HR departments lag in use of digital documents, says study
Human resources听(HR)听teams are听falling behind听when it comes to听digitizing documents and using e-signatures, according to听a听July 2021听Asia Pacific (APAC)听study听conducted by听听on behalf of听听a听software company that provides听PDF (portable document format) solutions, among other things.听
鈥淭he recruitment and onboarding processes are highly digitized… but when it comes to daily tasks, digitization drops off,鈥 said听Sam Higgins, principal analyst of Forrester, in a July 8 webinar听discussing the results of the study.听Aside from impeding employee experience,听paper-based document processes听also听impede听business agility.听听
As of 2021,听12%听of APAC companies听have听fully digitized their听document听processes, up from 2% in 2020.听
According to the Forrester study, 64% of APAC sales professionals face inefficiencies from having to manually add information to documents that already exist in their systems,听with听58% having听to regularly rework听these documents due to errors from manually听transferring data.听
Organizations听should听adopt a听鈥渏ourney mindset鈥 when digitizing document processes, said Mr. Higgins, referring to digitization听throughout business systems听instead of focusing on individual points of interaction.听
The study found that听organizations that听adopt this mindset and听integrate digital document capabilities have a sales contract signing periods of听up to 2.4 times faster.听One in four also reported an increase in customer satisfaction from using digital document solutions.听
The study also found that digitization accelerated the realization of work-from-anywhere, with 51% of APAC organizations finding that digitizing documents improved collaboration in a hybrid working environment. Thirty-two percent also said it increased the employee engagement rate.听
鈥淎utomation frees people up [and]听bumps up employee engagement, said Mr. Higgins.听
In the Philippines,听the听use of digital technologies听is听constrained by the country鈥檚 low high-speed broadband penetration.听听noted that听nearly 60% of households do not have access to the Internet, and are thus unable to reap the benefits听of digitization.听听
NO PRINTING NEEDED听
MTR Corporate Limited, Hong Kong鈥檚 mass transit railway operator since 1979, adopted a digital document solution this February. For recruitment purposes, its HR department uses Adobe Document Cloud (Adobe DC), which integrates PDF technology (Adobe Acrobat) and a signature solution (Adobe e-Sign).听
Among the听solution鈥檚听key benefits, said听Dr. Ted Suen, MTR鈥檚 chief information officer,听are the management of multiple candidates through online appointments,听and signed approvals that are returned within hours. The solution was also aligned with听green initiatives听as no printing is involved.听听
鈥淎 lesson we learned is that you have to work with your legal adviser on what types of documents can be used for e-signatures,鈥澨齛dded听Dr. Suen.听鈥淵ou also have to enable a flexible听recruitment听process听in applicable scenarios [that call for] a mix of e-signed and signed documents.鈥澨听
MTR听also听plans to听digitize its听tendering process, as well as the acceptance process of construction work.听
听To start the digital document process, Mr. Higgins suggested听looking in high volume areas first. 鈥淩ecruitment, HR, or sales, these are what people tackle first,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nywhere you can improve customer and employee experience.鈥听
Forrester conducted an online survey in May 2021 with 600 APAC business decision-makers in human resources, sales, and legal departments with responsibility for digital document processing at their organization.听鈥斕Patricia B. Mirasol听
