When launching a startup or a small business that initially has only a handful of employees, keeping expenses low is seen as essential. However, being frugal in a business can sometimes come back to bite you later, and, in hindsight, you’ll see it was a poor decision. Compromising on HR software and getting a better quality one is something that companies mustn’t delay. It can set the stage for employment issues otherwise. Here is why.
Non-Standardized Onboarding Process Leads to Inconsistencies
Onboarding processes need to cover all the requirements, both from the company’s perspective and the employee’s perspective too. When the onboarding is unstructured or haphazard, parts of it get omitted or employees experience different things depending on when they joined the team.
Failure to Keep Records Confidential is Problematic
Employee records must be kept confidential at all times. This is a requirement but also an expectation that each employee has. Mistakes can happen with documents stored on hard drives where the wrong one gets forwarded to someone by mistake. We read about this type of thing in news articles when information reaches the press that shouldn’t have. Companies need to do all they can to prevent this. By using HR software like the app from Zenefits, companies can use proper security that stops the sharing of confidential employee information to unauthorized third parties.
Adhere to Rules and Regulations
When taking on new employees and managing existing ones, submitting correctly completed tax forms (both state and federal), any ACA documentation, and relevant fees paid, is necessary to avoid potential fines. Each state will have different requirements depending on the structure of the business. HR software can be updated with the latest requirements both on the state and federal side of things, to ensure that what must get submitted is correctly prepared. This overlaps both with taking on new employees, and with payroll requirements too.
Keep and Maintain Correct Employee Information
The company is responsible for ensuring that the information it keeps about its employees is as accurate and current as possible. This applies whether it relates to disability information, their past work history, complete records of disciplinary action, the leave they’re previously taken, or something else. Also, sometimes law enforcement relies on contacting an employer to request relevant information to locate their employee. The more updated and factually accurate the records are, the better. Without using HR software to store this information, it becomes much harder to be consistent in what information is gathered and to know when it was last updated.
Creates a Backlog of Data Entry
For busy HR departments, needing to switch from a manual system or an ineffective one to HR software that ticks all the boxes is a wrench. Doing this from the beginning rather than later is much easier.
Growing businesses will see the HR team often struggle to keep up with recruitment, onboarding, and disciplinary actions. They’re left running to keep up and having to hire more HR staff to do so. Using inefficient systems and then compounding this by implementing an effective HR solution too late leads to a backlog of data entry. This cannot be passed off to other employees because of its confidential nature, making matters worse still.
By not delaying the adoption of relevant HR software, companies make life easier for themselves and the hard-working team in Human Resources.
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Cerity recommends that businesses do what they can to streamline their employee information to avoid confusion