BridgeBuilder HRMS Feature Highlight 2023
Without doubt, managing people is a fundamental responsibility of HR Departments. However, the handling of HR documents that come along with it is of equal importance to maintain a smooth operation. In general, the management of HR documents involves the handling, storing and timely disposal of all employee documents, such as identifications, academic qualifications, professional qualifications, medical certificates etc., across the entire employment lifecycle. With an effective HR management system equipped with a proper document management function, your company can not only accelerate work efficiency, but also better protect your company from legal risks by securing all the sensitive and confidential data.
What are the Common Practices of HR Document Management?
Without the help of a HR management system, HR Departments may need to handle mountains of paperwork and rely heavily on manual methods to manage the documents. Yet, these methods have some limitations that may impose a higher risk of document loss, misplacement, unauthorized disclosure which may even violate the labour laws. Below are some of the common practices that HR Departments may apply daily to manage HR documents:
Physical Filing of HR Documents
Organize physical documents in folders and store in filing cabinets which requires a large room for storage. This method may involve tasks such as sorting, labeling, and retrieving specific documents which can be extremely difficult and time consuming when dealing with a large number of documents. If companies grow in size, you can imagine how effort consuming the task is. Moreover, it only allows limited access by employees who are physically present in the office with relatively low security and flexibility for remote working.
Save e-copies in Shared Drive or Google Drive
Save digital copies in a shared drive or Google drive can significantly enhance accessibility and security. HR managers can set access rights to ensure that only authorized employees can access certain files. However, it is difficult to completely avoid unauthorized disclosure of access links, especially via Google drive. Also, this method requires a reliable data backup system to ensure that the data is not lost due to technical issues.
Why is a Document Management System Important?
To facilitate business expansion, HR Departments must prioritize finding more efficient methods to handle daily tasks, and the introduction of a HR management system can definitely help streamline various cumbersome workflows. Despite the resources and money required to initiate digitalization, the investment will pay you off in the long run with the following benefits:
Guaranteed Compliance
HR Departments are responsible for ensuring compliance with Labour Laws, which often impose strict requirements for the proper handling and storage of employee records. Failure to comply with these laws can result in severe penalties or even imprisonment. An effective HR management system can ensure the proper maintenance and secure storage of confidential documents within the time period stipulated by the laws. HR no longer needs to manually maintain such records which further reduce legal risks and human errors.
Better Security & Privacy
HR documents often contain sensitive and confidential information, which requires appropriate security measures, such as encryption and access right control, to safeguard against unauthorized access and data breaches. A reliable document management system helps maintain a complete record of all document changes, including the date and time of each modification, which is critical in auditing and tracking unauthorized access. Such systems are often equipped with backup and disaster recovery capabilities to prevent data loss in sudden accidents, such as a fire or flood.
Enhanced Efficiency
Streamlining document storage and retrieval, a document management system allows HR Departments to store and organize documents in a centralized location, making it easy to retrieve documents. This eliminates the need for manual searching and reduces the time required to find specific documents. It also saves HR efforts by getting rid of manual sorting, labeling and filing.
How to Upgrade my Current HR Document Management Strategy?
Understanding HR’s needs and market trend of digitalization, BridgeBuilder HRMS (BBHRMS) has introduced a special feature in our employee personnel management module to help HR organize and store all employee documents. Users can find an additional document folder in each employee profile where they can securely store documents, such as identifications, professional certificates, academic certificates, or other HR-related documents with enhanced security and extra convenience:
Better Categorization
Users can assign a tag to electronic files when uploading documents to an employee's profile, such as academic qualification, professional qualification, staff contracts etc., making it easier to find specific types of documents of an employee in their profiles.
Better Protection of HR Data
By setting up different user accounts and access rights, HR managers can ensure that only the authorized employees can access certain confidential documents. Users have to log in to their accounts in order to view or make changes to the document folders, enabling managers to keep track of all modifications made by the team.
All in all, a document folder function help companies enhance their practices in terms of security, compliance and efficiency. By providing a centralized location for storing HR documents, the system also ensures access control to safeguard sensitive information. Additionally, it can streamline HR processes by reducing the time and efforts required for manual work which enhances accuracy and reduces human errors. The document folder feature offers a secure and user-friendly way to store, categorize, and retrieve HR documents, enabling a better control over document management and better user experience!