Utilising technology such as applicant tracking systems, CV parsing and video interviewing to streamline and automate the recruiting process, can reduce cost associated with manual recruiting efforts, and save a significant amount of time for HR professionals. This time can be redirected towards more value-adding activities such as employee engagement and talent development.
Optimising HR processes can lead to significant cost savings for organisations, while also improving efficiency, reducing errors, and enhancing the employee experience. In this article, we will explore the 5 ways your organisation can drive cost savings in HR.
1. Integrating your HR systems
Using multiple HR systems means additional software licenses, maintenance fees, and implementation costs. It also requires employees to undergo time-consuming and costly training for each system. Inconsistent data can also be a problem as employee information is stored in different locations that cannot integrate, which may lead to errors and increased admin costs.
An all-in-one HR platform enhances efficiency as HR departments can access HR functions from one place, eliminating the need to switch between different systems and thus reducing admin costs and increasing productivity. Additionally, by streamlining HR processes, organisations are able to reduce the time and effort required to manage HR processes, resulting in cost savings.
This type of integrated HR platform gives people easy access to everything they need in one place, without having to navigate between multiple systems. From an employee perspective, being able to self-serve their pay, annual leave, working hours, training, personal development and benefits in one place can help improve job satisfaction leading to increased productivity and engagement.
With PeopleXD, Travers Smith LLP were able to replace a time-consuming manual system to increase data accuracy, streamline and automate their processes, and ultimately save them over 7 weeks' of time on HR and Payroll tasks.
2. Data-driven decision-making
Real-time data and analytics help employees make informed decisions, leading to more efficient and effective outcomes. It can provide HR managers with valuable data and insights into workforce trends, employee engagement, and other important metrics. By analysing this data, organisations can identify areas where they can improve their HR practices and reduce costs. It also enables them to make more informed decisions about hiring, performance management, and other HR processes. This can lead to better overall outcomes and cost savings over time. This will also help to ensure that investments are being made in the most effective areas.
Data-driven decision making can also help save costs in HR by streamlining processes and improving employee retention. HR departments can use data analytics to identify the factors that contribute to employee turnover and develop effective strategies to address them. For example, by analysing data on employee satisfaction surveys, performance reviews, and exit interviews, HR can identify patterns and trends. This may indicate issues such as poor management, inadequate training, or a lack of career advancement opportunities. By addressing these concerns, HR can improve employee satisfaction and retention which will in turn reduce the costs associated with recruiting and training new employees.
Additionally, data can be used to optimise recruiting and hiring processes. By analysing data on job postings, applicant demographics, and other relevant factors, HR can identify the most effective recruitment channels and strategies. This can help your organisation to reach the most qualified candidates more efficiently and reduce the time and costs associated with recruiting and hiring.
3. Enhance employee experience
Enhance employee experience by providing self-service tools and streamlined processes that make it easier for employees to manage their own HR needs. This can lead to higher employee engagement, productivity, and retention, which can ultimately result in cost savings by reducing the need for additional hiring and training. Organisations can also improve employee experience by tracking performance goals and objectives. This can lead to increased employee productivity, reduced absenteeism, and better overall performance, which can translate into cost savings.
Outdated processes and legacy systems can be a big drain on productivity for your HR department. The longer the issues and inefficiencies are swept under the carpet, the greater the chance these systems will buckle under the demands of a modern workforce. It always pays to review and replace legacy systems before they leave a lasting mark on organisational performance.
Increasing employee engagement not only helps retention but contributes to growing the bottom line through increased productivity.
4. Compliance and security
Allowing sensitive data to fall into the wrong hands could spell disaster for your business and destroy levels of trust among your workforce and customer base. Data breaches are becoming more commonplace and can jeopardise the security of internal and external information. According to ICO, The GDPR and UK Data Protection Act (DPA) fines are among the most severe you’ll find anywhere in the world. The maximum penalty is currently set at £17.5 million, or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is greater.
Being compliant with regulations and having robust security measures in place, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO), help protect against data breaches and cyber-attacks. By reducing the risk of security incidents, organisations can avoid the costs associated with remediation and reputation damage. MFA and SSO can also help streamline access to your HR platform and reduce the burden on IT and HR staff who manage user accounts and passwords. Compliance with regulations, such as GDPR or HIPAA, can help organisations avoid costly fines and legal fees associated with non-compliance.
Your HR software should come complete with sufficient security parameters and data encryption capabilities because this is crucial to limit the impact of internal and external threats. It’s a good idea to conduct a thorough audit of all your HR data every year to get an accurate picture of the information you hold and discard any sensitive data that isn’t needed.
Overall, an effective HR platform can help organisations streamline HR processes, improve compliance, reduce employee turnover, boost productivity, and make data-driven decisions that can result in cost savings.
5. Reduce onboarding cost and resources
Having a centralised HR system can be easier for your organisation to adapt or tailor and facilitate with growth. Access People Technology helped COOK replace their outdated HR system, resulting in an integrated, streamlined solution to support the substantial growth of their business.
Employers take on average, three months to fill a job opening. If there is nobody doing the job during those three months, the company is already losing out on work productivity. A bad hire however, would cost the company 10 times the salary of the outgoing employee, as work performance and employee morale would be negatively affected by a bad hire. Some employers risk suffering an exodus of great talent when they make a bad senior executive hire who does not fit the job or organisation.
For hiring managers, there’s an ever-growing need to accelerate their time-to-hire, reduce cost-per-hire and source the best available candidates for every role. This is only possible by streamlining data flows and automating pivotal recruitment processes. Your talent acquisition software and applicant tracking system should enable your business to streamline applicant data flows, screen recruits, track candidate status and measure ROI – all from a single platform.
Access People have enabled organisations to reduce admin processes by 50%, contribute efficiencies in excess of £1m per annum, and achieve £30,000+ in cost saving in absence management alone. All through SaaS, opex modelled technology.
Want to find out more? Contact us to find out how our Access People technology can help you.
