5 Ways HR Teams Can Use Technology to Save Time and Reduce Stress

5 Ways HR Teams Can Use Technology to Save Time and Reduce StressHuman resources professionals are typically advocates of employee wellness in the workplace. However, whos championing the well-being of HR personnel and looking for ways to help them save time and be more efficient in their work?Why bother? you might ask. It turns out that the majority of menschlich resources employees are buried in a ton of work, and often experience stress and burnout.The biggest survey of HR professionals conducted by People Management revealed that 37% of those who work in HR feel extremely overwhelmed at least four times per month or at least once a week. Another 50% said they feel stressed at least once a month.The survey also revealed that 44% of HR personnel think their work has a negative effect on their mental health, while 38% said it has a negative impact on their physical wellbeing.Clearly, HR teams need tools to help them save time and be more efficient in their day-to-day responsibilitie s. Though it looks like the numbers paint gloom and doom, theres a silver lining. According to the same survey, 56% of HR professionals feel automation will have a positive impact on their productivity.With the many technologies and Human Capital Management Systems (HCMS) available today, it would be a waste not to take advantage of them, especially if they will greatly benefit your HR team.Here are 5 ways technology can help HR teams save time and minimize stress1. Automates Complicated and Error-Prone Payroll ProcessesEmployees look forward to receiving their paychecks. What they may not know is that those working in HR rarely look forward to payroll preparation. It remains one of the heaviest strains in their workload. Additionally, payroll is one of the most meticulous HR tasks, requiring 100% accuracy and compliance with different regulations.Payroll automation technologies can significantly reduce the stress associated with your payroll processes. Automating your payroll elimi nates complicated traditional processes, and the likelihood of errors. In fact, according to the American Payroll Association, using payroll automation can reduce the cost of payroll preparation by 80% by reducing errors in paychecks and invoices.Payroll automation can also simplify complicated payroll tasks such as determining rates for regular and overtime hours, entitlements, wage increases, and relocations.Using robust timekeeping software that ties in with your payroll can also help HR teams save time. It eliminates the need to manually go through timesheets.2. Empowers HR Teams for Easy Compliance ManagementAmong the many tasks HR teams are responsible for, compliance management often comes within a tight timeframe, making it difficult to meet deadlines and avoid penalties.With a Human Capital Management System, HR professionals can set up alerts to prompt them when employees are approaching overtime hours or benefits eligibility. Automating this process also ensures a company stays compliant with the ACA (Affordable Care Act) and FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) regulations.3. Provides Convenient Access to Critical ReportsDid you know that according to the Workforce Institute, 81% of employees work outside regular hours? Additionally, 63% of employees say they continue to work off the clock even if it violates company policy.It is the responsibility of the HR department to catch these operational anomalies. Given that the workforce is a companys biggest and most costly asset, HR professionals are expected to plan, measure, and optimize its performance and productivity.Once again, this is easier said than done if HR teams continue to perform this task manually. Creating reportage consumes a lot of time. For an HR team that is already overworked, this is bad news.Technology such as a timekeeping software gives HR teams access to in-depth reporting options with just a few clicks. Using comprehensive software, HR professionals can easily pinpoint various pro ductivity and performance areas that need improving. They can also customize dashboards and analytics for on-the-fly, ad hoc reports to identify leaks in an organizations operations, or even predict potential complications before they happen.4. Easily Define Specific Performance MetricsOne mistake companies make when doing performance appraisals is using a blanket set of metrics for everyone in the company. The reality is, with a diverse and nuanced workforce, key performance indicators should be tailored to accommodate this diversity.Today, HR experts agree that HR teams should be able to define three levels of review profiles (1) organization-specific review profiles (2) group-specific review profiles and (3) individual-specific review profiles.The benefit of using an HCM software for this purpose is that it allows efficient and effective tools for recording and disseminating information to match the differences across these performance metrics. The collected information allows ma nagers to document performance and specifically identify areas of improvement during appraisals customized to their subordinates specific needs.Advanced technologies even allow for the creation of a self-service feature where employees can have instant, online access to their own performance metrics, including on-demand training. This empowers employees to suggest their own career development path and create solutions to challenges they encounter.5. Constantly Get Employee Feedback to Boost Engagement and Strengthen RetentionDo you think sending out employee feedback surveys and organizing the data into simple, useful reports is easy?Think again.This is one of the indispensable duties of every HR team in any organization. An automated system that employees can use to give honest and constructive feedback is one of the best ways to boost retention and foster engagement in the workplace.With technology, HR teams can create an ongoing feedback mechanism and a continuous progress check program to build and keep momentum, which is far more beneficial than the typical quarterly or annual surveys. Using the old school method, employees are already disgruntled by the time surveys are sent.The right tools provide managers and HR professionals with immediate employee feedback that can be addressed before employee dissatisfaction becomes irreversible, and before attrition disrupts the workplace.Smart and Efficient HR Teams Use TechnologyThe reality is HR teams workloads are not going to get lighter anytime soon. As operations in the workplace become more complex, and as needs of employees evolve, the responsibilities of HR professionals will continue to grow.Fortunately, adopting technology can help HR personnel be more efficient in conducting tedious and complicated tasks such as payroll, performance management, report creation, compliance management, and feedback collection.For years, HR teams have been championing for employee job satisfaction and a workplace that fos ters well-being while improving productivity. Considering the pivotal role HR teams play within organizations, its time we help champion for theirs.About the AuthorDean Mathews is the founder and CEO of OnTheClock, an online time clock app that helps over 8,000 geschftslebenes all around the world track their employee time.Dean has over 20 years of experience designing and developing web-based business apps. He views software development as a form of art. If the artist creates a masterpiece, many peoples lives are touched and changed for the better.When he is not perfecting time tracking, Dean enjoys expanding his faith, spending time with family, friends and finding ways to make the world just a little better. You can find Dean on LinkedIn.