Is it time to spring clean your HR processes?

With the days drawing out, our thoughts are now turning to warmer days, brighter mornings, and summer holiday countdowns. And with the clocks due to go forward soon, is there a better time to ‘spring forward’ and spruce up your HR processes?

The HR professional is the epitome of organisation, in order to remain efficient processes must be streamlined, ensuring they remain effective. So with many of us now embarking on the annual clearing of the loft or shed in preparation for summer here are four top ways to spring clean your HR processes too.

Descale the payroll system

While the longer days are synonymous with spring, unfortunately for HR professionals the longer days can only ever mean one thing… the end of the typical financial year. Budgets needs to be totalled, and year-long audits must be completed, alongside the reams and reams of P60s that need to be produced. So while many of us see spring as the end of the long dark winter, for HR professionals it can often be the case of leaving one dark hole for another, at least until the end of April!

Instilling a number of clear processes can help alleviate some of this headache, but in order to remove it completely HR managers may wish to consider automating the process, freeing up valuable time for other important tasks. Equator HR‘s Payroll module is designed to provide maximum flexibility combined with ease of use for both small and large companies needing an effective solution for the complex task of payroll administration. Furthermore it is designed to meet HMRC legislation, which gives you one less thing to worry about!

Polish up your green processes

You know the scene, every year you tackle the mammoth task of sorting and filing that stack of papers that has steadily taken over your desk. Each year you mutter under your breath how next year will be different, you’ll keep on top of the paper work, you won’t print off each and every email, and you will commit time each week to shredding, filing and decluttering. Of course, this pipe dream never materialises and the ongoing saga continues for another year.

By automating a number of key administrative tasks HR managers can not only reduce their physical paper trail, making them more productive, but it can also help save the planet too. Some ways in which HR managers can achieve this is by hosting HR policies and procedures online, implementing a digital recruitment policy and even issuing employees with electronic pay slips.

Deep cleanse your dirty data

It’s not just your physical equipment which could benefit from the annual spring clean. One of the biggest reasons an existing HR system can fail is due to poor data. Throughout the year, any number of changes can present themselves, from change of addresses, new roles, alternative working hours, right through to employees retiring. With each of these circumstances there is an influx of new data which must be assigned to the correct employee record. Of course, this is then reliant on a dedicated member of the team to input, but who is ensuring the quality of this data? Removing duplicate and incorrect records?

In order to cleanse dirty data, HR managers should undertake regular audits to ensure data quality is never compromised. But what if you placed your employees in charge of their own records, equipped with the ability to edit their details should they need to? Placing the responsibility for employee records with your employees not only ensures data quality is correct and consistent, but also frees up HR manager’s time to dedicate to other tasks. Equator HR operates an employee portal, which grants employees access to the system, where they can manage their own details and book holidays, meaning that they no longer have to keep hunting down the HR manager for small tasks.

And if all else fails, out with the old and in with the new.

Spring cleans are a great way to declutter, throwing away those items which have long since stopped working or no longer have a use. The same can be said for HR software. If your software has stopped aiding the way you work and has become a bit of a chore, perhaps it’s time to consider what else is on the market? For advice on how an efficient HR system from Equator HR can save your business time and money, why not chat to one of our sales team today?