If you’re like most company leaders, you’re probably making use of employee self-service software to a certain extent. In fact, in a joint study by Paycom and HR.com, 88.5 percent of companies surveyed used self-service tools. And about 87 percent of these organizations considered self-service software to be the most efficient way to provide employees with payroll and HR information.
However, we also found that a large number of the organizations surveyed aren’t getting as much out of their self-service software as they potentially could. They are leaving functionality on the table and missing out on the opportunity to streamline their training, ensure that forms are efficiently completed and securely stored, and improve the accuracy of information entered by their employees.
Streamlined Employee Training
Companies that use their employee self-service software as a platform for training are able to reach a large number of employees with one streamlined training effort, rather than scheduling several training meetings to accommodate staff schedules, wasting time and losing productivity.
Incorporating training videos and slideshows into existing employee self-service software allows your employees to complete trainings when their schedules allow.
In our research, companies are using self-service technology to serve many functions (some of the most common include accessing payroll information and enrolling in benefits). Unfortunately, only 39 percent of companies we surveyed that are already utilizing self-service software are taking advantage of employee training opportunities through that software. Most organizations are missing out on this opportunity.
Secure, Efficiently Completed Forms
The forms that your employees are already filling out can be integrated with an existing self-service software to make it easier for them to complete and ensure that you can store the forms securely and efficiently. We found that this is another area where many organizations have room for improvement.
Of the organizations we surveyed that used self-service software, HR entered 50 percent or less of employee information in only 40 percent of those organizations. In 29 percent of surveyed companies with self-service software, HR was still entering 90 percent or more employee data.
Having a way for your employees to fill out performance reviews, feedback surveys and other forms within employee self-service software allows them to complete the forms on their own time, allowing your HR department to focus on more mission-critical projects. It can also cut down on paper storage and allow anyone who needs access to the completed forms to find them in one secure location online.
Accurate Employee Information
One surprising finding from our study was that while 87 percent of respondents said that employee self-service software was helpful, HR still enters in over 50 percent of employee data for 60 percent of surveyed companies using self-service software. The most common barrier that kept organizations from having a majority of information entered by their employees (instead of their HR department) was a concern over the accuracy of employee-entered data.
That’s a valid concern, but from our research, employee-entered data has the opportunity to improve information accuracy. Over 80 percent of organizations we surveyed determined that employee-entered data helps hold employees accountable for the accuracy of the data—and 51 percent agreed that employee accountability for that accuracy reduces compliance risk.
In addition to a reduced compliance risk, having employees enter their own information can free up your HR department to do more strategic work. In fact, improving your company’s usage of employee self-service software can help your HR department save up to 10 hours per week!