3 Hidden Costs You Can Avoid With HR Tech

We all know the obvious benefits of ditching paper in your HR processes. Pretty much everyone hates paperwork. We put off doing it; we put off entering the data from it; we put off filing it. In the case of teacher contracts, benefit enrollment forms, or job request forms, we spend tons of time producing it and sending it out; then we kill ourselves trying to get people to send it back in. So, what kind of crazy, self-abusive person wouldn’t want to go paperless? Going paperless not only keeps you from wasting time, it helps you to be more accurate. And accuracy saves you real money. Here are three examples:

1. Incomplete Benefits Record Keeping.
In benefits, the more complete your record keeping, the better. Ensuring that birth date rate changes happen every year and that new salaries are accurately reflected in your data results in more credibility with insurance carriers. Making sure changes occur in a timely way and only those that are eligible for coverage are covered adds credibility, too. More credibility in your data means more competition for your business. In the face of poor or conflicting data, some insurance companies will not bid at all. Econ 101 tells us less competition means higher prices. Poor data can cost districts and their employees 15% or more in their benefits program rates. Only technology can wipe out this “inaccuracy tax”.

2. Inaccurate Job Descriptions.
In workers comp situations, inaccurate job descriptions can result in poor decisions by doctors about whether someone is able to return to their duties. The longer someone is out, the more cost you have in terms of substitutes. And don’t forget about the administrative time it takes to manage an ongoing workers comp claim. We know that keeping paper job descriptions up to date is a grueling task. Once again, a simple technology tool can help create job descriptions that accurately reflect job duties and allow for easy updates when necessary.

3. Inaccurate Salary Calculations.
In the case of hiring new employees, manual paper processes are the enemy of salary calculation accuracy. Inaccurate salary calculations lead to overpayments that are both embarrassing and difficult to recoup. Underpayments carry their own set of problems. And what about the potential discrimination claims when people with similar jobs and experience find themselves making dramatically different salaries? But – you guessed it – technology can prevent calculation errors and ensure position equity.

None of us want to do the filing or the data entry. They are thankless tasks that condemn the doer to a never-ending cycle of tedious work that is fraught with errors. If eliminating the tedium is not justification enough, ask yourself the hard questions about accuracy. The savings you get from improved data accuracy alone will justify the cost of many targeted HR apps that will take the paper out of your processes. Click the button below to read about our favorite approach to technology in school HR - “The App Approach!”