Relieve the HR department with digitalization?

Employee's expectations regarding offers by employers have changed massively throughout the past few years. That is why the portfolio with company pensions (bAV), work-time accounts (ZWK) or solutions for a smooth transition into retirement (ATZ), which are summarized together as "benefits", has become unbelievably large. The need of human resource departments for structured consulting and a smart IT solution for business transaction processing as automated as possible has therefore increased.

This is not just fashionable right now, but rather also supports the goal of relieving human resources departments. The capacities in this department should be available for strategic work, not for recurring routine tasks. Furthermore, the employees in a company expect online access to information and personal data regarding employer services. A change to bank account no longer has to be shared personally with the human resources department, but rather can be done through a portal.

 Experience shows that a number of companies are still not ready for a digitalization project. The following reasons exist for this: 

• Grown structures
  The administration of benefits is normally completed in grown structures. An Excel sheet helps with the calculation of a service, here an analysis during the composition of numbers for the finance department. The performance record for the ancient approval is created using form letters.
  
  
• Personal administration
  The running care of commitments and the beneficiaries is often in the experienced hands of individuals with years of experience or an experienced team. This is a pleasant situation, but it often leads to a knowledge silo that may not initially disturb, but is noticeable with a necessary follow-up regulation.
  
  
• Individual rules for individual employees
  "The collective commitment defines the rules – but not for Mr. or Mrs. XYZ, right? We have to find an individual rule there." The good intentions are there, but reality shows that there are deviations from the rule in nearly every company. During processing, such as in the event of a claim, the regulation made many years ago should instead be observed and implemented correspondingly. This works, provided that the conversations from those participating at the time are still active or if the process is well-documented. Within the scope of conversion projects and in particular during the digitalization of processes, these individual cases must be found and considered in their diversity.
  
  
• Old systems and patchwork landscapes
  Pension schemes and commitments for miscellaneous benefits grow and age with the company. Further commitments come to the company over time through company purchases or mergers that are often continued without change due to strategic reasons. A colorful bouquet of closed, open and individual regulations is created.

Increase of efficiency and quality under compliance with the legal basic conditions

The objective of a digitalization project is to increase efficiency and quality in administration, which satisfies the increased demands of the employees and beneficiaries to a high degree. The legal basic conditions must be complied with here. Administration processes arise that are documented and designed completely and include the employees in the workflow.

The first step towards automation is therefore the documentation of all existing processes, the inspection of all procedures as well as the optimization of the administration.  All departments and people participating in the process must be comprehensively informed and integrated in the optimization project as far as possible. The newly implemented processes should survive a certain trial period and be readjusted if necessary.

Take on the digitalization of the bAV/ZWK/ATZ processes in an integrated manner:

The implementation of a smart IT solution for the administration of business processes should be hand-in-hand with strategic consultation including the preparation of the company for digitalization. An integrated approach includes the following components, from which the company should choose the required components based on their needs

Integrated solution to digitalize the human resources department (© adesso insurance solutions)

If you want to relieve your human resources department and be prepared for the future, then set up an appointment with me so we can introduce our integrated solution for the digitalization of your bAV/ZWK/ATZ.

Source:
Beatrice Hermann: Gedanken zum Thema Digitalisierung – Oktober 2019
Michael Ries: www.ries-solutions.com