Case Management: Streamlining your HR processes

What makes an organization efficient and effective is its ability to manage internal processes, as this leads to enhanced productivity. To achieve productivity, organizations stress the need for attaining intra-department coordination. In other words, they look to streamline their processes. This case management or coordination of intra-department activities becomes very much critical for successful business strategies.

Irrespective of departments or verticals, case management is much needed for well-organized records management and data management.
According to Gartner, Inc., "At the most elemental level, case management is the electronic equivalent of what has supported business over several centuries: the cabinets, drawers, folders, forms and collaborative workflow processes supporting important human decisions. Case management captures the backward-and-forward nature of human interaction to reach a specific outcome."
Let us take an example of human resources to see how resourceful case management can help organizations to simplify their mission-critical HR activities.
The Valuable HR Aspects:
A well-organized HR department lays the foundation of strong organizational structure. It's the primary responsibility of an HR department to keep the internal processes of organizations efficient. Due to constantly expanding roles and responsibilities, HR professionals are constantly challenged with streamlining their processes while reducing costs and increasing productivity.
In looking at the pillars, which make HR within an organization we include the following:
a)      Recruitment and Staffing
b)      Compensation / Payroll
c)       Employee Benefits
d)      Talent Management
e)      Training and Development, and
f)       Compliance
These aspects make up the HR eco-system. If we look at the various pillars, they form an inseparable chain of actions inter-connecting with each other. Although they have to be identified individually, no organization can have sustained HR processes by separating them. From employee search to recruitment, and payroll processing to legal compliance, they form a major chunk of overall organizational processes. In such scenario, case management becomes a vital tool for any HR department.
Dual Role:
Today, no HR department can confine itself within internal activities, as most of the modern-day HR activities involve external interactions. This means an HR department has to take up the dual role, contributing a lot on the business development front. Some of these business development activities include health benefits, payroll, health insurance, 401(k) plans, etc. This adds to the overall value the HR brings to the company. Therefore, it becomes very critical to manage and measure these business-oriented activities. And this is only possible with effective case management tool in place.
Self Upgrade:
It's all about speed. It becomes very much essential for an HR department along with its HR professionals to stay informed about latest tools, technologies, and regulations to enhance the internal functioning. This is where compliance with the regulations comes into picture. From labor laws to labor relations and compliance with regulations like HIPAA or OSHA, it becomes the professional responsibility of the professional to be in touch with these laws and regulations.  More importantly, it is critical to have the ability to report, maintain, and continuously monitor to lessen audits and ensure compliance.

From Manual to Automation:
In today's era of stiff competition, organizations have to rely on efficient manpower. Sometimes it becomes very difficult to manage paper-based information, hence, shifting away from this ‘burden of papers' becomes utmost priority for organizations. And it becomes crucial for them to swiftly answer their employees' queries, concerns, and complaints to keep them productive, efficient, and satisfied.
In doing so, an organization has to have in place proper process mechanism that can not only reduce time of such routine activities, but also adds to value of overall organizational efficiency. In such scenario, a web-based HR case management tool can definitely help manage critical information online, doing away with the paper-based information and be helpful in records management and data management.
The key components of HR case management include:
a)      Process streamlining
b)      Information sharing
c)       Data management
d)      Swift processes, and
e)      Reduce paper dependence
The Benefits:
Considering today's market scenario, any organization, public or private, has to transform the way in which they are doing their business. And this shift can only be achieved with the help of efficient productivity tools, such as case management. With respect to the human resources department, competent HR case management tool offers powerful content and records management, real time collaboration, and workflow automation. With this any organization can attain enhanced efficiency and high quality service.
Apart from improved efficiency and high quality service, effective HR case management can help organization with…
a) Improve security and audit procedures
b) Increase data quality
c) Increase efficiency with electronic forms and customizable workflows
d) Enhance record, document, and evidence management
The Solution:
Selecting the right HR case management solution is the key to attain all the business benefits. The ability to customize available solution to your needs and objectives can certainly help you gain maximum business benefits. For example, a web-based HR case management module from Column Technologies allow you tailor Column Case Management to your exact needs, deploy on any scale, and then quickly and easily make changes. This customization allows you unlock the required process efficiencies and transparencies.
For more information on case management, please visit http://www.columnit.com