Was ist IT-Support?
Simplify people operations with HR workflow automation
HR teams are often the unsung heroes of a growing company—juggling onboarding, PTO approvals, compliance, payroll updates, and a dozen other requests… all before lunch. But when these processes rely on scattered spreadsheets, endless email chains, or manual approvals, things fall through the cracks fast.
Sound familiar?
That’s where HR workflow automation can make a real difference. By streamlining and automating repetitive tasks, your team can focus less on chasing forms and more on building a better employee experience. In this guide, we’ll walk through how tools can simplify people operations and share HR automation best practices to help you get started.
What is HR workflow automation?
HR workflow automation is the process of turning repetitive, manual HR tasks into streamlined digital workflows. Think of it as replacing checklists, emails, and spreadsheet chaos with organized, automated systems that just work.
From onboarding and payroll to leave approvals and compliance tracking, automation helps HR teams save time, reduce errors, and focus on strategic priorities instead of administrative busywork. Your team can set up workflows that trigger automatically, ensuring consistency, speed, and better employee experiences across the board.
Why HR teams need workflow automation
HR teams benefit from workflow automation because much of their work involves repetitive tasks. When a human is dealing with repetitive tasks like payroll and leave management, they’re spending valuable time that could be spent on other tasks. HR automation helps teams work more efficiently and accurately, reducing the risk of manual errors and giving your HR team the freedom to tackle more important tasks.
Use cases for HR workflow automation
HR workflow automation can make an impact in several areas, from payroll and benefits to onboarding and offboarding. Learn more about some of the workflows you can automate to save time and money.
Onboarding and offboarding
Onboarding and offboarding are two of the most important tasks HR is responsible for. When you hire a new employee, you need to get them set up with the accounts and equipment they need to perform the job. Onboarding automation helps standardize tasks like account setup.
When an employee leaves your company, it’s crucial to ensure they no longer have access to the accounts or systems you previously granted them. This process can also be automated, enhancing security and reducing the time it takes to offboard employees.
Time off requests and approvals
Time off requests are one of the most common issues HR teams deal with. Employees receive a set amount of paid vacation and sick days throughout the year, but they have to submit a request and wait for HR to approve it before taking time off.
With HR workflow automation, you don’t have to email back and forth with employees to approve time off requests. Instead, you can use HR automation to create a self-service option for employees, so they can quickly request time off and find out if it’s approved in a matter of minutes.
Because time off requests are one of the most frequent types of requests HR teams deal with, they’re one of the most beneficial to automate. HR service management (HRSM) is significantly easier when employees have self-service options for time off.
Payroll and benefits administration
Payroll and benefits are all about math, which means there’s a higher chance of manual errors. If your HR teams manually add up employees’ hours and calculate their pay, math mistakes and typos are likely to occur, which can cause issues. This is especially true for companies with more robust benefits packages.
Automating payroll and benefits saves you time and ensures employees are receiving the compensation they’re entitled to. You can integrate payroll and benefit automation software with other HR help desk software and other tools to keep data accurate and visible.
Performance reviews and feedback cycles
Performance reviews are a key part of keeping employees up to speed with their performance compared to your expectations. It’s also important for employees to have opportunities to provide feedback to management.
Automated reminders and feedback forms keep feedback loops on schedule so that you can streamline performance reviews for all your employees. As a result, all your team members know what they’re doing right and what they need to work on at any given time.
Automating performance reviews and feedback also helps improve documentation. When you consistently provide feedback to employees, you create a paper trail that allows you to review and track their progress over time.
Benefits of automating HR workflows
HR workflow automation offers numerous benefits, including improved employee experience management and reduced errors. Discover how automated HR workflows can give your business a boost.
Reduces administrative burden
Without automation, HR teams spend a lot of time focusing on repetitive tasks. Simple tasks like payroll and onboarding can eat up a lot of valuable time, which puts unnecessary stress on your HR team. In the same way that IT service management (ITSM) software streamlines IT processes, HR automation software makes HR processes a breeze.
When you’re automating repetitive tasks, it frees up time that your HR team can use on more people-focused work. Less administrative work means HR team members have more time to connect with people on a personal level and effect change that makes a significant difference to your company.
Improves employee experience
Employees tend to do better work when they’re satisfied with their job, so creating a positive employee experience is one of the biggest keys to employee retention. When you provide self-service options and automate tasks such as payroll and leave management, it tends to improve the employee experience.
HR workflow automation streamlines repetitive processes, allowing employees to receive payments or have their time off requests approved more quickly. Automation also reduces confusion caused by unresponsive HR teams, so employees have a clear understanding of things like payroll and paid time off.
Ensures compliance and reduces errors
Compliance is key when it comes to HR. As an employer, you’re required to follow state and local laws, federal laws, and data privacy laws. It can be difficult to maintain compliance when you have various HR team members working on similar tasks, but compliance is a breeze when you automate HR workflows. Automation reduces the risk of manual errors and ensures policies are applied consistently.
It’s also important to have audit trails and consistent documentation in the event of an audit. With HR automation, everything is clearly documented, so you can refer back to it if needed.
Ensures scalability as teams grow
As your internal teams grow and HR becomes a bigger responsibility, HR workflow automation helps you keep up with increasing HR demands. When you’re automating repetitive tasks like onboarding and payroll, expanding your roster of employees doesn’t put additional stress on your HR team. With solutions like Jira Service Desk, employees have access to self-service options, eliminating the need for HR teams to email back and forth.
HR workflow automation is also flexible, allowing you to refine your workflows and adjust your process automation over time.
Potential challenges of HR workflow automation
Despite all the benefits, HR workflow automation isn’t always easy. There are several obstacles you might face when getting started with HR automation.
Poor process design is a common issue when you’re just getting started. If your HR workflows aren’t streamlined and set up logically, they can impact the process's results.
Tool overload can also be an issue, especially as your internal teams grow. Choosing software that can scale with your growing company is important.
You can overcome these obstacles by addressing change management and integration planning early.
What to look for in HR workflow automation software
Choosing the right HR workflow automation software starts with understanding the key features to look for. These key features include ease of use, integrations, role-based access, and customizations.
Look for software that’s easy to use and integrates with other tools you’re already using. Role-based access and customization give you total control over access and permissions for HR team members.
HR workflow automation tools to try
HR service management templates can help you save time and simplify HR operations, but a comprehensive tool like Jira Service Management is ideal. Jira Service Management lets you automate routine tasks such as payroll and benefits while giving you complete control through role-based access and customization.
Jira Service Management is also designed to integrate with popular tools and software you’re already using, so you can simplify HR management with a centralized automation solution.
Improve your HR processes with Jira Service Management
When it comes to streamlining HR service requests and automating workflows, Jira Service Management’s HR software is the simple solution. Features like request portals, SLAs, and automation rules tailored for HR teams make Jira Service Management an invaluable resource for any HR team.
Plus, Jira Service Management is easy to use. With a user-friendly interface and robust features, you can start streamlining HR processes and maximizing your HR resources in no time.
Der vollständige Leitfaden für Enterprise Service Management (ESM)
Was ist Enterprise Service Management? Erfahre in diesem Leitfaden, wie du mithilfe von ESM die Servicebereitstellung verbessern kannst.
Read the articleWas ist HR Service Management und Delivery? | Atlassian
Jira Service Management bietet sofort einsatzbereite Vorlagen für HR-Teams, einschließlich vorkonfigurierte Workflows für Vorgänge wie Onboarding, Offboarding und HR-Anfragen.
Read the article