Personnel file management is a headache for most organizations. However, simplifying and making it more reliable are essential to effective HR management.
Filing and storing personnel files in paper format generates several side effects for the HR department: loss of time in filing and searching for documents, lack of space in archive rooms, risk of errors, confidentiality breaches... Optimizing employee file management therefore implies better HR productivity, especially in the age of teleworking, and greater security for employee data.
Paper personnel files are generally stored in alphabetical order in large secure cabinets located in a designated room. This organization requires sacrificing many square meters in premises where space is often at a premium. Since access to employee files is restricted to authorized personnel, paper-based storage also involves cumbersome daily logistics (key management, access code modification, etc.). Worse still, when the people authorized to access them are absent or teleworking, access becomes impossible. This is a particularly serious constraint in the age of remote working.
Compiling personnel files involves collecting, sorting, and classifying the various documents that compose them. A significant part of these documents is sent directly by employees when they are hired (identity documets, diploma, social security certificate, bank details...). This first dispatch of supporting documents marks the beginning of the relationship between the employee and the HR department. However, in a context where it is not uncommon to see employees leave during their first year in the company, careful onboarding is essential. Once the file has been created, it is also important to update it regularly by adding the documents that mark out the employee's career path: individual and performance interviews, medical check-ups, and possible amendments to the employment contract...
Every week or every month, HR managers file hundreds of documents in personnel files. This repetitive task leads to numerous filing errors: a document accidentally slipped into the wrong employee's file and becomes a lost document whose confidentiality is no longer guaranteed. To gain peace of mind, the HR department therefore needs to make the filing of documents that make up the administrative files of employees more reliable.
To comply with GDPR and the CNIL (National Commission on Informatics and Liberty) regulations, the employer is required to maintain the data in the personnel files secure. However, storing them in paper format makes this confidentiality very delicate. How can they ensure that only authorized personnel access the files of employees within their perimeter? How can they trace additions, consultations and deletions made in each file? GDPR and paper personnel files are not compatible.
HR managers regularly have to search through their employees' files. Whether it is to respond to an employee's request for a duplicate, to find information or even, more occasionally, in the event of an URSAFF (Institutions for the Collection of Social Security and Family Benefit Contributions) inspection, searches are often long and tedious. Each file can be composed of several dozen documents, or even several hundreds for companies that choose to add pay slips for example. Everything therefore depends on how carefully these documents have been filed. If they are not files in the right the sub-folders, you're in for a real headache.
