a form or update documentation for their folder, they can now do so digitally as well.  Simply send staff a link to the forms they need to complete or have them fill them out on a computer or tablet in the office. 

Employees can review, fill out, and electronically sign all of their forms online.  Once everything is completed, signed forms are automatically saved in their folder for long-term file management. 

The workflows you can utilize this for are endless.  HR, for example, can use the same method for their entire onboarding process if desired.

Access for Auditors

We’ve talked about how electronic employee files can make audits much easier for HR, but did you know that most auditors prefer a digital audit process as well?  That’s because auditors can now review the files they need from anywhere.

Simply give your auditor limited access to the digital files they request.  They’ll be able to access and review just the files you made available to them remotely.  Auditors like it because they don’t have to travel and HR loves it because they don’t have auditors looking over their shoulder. 

Start This Summer

Need a way to streamline audits?  Start this summer!  DynaFile is an HR filing system that makes audits easy.  Keep track of files with audit reports, get forms renewed online, and give auditors remote access to the files they request.

Best of all, DynaFile allows your HR team to eliminate record silos and streamline filing across the entire department.  Consolidate documents from paper, different offices, and various systems into one centralized, HIPAA compliant filing solution. 

Contact us today for more information and a free demo!

Raise your hand if you like dealing with paper! Well, I’m not surprised at the lack of enthusiasm on this subject. Human Resources professionals deal with a ton of paper and keeping it all organized can be an incredible challenge. 

Unfortunately, paper is the filing method being used by a huge number of HR departments – simply because it’s what they started with back when there was no alternative. After working with paper files for so long, you may not even realize how much time is wasted searching for documents, filing, copying, scanning, emailing, printing, faxing, and refiling. 

These days, though, companies are freeing up time for the HR team by moving to more paperless processes like electronic employee files and digital onboarding. Here are some of the ways paper may be leeching productivity away from the HR team and what you can do about it. 

Why is paper a problem for HR?

It’s HR’s job to ensure all employee folders are up-to-date with required forms and documents. At the very least, each employee should have all of their required onboarding, tax, and policy forms in their folder to ensure compliance with government regulations.

But, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Most companies have quite a few additional acknowledgements, benefits info, and other documents that needs to be reviewed, completed, signed; and eventually filed in the employee’s folder.

The problem here is that HR is required to store and manage this huge mass of files with both:

1.) Confidentiality to protect staff privacy and personal information; and

2.) With easy accessibility in the event of an audit

When this is the case, a paper filing system just doesn’t cut it. Here’s why.

Where does paper cause the biggest issues?

File Audits

Paper files are notoriously hard to manage over a long period of time. It is all too easy for a piece of paper to be accidentally place in the wrong folder, get retrieved and never make it’s way back to the drawer, or just wind up crumpled and illegible. How sure are you that all of your folders are complete and current when the auditor walks in?

Compliance

It is required that different types of confidential information about staff is stored in separate folders to ensure only authorized eyes can view it. On paper, though, it can be a challenge to maintain 5 or more individual folders for every staff member. Hopefully something like a medical report hasn’t accidentally made it’s way into the Personnel tab!

Disaster Recovery

With reports of monster hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria still fresh on our minds, disaster recovery should be a big focus for HR. If all of your files are on paper, what is in place to keep them safe in the event of a natural disaster like flooding from a hurricane? Having a physical paper backup for all of your paper files is near impossible.

How does paper affect HR in the long run?

Although the issues mentioned above can make HR’s job significantly harder, the main reason to go paperless simply comes back to efficiency. Paper filing systems just tend to always move towards greater disorder, slowly suffocating the HR team. When HR moves from paper to an electronic filing system, many redundant tasks can be completely eliminated and many menial tasks can be automated. 

Here are a few examples…

Filing and Retrieving Documents

Your electronic filing system can keep documents organized by categories like Employee Name, ID, Department, Folder Section, Document Type, Expiration Date, etc. The system uses this information to automatically file your documents in the correct location.

So, no need to manually name files, create folders, and find the right place to save when adding documents to the system. When it’s time to retrieve a file, you can pull them up using the same information mentioned above. This can save you a lot of time as you can pull folders across the entire database. For example, all Benefits documents for Active employees in the Sales department that are Expiring in the next 90 days.  

Electronic Onboarding

When a new hire comes on-board, they have quite a bit of paperwork to fill out. With an electronic filing system, new hires can now review, fill out, and legally sign all of their onboarding documents online. Once completed, all finished forms are automatically filed in their electronic folder.

Electronic onboarding saves time for both your HR staff and new hires. Plus, it can be a breath of fresh air for new employees to have the option of filling out their new hire documents in advance of their first day, without the pressure of rushing through them. 

File Audit Reports

With your files stored electronically, keeping track of them becomes way easier. File audit reports can be used to ensure all employee folders are up-to-date with required documents. The report will show your team if an employee is missing a required document, has a required document in their folder, or has a something coming up for renewal.

When to take the next step?

If you’re using a paper filing system in the HR department, you may consider moving a more paperless process this year. Many times, the move to paperless costs a lot less than you might imagine. Some electronic filing systems are even considered “paperless HR solutions” and include scanning automation tools to help convert your paper files faster. 

DynaFile is a paperless HR solution that has been helping companies achieve a higher level of efficiency for over 15 years. Take a shortcut to electronic employee files with scanning automation and manage documents easier throughout the entire lifecycle of the file. Electronic onboarding, file audit reports, and more make it easy to transition from paper files to the cloud. Interested? Contact us for a free demo!