What is HR Automation?

Automation in Human Resources refers to using software to streamline repetitive and time-consuming HR tasks through automation. This makes sure HR teams can save time and focus more time on complex tasks and helping employees, and less time on administrative tasks. At Employment Hero, we’re working with SMEs to transform their workday with our advanced automated HR software. Imagine spending less time on repetitive tasks, and more on what truly matters – your people.

What this guide covers

We’ll cover everything you need to know about how to automate HR processes to streamline employee onboarding, payroll processing, benefits management, learning and attendance tracking. Download our comprehensive guide, or read on to free up your time to focus on strategic activities and enhance your Human Resources and wider team’s overall experience.

Can HR be automated?

The important role of Human Resources teams in a business can’t be overstated, and they’re a crucial part of making companies successful and staff fulfilled. While there are many parts of the HR role that will always require a human element, such as handling difficult employee experiences, managing stakeholder and team relationships, and performance review discussions, there are also lots of administrative tasks involved which can take up a lot of valuable time.  Everyday tasks like timekeeping, onboarding set-up, or payroll involve a lot of repetitive and manual tasks, as well as extra admin and paperwork. For teams where there’s a lot of other work to go around, often these tasks eat up the bulk of HR professionals’ time, and prevent them from being able to focus on more complicated tasks.  HR teams are made up of intelligent, empathetic, and experienced people whose expertise could be used to your advantage by freeing up more time and automating the most time-consuming processes. If your team has raised concerns about how long specific tasks take or are showing signs of disengagement, perhaps now’s the time to consider automation!

What HR processes can automated?

There are a large number of processes in the average HR team’s portfolio which can be sped up through automated tools and software. These include: 

• Recruitment:
  • Manual data entry, applicant tracking throughout the recruitment process, and qualification of candidates.
• Onboarding
  • Tasks like setting up staff on payroll, filling out new tax forms, or adding new staff members to internal tools and channels.
• Performance management:
  • Data collection and data analysis to track performance across teams and set targets
• Training & Development:
  • Calendar management, SWOT analysis and L&D plan creation for all team members
• Time tracking:
  • Highlighting anomalies or instances where there’s errors in time allocation or hours worked.
• Payroll:
  • Calculating monthly wages, taxes, and payment of salary into employee accounts.
• Offboarding:
  • Scheduling of exit interviews, collection of feedback and surveys.

Benefits of HR automation

Learn more about how Employment Hero can help you to:

Simplifying daily tasks

Automation takes the hassle out of HR. Simplifying your daily tasks, reducing paperwork, and minimising errors. So you can spend less time processing payroll – what took days now takes hours. Automation and HR is a no-brainer for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Save time & boost efficiency

By automating these simple but sometimes mind-numbing tasks, HR departments can use their time more effectively on more complex tasks. Working with stakeholders and managers to improve internal performance through Learning and Development plans, or trialling new employee engagement activities could be something the team works on instead of administrative tasks that used to take up a lot of their time each month. And it’s not just HR teams that can save time through more efficient processes – managers, team leaders, and individual team members can also save time through the use of software and less manual ways of working.

Enhance accuracy & reduce human error

With manual work done by humans, comes the natural risk – human error! While it’s normal for minor mistakes to happen, when it comes to HR and the important, often sensitive tasks they’re responsible for, there’s less room for error. Ensure your staff and business are protected by ensuring your most important tasks are automated and nothing is left to chance.

Ensure HR compliance

Another important area where automation can help your HR team is in ensuring your processes are compliant with UK laws and regulations. Many HR automation tools have additional security features to ensure regulatory compliance and make sure no data leaks or sensitive information is leaked and staff are meeting all legal requirements for their roles.

More accurate data

Through the automation of company and staff-related HR tasks, you also have the opportunity to collect more accurate data and lead your company more effectively. Most softwares will track data and trends across the business, highlighting opportunities to improve processes or productivity. Having all this information in one place and using one single source of truth that doesn’t allow for human error can make sure you are using data to lead your business to success.

Improve employee experience

Automation means more control and visibility over processes for all staff and enables them to log-into the software to get the information they need. By allowing team members to self-manage processes like submitting expenses, applying for annual leave, or accessing benefits, they feel more in control of their experience, and HR teams don’t need to be as involved with every minor request.

Better for the environment

While many companies have moved away from more traditional paper-based processes, there are still many industries who are using outdated methods in their HR departments. Not only does an over-reliance on analogue methods lead to potential failures like loss of important data or damages, but it also means a lot of unnecessary use of materials like paper and filing systems. Save money, the planet, and your peace of mind by switching to automated HR software!

Challenges of HR automation

Even though there are plenty of benefits to HR automation, there are also risks and drawbacks that may impact your decision to implement them.

Don’t automate away your humanity!

The clue of what a large part of a Human Resources team’s role is is in the name – they deal with human beings. Your staff are complex people with a variety of needs, wants, desires, and experiences all of which will impact their experience in the workplace and the level of support they may need throughout their careers in your organisation. There will always be tasks that simply cannot and should not be automated. These include: 

• Bereavement support
• Cultural value setting
• Performance review discussions
• Exit interviews
• Disciplinaries
• Team changes

Integration and adaptation to new processes

Any change – even one that’s positive – can take a little while to come around to. When you’re making a change to a new HR automation system, it’s likely your HR team, and wider team will need to spend some time getting to know the new system and how to work it. It may also be that it takes a little longer to integrate your old system and data with your new system. Software companies like ours make sure that you’ve got access to best-in-class HR and payroll software as well as expert services and dedicated support to make sure your change goes as smoothly as possible.

Security and privacy concerns

While there are risks around not automating your sensitive HR data from a security and privacy point of view, there are also some risks when it comes to migrating this data into a new software. Storage of sensitive data may be a concern, and not being on top of this or having clarity from your tool provider could leave you vulnerable to regulatory fines and data breaches. At Employment Hero, our all-in-one HR, hiring and payroll solution also comes with direct access to our HR and Employment Law Advisors at no additional cost, so you can be sure your organisation and its data is safe and secure.

Cost and implementation of HR automation

Of course, there are costs associated with moving to a new automation technology, so it’s important that you’ve looked at the pros and cons and properly budgeted and gotten the buy-in of senior stakeholders before choosing a provider.  Make sure to look at the cost savings you can predict through reducing the time spent on manual tasks and moving to a more digital solution as part of this work, as while there are upfront costs associated with new tools, in the long-term they are a cost-saver.  Worried about the cost? Our HR automation solutions are affordable and designed for businesses of all sizes. Save money by reducing manual labour and minimising errors with scalable solutions tailored to your needs. Transitioning to an automated HR system is easier than you think. Our user-friendly tools and comprehensive support ensure a smooth implementation process. From selecting the right software to training your team, we’re with you every step of the way.

Key features to look for in automated HR systems

1. Centralised Data and Processes

• Unified access to all HR tools and processes.
• Streamlined onboarding, documentation, compliance, time-off tracking, and employee data management.
• Use centralised templates or create custom documents, share them, and receive notifications for tracking.

2. Enhanced Automation and AI Tools

• AI Virtual Assistant to handle employee FAQs to free up time for strategic work.
• Automate hiring, provisioning, approvals, and communications through custom workflows.
• Automate task tracking with reminders and approval flows.

3. Accurate Time and Attendance Management

• Rota Management: Define schedules, delegate roles, and manage staffing seamlessly.
• Enable employees to bid on shifts, swap schedules, and receive notifications.

4. Streamlined Hiring Process

• Leverage AI insights to accelerate hiring and identify top talent.
• Centralised tools including templates, screening questions, email integration, and scheduling sync to simplify recruitment.

5. Data-Driven Decision-Making

• Track progress, monitor trends, and create visual graphs for insights and reporting.
• Pull specific data for individualized and customisable reports.

6. Expert HR and Legal Support

• Access to UK-based HR and employment law professionals for advice.
• Expert assistance with complex calculations and policy adherence for payroll compliance.

7. Payroll Management

• Integrated HMRC-recognised payroll system with automatic syncing of pre-payroll data.
• Automatically generated payslips, pension payments, and RTI reports.

8. Employee Engagement Tools

• Use company feeds for shoutouts and reward employees who are regularly praised with perks.
• Conduct employee satisfaction and engagement surveys to nurture talent.
• Allow past employees to self-serve old contracts, payslips, and policies.

Learn more about our HR automation software

Ready to transform your HR processes? At Employment Hero, we are your all-in-one HR, hiring, and payroll solution, helping over 300,000 businesses spend less time on admin and more time on what matters most—their people. Discover our product and service bundles designed to make your HR management effortless, so you can embrace the automation of HR with confidence and ease.