Transitioning HR and Accounting processes to cloud software

With new tech finding its way into our everyday lives, consumers now have new levels of expectations and new ways of doing things. A new wave of automation and digital transformation is also flipping companies on their heads.

It’s all about speed and accuracy these days. “Work smarter, not harder” has become common-phrase.

This entire digital transformation process is all about improving the customer experience and tightening up customer-facing processes with automation. At the same time, businesses need to realise that updating tools of back-office employees are just as critical. 

Back-office functions, specifically HR and accounting, are the foundation of a business. Having a smarter-working workforce is the key to a long-lasting, successful business.

How to Get Employee Buy-in On Automation and Digital Transformation?

The success of the company’s digital transformation journey hinges on the willingness of your employees to embrace automation and new technology. 

The best way to get everyone on board with the idea is to go from micro to macro. Focus the benefits on them as an individual, then the department, other employees and then the company as a whole. After all, we are all humans with self-serving needs. 

Preparing your staff

Having disgruntled employees who are averse to adopting automation and software is a surefire way to let sink your digital transformation. 

For new hires, ensure they have relevant training in using new technologies before getting them on board. And for existing employees, slowly expose them to the new system using content, case studies and promotional videos.

Storytell the benefits

You should expect a handful of employees to still have a little resistance. It’s normal. The best way to go around this is to have them imagine the benefits to their own lives. 

Point out their current struggles, highlight how they feel using them, help them understand why this is happening and all their limitations with the current process. Then show how this new system makes their life better and can solve their problems once and for all.

Listen to them

Throughout the digital transformation process, it is crucial that your employees can openly voice out their concerns about automation and can freely ask questions. Having an encouraging environment lowers people’s barriers and allows them to be more accepting.

You might be interested in: 16 ways small businesses can automate their business processes

Encouraging Digital Transformation of HR and Accounting to Cloud Software

If your business wants to embrace IT to improve operations, processes and services, then you will need to create a secure platform that makes it easy for your business to send, receive, update and analyse data.

When approaching your team about the going digital, be sure to tell them about these cloud accounting and HR software benefits.

HR Sets a Benchmark for Employees

With HR being the guardian of your most important asset (your people), once they are on board, the rest of the organisation will benefit from the tools and technologies implemented. 

Bringing HR up to speed as a strategic department

Perhaps the most significant impact of cloud HR software is the ability to close the gap between the HR team and the rest of the organisation. 

HR has traditionally always been seen as a cost centre, allocated the least budget and suffering from delayed information. HR employees have had to fight to prove their worth in the company.

Thanks to cloud computing, it doesn’t have to be like this anymore. You’ll have centralised data that’s more accessible. Reporting will be instant and analyses of trends and information is much easier.

With these tools, HR can effectively lead the way in making better decisions to improve not just HR functions but show how HR is essential to the organisation’s bottom line. 

Higher employee satisfaction, better HR performance

When HR can leverage cloud HR software, they can efficiently track employee performance and intervene when problems arise. You can even automate payroll and CPF submissions.

No more rushed payroll, no more costly errors, no need for post-it notes filled with dates and tasks. 

This means HR staff spends less time on managing the process and more time on what truly matters, employee engagement.

More satisfied employees = better performance by HR.

If there’s a way to get better results with less work, HR has every reason to hop on cloud software.

Efficient recruitment and onboarding

Recruitment isn’t just about interviewing. From sourcing to qualifying to training and ensuring they perform, the entire recruitment process is long and requires lots of documentation and tracking. 

Leaving new hires to their own devices isn’t an effective way to develop competent employees. It’s extremely labour intensive to personally follow up and keep tabs on individual employees.

In order to reduce turnover (and turnover cost, hiring cost and recruitment marketing cost, etc) and improve the basic HR metrics, more comprehensive capabilities must be deployed. 

A cloud HR software can store relevant employee records, track performance, satisfaction surveys and generate reports. It just makes sense.

Accounting Saves Time and Money While Increasing Trust

Automate time-consuming tasks

Consider invoicing, which can eat up a lot of time and resources. According to experts, businesses spend an average of $15 and up to 9.7 days processing an invoice. Modern cloud accounting software can eliminate that significantly.

Having paperless accounting also reduces the hassles and keeps things neatly organised in one system. With automation, accounts receivable and accounts payable processes can be improved and tasks executed with just a few buttons.

Paperless accounting and cloud processing

Moving your ledgers and financial documents to the cloud will free your team from paper clutter. With accounting software, you can access your financials whenever, wherever and always get the most up-to-date information. 

A paperless accounting department also reduces the risk of documents being stolen, misplaced or destroyed. 

Additionally, there’s no need to manually update individual spreadsheets because all your data is synced and updated automatically.

Having more accurate data allows for more effective business decisions and a progressive company.

Improve accuracy and transparency

Digitising the entire payment process with immediate notifications and comprehensive reports gives you the ability to remain transparent about your business dealings and movement of money. 

In the event that unauthorised transactions are made, you can easily track the movement and put measures in place to prevent fraud, theft and manipulation.

A well-protected business with accurate records is one that garners the trust of partners and stakeholders. 

You might be interested in: How to choose the best payroll and accounting software for your small business

The Takeaway

When preparing your back-office for digital transformation, remember that as much as this journey takes time, the need for automation is pressing and your business needs to keep up with the pace, or else you will fall behind.

Your first step to getting your team aboard the cloud train to digital transformation is to loop them in on the process and align your expectations. Already have a team ready for a cloud HR and accounting software? Get a free trial here.

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