It’s time to go paperless & how an employee app can help

COVID-19 has accelerated the move to paperless systems for businesses all over the world. In retail we saw outlets curtailing the use of cash due to fear of spreading the virus; causing payment habits to evolve faster than ever. With more of us working remotely, the office has also seen rapid innovation and it has become crucial that businesses digitalise their paper forms. While some of us may have found the move to digital difficult at first, many of us are now used to it and can easily visualise a future where paper is no longer needed in the workplace. The pros of a paperless workplace far outweigh the cons and it has the ability to revolutionise the way we work.

The move to paperless is nothing new in the world of payroll processing. Going back to a time where payroll was done manually and without the help of software is unimaginable to most payroll processers. However, if you are still using paper anywhere in your workflow, it’s time to make the change.

Thesaurus Connect is a cloud add-on to our payroll software that can help you to digitalise payroll and HR processes, allowing you to cut down on your use of paper and even stop using it altogether. So how can Thesaurus Connect help you achieve this?

Thesaurus Connect digitalises the following tasks:

• Sharing documents with employees such as contracts of employment, staff handbooks etc.
• Distributing payslips to employees
• Annual leave management

What are the benefits of digitalizing payroll processes?

1. Your company can save money

Surveys have found that the average amount spent by businesses on printing is over €800 per employee. With 30% of print jobs not even being picked up from the printer and 50% of print jobs ending up in the bin within 24 hours, businesses are essentially throwing money away. A document such as a staff handbook can be as long as 100 pages. Say you have 40 employees, that adds up to 4000 pages and a lot of money being spent on paper and ink. Sharing the staff handbook through a cloud portal cuts out this cost altogether.

2. It is more convenient for you and your employees

With Thesaurus Connect, staff have the ability to access important documents through the employee self-service app on their phone. This means they no longer have to store physical documents that can often be lost or get thrown away. It also means that if you would like to update or change any of the information in the document, it is easy to do so. Once the document has been updated, employees will receive a push notification to let them know the newly updated document is ready to be viewed.

Sharing a document online with a few clicks of a mouse is far more convenient than having to print off, sort through and physically distribute reams of paper. It also doesn’t matter where an employee is; in the office, working from home, or even travelling abroad, everyone will have access to the document at the same time.

3. You can save yourself hours of time

Paper-based processes are notoriously slow and are more prone to error which can end up taking you hours to correct. One way you can save time with Thesaurus Connect is by digitalising your annual leave management processes. Instead of having employees submit paper forms, the employee can request leave wherever or whenever suits them; be it from their desk or even in their own time through the Thesaurus Connect mobile or tablet app.

Once a request for leave has been made, the relevant manager will receive a notification on their own Thesaurus Connect dashboard. From the dashboard, employers can either approve or deny the leave request. Through your dashboard, you can view a real-time, company-wide calendar where you can see which employees are on leave, when they are on leave and the type of leave, saving you hours of time when dealing with annual leave requests.

4. It improves accountability

Another great benefit of using Thesaurus Connect's online document sharing feature instead of paper is that it allows for accountability. From the employer dashboard, users have the ability to track who has read the documents which have been shared with them and who hasn’t. When it comes to managing annual leave through Thesaurus Connect, you can assign users to manage requests from specific employees. You also will have a record of who has requested leave, when, and who has dealt with the request.

5. It improves security

Employee documents, especially payslips, are highly confidential documents which contain sensitive personal information. It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that the employees' information is kept safe and secure. If you are still sharing paper payslips with employees, you are leaving them at high risk of a data breach. In the Thesaurus Connect mobile app, employees will receive an email and a push notification when their latest payslip becomes available to be viewed or downloaded. From the app, employees can also view and download all historic payslips. Thesaurus Connect uses a design structure that maximises security. Each user will have their own login details and unique password. Thesaurus Connect utilises the Microsoft Azure platform, keeping the employee’s personal information secure.

6. It helps you stay ahead of the competition

Technology is always evolving and by not moving from manual paper processes to digital ones, you are at risk of being left behind by the competition. Companies are having to continuously innovate to keep up with customers' expectations and payroll is no different. The digital transformation has changed employees’ expectations. To attract and retain top talent, employers need to replace old manual processes with digital solutions. In a recent employee survey, 91% of employees said they want digital solutions and 88% think that technology is a vital part of the employee experience.

7. You are helping the environment

Lastly, the biggest advantage of going paperless is that you are helping to save the environment. By curtailing the use of paper in the workplace not only are you saving trees, but you are also helping to reduce pollution, save water and cut down on the use of fossil fuels which are used to make ink. Turning a single tree into 17 reams of paper releases around 110 lbs of C02 into the atmosphere. It has become the responsibility of businesses to cut down on carbon emissions and going paperless is the first step you can take.

It is becoming increasingly important for businesses to make more environmentally friendly choices. Thesaurus Software recently conducted a survey of our UK customers and over 70% of respondents said that they would like to make more environmentally friendly decisions for their business. From the same survey, 43% said that it was either extremely important or very important for them to choose suppliers who make a conscious effort to reduce the impact they have on the environment.

Read about our own sustainability efforts here.

Why not book a free online demo of Thesaurus Connect today and find out more about its benefits and how it can help your business go paperless.

Related articles:

• Ransomware: How to protect your payroll data
• How we celebrated Earth Day 2021
• Online Payslips: Their benefits and why you should use them

Posted byElaine CarrollinPayroll Software