Streamlining the Onboarding Process: Improving the Information Flow between Pre- and Post-hire Systems

As a new employee, if you could access an easy to use web-based interview program (similar to Turbo-tax) for submitting the I-9, W-4, State tax and other required information instead of wading through numerous forms, would you do it? As a HR manager, if that same program seamlessly transferred the new hire information into your backend data systems like payroll and benefits, would you want it? As a financial decision-maker, if that program saved your organization significant time and resources compared to your current mode of forms management, would you buy it?
This article looks at the complex processes surrounding the collection and transfer of new hire information and explores current automated solutions that claim to improve the forms management component of Onboarding.

The Onboarding bandwagon

Onboarding is undoubtedly a hot topic within the HR industry. Onboarding is the process of integrating new employees into an organization. It begins roughly two weeks prior to the commencement of work and can extend six months to a year, depending on the organization. Along with the current emphasis on Onboarding, there is a common language beginning to emerge to describe its three key components: Forms Management, Tasks Management and Socialization.

Forms management refers to the collection and processing of new employee data. It is often segmented into several phases such as the completion of common forms like the I-9 and W-4 prior to start date, the collection of data based on company-unique requirements, contingency hiring to allow background checks, and processing post hire data like insurance and benefits requirements.

Task Management is all about getting newly hired employees up to full productivity as quickly as possible so that they can do the job for which they were hired to do. This includes setting up computers, phones, email accounts, workstations and coordinating all of these activities in concert.

Socialization (also known as orientation) has to do with making new employees feel like they are a part of “the team”. It is about immersion into the corporate culture; learning about policies and expectations, building relationships and providing feedback to the new employee on how they are doing.

Accompanying efforts to define and improve “Onboarding” are IT efforts to provide automated solutions that can better facilitate the multi-faceted processes that surround it. The latest Aberdeen Group Report on ‘Effective Onboarding Techniques and Strategies’ (January 2008), notes that automation of Onboarding is still in its infancy – albeit expanding rapidly.

Automated forms management

A report recently published in ‘Government Executive’ magazine highlights automated forms management options that are currently available:

• ‘In its simplest form, the agency can provide new employees with links to required information and forms through the organization’s Web site. Forms can be printed out and completed before the first day of work.

• In a more sophisticated model, new employees fill out the forms on the agency’s intranet and submit them electronically, reducing the need for physical paper­work.

• At the highest level, information provided during the hiring process (name, address, social security number, etc.) can be pre-populated into these forms, requir­ing a new employee to provide only the information not already available’.

Are online fillable forms ‘best practice’ in forms management?

An implicit assumption that permeates the HR industry is that online fillable forms are ‘best practice’ in the forms management component of Onboarding. This assumption is evidenced by three things. First, online fillable forms are currently the tool of choice for organizations that are automating their forms management tasks. Second, an increasing number of vendors are offering ‘beginning to end’ Onboarding solutions that include online fillable forms. Third, the discourse on automated Onboarding is now moving beyond forms management to ‘Socialization’ as if forms management has already been taken care of.

Looking more closely at the complex issues that surround forms management raises the following question: Are online fillable forms adequate when it comes to: (i) the new hire’s initial Onboarding experience, and (ii) the integration of pre-hire and post-hire systems?

Benefits of online fillable forms

Online fillable forms are undoubtedly a positive step in the automation of Onboarding. They enhance legibility of information, making it less susceptible to misinterpretation. It is often (though not always) more expeditious for a new hire to type the information than hand write it. Accessing and submitting forms electronically is a simpler and more efficient process than handling paper. As stated earlier, more advanced online forms come pre-populated with a new hire’s basic information so they are not wasting time re-entering the same data over and over again. Also, a lot of information is available to HR prior to a new hire’s first day of work.

Challenges of online fillable forms

Online fillable forms are a big step in the right direction for reducing the paperwork burden. However, there remain a number of issues that hinder their ability to accommodate the complexities that surround Onboarding and other document-centric processes.
Whether forms are filled in by hand or online, the degree of difficulty in filling out these forms and a lack of process integration persist. For example, the W-4 federal withholding form still requires the new hire to decipher the form's complex and confusing instructions and necessary calculations. Other forms might not provide enough details for the user to successfully complete the forms.   Many fields are deliberately left blank by a new hire because of difficulty and confusion in knowing which fields to fill in and how. Subsequently, they need to contact HR to clarify issues or the forms and/or fields are left blank until their first day. The inability to address these difficulties often causes forms to be returned after they've been submitted because of missing, incomplete, or wrong information.

Once there is a transference of data from a new hire to HR, that data usually has to be re-keyed into the organization's unique backend systems. Another issue is when a new hire’s online fillable forms are submitted, they are often printed and then scanned into the organization's repository for storage. This practice is highly inefficient and expensive. The current backlog of documents to scan is daunting while millions more are simultaneously being produced.   Although they are certainly an improvement over paper-based forms, online fillable forms still suffer from mistakes, missing information and inconsistencies which require the same need for redress as manual paper-based practices. No matter how good pre-hiring and post-hiring systems are, if the data collection and forms management system is inadequate or inefficient you will lose the time and cost savings that you hoped to gain.

Since most companies and agencies have a requirement for multiple state, federal, and company-unique forms to be completed prior to new or transitional employees beginning work, is there a better approach to document management than is currently practiced? There absolutely is – by automating the processes that surround the documents, processes that, until now, have been laborious, error prone, highly inefficient, and costly.

Automating document-based processes (not just forms)

Software development company, HRWorX LLC, has developed a web-based ‘electronic Process Automation Solution’ (ePAS) that collects and transmits employee information more efficiently and effectively. Instead of just automating single forms, ePAS supports the completion of multiple documents and easily integrates with front end systems, such as ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) and backend systems like payroll, security and IT. ePAS has two modules.

The employee module guides employees through the new hire collection process using an interview wizard that logically collects required information to complete a new hire document set with its generic and company-unique forms.

Information is collected only once, through the use of simple and easy to understand interview questions (accompanied by context sensitive help). The session validates for correct information and proper format; then automatically populates all forms in their original format prior to submission. If a new hire’s web browser goes down during their interview session, the information already entered will not be lost and they can easily resume where they left off. An employee has the ability to save and print a copy of these documents for their own file.

The Administrative module of the software is for HR and other staff who are responsible for setting up employee accounts and sending them email notifications, enabling the employee to securely access the application. As employees complete the interview session, the HR/admin dashboard allows authorized personnel to track the completion status of each account. Automated notifications also remind all associated parties to login and complete their portion of the process.

Administrators can create unique document sets for each employee and also collect necessary information to initiate or validate separate processes such as drug testing, credit checks, DHS status and security checks. Once approved, data can be disseminated electronically to appropriate corporate systems and persons responsible for the employee. Electronic signature capability facilitates this process.

The ePAS software not only applies to Onboarding but other processes as well, such as Offboarding, Telework, and financial and ethics reporting. Indeed, this ‘Business Intelligence’ software has the potential to apply to just about any document-based process, in just about any industry that is inundated with forms management tasks, e.g. healthcare, insurance, legal and retail.

The ePAS software platform, on which industry-specific applications are built, meets the highest standards for security and has been production tested by thousands of newly hired employees and administrators since 2004. This software fills a major gap in the market by providing a truly paperless process from beginning to end, enabling enterprises of all sizes to achieve higher levels of operational efficiency, cost effectiveness, improved legal compliancy and enhanced customer service.

Case study – EODonline

There is a major agency in the federal government that has a requirement to onboard and offboard over 2000 employees a month in over 400 locations around the country. Each location has unique requirements as well as standard ones from agency headquarters. To compound the problem, there are locations that provide their own HR administration while others are being administered by remote headquarters personnel.

The agency made a step towards resolving their Onboarding issues by setting up a site with common fillable forms. They quickly realized however, that fillable forms failed to address their location-unique forms, hiring processes, and orientation needs.

After viewing one of HRWorX’s ePAS applications (EODonline), the agency realized they could put all their documents into a single library, allowing administrators at each location to create document sets based on their specific hiring process requirements. Each location was also able to customize the agency’s single eOrientation portal with information that is displayed to each employee based on their unique profile. EODonline is integrated into the agency’s ATS on the front end and their Peoplesoft system on the back end.

No more paper packets, no more mailing costs, no more handwritten documents, no more chasing down and re-entering information because of mistakes or missing data, no more returned documents, no more keying data into other systems of record. Employee surveys, collected at the end of every new hire session, have revealed great enthusiasm for the application. Administrators find they are now spending a fraction of their day reviewing and processing submitted document packages, which gives them more time to address other aspects of employee services.

Conclusion

I don’t give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give anything for simplicity on the other side of complexity! Oliver Wendell Holmes

To date, online fillable forms, no matter how sophisticated, revolve around the automation of single forms. They are simple solutions that do not address the complex and dynamic processes that new hires and HR personnel have to deal with every day. In other words, online fillable forms offer simplicity on this side of complexity. The automation of document processes works through the complexity that new hires and HR departments face to produce simple, user-friendly and cost effective solutions. Having accurate, reliable and transferable new hire data sets a strong foundation for the Task Management and Socialization components of Onboarding, benefiting new employees, HR departments and organizational budgets alike.

For more information, please visit www.hrworx.com .

Endnotes

The latest Aberdeen Group Report on ‘Effective Onboarding Techniques and Strategies’ (January 2008) notes how ‘Best in Class’ organizations are looking comprehensively and extensively at Onboarding.

Getting Onboard: A Model for Integrating and Engaging New Employees (May 2008, p. 18)

The company’s document library presently has around 150 onboarding forms from which to draw.

The ePAS software has successfully passed several certification and accreditation (C&A) tests performed by third-party auditors on behalf of our clients.