HR’s New Best Friend, A Look At Document Management Software

Managing paperwork and official documentation along with managing employees is one of the toughest functions of a human resource (HR) officer — the more employees hired, the more documents and records must be processed. However, with proper document management in place, the processing of records will not only be made easier, but also become more secure.

The Importance of Document Management

Document management, the process by which documents, records, and other paperworks are stored and secured, is a crucial aspect in an organization’s success and productivity. With proper document management, organization can ensure:

• Data security and protection

Most countries have laws on data privacy and protection. In Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, jurisdictions like Bahrain and the UAE have already implemented robust data privacy and protection laws patterned from the EU 1995 Data Protection Directive. With these regulations in place, document management ensures that records are kept and secured, enabling organizations to comply with the mandates of laws.

• Administrative feasibility

As a result of the rapid growth of enterprises, the number of documents organizations handle have also increased. Everyday, growing companies create massive amounts of contracts and paperwork which eventually find their way to the storage box. To avoid having these documents getting scattered or lost, and to ensure that employees will be able to locate them easily when they need to use them for work, having a document management policy is crucial.

Is Your Document Management Process Efficient?

Although having a document management process is, by itself, already a contributory factor for an effective workflow, this one question always remains: is your document management process efficient?

The pace of technological advancement has been increasing in recent years. Companies are becoming more influenced by digital transformation and technology, especially nowadays when the majority of transactions are being conducted online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a survey on executives by McKinsey Global, nearly all respondents said that they have accelerated their digitization of internal operations by three to four years and “have stood up at least temporary solutions to meet many of the new demands on them, (…) much more quickly than they had thought possible before the crisis.”

To this end, it is imperative upon growing companies to likewise transition to a digitized document management process to cope with the increasing demands and transactions they face everyday.

Features of a Document Management Software

A cloud-based HR software in the MENA region has been developed to aid growing businesses in going digital. Some of the features of this software are as follows:

• Storage of documents

Some cloud-based HR software in MENA can digitally transform data control operations, allowing companies to store abundant documents on the system and making it easier for them to arrange and manage all records from one place.

• Integration of all company files and records in one platform

The software allows companies to secure all documents in one place and integrate all management tasks in one accessible place

• A home page

A home page where managers can view employee records, performance, and compliances in real-time is provided. 

• Upload feature

Using this software, managers are notified when employee records expire or need to be replaced. In turn, employees can upload their own documents and allow managers to monitor their compliance.

• Document request and approval

Employees can use the software to request documents from the company, such as employment certificates. Once requested, the appeal for approval is routed through certain company officers for clearance, and once approved, the managers can generate the requested document.

Today, when transactions and market demands are becoming more advanced, going digital can save companies a lot of time, money, and energy. To this end, we can say that document management is the HR department’s new best friend.