How to seamlessly digitalise core working processes

From finance to HR and everything in between, there are some core working processes that no business that can do without. Managing people, performing cost control and staying in profit are all tasks that need to take place in order for a successful business to function. But with so many firms seeming to struggle with properly implementing these processes well, there’s a big question mark over whether they’re making the most of digital technology to help them achieve these ends. This blog post will look at just what businesses’ pain points are – and how tech can address them.

Problems: inefficiency and buy-in

When it comes to how to work more efficiently or how to increase productivity as an HR or finance professional, the list of problems is long. So much still gets done manually: HR assistants still input days off into employee time sheets, while recruitment leads still have to sift through CVs for mundane, objective facts like lengths of previous service. And for the finance team, jobs like manual re-keying of spreadsheets pose similar problems. Not only can this lack of simple automation lead to human error but it also means that data on these processes can’t be easily collated and shared with other departments and the C-suite.

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Posted 08/11/2018

But finding the right tech to solve these specific pain points is perhaps the more accessible part of the equation. The tough part is the stakeholder engagement side of things: getting people to come on board with digitalisation is hard. At a higher level, the problem may be one of inexperience. Decision-makers are less likely to be digital natives – and if they are one of the 80% of financial leaders who the Accounting Web survey found to be tasked with how to perform cost control, then they may well have spending issues with digitalisation. Junior workers, meanwhile, may see the tech as an intrusion into their day.

1. Ensure that you have an effective digitalisation process

Tech solutions to these problems are numerous. A single sign-on platform, for example, can offer easy access to business data and process functions to employees from all departments. A classic example of ubiquitous computing, the apps accessible by a single sign-on system is designed to augment and enhance the employee experience rather than intrude or cause problems for day-to-day working. All functions can be accessed through a system like this, including expense request filings. Managers, meanwhile, can view everything from holistic recruitment cost dashboards to staff absence calendars – and it won’t sap the time of HR staff, either.

When it comes to getting internal stakeholders on board, many modern HR tech solutions come with explainers, video content and demonstrations designed to ensure everyone likes the new system. Ultimately, it’s the presence of simple and speedy interfaces – like Access Workspace’s – that will help ensure buy-in.

With so many problems facing an effective digitalisation process, it can sometimes seem like a hard battle to fight. But the benefits to productivity, collaboration and remote working are immense: once you’ve got stakeholder buy-in from across the organisation, the advantages will fall into place.