5 Ways Employee Self-Service Makes Life Easier at Year End

Year end is the perfect opportunity to consider how new HR technology like self-service tools can be a game-changer for your organization this season and next year.

Simplifying workforce complexities has become a critical part of the HR function over the last year and a half. However, doing this successfully means striking a balance between driving efficiency and ensuring that people remain at the heart of every initiative.

Employee self-service plays a major role in meeting both needs. We all know the year-end checklist can feel a mile long and daunting for even the most seasoned professionals. HR and payroll solutions that offer employee self-service capabilities allow you to check boxes faster while giving your employees the transparency and access today’s workforce demands.

Here are five ways employee self-service helps make your life easier during this challenging time of year while enhancing the employee experience.

1. No More Errors

Manually processing HR and payroll paperwork—especially during year end—comes with the risk of errors, which can damage trust and create stress during an already stressful time for employees. Your customer base and ultimately, your bottom line, bear the brunt of a negative employee experience:

• Just two payroll mistakes are enough for 1 in 2 American workers to start looking for other work.
• A third of working parents will start job hunting after just one payroll error.

Self-service tools make it easy for employees to do everything from submitting paid time off (PTO) requests to correcting time cards to making changes to their direct deposit information, without putting you in the middle. Additionally, you’ll save time and avoid the headaches that come with error-prone manual work.

2. No More Shipping Delays

With the end of the year comes winter weather, peak holiday shopping, and potential shipping delays. Rather than risk a late paycheck (and a really negative employee experience), digitizing your payroll helps avoid delays and enhances security. Plus, it gives your employees access to the documents they need, when they need them—instantly.

Not only that, but taking shipping out of the equation allows you to:

• Save on shipping costs
• Improve security
• Reduce physical interactions and touchpoints
• Save time on filing and managing physical documents

This means no unwanted hold-ups, and no wading through mountains of paperwork or fielding requests for W-2s and time-off balances.

3. No More Playing Telephone

Let’s be honest—sometimes the role of an HR professional can feel like a help desk, where you field the same questions day after day. Considering HR professionals spend an average of 10 hours a week responding to employee requests, you might feel like you’re experiencing Groundhog Day, especially since people may need to hear something up to 20 times before it influences action. A communication and social collaboration tool, like Community, that is accessible through an employee self-service portal and can give employees a place to ask questions or find information quickly.

An employee self-service portal gives you the capability to automate notifications and route questions to the right company representative, saving you the headache of sending out endless reminders and chasing down employees. Plus, it allows employees 24/7 access to:

• Benefits enrollment options
• Direct deposit information
• On-demand payment
• PTO requests
• Time-off balances

The best part? They can do it all from one dashboard, any time and from anywhere. These capabilities can translate into hours, or even days of saved time, which is always in short supply at year end.

4. No More One-Size-Fits-All

For today’s employees—especially younger, tech-savvy team members—filling out physical paperwork can be labor-intensive and deliver a poor first impression for new hires. Taking a digital, mobile-first approach to HR and payroll advances your organization from antiquated physical forms and into the consumer-driven employee experience today’s workers crave.

In today’s economy, offering a tailored approach to finances can give your employees the financial flexibility they need, when they need it most. With minimal impact to payroll processing, an on-demand payment offering can give your company a hassle-free bespoke approach to payday, saving you time while improving employee satisfaction and peace of mind.

Using tools that are similar to the ones employees use outside the office not only provides an efficient, elevated employee experience, it also increases the likelihood your workers will participate in critical HR and payroll activities, empowering employees and giving your HR team their time back during this busy season.

5. No More Roadblocks

The real beauty of digitizing and automating your HR and payroll processes through employee self-service portals is the time it gives back. By giving employees direct access to everything that makes their work hours tick, you not only tackle critical year-end tasks, but also turn your wish list into an impressive list of accomplishments. Employee self-service allows you to devote more time to the higher mission of your organization and less to paperwork-shuffling.

Start the New Year Strong with Employee Self-Service

Employee self-service delivers countless benefits like saved time, less paperwork, and a better employee experience. HR and payroll tools that provide these capabilities can help your HR team manage the year-end buildup with less stress and more excitement for what’s over the horizon in the new year.

Learn more about the time-saving effects of year-end planning by checking out our Year End Survival Guide. Download your copy today.