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Automate HR services for better efficiency

When you think of a business process with automation potential, do you think of a particular team? Human resources may not be the first obvious priority. However, there are many manual procedures in the HR daily reality, and automating these can make them more efficient.

For example, an employee is recruited by your company, and human resources must ensure that it is well integrated. Despite their goodwill, they can not achieve this integration alone. The IT department must activate equipment, applications and access upon hiring. How to automate HR operations without slowing down the efficiency and learning curve of the new employee?

For several years now, IT Service Management Systems (ITSM) have not been confined to information technology but focused on providing real value to the organization and its business services (finance, customer service, human resources, procurement, logistics). These tools also aim to support various processes outside IT; we are now talking about Enterprise Service Management (ESM).

Enterprise Service Management (ESM) is the technology platform that allows you to do just that. This article will help you learn more about how process automation makes human resource management more fluid and efficient.

The expectations of the business unit services

Currently, repetitive and manual actions can complicate the task of HR specialists. Staff turnover, relocations, access changes or promotions of all kinds sometimes result in many requests that must be processed quickly. Human resources services want more efficiency and above all, offer better services in a shorter time. The process is underway, but will continue to evolve, as shown by a CareerBuilder survey, which accounts for 37% of automated HR processes compared to 53% for IT.

Still according to CareerBuilder, 72% of employers expect some human resource roles to be fully automated in the next decade

Concretely, ESM software automates the delivery of services. Users can submit service requests instead of using manual processes to accomplish tasks. The service they ask for can see the request, who sent it, and when. Decision-makers can then approve or reject the request.

HR: A good fit for process automation

What makes human resources a good candidate?
This area has many manual processes that could be made more efficient by introducing automation.
Here's an example: 

George has just moved and needs to change his address with the Human Resources Department.
This process involves a change of location, and he is waiting for someone to send the change of address form, then fill out the form and wait for someone to enter the information into a database.
As with many of our clients, sending an email to HR directly would go into a shared inbox that would never be checked, so it would be moot.

What would this process look like with ESM software?
George would go on an online platform, fill out a form or open a virtual agent or chatbot.
He would type his request to change his address.
The ESM platform then connects the new info to the employee information database and updates George’s address accordingly.
Badabing-Badaboom. Done.  

The contrast between the two processes is enormous.
In the first example, George needs other resources and has to go through several steps for a task that should be simple.
In the second example, George can skip talking with anyone to complete the required task and finishes it within a few minutes.

This is a simple example, but it can easily be replicated even for more complex processes, such as onboarding a new employee and managing the associated accounts, access, and equipment.

Human resources should be involved in something other than non-essential processes or those that don't directly concern individuals. With an ESM (Enterprise Service Management) system, HR operations can be quick and efficient through automation, leaving them with more time to develop your staff and business strategies.