The HR department in any firm plays a key role in maintaining staff happiness and productivity, but they require sufficient support, new research claims.
According to Adobe, 78% of HR teams are left frustrated by issues relating to employee paperwork, as they often slow down working processes.
Having to chase people to sign and return forms was an issue for 42% of HR teams, while 31% revealed that senior staff members and managers held onto paperwork for longer than necessary.
A quarter of HR teams said that losing forms was also named as an issue.
Changing perceptions
These factors contributed to HR managers believing they are the most ignored individuals in the business.
Just a quarter of people said they think that employees pay attention to HR teams, compared with 70% that listen to managers and 44% that listen to colleagues.
Office management and finance staff also appeared above the HR teams for those that pay attention.
Reasons for stalling the signing of documents were also explored in the study, with HR teams saying that 40% of staff just can’t be bothered, 35% don’t view it as a priority and 31% forget about.
A quarter of employees are also fearful of their contracts and so stall signing so that they are not legally bound by anything while they find out more.
Problems with tracking
Tracking documents was viewed as one of the most painstaking issues faced by HR teams, with the majority of them reporting that staff simply fail to respond to emails before claiming not to have seen them.
Nearly half of HR managers said they had to chase more than once to get paperwork back, which has led to one in ten trying to provide incentives in order to encourage the return of forms.
Just 30% of HR firms said they have used a digital solution to solve their issues while 31% say they do not have complete visibility of where any firms are during the signing process.
Retaining members of the HR workforce is essential for businesses as they play a key role in the hiring of new staff and ensuring that a company ethos is maintained.
If you’re considering your hiring and retention options, see how Discovery Graduates can help you today.
