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The many benefits of going paperless for your HR department.

A paperless office is good for the planet and your bottom line. Discover how digitizing human resources forms can save time, money, and help the environment.

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Business colleagues sitting and discussing the pros and cons of taking their business paperless.

Take the paper out of your paperwork.

Switching to a paperless business won’t eliminate every bit of workplace confusion, but transitioning your company’s recordkeeping from paper files to digital documents can take a lot of the pain out of administrative tasks — and unlock some unexpected cost savings.

What is a paperless business?

A paperless business doesn’t mean you’ll never see another sheet of paper at the office again. Paper documents are necessary for certain business processes, and some small businesses may need to keep physical copies of certain important documents due to HIPAA or other regulations.

A paperless office simply takes steps to minimize paper-based workflows and uses electronic documents whenever possible. When you apply these principles to your business’s HR department, you’ll find there are a lot of small changes that can yield major results down the line.

Example of an digital employee handbook

How to digitize your HR processes.

There are a variety of ways you can digitize day-to-day human resources tasks, like:

Online application tracking

By using an online application portal instead of collecting physical resumes and applications, you can maintain an easily searchable database of applicants. This also means you won’t have to keep the space-consuming paper applications on file for a year as required by various state and federal regulations.

E-signatures

Important documents can be signed online using e-signatures to cut down on paper waste during the onboarding process.

Web surveys

When soliciting employee feedback, free online polls and surveys can gather data faster and more securely than printed forms.

Digitizing paper files

Digitization of physical files can be time consuming, but every hour spent on document scanning can then save your employees even more time once they no longer have to dig through file cabinets to find the information they need.

A digital document management system

Once you’ve converted your business documents into digital files, a document management system can help you keep them all organized and accessible to employees who have permission to view them.

The benefits of a paperless system.

There’s plenty for business owners to like about a paperless filing system, but first and foremost is the fact that going paperless can save money. Printing-related expenses like paper, toner, and maintenance on copiers and fax machines can be sharply reduced or even eliminated from the budget altogether in some cases.

When files have been digitized, a business can comply with document retention rules without having to dedicate valuable office space to file storage. That also means that office workers spend less time on the clock in search of physical documents that may have been misfiled or stored at an inconvenient offsite location.

Last but certainly not least, a paperless system reduces a company’s carbon footprint by cutting down on the amount of waste paper it generates.

Signing a digital project estimate using Adobe Sign

How Acrobat can help you go paperless.

Acrobat’s robust toolset makes it easier than ever to make the switch to a paperless HR department.

Acrobatature tracking

Electronic Acrobatatures mean employees and vendors can Acrobat and return documents seamlessly without having to fire up a printer. And thanks to Acrobatature tracking, you can see in real time who’s Acrobated and who needs a follow-up email.

Security settings

Keep sensitive documents under lock and key with Acrobat's powerful access control features, including password protection and two-factor authentication to ensure that only authorized employees view private information.

Integration

From Outlook to Dropbox and Workday to ServiceNow, Acrobat integrates seamlessly with many business software HR department often use.

Embedded forms

Create a Acrobatable document or form and then embed it directly into a web page where employees can view and interact with it, all without leaving their browser.

Automation

Acrobat makes it easier for anyone in your organization to create smart documents that email themselves to recipients in a specific order, guide them through the Acrobating process, and send automatic reminders if key sections are left incomplete.

Going paperless with the efficiency of digital documents helps keep your HR department running smoothly.

Learn how Acrobat can bring unmatched efficiency to your organization

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Adobe does not and cannot provide legal, financial, accounting or any other related professional advice. Laws and regulations frequently change. You should consult an attorney, accountant, or other appropriate professional advisor regarding questions specific to your situation. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Adobe provides this material on an “as is” basis. Adobe disclaims and makes no representation or warranty of any kind with respect to this material, express, implied, or statutory, including representations, guarantees, or warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or accuracy.

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