How Paperless HR Processes Build Trust in Data Accuracy
August 17, 2023 by Peter Friesen
Having a modern, efficient digital solution is a great first step for any school looking to improve its business processes. It’s just as important to ensure that solution is being used to its full potential. In Epping, New Hampshire, the school district adopted an ERP solution. But when a new business administrator took over, they fully realized the digital efficiency that was possible with an interconnected system.
Recognizing the Gaps in the System
When Christine Vayda came in as the new business administrator for Epping Schools, adding contracts, budget items, and other essential information was still done manually, copying from paper to the digital system. Tracking new hires or other hiring data was tough, without a sole source of true information. She knew the district’s modern ERP system could streamline and connect hiring and budgeting processes, and she was excited to take advantage of its functionality.
“Everything was paper,” Vayda said. “You couldn’t really account for which positions were open or which ones were vacated because the district wasn’t using the system to that point. If a position was open, we had no tracking method that could show that.”
Connecting Solutions and People
Vayda wanted to take the system’s capabilities a step further, using additional programs to make budgeting, hiring, and employee HR processes fully paperless and as accurate as possible. She led adoption of a full suite of HR products, which meant that not only was paper documentation a thing of the past, but all information could be trusted and compiled more easily.
“Knowing that everything in the financial system is all accurate information — from purchase orders to benefits — makes a really big difference, especially at year end,” Vayda said.
The new solutions were ready by the start of the school year, and training staff and teachers on the new system went smoothly, Vayda said. Employees felt empowered to access information through the new portal as part of the new 100% paperless process.
More Efficient Budgeting and Reporting
Having HR systems and the district’s budgeting software connected has been a boost to productivity, according to Vayda, as well as an affirmation that their data is trustworthy, since numbers are automatically pulled from shared systems, not entered manually.
Submitting year-end budgets or reports to the state are now simpler, faster, and more reliable, given that all the data is accessible and ready to be compiled with a few clicks.
“My whole budget is in one system, so it’s quick,” Vayda said. “There’s no measuring the amount of time we save now compared to where we were before.”