7 Reasons Why You Need an Automated HR Case Management System

In every business, Human resource is a vital function. It governs the creation, implementation, and amendment of policies and procedures pertaining to the organization’s workforce. This includes everything from hiring new personnel, organizing staff payroll, and bridging the communication gap between executives and the employees—and this is a lot to handle.

What is HR Case Management?

Most cases that the HR team deals with are related to the well-being of staff. Grievances, complaints, payroll issues, updates in policies, employee onboarding, and off-boarding are some examples of the cases that the HR department is responsible for. Traditionally, these cases involve a lot of manual work like raising written requests, filling of forms, investigating issues, and sending emails. And given how cumbersome and time consuming these processes are, there is a definite need for automation.

Types of HR Cases

HR case management is typically investigative in nature. When requests or complaints are raised by the employee, the HR manager assigns the issue or request to an employee who acts as a case handler. They are responsible for everything from routing the request through the proper course of action, investigating the truth or root cause, collaborating with multiple teams if the need arises, keeping the employee informed of the status of their requests and finally drawing them to a close.

Here are a few examples of cases that the HR department handles:

• Incidents
• Grievances
• Disputes
• Complaints
• Policy revisions
• Harassment investigations
• Employee onboarding
• Employee offboarding
• Payroll issues
• Terminations

How Does HR Case Management Works?

Human Resources, like every other function in an organization, is taking strides with automation technology. An automated HR case management system helps the HR teams file, manage, track, and resolve employee-related cases with relative ease.

As employees raise issues, the HR manager starts by assigning the case to a team member who will act as the single point of contact for everything related to the case. The case handler then charts out the path of the case by evaluating the information provided by the employee and taking appropriate actions to solve the case based on their discretion. They will also have to take into account the addition of new information and how it changes the course of the investigation.

Sometimes, the investigation can involve collaborating with multiple teams, and recording each correspondence with other teams, stakeholders, and employees in a manner that is accessible and verifiable. And finally, since cases are time-sensitive, HR cases require case handlers to be quick on their feet and possess a great deal of knowledge to derive context and bring about resolution rapidly. An HR case management solutions greatly help with all of this.

Benefits of an HR Case Management System

Here are some of the benefits of HR case management system:

Ease of Investigation

With HR cases, context is absolutely essential to driving favourable resolution. An HR case management makes it convenient for case handlers to gather all of the information and data pertaining to the case in one single place. They can then analyse data, derive crucial insights that help resolve the case in a quick and efficient manner.

Keeping all parties informed

With a HR case management solution, no one related to the case is left out of the loop. It helps case handlers keep stakeholders and everyone involved informed of every action taken within the case thereby allowing them to keep track of the case from initiation to resolution. Periodical updates can also be provided to keep them informed of any changes in the status.

Quicker approvals

Some actions within the case will need approvals from higher-ups or managers—and these can turn out to be roadblocks in a case. An automated HR case management solution makes sure any action item or request that needs the go-ahead from a manager does not take long. It presents all of the information required for managers to step in and take an informed decision about the step or action drastically reducing the time taken to resolve cases.

Rapid escalations

Escalations are the bane for any department that handles cases. But unfortunately, escalations do happen. A HR case management solution makes it easy to pass cases on to other individuals, teams, or higher-ups (in case of vertical escalations) quickly. And since all of the data is already logged within the system, the next case handler is already provided with all of the information needed for quick resolution.

Ease of collaboration

Some HR cases are more complicated than others and will require the joint effort of other teams or members for resolution. Case management makes it possible to involve the necessary teams, individuals, and authorities within the company to collaborate on the case by performing tasks that will lead to its effective resolution.

Accurate documentation

Accurate documentation is central to every employee related case. HR case management integrates perfectly well with other business organization tools to ensure that all data is logged and accessible inside the system. It also ensures that case managers have access to a trail of action items and related documentation to refer to at any given point in time.

Smarter decision-making

Let’s face it. The types of cases that HR teams deal with are extremely time-sensitive. The faster they are resolved, the faster preventive actions and damage control can be done. HR case management solutions not only help case handlers resolve cases in a fast and efficient manner but also bring about satisfaction—whether it be the employees or in terms of the reputation of the organization.