How to digitize the personnel files?

The Human Resources area is usually in charge of storing the personnel files of a company with all their work history. Historically, these files used to be kept on printed paper, which is why a large physical space was often needed to contain all that documentation of the staff.

Imagine the time that those responsible for this sector would waste just searching and ordering each file by date, age, surname, etc., and worse if they had to make changes, adding pages and more pages that would, in turn, take up more space and weight in the drawers.

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And, although this would seem to be part of the past, it is not, since there are still companies that have not yet digitized the personnel files and keep the documents on printed paper as if the physical file had more authority than a digital file when the difference is that the digital file makes you waste less time in endless manual searches.

The digitization of personnel files is the process by which the data of a company's collaborators is stored in a digital database to which there is easy and quick access. It is done using integration software, which allows all the information to be recorded on a single platform that is automatically organized and ordered to find the names of the collaborators in a matter of seconds.

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How to digitize personnel files?

If you are one of those who still use the physical file to store the data and information of your company's collaborators and you are not very convinced about implementing a file management tool, below we will explain, easily and effectively, the steps to continue to start.

• Audit of the physical files of your collaborators.

As a starting point for the digitization of personnel files, we recommend that you carry out an internal audit of the physical files of your team to carry out a detailed review of the most relevant information contained in each file. Try to save on information that you no longer need, such as the files of former personnel who left your company a long time ago.

• Choose a file management tool for your Human Resources area.

Once you have the information retrieved from the physical documentation, choose the file management tool that best suits your needs through a preliminary survey of the best alternatives that the market presents in human resource management software.

• Transcribe and transfer only the relevant data from the physical files of your employees.

Transfer the relevant information from the physical files of the personnel to your new human resources management tool. Remember that this information may include the list with the personal data of your current collaborators, which at the same time will be an important information supply for future decision-making.

We understand that manually loading all this data involves a great deal of effort and time on the part of your collaborators, but the good news is that it is only done once and then never again because the tool will store the new data that is entered automatically.

• The registration process for the digitization of personnel files.

We pass to the last instance of the digitization of the personnel files where we can already start the management of the files digitally. You have already finished transferring the information that was in physical support, now you must open a registration process for all the data load belonging to new files of recently incorporated personnel.

Within these new qualifications or functionalities of the management tool, you can have free access to the latest news, liquidation of salaries, performance evaluation, training, etc.

Main advantages of digitizing personnel files.

• Cost savings.

When the digitalization of personnel files in the human resources area is carried out, the investment in paper, ink, printers, and other elements necessary to have physical documents is reduced to a minimum, alleviating financial pressure.

• Improve the performance of collaborators.

Since the members of the human resources area no longer have to invest time in the manual search of the labor documentation of the collaborators, the performance increases because it allows them to invest the time in other tasks of greater value for the company.

• Process automation.

Thanks to digitization, file documentation search processes go from being manual to being automated, minimizing the risk of errors in management.

• Advanced searches.

Carrying out the digitalization of the personnel files guarantees you the management and advanced search of the labor documentation of employees. In this way, you can customize the search data, make filters linked to each type of document so that they are better viewed from the comprehensive file management platform.

• Visualization of each document in real-time.

This is one of the greatest advantages of digitizing the files since it is a management tool in the cloud, so all the information of your staff will be safe from any computer or support you use.

Now, that remote and home office work has intensified during the coronavirus pandemic, digitizing personnel files is presented as the safest, most efficient, and most convenient option.

• Help the environment.

The paperless process in a company not only helps from a monetary point of view but also helps to take care of the environment because it doesn't use paper, which is generated with the wood of the trees, so the felling of trees is considerably reduced and, thus, the forests are preserved.

In conclusion, forget about physical paper files, stop spending on heavy reams and printing ink. With the digitization of the personnel files, you will obtain all the valuable information you need about your collaborators at the reach of a click.