The digital transition is revolutionizing the business world. For Human Resources Departments, it is bringing in its wake the dematerialization of processes, allowing HR departments to reduce the time spent on time-consuming tasks related to document and information management, in order to refocus on their core business: recruiting, managing, developing and retaining employees!
The virtuous dematerialization of HR processes
On the organizational level
The processing of a great deal of data is now automated thanks to the use of several innovations: workflows (software that makes it possible to model and automate the flow of information within the company), EDM (electronic document management) and EDI (electronic data interchange).
All of these tools contribute to HR agility. We suggest you download the white paper dedicated to this subject.
What are the benefits of dematerialization for the organizational dimension?
The dematerialization contributes on the one hand to secure the exchanges, they are also better raced and less doomed to the hazards of human errors… The accessibility to the information by all is guaranteed and facilitated. The collection and analysis of various data are also simplified. Finally, the processes are harmonized within the company.
On the economic level
The progression of dematerialization and its contribution to the economy are not debated: the global market was estimated at 7.3 billion euros in 2018. This figure should rise to 9 billion in 2020 (source: Xerfi-percepta), generating an even more staggering figure: thousands of tons of paper saved, not to mention staplers, binders and other paper shredding machines! Finally, HR departments are seeing a definite increase in productivity thanks to the drop in costs related to manual processing and storage of all these documents.
In terms of sustainable development
Paper, it is well known, has a bad press: deforestation, waste, pollution… And even if today’s environmental impact studies do not give a blank check to digitization, they agree to favor it over the overconsumption of paper of the past years…
The adequacy of the tools with the HR processes
The dematerialization of HR processes is not a trivial project and is progressing at a rapid pace… Just as was the case for e-mails and then invoices, the dematerialized payslip is now a must. It is authorized by legislation since January 2017, provided that the employee does not object. Automation and dematerialization are also gaining ground in recruitment: software makes it easier to sort out CVs, then classify and store them in huge databases that form pools that can be consulted at will. Social networks are also becoming more and more involved in the recruitment process, especially Linkedin, which is gradually becoming a reference in this field.
Harmonize the Strategic Workforce Planning and its tools
The Strategic Workforce Planning (Gestion Prévisionnelle des Emplois et des skills) and training courses are not to be outdone, with software dedicated to data and needs analysis, as well as e-learning training modules. Finally, and more globally, HR departments will be using more and more dematerialized services. To help them with these particularly challenging projects, many service providers offer to support them, starting with the implementation of an audit to identify needs and plan the evolution of the HRIS (Human Resources Management Information System) tool.
These service providers offer to set the milestones of dematerialization: “step by step” or complete reorganization. But they are also there to advise them in the choice of technologies: ERP software, HR solutions in SaaS mode, outsourcing of certain tasks such as recruitment or payroll. ERP allows for more customization, SaaS mode offers lower costs and faster deployment, while outsourcing is absolutely flexible.
Choosing the right methodology
The choice of the chosen solution should not be made lightly. It must be the result of a very detailed analysis of the needs identified in the specifications, which will take into account not only the needs of the field (thanks to internal surveys) but also: the environment of the company, its possible legal specificities, the needs of the IT department, the budget that it allocates to dematerialization, the volume of documents concerned, etc. Once established, these specifications can be used as a basis for a call for tenders to select the most suitable service provider.
