Paper is emblematic of back-office HR processes, and it’s expensive.  Per a 2022 Sapling study, 58% of organizations say their onboarding process is focused on Processes and Paperwork.  While CareerBuilder research indicates that paper-based candidate workflows result in 40%+ of HR Managers spending 3+ hours manually onboarding an employee, and 16% spending 5+ hours.  There are numerous stand-alone digital form solutions available in today’s marketplace to displace the paper.  However, from a process  improvement perspective, these systems do not integrate “out of the box” with many back-office HR and Payroll systems (especially legacy systems used for HRIS and Payroll).

This lack of electronic forms integration results in manual keying or copy/paste of applicant and employee data into the HR/Payroll system of record, substantially eroding the labor savings and quality/compliance improvements realized in transitioning to digital forms.  Fortunately, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can fill this integration gap and allow for a fully automated “hands-off” digital form process.

Specifically, an RPA enabled forms automation solution works as follows:

• Manual paper forms are transitioned to a digital workplace productivity platform (such as Formstack) – providing digital, mobile-friendly forms, electronic signatures, automated workflow, HIPPA, GDPR & Section 508 compliance, and more.

• Upon completion of a digital form (and associated approval, if required), Formstack writes all form content to an Excel-based data repository.

• An RPA bot monitors the Excel data repository. When new form data arrives, the bot then keys the form data directly into the HR and Payroll systems to ensure all HRIS data is appropriately updated to reflect the digital form content.

• When the data entry is complete, the bot sends an email to the designated HR representative confirming that the form processing was successful.

Not only is paper-based HR inefficient and expensive (Gartner states that every time an employee touches a piece of paper, it costs $20), but it erodes the overall employee experience. Today’s new hires do not want an onboarding process riddled with formidable paper forms and formalities, as supported by the same Sapling study referenced earlier, finding that a great onboarding process can improve employee retention by 82%.

By combining a digital forms platform with Robotic Process Automation, you can rapidly enable your team to ensure that all employees (new and old) have positive and productive transactional experiences with HR and Payroll.

Contact us today to learn more about retiring your antiquated paper-based HR and Payroll processes with digital forms and RPA.