Office filing cabinets used to provide a single source of information when everything was done on paper. It wasn’t a perfect system – only one person could have a file at any one time, pieces of paper could get lost or misfiled, and information could only be viewed in the office – but paper-based files at least brought all information together into one place. Now, a lot of information is exchanged electronically. It’s faster, more collaborative and reduces the need for costly storage, yet, there’s still a need for a central information repository, and one that can bring together communications of all type – paper and electronic.
As a function, HR handles a lot of information. Records of employees and applicants must adhere to rules regarding data protection and information retention. An efficient records management system is needed to capture all necessary information, keep records up to date, and stay compliant.
Managing multiple information sources
When information is held in a variety of places and across a range of formats, records can get out of step. Printing everything isn’t an ideal solution – not only does it take time and incur cost in paper and storage, but it also suffers from the same problems of the paper-only systems of yesteryear: collaboration is harder to achieve when the single source of information is in one physical file and it’s difficult to support a range of access rights.
This is of particular importance in HR, when certain employee information must be restricted to certain groups. Yet, files become fragmented and processes more complicated when certain information has to be kept physically separate.
Instead, electronic document management software offers a solution. For HR records it:
- cuts down on the need for expensive storage space
- enables simultaneous file access
- provides easier access to information through simple file retrieval
- can support different access rights when restrictions apply to special category data.
Turn things around with a single digital information store
Scan existing documents, combine all files from across all sources and upload them to the system to create a single, centralised electronic record. Within a web-based document management system, records can be easily accessed, and subsequent scanned documents and digital files added. There’s no need to manually key in new information, saving staff time and reducing the possibility of errors.
With faster, more efficient access to documents, and files no longer unavailable due to someone else having them, information requests can be more rapidly dealt with.
To find out how Quadient can help you improve HR processes with better records management, take a look at what electronic document management software can do.
