Digitalization, a Must-Have for Every Organization

Digitalization has revolutionized the workplace. Among the many operations it changed is the recruitment process, which human resources (HR) experts argue should become more amicable and simpler for both parties involved. Outside of recruitment, digital tools ensure companies become more efficient as they save time and money, two factors that are essential to a company’s survival.

The dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the push for digitalization in HR procedures. According to Jorge Valencia, Account Executive, DocuSign, 39 percent of global companies were not prepared for the switch to remote work. When companies scrambled to transition, 93 percent wasted investments in technology because they lacked internal integration with other systems. Nevertheless, technology enabling remote work remains crucial since 72 percent of the workforce prefers to maintain a degree of home office. What is more, studies have shown that implementing a scheme of an average 2.5 days working from home, companies save US$11,000 a year for each employee. If companies fail to adapt to this new reality, they may also lose talent and face high staff turnover rates.

An employment relationship starts the moment that a company acknowledges its need for a job position, after which the recruitment process starts. Today, these procedures are no longer only about the needs and purposes of a company, they also consider the candidate, who is making an educated choice of where to work and likely evaluating several employment options.

Hiring an employee usually implies initiating a complex process. Before, this process used to be carried out in person but technology has allowed companies to make the procedure more efficient, which cuts costs and time. As remote work is here to stay to stay, onboarding processes need to be adapted to these new circumstances.

“If issues like entry and exit registration, vacation controls and salary calculations are not based on cutting-edge technology, this could cause the collapse of a company because of a massive waste of time, increased costs, the deterioration the organizational climate and an increase of turnover rates,” said Valencia.

Therefore, digitalization is no longer an added value; it has become a necessity. “The digitalization of onboarding and hiring processes is also here to stay,” added Valencia. Sixty-six percent of the companies that digitalized these processes in the past year say they will adopt more technology in the year to come. For many companies, the benefits to profitability and efficiency are already evident.