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Why Employers are Ditching Paper in Favor of Electronic Onboarding

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Why Employers are Ditching Paper in Favor of Electronic Onboarding

For many job-seekers and employers, the recruiting and onboarding process for a new employee can be time-consuming and frustrating. Businesses who are physically printing and manually completing new hire documents run the risk of misplacing or losing paper forms. The HR team and/or hiring manager might need to take time out of their busy schedules to coordinate with the new hire  to complete and review the documents. Requiring manual completion of forms can also lead to incorrect or incomplete forms. Some documents, such as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I-9 for employment eligibility verification have very strict rules and the penalties for incorrect or incomplete forms can be very costly.

Some companies may choose to keep pre-printed packets for new hires which include all the necessary forms for new employee onboarding, in efforts to streamline the process. However, these employers need to be aware of any changes or updates that are made, and keep up to date with the newest versions of each form. Form I-9 and IRS Form W-4 are two examples of some forms that are regularly updated. A new version of a form would mean the existing pre-printed supply of forms is obsolete, and can lead to wasted resources and time printing new forms and replacing the older versions in each packet. Each state may also have its own set of documents that businesses are required to complete when onboarding new employees. 

 

 

Another major problem some companies face when dealing with physical documents for new hire onboarding is storage and retention. All of that paper needs to be stored somewhere safe and secure to protect the sensitive and private information that they contain. Documents should also be easily accessible in case they are needed for part of an audit or other request. Each agency also has specific requirements for retention of each form, which means employers need to keep records for several years even after employees leave the company. For businesses with large employee populations or high turnover, these documents can take up a lot of valuable space in an office, warehouse, or storage unit. 

Perhaps one of the most important considerations is the experience that the new employee will have. Spending time completing new hire paperwork is rarely anybody’s idea of a good time, and this can make for a negative experience on the new employee’s first day of work. This may result in the employee becoming disengaged very early on, which is not exactly the best way to start off a new employment relationship.

Using a system that facilitates electronic onboarding for new employees can be a great solution to address the issues of physical file storage, keeping track of updated forms, and reducing the administrative errors that can be caused by the manual completion of documents. Adopting an online process also allows for much quicker processing times so employers can get their new hires up and running sooner. Many human resources information systems (HRIS) available today also allow for easy personnel file maintenance and recordkeeping, so all of your information can be stored in one secure and easy-to-access location. 

Valor Payroll Solutions offers an HRIS that can help create customized and user-friendly electronic onboarding packages, making it easy for businesses to process and maintain new hire documents while cutting down on errors and the need to keep physical files in the office. Contact us today and take your employee onboarding to the next level!

Christina Hageny

Christina Hageny

President - Valor Payroll Solutions

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