The talk on Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has been around for quite some time now and nearly half of the global business population have initiated their shift towards it or have at least considered the possibilities of RPA replacing traditional HR and payroll processing.

The primary emphasis for any organization is to establish a strong command over its core business activities and increase its visibility among customers. With an ardent focus towards achieving business targets, it becomes challenging when HR employees are stuck executing manual data entry or commercial calculations. Such tasks take up too much of time and become tedious. Employees slowly get caught up in a loop performing daily record maintenance and data collection.

This is where the need for automated processing arises. RPA aids in systematizing such chores that involve a lot of mundane work. HR systems can be programmed to function based on algorithms and predefined commands that streamline rule-based tasks, including payroll and some HR practices too. This approach towards HR and payroll automation can result in guiding a workforce’s effort to directly impact business performance.

Robotic process automation in HR and payroll

Payroll and HR in any organization are very demanding, especially when it comes to timely delivery of performance appraisals, accurate computation of wages, coordinated data sharing between multiple businesses units (be it regional or across borders) and implementing constitutional amendments (especially for global payrolls). There are other HR undertakings too that require strategic planning and higher coordination levels within teams.

In order to simplify and allocate more time towards dynamic planning, RPA is being prioritized by HR managers and CHROs. RPA can computerize tasks around data maintenance, validation, and other administrative works and can bring down the anxiety involved in dealing with large volumes of data. Process automation can ensure error-free operation as no manual effort or human interference is involved. Systems integrated with process automation turn out to be very economical and guarantee to generate a return on investment within a year.

Advantages of RPA in HR and payroll

Increased accuracy and quality

As mentioned earlier, RPA is carried out by bots that run based on pre-set rules which are followed precisely. This results in less human intervention and reduces the risk of careless errors while entering or validating HR and payroll data records. A task assigned to an automated system can perform faster and with higher accuracy rates. Thus, it can drastically impact the quality of the process output. Automation also lowers the rate of rework, ensures there is no duplication of efforts or information. RPA is a straightforward approach towards streamlining payroll and HR practices.

Better talent management opportunities

Any business at some given point of time is in need of a contingent workforce that can work on temporary or on short-term projects. The number of resources needed is based on the project demands or availability of existing talent. In such cases, it becomes costly to run a complete recruitment campaign to onboard employees for just a stipulated time. The seasonal requirement of workforce turns out to be very expensive for employers. To cater to the growing need of provisional workers or to organize existing workforce in an impactful way -- RPA can be utilized to save valuable time and effort by forming virtual workforce capacities that can adapt to different business requirements whenever are wherever the need arises. RPA forms the support system that can enhance employee performance through improved talent management solutions and enable easy navigation between different business applications. Advanced RPA tools are also being promoted in the market that can process natural languages, indulge in machine learning and perform based on computer vision.

Scalability

Unlike hired workers, robots have the flexibility to steer between different HR and payroll applications and platforms smoothly with less or no disruption to business operations. The transition is relatively spontaneous and does not require much down time in training or acquainted with the new system.

The inflow of work fluctuates based on several internal and external entities and with each change comes the need to reallocate the workforce to provide backup. With RPA, automated bots can swiftly be deployed based on changing demands and the number of bots engaged in a task at any given time can be increased or decreased to match requirements.

Simplicity and user friendliness 

One major advantage with automated systems is that it would not require much support from IT professionals for implementation. Any person carrying basic technical knowledge can suffice the requirement. RPA is adapting to perform in complicated environments and keep up with the increasing complexity involved in payroll and HR processes. But this doesn’t imply that they are difficult to understand or execute; it signifies the ability to break down problematic tasks and deliver them in simpler ways.