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You want your human resources department to do what it does best: Improve the human experience at your company.
But if your People Ops team has too much on its plate to actually interact with people, then they’re not tapping into their full potential—and their work isn’t likely as enjoyable as it could be either.
HR automation offers a solution. By taking over routine, time-intensive tasks, automation frees up time for People Ops to focus on more impactful work. In this guide, we’ll explain how this tech can transform your HR department—and, in turn, your entire operation.
What is HR automation?
Human resource automation refers to software that completes repetitive, time-consuming tasks that humans would usually perform, including application tracking, data entry, and employee onboarding. It can also run calculations (like payroll), keep HR workflows consistent, and collect performance and operational data. These tools often use artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing, and machine learning to do the work quickly without sacrificing accuracy.
In short, HR process automation gets your team back to interviewing and onboarding instead of data plugging.
Key benefits of HR automation for businesses
Leave the repetitive stuff to automation software, and you’ll have a happier, more fulfilled HR team. Here are some other advantages you can expect for your business:
Improved efficiency
Automation takes over time-intensive tasks, allowing hiring, onboarding, and offboarding workflows to move faster. AI-powered platforms also analyze data, giving your HR team the insight that it needs to make informed decisions—quickly.
Fewer errors
To err is human, but automation software minimizes the risk of miscalculations or data-entry mistakes. When the software handles the math, you’re less likely to face setbacks.
Easier compliance
With automation software, People teams don’t have to become experts on compliance for every state or country where they run payroll. HR automation tools guide users through benefits, labor regulations, taxes, and contracts. And when your company’s compliant, it’s safe from legal and fiscal consequences (like owing back taxes).
Streamlined payroll
HR software automates payroll tasks, making sure that employees and contractors—regardless of their geographical area or contract type—get paid correctly and on time.
Stronger employee experience
HR automation software benefits everyone. For HR teams, it frees up time to focus on people, not paperwork. For employees, self-service tools make it easier to access pay records, submit PTO requests, and manage benefits—without needing to go through HR.
Lower costs
HR automation tools cut down on administrative overhead by eliminating paper forms and manual tasks. Plus, HR software’s accuracy with data and calculations helps prevent costly errors, translating into real savings.
HR automation examples and use cases
HR departments' pain points often include lengthy onboarding procedures and complex compliance requirements. Automated tools solve these hassles with the following features:
Payroll processing
Enjoy a (mostly) hands-off payroll process. Automation software calculates wages, tax withholdings, and benefits before transferring funds. It also digitizes and stores pay stubs where employees can easily access them.
Employee onboarding and offboarding
Onboarding and offboarding involve updating data, collecting signatures, and responding to routine requests (like device setup for new hires). HR automation tools perform all these tasks as well as more advanced workflows, such as approvals and triggered messaging.
Performance tracking
Your HR team needs data to make informed decisions. The metrics that your automation software collects can help People Ops determine when to offer a raise or flag declining performance.
Tax filing and compliance management
Automation software applies the correct withholding structures, digitalizes tax records, and guides your HR team on law-mandated benefits and labor regulations.
Recruiting
HR management software can help create and post job announcements, store applicant responses, and screen applications. It can also send documents like assessments, sort candidates, and automatically schedule interviews.
Signs your business needs HR automation
Every HR department can benefit from automation. But if your company is facing any of the following situations, going automated might be more of a necessity than a nice-to-have:
Low employee morale
People Ops team too busy with other things to focus on employee needs? When workers have to jump through hoops just to get paid or request time off, morale can take a major hit. Low spirits can be a sign that your HR team needs to shift its efforts back toward people.
Fast organizational growth
Expansion is exciting, but it comes with growing pains—like a wave of administrative and hiring tasks that the People Ops team can’t keep up with. A growth period is a great time to start using automation software that helps HR stay ahead of the curve.
A tight budget
Overworked HR staff are likely frustrated and burned out. But if your company’s budget is too tight to hire additional help, automation is a smart, cost-effective way to redistribute the workload and give your People team some relief.
Top HR automation tools and software
HR software’s job is to take on the tasks that keep your business running, so investing in a high-quality product is wise. The following options are at the top of the game:
Oyster
Oyster is an all-in-one, automated global employment platform supporting onboarding, payroll, and employment of record (EOR) processes. With Oyster, you can automate global hiring and pay full-time employees and contractors in over 180 countries and 140 currencies. One of Oyster’s strong suits is helping People teams navigate tricky compliance and tax requirements. And when questions arise, Oyster’s dedicated support team is there to help. Oyster starts at $699 monthly per team member.
Built for Teams
Built for Teams keeps HR, finance, and talent teams in sync, allowing them to strategize and drive growth together. This software keeps essential knowledge in one place, creating a “single source of truth.” Built for Teams offers several flexible pricing structures, so there’s a tier for every budget.
Asana
Asana streamlines project management tasks by providing a platform for collaboration, document sharing, and project scheduling that everyone can access. This software also features HR templates that help teams structure hiring and onboarding workflows. Asana’s most basic plans start at around $11 a month per employee, and teams can use this platform alongside automation tools to work even more efficiently.
Culture Amp
Culture Amp is an employee experience platform that uses AI coaching and data analysis to improve performance. This platform helps People teams create a positive company culture and support individuals in reaching their goals. Culture Amp’s pricing depends on a number of factors, like the number of employees and service tier, and starts around $4,000 per year for small teams.
5 steps for implementing HR automation effectively
So, you’ve selected an HR automation tool and are ready to enjoy the perks. Here’s how to get the most out of your new software:
1. Explore the tool’s features
Play around with the software and learn what it can do. If working with Oyster, these tasks range from onboarding to compliant payroll, so you may be surprised to find out just how much work the platform can take over.
2. Determine what HR tasks to automate
After exploring your tool’s features, figure out what processes your HR team currently does manually. Then, pinpoint what work the software can do instead. This will also give you a good idea of how much time these repetitive tasks take your HR team now—something you can use for comparison later.
3. Integrate the automation tool into your current systems
Integrate your new tool with the ones already supporting your HR workflow. For example, Oyster integrates with a wide range of platforms, from Zapier to Slack.
4. Ensure the safeguarding of employee data
HR information systems collect employee data, including personal records and performance metrics. Make sure your HR team follows best practices for keeping this data safe and treating it ethically in compliance with data privacy regulations.
5. Leverage data for informed decisions
HR automation software collects a ton of information that you can turn into insights. Use this data to make smarter hiring decisions and spot inefficiencies and performance issues. Let these analytics drive your action plans for improvements.
Optimize HR efficiency with Oyster
Thinking about automating human resources tasks? That’s a smart move. It’s even smarter with Oyster.
Oyster helps distributed teams streamline operations by automating workflows and simplifying global HR so you can hire faster, grow with confidence, and stay compliant. With Oyster’s scalable solutions, your HR team can focus on what truly drives your company’s success: your people.
Learn how Oyster works, or book a demo to get started today.
About Oyster
Oyster is a global employment platform designed to enable visionary HR leaders to find, engage, pay, manage, develop, and take care of a thriving distributed workforce. Oyster lets growing companies give valued international team members the experience they deserve, without the usual headaches and expense.
Oyster enables hiring anywhere in the world—with reliable, compliant payroll, and great local benefits and perks.
