The Brokers’ Guide to HR Automation

By Pairing your Benefit Packages with an HR Automation Solution

If you are a broker looking to find out more about pairing your benefit packages with an HR automation solution, then continue through this guide for helpful information on the advantages of doing so. Follow this guide for an overview of how automation can help your clients save money, improve efficiency and get back to the work that matters most.

As a broker, you are an expert in everything benefits related. You may specialize in a specific benefit such as healthcare or your services offered may be broader, providing health, dental, 401k and/or other benefits to people and organizations. Regardless of the size of the business you’re representing, you work to obtain the best rates on various benefit packages—presenting only the top options available based on the pain points and budget provided by your clients. You simplify the process for your clients by analyzing their risks and liabilities, then determining the exact coverage they will need for their employees. Because of your expertise on various benefit offerings in the marketplace, you are a conduit of stress relief for your clients. They can focus on more business-related matters while confidently relying on you to help them create an excellent benefits package for their employees.

But is there more you can do to help your clients overall? While also increasing the size of your paycheck with each sale?

If you haven’t already paired a human capital management (HCM) platform and/or its modular solutions for HR automation purposes with your benefit offerings; then you are missing out on an opportunity to increase your overall paycheck. By solving more of your client’s pain points, not only will you make more income, but you will be considered an expert in HR technology by them.

The Benefits of HR Automation Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) Conversational Platforms and Chatbots Business Intelligence Tools Business Intelligence Tools & Hr Departments Using HR Automation to Sell Your Products to Clients Human Resources Managers Seamless HR Automation Dedicated Support Helps Brokers Retain Clients Common Broker Questions Answered

The Benefits of HR Automation

Welcome to the 21st century, where doing manual HR-related processes such as assisting employees selecting benefits or filling out countless documents are becoming a thing of the past. This is a golden era of technology development for the human resources industry. Over time, as responsibilities are freed up by HR automation software, these professionals will have more time to offer their insight and help their organization continue to succeed in other areas of business—giving them the ability to get back to the work that matters most.

The Benefits of Adopting an HR Automation Solution:

Increased efficiency to various job duties
Reduced costs
Improved productivity by automating various tasks, leaving more time to focus on more impactful projects

By automating basic HR-related processes, administrators of an HCM solution can create an environment for employees that promotes more responsive, transparent and measurable results.

Why does this matter to you?

Because HR professionals love it! For most people, those inconvenient, time-consuming and mind-numbing tasks are the least favorite part of their jobs. So, while you are already helping them choose the perfect benefit options for their employees, you are also in a great position to extend your sales by offering either a full HCM solution and/or varying modules to help support and automate a lot of tasks typically done by the HR department.

This is the perfect time for you, as a broker, to come in not just as a benefits expert, but also as a problem solver for all things HR-related.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI)

As technology continuously evolves every minute, hour, day, month and year, it’s imperative that brokers remain aware of any emerging HR automation solutions making noise in the marketplace. They need to make sure to look for solutions that provide substance and excitement for their clients, aiming to make their lives easier while on the job.

It’s 2018 – let’s talk about some exciting, trending solutions that are getting the most love this year from HR and technology influencers alike. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a system that learns, adapts and could potentially act autonomously within your system? You’re not alone.

According to a survey from IMB, of 6,000 executives, 66 percent of CEOs believe cognitive computing can drive significant value in HR, while 54 percent of HR executives believe that cognitive computing will affect key roles in HR organizations.

The power of AI can help support the following areas:

Personalized employee experiences

Example:

An AI can provide the schedule for a new employee, generating names, contact information and locations of who they need to connect with while they’re onboarding.

Automated decision-making support

Examples:

AI can help employees with their PTO requests, letting them know if their request will likely be approved or not based on the volume of other requests for any specific day.
AI can provide training lists to management to help support team development.
AI can help with the hiring process by tapping into multiple data sources to help bring insight to the different ways an organization is developing their candidate profiles.

AI as the recruiting team

Example: AI can be used to automate scheduling interviews, providing ongoing feedback, supplying tests and other documentation, etc., while the HR recruiter can spend more time converting their candidates to new hires.

Identifying employees who are thinking about quitting

Example: AI may be on the way to being able to identify when an employee may be planning to quit the organization. It can track computer activity such as time spent online, what they’re searching, email activity, keystrokes, etc. That information will be stored for a period and used to analyze the normalcy of the organization as whole, flagging outliers and reporting to management which employees may be thinking of leaving.

Conversational Platforms and Chatbots

HR-automated bots are developed to be able to take in questions from employees about various subjects such as helping with benefits enrollment, searching for employee handbook policies/other documentation and completing training tasks. They can quickly understand the employee’s question and lead them to the answer they are looking for. This process alone can help save hours for the HR department that can be better used elsewhere.

Some areas of control include electronic integrations to various carriers’, health insurance, vision, dental and to 401k providers that would update changes within an organization. Examples of potential event changes would be terminations, new hires and any employee data changes.

Some areas of HR where bots can be used to help employees find information faster are:

Benefits enrollment
Onboarding
Recruitment
Documentation
Employee training
Reviews
Common questions

AI automation can help streamline how organizations train and manage employees at all levels of employment—full-time, part-time, seasonal, contract, and temporary.

Business Intelligence Tools

The world today is becoming more and more data-driven. As companies look to stay competitive, they are continually on the lookout for tools and software that will help give them insights to improve daily tasks and the overall scope of their operations. This is where business intelligence (BI) software comes into play.

BI leverages software and services to transform data into actionable intelligence used to inform an organization on how to strategize and make tactical business decisions. Data sets are accessed by BI, then the analytical findings are presented in reports, dashboards, summaries, graphs, charts and maps. This gives organization the power to review and analyze potential opportunities to improve their overall scope of operations.

Business Intelligence Tools Can Help You:

Develop strategy
Transform data into actionable intelligence
Make smarter business decisions

BI tools don’t tell you what to do or what will happen based off the drummed-up statistics inquired about—however, it offers a way for the user to examine data to understand any trends or insights that can lead them to make smarter business decisions.

As a broker, you’re probably wondering how you can relay the benefits of Business Intelligence Tools to HR or business operations professionals? To make their jobs easier, you can tell them that BI is great for looking for ways to guide employment education and progress, enhance wages, manage recruitment, obtain employee demographics, etc.

As all BI tools have their subtle differences, the core functions of the available software should be mostly similar.

Business Intelligence Tools & HR Departments

A self-service business intelligence tool

Using a Q&A function, you’ll have the ability to ask the software a question using natural language to help pull the vital information you need quicker.

Dashboards, reports and datasets

You have the power to create personalized dashboards, combining data sources to help you monitor your most important data.

The ability to connect to nearly any application or data source

It won’t matter if the resources live in the cloud or on-premise. Some examples include Excel Spreadsheets, SharePoint and Google Analytics to name a few.

Make faster business decisions

Since the tool is internal, you won’t have to hire 3rd parties to do the analysis for you. Also, by analyzing the most recent data, you will be able to make informed decisions more quickly.

Constant innovation

BI tools are updated nearly every month with new features and functionality.

With the power of this data in their hands, HR and/or business operations professionals will be able to leverage the information in front of them to make better business decisions not just for their department, but for the whole company.

When it comes down to it, the most important asset an organization has is the very people they employ. Discovering what they can do to better the lives of their employees will allow the organization to operate more effectively.

Using HR Automation to Sell Your Products to Clients

Nobody said being a salesperson is easy. Sure, you’ll have a ‘low-hanging fruit’ every now-and-then who will provide you with a nice and easy payday, but you cannot count on those sales to keep you afloat consistently. As a broker, if you want to maximize your overall sales, looking to offer HR automated solutions with your benefits offerings may just be the golden ticket you were looking for.

Before we can do that, we’ll need to briefly cover the basics of what HR professionals do. From there we can establish a few pain points they may run into, then you’ll be able to recommend various HR automated solutions to help make their job more efficient and productive, giving them the ability to focus on higher impact projects for their organization.

Human resource professionals job descriptions and tasks

The following descriptions are typical job duties/tasks of HR professionals:

Human resources specialists/generalists

Typically, HR specialists are responsible for recruiting, screening, interviewing and placing workers. Sometimes they may oversee employee relations, payroll and benefits training.

Common tasks typical HR professionals may perform daily includes:

Interviewing job candidates about their experience, skills and education
Following up with references and performing background checks
Consulting with management/employers to identify organizational needs and preferred qualifications
Informing job candidates about the job description, benefits and requirements
Hiring or referring quality candidates
Conducting employee orientations
Managing paperwork

Human Resources Managers

HR managers usually plan, direct and oversee the administrative duties of an organization. They manage the specialists and/or generalists duties as well. Managers will also consult with executives on strategic planning and make sure management and staff at all levels of the organization are in sync with communications, policies, documentation and more.

Common tasks typical HR managers will also do on top of the above duties:

Advising management on all levels of policies like workplace drug/alcohol violations and sexual harassment
Leading disciplinary procedures
Resolving conflict between employees and management
Planning and coordinating the workforce, evaluating the talent of employees for best use
Overseeing the recruitment and hiring process

If you examine the common job duties above, you should be able to highlight in conversation with your client the various HR automated solutions that can help them make their jobs easier by managing those tedious, repetitive tasks; while still organizing and protecting their most important human capital data.

Scenario:

It’s Open Enrollment season and you’re with a client discussing which benefits make sense for their organization to offer to employees. You are aware that the client has an HCM system, but they are mostly using it just for clocking in, requesting time off and administering employee surveys.

As you’re speaking to your client about the various benefit offerings, while knowing what modules they already operate with their HCM, you could initiate the conversation by asking them how they would evaluate their Open Enrollment process. Just by listening to their responses, you may hear how the process takes too long, is too tedious, they input too much of the same information, they don’t have time to focus on more interesting projects, etc.

Upon analyzing their responses, you can jump right in with information on an automated Benefits Management solution that would help make their Open Enrollment much more efficient; mentioning that this type of automated solution will help cut down on paperwork, eliminate annoying data entry work and more.

This is only one type of scenario, so it’s not a “one size fits all” situation. The more you educate yourself about the lives of HR professionals, what they do and what their pain points are, you will begin to see opportunity after opportunity present itself.

Common HR automated modules brokers should learn more about…

As a broker, you can focus on some of the more common duties an HR or business operations professional will do. The following common tasks can easily be automated.

Compensation and benefits management

Utilizing automating tools for compensation, payroll and other benefits improves the transparency process between employees and management. Employees will have the power to access and review their compensation and benefit packages. Some organizations even give their employees the ability to choose their benefits directly via an Employee Portal. Automation streamlines the process, making information available quickly and easily found.

Employee data

Automation can be used for data filing purposes such as updating, tracking and organizing employee information in an efficient way. Automation helps reduce clerical errors such as double-entry or data loss and helps keep employee information trackable.

Employee onboarding

The onboarding process for your organization can become more efficient and detailed with an automation module. The tools available will be able to collect the most important information from employees, even before they have officially joined the organization. After someone initially sends their information to the company, the automation tools will then disperse that info accordingly to prevent double-data issues or spelling errors. This process helps reduce hours spent on filling out paperwork, resulting in the new employee(s) to assimilate into your organization quicker.

Employee training and development

Automation tools help keep track of employees’ progress as they are assigned new training from management. Employees can manage and track their progress through a portal.

PTO and leave requests

Without automation, this process can be extremely time-consuming for the employee, management and HR/business operations professionals because of a paper format process. When automated, the employee would request what time they need off through a portal and then the system will place all the important information for management and/or HR to sign-off on.

Other areas of HR that can be automated include:

Hiring and screening
Timesheet approvals
Performance reviews
Employee status changes
Training and Certifications
Travel expense claims and more

Now that you know more about the benefits of HR automation and what tasks HR and/or business operations professionals can use to make their lives easier for their job, you can go in confidently, acknowledging their pain points and offer them the solution(s) that will make their lives much easier.

Getting back to the work that matters most is what’s most fulfilling for most professionals. This is no different for professionals in the human resources industry. Making a difference for your organization and accomplishing bigger and greater goals is what career professionals strive for. Spending hours each day on tedious, administrative tasks can be draining, especially if you know that there’s a much faster and easier way to approach it. Burnout is real, and an automated system can help prevent that from happening

Seamless HR Automation

Arcoro stands out above the crowd as an ambitious innovator that places people at the front of all its products. Our cutting-edge and cost-efficient solutions simplify the workload for the HR department in mid-size businesses, giving them the tools to manage their HR processes and allowing them to get back to the work that matters most.

Many of Arcoro’s features and modules are designed to increase communication between employees and administration, paving the way for a happier and more engaged company atmosphere. With streamlined HR processes, our clients can complete work faster and more efficiently, allowing them to grow their skills and make an impact outside their prescribed job descriptions. All Arcoro features help you manage your processes to achieve your core objectives.

In an industry revolving around people, OUR people are the difference. We understand the needs of growing businesses and work to provide individual support. We focus on building strong relationships to better understand your needs and how we can evolve to help you.

Brokers looking for the perfect HCM automation solution to complement their benefits sales should look no further than Arcoro.

Why?

We handle all issues quickly and effectively, with little involvement from you – the broker – allowing you to focus on more important responsibilities. Our HR automation provides onboarding, employee benefits enrollment, ACA compliance, dependent verification, and more, effectively maintaining all HR and benefits information in one convenient place.

This complete HR automation will allow you to:

Provide an integrated and easy-to-use HR solution for your clients
Add value to clients by offering a simple yet innovative platform that keeps all their information in one place
Easily implement new or existing clients
Garner growth opportunities by increasing enrollment
Generate a new potential revenue stream

We’ll handle the full scope of your clients’ HR solution, allowing you to rest easy knowing your customers are taken care of.

10 Ways Arcoro Makes HR Automation Seamless

1. Electronic Data Interchange files (EDIs)

Send benefit data automatically to your benefit carriers through our sophisticated EDI engine.

2. Employee Self-Service Portal

Grant employees access to all their HR and benefit information with one login.

3. Ability to add functionality/modules

Our system grows with the client—our stand-alone modules allow for easy customization to serve current and future needs.

4. ACA compliance for brokers

Assist your clients with ACA compliance, benefit-related compliance and other HR-related compliance. We make it as painless as possible.

5. Onboarding and new hire benefit enrollment systems

Allows employees to have up-to-date information about their benefits packages and employers can easily onboard new hires.

6. Technology sales and marketing support

Lean on our seasoned sales and marketing team to equip your producers with technology demo support and effective marketing collateral so you don’t have to be a tech genius.

7. Implementation and ongoing support

Our in-house account management team provides dedicated support to delight our mutual clients.

8. Automated open enrollment

Execute a successful Open Enrollment with innovative benefits enrollment software.

9. Benefits compliance

Use the data in the system to confirm your client is current with dependent verification, benefit eligibility, and other compliance-related issues.

10. Modernized HR process

Go paperless – save money, time, and paperwork.

As you can see, there are many benefits to partnering with Arcoro to provide your clients an HCM solution that can automate many of their most important job functions. To read more about the technical side of how our HCM is automated seamlessly, please read How to Make Software Speak With APIs and Single Sign-On.

Now that you know the capabilities of the Arcoro product, let’s talk about how our dedicated support helps brokers retain clients.

Dedicated Support Helps Brokers Retain Clients

Whether you are looking for additional help for your next Open Enrollment or would like to create new workflows to help initiate modern efficiencies, you have access to the deep expertise of our product experts. Our extensive experience and know-how allows us to bring industry best practices to your client’s organization and drives measurable business results for them.

You can leverage the capabilities of our subject matter experts at any stage of your Arcoro lifecycle. Our portfolio is designed to allow you to engage us for a specific project or leverage us for a full system implementation of the product. Partners with Arcoro receive access to software support, marketing support, end-user training, data conversion, 3rd party integration services and more.

System configuration and design

Arcoro provides system configuration and design services such as reviews/audits, assistance with Open Enrollment, employee portal design, and more.

End-user training

Let Arcoro handle your end-user training needs. We offer on-site or web meetings to empower stakeholders in your organization and provide them with the keys to success. Our personalized training sessions are designed to be relevant by role within your client’s business.

Data conversion & integration services

We can help with data services, such as migration from third-party systems, end-to-end exports, and custom ad-hoc reports and analysis.

Support

Arcoro’s product consultants provide functional and technical support for all of our modules, from Time & Labor Management, Workflows, Benefits Administration, etc. We have the expertise you need!

Common Broker Questions Answered

How much training is needed for me, and/or my end users to use the software?

Arcoro provides online education and training for HR staff. In addition to online help, we provide a comprehensive implementation program that takes HR admins through the entire process of getting the system set up and trained based on your HR needs.

How long does it take to implement Arcoro?

Normal implementation takes between 8 and 12 weeks. It may take more or less time based upon the condition of the current required data and the assistance provided by the client.

Who will manage the system for my end users?

Through our implementation process, Arcoro works with HR admins (your clients) to understand how to manage the system according to their needs. Once implementation is completed, you/they receive a dedicated account manager to assist with any questions you/they may have while managing the system.

What type of training and support is provided?

Arcoro is very easy to learn and use. Arcoro provides system-based training for HR Administrators. Onsite training is also available through Arcoro.

We focus our attention on the implementation process, providing training and support to ensure your information is uploaded and ready to be accessed without any issues. Our technicians troubleshoot all potential problems and provide customized solutions to ensure the platform adapts to every new organization.

Do I need any special hardware/software to implement Arcoro?

No special hardware or software is necessary to access or implement Arcoro. The HCM can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection and a web browser. Our cloud-based solution is easy for you and your employees to access all the information they need, whenever they need it.

How secure is my client’s data?

With Arcoro, you can rest assured that your clients receive detailed attention to security and infrastructure, to guarantee their data is secure.

We provide:

Industry-experienced, top-notch network and security engineers dedicated to monitoring and supporting the system infrastructure.
24×7 monitoring and intrusion detection.
Redundancy throughout the entire online infrastructure.
Tested Disaster Recovery plans consistent with industry-standard best practices.
Consistent deployment of security technologies to counter emerging security threats.

The Arcoro platform offers various solutions with the following modules:

Applicant Tracking
Benefits Management
Employee Self-Service
Performance Management
Payroll, Reporting
Surveys
Time and Attendance
Time-Off Tracking
Workflow Management
EZSign (electronic signature

Learn More About Arcoro’s Modular HR Solution

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The Brokers’ Guide to HR Automation