How do Human Resources and Sustainability come together?
Inside an organization, human resources professionals can set the momentum for the creation and implementation of sustainable practices throughout the employees’ lifecycles and daily tasks - and one of these is going paperless.
What is the deal about going paperless and what are the advantages of doing this?
1. Increased efficiency and savings
Transforming an office into a paperless one does more than just converting everything to digital. It opens up doors of opportunities in making the workforce more efficient and effective. Among the most appealing benefits of veering away from paper-based transactions are efficiency and cost savings.
Manually organizing and keeping track of papers is time-consuming. Paperless transactions within the office make work processes more agile, leaving more time for important work to get done.
Further, the amount spent on sheets of paper per year will now be freed for other operational expenses, which may include buying of cloud storage to host the digitalization of documents and other related expenses.
2. Centralized database
With the prevalence of COVID-19 pandemic where remote working is a necessity, organizations must be quick to respond, and having a paperless and digitally centralized database would be beneficial particularly for the HR department.
Recruitment to onboarding, processing payrolls, when digitized, could alleviate a bulk of work from the department.
Moreover, digitization of paper-based processes means that your whole team has the necessary access to all relevant documents and further encourages collaboration between and among employees.
3. Eco-friendly
The concern for the environment is progressively growing. In the wake of the pandemic, environmental awareness was even more highlighted as people became more concerned and involved – despite mobility restrictions – about addressing environmental challenges and climate change. People are more committed to changing their own behavior to advance sustainability.
Papers are made from softwood or hardwood trees. Thousands of trees are needed to produce one (1) ton of this material. Recycling, and in turn, not using paper in office operations would create a significant contribution to conserve trees.
Going paperless can also be part of the Social Corporate Responsibility of the organization, or those set of practices and policies undertaken where social and environmental concerns are integrated in their business operations to balance economic, environmental and social imperatives.
With eco-friendly practices, along with eco-friendly products and services, your organization's brand value and competitive advantage could increase following the escalating numbers of environmentally-conscious consumers.
4. Enhance the digital skills of employees
The coronavirus pandemic and its wide-ranging implications have accelerated digital skills demand in many occupations. Digital skills have proven to be a driver of resilience and business continuity. Migrating, therefore, to digital space would present opportunities for employees to advance their digital knowledge, skills, abilities to remain fit for their current jobs.
Anyway, e-learning platforms are now available for those looking to up their digital skills. Some of them are free!
On top of all these benefits, why is there a need for human resources to integrate and embrace sustainability?
Sustainability is good business. In the language of human resources, it refers to looking at fostering a conducive working environment and positive human and social outcomes within the organization - and going paperless is one of the first steps toward sustainability.
So if you are asking us, when is the right time to go paperless? The answer is NOW.