In today’s fast-moving world, time is the most valuable resource for any organisation. That’s why most organisations constantly look out for smarter ways to manage their work. And everyone wants to increase their efficiency and minimise errors. For the HR department, it has become a priority as they have to handle everything from hiring to retirement.
Yet the HR department often feels burdened with repetitive and time-consuming tasks. From manual attendance tracking to preparing payroll sheets, these routine tasks consume hours every week. These processes are not only slow but also distract HR from higher-value work like building culture, work analysis, and improving employee satisfaction.
This is where HRMS automation comes in and changes the game.
An HRMS with automated features holds the ability to handle a wide range of repetitive tasks, resulting in fewer errors and improved productivity. By eliminating repetitive tasks, the HR team can save up to 10 hours of manual work every week and even more, depending on the company size.
Moreover, HR automation allows teams to use their time and energy in making its strategic HR functions like talent management, leadership development, and organisational growth. So today in this blog, we will explore how HRM as automation actually works and how it can eliminate errors and save time for organisations.
1. Attendance and leave management
Managing attendance and leave manually is one of the most tedious and error-prone tasks for the HR team. The old traditional system of checking daily attendance and calculating the working hours manually, with the adjustment in leave balance, leads to payroll errors. And this and less back and forth emails between employees and their managers leave room for miscommunication, which results in employee dissatisfaction.
But with HRMS automation :
Modern HRMS platforms are often equipped with a smart attendance tracking feature with a leave management module, which can streamline the entire process.
- Employees can apply for leave – with the self-service portals, employees can easily apply for leave by specifying the specific date and their reason, hence they do not have to send any mail to HR.
- Managers receive real-time notification – managers can approve and reject leave requests instantly. Hands it will give a complete visibility of their teams leave calendar.
- Automatically update leave balance – these systems can update the leave balance automatically once a request is approved, and it also sync the data with payroll and timesheets.
- Geo-tagged punch-ins – shift scheduling makes attendance tracking accurate and effortless.
Saves 2-3 Hours per week- By automating these processes, HR teams do not have to spend hours verifying the attendance logs. And with that it also updates the records. They can also rely on this real-time accurate data which is read to use. And this saves 8 to 12 hours every month.
2. Payroll processing
Payroll is another very important yet critical and time-consuming task for the HR department. In a manual workforce HR professionals often gather attendance records calculate leaves without pay (LWP) then apply tax deduction validate the salary components and ensure statutory compliance with laws like PF, TDS, ESI. and in each steps it require series of cross verification checks and manual data entry which makes the entire process slow and highly error prone.
And even a small miscalculation can lead to employee dissatisfaction, compliance issues and even penalties that can put immense pressure on the HR team during the payroll cycle.
With HRMS Automation –
An automated HRMS can streamline the entire payroll process by integrating payroll with real-time attendance and leave data:
- Attendance and leave our Auto Synced: The system automatically syncs the eligible working days, and approved leave types are considered during the payroll calculation.
- Text deduction, statutory contribution, and other compilers are our Auto calculated: The system can auto-calculate taxes and compliance based on pre-configured rules, hence reducing manual errors.
- Bonuses, reimbursements, incentives, and other deductions – HRM is a system that can automatically process bonuses, incentives, and deductions while staying updated with the latest legal framework.
- Payslips are generated instantly – now employees can download the payslips using employee self-service portals; this will eliminate the need for HR to handle individual requests.
Time saved 3 to 4 hours per week:
On average, the HR team spends several hours processing payroll every month. But with the automation, these hours are significantly reduced, especially in medium to large organisations.
And over the period of time, this translates to 150 hours saved in a year.
3. Employee onboarding
The onboarding process for a new hire can be quite challenging for the HR team. They have to spend hours collecting the documents, sharing the welcome kits, assigning training schedules, and coordinating with multiple departments to make sure everything is ready on day one. Often results in bottlenecks, delays, and sometimes even poor first impressions for the new employees.
Manual onboarding is not only time-consuming, but it also increases the miscommunication, especially when onboarding bulk employees across multiple locations.
With HRMS automation:
A modern HRM can completely transform the situation for both HRs and new hires.
- Personalised onboarding checklist – The system generates a personalised onboarding checklist for every employee, making sure not even a single step is missed.
- Welcome emails – now new hires will receive welcome emails, joining forms, and document submission links automatically as soon as an offer is accepted.
- Auto-generated employee IDs – once documents are uploaded, the system has the ability to auto-generate employee IDs, email accounts, and access credentials.
- Automated reminders – Reminders are sent to the IT team, and they also report to managers for providing laptop workspace set up and induction meetings.
- Real-time tracking – on onboarding process can be tracked, which allows the HR team to intervene if required.
Time saved:
Now, instead of spending hours coordinating with the department’s HR team, the system can handle the process. This makes the whole process smooth and standardised. This not only saves one or two hours a week but also creates a strong impression on new employees, boosting their retention and engagement.
4. Performance management:
Reviewing the performance is essential for the growth of employees and organisational success. But this task is exhausting, chaotic, and time-consuming. And HR teams often have to set reminders to complete the task. But during the busy appraisal season, this process becomes more cumbersome. And due to a lack of structured data, it can result in missed deadlines, inconsistent feedback, and employee dissatisfaction.
With HRMS automation:
An automated HRM often brings structure, speed, and clarity to the performance review process.
- Predefined performance review cycles – The systems have the ability to schedule predefined review cycles in advance, with notifications sent to both the manager and employees.
- Digital evaluation templates – HR can configure and deploy digital evaluation templates for different roles, making self-assessment and feedback easier.
- Automated reminders – The platform tracks progress and sends reminders to those who haven’t completed their evaluation.
- Performance reports – The HR team can generate analytics-driven performance reports in just a few clicks.
Time saved: 1 hour per week
By automating feedback collection and report generation, HR professionals can save up to 1 hour per week. This saved time allows HRs to focus on other strategies, training, rather than getting stuck in repetitive admin tasks.
5. Document Handling & Compliance
Managing documents and staying updated with the evolving labour laws is again a heavy and sensitive responsibility of the HR team. So, whether it’s sorting employee contacts or updating KYC records and making up with the policies like PF, ESI, or POSH manually is time-consuming and risky.
In manual setup up HR has to constantly take the follow-ups on document renewal, dig through folders for audits. With that it also ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. Even one missed renewal date can lead to penalties and legal consequences.
With the HRMS tool
HMS platforms not only bring simplicity but also bring accuracy in document and compliance management.
- Automatic reminders – The system sends reminders for upcoming document expiration, like contract renewal, ID proofs, and compliance filing.
- Cloud-based repository – all employee records and other important documents are stored securely in a cloud-based repository, and access is only given to authorised persons.
- Retrieve documents – HR can easily search, upload, and retrieve documents in seconds, reducing time spans on audits and internal reviews.
- Real-time alerts – HRM is a tool that also provides real-time compliance alerts, which help HR to stay up to date with regular changes.
Time saved: 1 to 2 hours per week
Keeping track of physical documents can now be handled in a few clicks. And on average, 1 to 2 hours per week can be saved in fast-growing organisations where new hires and compliance needs grow rapidly.
Why time saving matters
In today’s busy business world, every minute has its own importance. And when it comes to the HR team, they are often bogged down with the routine administrative work, and their ability to contribute to high-impact initiatives disappears. That’s why automating the repetitive and time-consuming tasks using HRMS like ZestNexus isn’t just convenient, but it holds a strategic advantage.
- Faster HR operation = More productive team
- Less admin work = more focus on strategic HR
- Time saved = lower operational cost
Final thoughts
If your HR team is still spending hours on data entry, manual approvals, and repetitive tasks, then it’s time to change. Using HRMS automation tools will not only save your 10+ hours weekly. However it will also help in creating a smoother, faster, and more employee-centric HR environment.
