Human Resources Audits:

Six Ways Electronic Document Management (EDM) Can Help You Comply
By Laurel Sanders, Optical Image Technology

HR SERIES
Article 2 of 3

M
anagers who are worth their salt work hard to ensure employees have the tools
they need to handle everyday business and tackle potential challenges. Strategic
planning, appropriate policies and clear communications—proactive and
reactive—lay the groundwork for success. Yet without a periodic audit of your
practices, it’s difficult to ascertain whether you and your team are adequately
prepared and whether practices are consistently being followed or are still even relevant.

Often, auditors demand a sea of documentation that must be dredged from multiple systems. If
you’ve ever gone through the process manually—or searched for employee handbooks, applications,
contracts, benefits summaries, tax forms, pay stubs and other files scattered among legacy systems,
databases, and line-of-business apps— the frustration is familiar. All you really want to do is exchange
cumbersome search for meaningful work that advances your business—and yet a well-conducted
internal or external audit can advance your business, too.

Audits: address concerns proactively

HR audits raise important questions. They identify gaps between policy objectives and practices,
letting you make adjustments to protect your business from future harm. Whether you conduct
Whether you conduct a a comprehensive annual audit or tackle different topics each year (examining written policies,
comprehensive annual reviewing new hire compliance), EDM can help to address concerns quickly, accurately, and cost-
effectively.
audit or tackle different
topics each year, EDM can Ask yourself:
help to address concerns • Do our policies and procedures require updating?
• Are there any that aren’t followed consistently? If so, why? What rules can we establish to
quickly, accurately, and
enforce observance?
cost-effectively. • Do existing measures help employees to comply? Are they user friendly, encouraging adoption?
• Is our compliance training sufficient?
• Are internal communications clear, adequate, and frequent enough to support policy adoption
and ensure employees execute tasks compliantly?
• Are there unwritten practices, inconsistencies, or other potential liabilities that could pose legal
risks to our organization?

Audits can give even the most meticulous record keeper an anxiety attack. What if an I-9 or other
vital documentation is missing, someone discovers a questionable termination, or employees claim
bonuses were unfairly distributed? Will insufficient documentation put the company at risk or mar its
reputation? Result in a fine or a lawsuit? If so, how much will the damages be? What changes can be
D o c F i n i t y
made to protect the company from future harm?
®

O p t i c a l I m a g e Te c h n o l o g y, I n c .
An effective audit uncovers ways you can improve HR practices and business in general. EDM gives
Imaging, BPM/workflow, and you the necessary tools to expedite and ensure improvements. It lets you:
Document Management Software

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 • Supply consistent rules for managing information throughout
the document lifecycle, governing how data is accessed and
used, from capture through processing and archival.
• Give auditors secure, real-time access to scattered information
so they can search, extract, and analyze documentation and
practices efficiently and gain the holistic insight they need.
• Spot discrepancies quickly, rectify concerns promptly, and lay
the groundwork for enterprise-wide compliance.
Skillful at establishing and improving best practices, an audit is
easier, more effective, and less costly when data and documents
are guarded under the watchful eye of EDM.
Value proposition: EDM as the watchdog for
effective HR management
If you already use Lawson, Oracle, PeopleSoft, or other HR software
along with automated accounting procedures, a disaster recovery
plan, and more, you may question whether you need EDM. Yet the
value proposition begins there: if you’re like most organizations,
your information is scattered—and securing, gathering, and
managing dispersed information is time consuming, inefficient,
and costly. EDM transforms information management, enabling
centralized, electronic storage and retrieval of all policies,
employee files, and supporting documentation. It allows you to
manage HR documents securely and effectively throughout the
entire employment lifecycle, from document generation through
retention and disposition.
EDM doesn’t replace valuable systems; rather, it establishes a
framework for seamless, secure access and effective information
management.
Position your organization for successful compliance and audits
EDM and its sibling in process management—automated
workflow—prepare you for successful audits by ensuring your
business rules consistently govern how your documents are
accessed, used, and managed. They help you to:
1. Ensure sensitive documentation is secure.
How? EDM lets you:
• Specify which document types each user can view or use
and control user rights through a central interface. Only
documents users are authorized to work with appear on
their screens, ensuring compliance with HIPAA and other
regulations that govern information access.
• Dictate how each person can use each doc type, according
to individual job roles. Sensitive information is secure,
viewable and actionable as your rules allow.
The result: Forced observance of the business rules you put in
place.
Optical Image Technology • 100 Oakwood Avenue, State College, PA 16803 • 800-678-3241 • www.docfinity.com
2. Guarantee your business rules are followed consistently.
How? EDM that includes an integrated workflow component
should be able to:
• Guarantee employee files are complete, using checklist
features to assess portfolio contents and automatically
initiate communications to appropriate persons(s) if
additional documentation is required.
• Automate your rules for document and process handling so
they are standardized and consistent, ensuring your policies
governing file use are observed.
• Handle common exceptions consistently (such as rejected
applications or claims) by creating separate workflows, each
with its own set of standardized rules.
• Ensure document portfolios are complete before they
are routed (or contain the minimum required number of
documents), reducing the need for re-routing and the
likelihood of delays
• Reduce the probability of missing mandated deadlines for
filing, reporting, etc.
The result: Faster turnaround, consistent document handling,
fewer mistakes.
3. Respond to changing rules instantly.
How? EDM lets you:
• Amend employee authorization to access, view, annotate,
update, and delete documents with a mouse click.
• Enforce observance of new rules instantly by simply
updating system configurations.
• Prescribe rules and amend as necessary using electronic
forms that offer drop-down menu choices, fixed formats
(such as date formats and alpha-numeric entry with a set
number of characters), ensuring data collection meets your
current standards.
• Provide help boxes and explanatory text when processes
change, helping workers to adapt quickly to new rules and
respond appropriately to change.
The result: New rules are implemented and adapted instantly
by simply changing your system’s document access, routing, or
processing rules, eliminating the need for constant retraining
and saving you time and money.
4. Migrate documents to designated long-term storage and
purge files according to your retention policies.
How? EDM lets you:
• Establish data-driven rules to automatically migrate
documents for long-term archival or purge them,
depending on the policies to which they are subjected.
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EDM doesn’t replace • Ensure the correct version of documents is retained, and that document versions
valuable systems; rather, can be rolled back on demand if the audit demands it.
• Set rules to notify staff as documents are ready to be purged or deleted, allowing
it establishes a framework authorized persons to confirm the action is appropriate before it occurs.

for seamless, secure access The result: Documents needed for future reference or potential litigation are
and effective information available with a mouse click. Automated retention scheduling ensures files that
could put your organization at risk are destroyed promptly.
management.
5. Provide a common framework for accessing documentation, thereby making audits easier, faster,
and cost-efficient.
How? EDM lets you:
• Integrate HR software, databases, legacy systems, payroll, A/P, line-of-business software and
more, centralizing and easing auditor access while letting management control employee
access to sensitive information.
• Enable instant desktop sampling of desired record categories.
• Make information available to auditors via a standard web browser so examinations can be
conducted remotely—yet securely. No more repurposing of precious office space for reviews.
Staff work uninterrupted, remaining focused and productive.
• Lets auditors email, export, and print documents as needed, saving money for the reviewer—
and you.

The result: Faster, easier, self-service auditing that’s nobtrusive and less costly.

6. Provide a trail of all document access, use, and transactional activity.

How? EDM lets you:
• Keep a log of all actions—who, what was accessed or used, how it was used, when, etc.
• Track system administration changes so compliance (as well as errors or non-compliance) can be
proven.
• Verify the most recent versions of documents have been archived, with the ability to roll back to
prior versions if needed.

The result: Easier proof of compliance; all supporting documentation is available with a few mouse
clicks. Instead of constant questions about document versions and rule changes, audit trails supply
D o c F i n i t y
detailed information auditors need.
®

Optical Image Technology offers

an integrated suite of imaging, Lower costs, less risk, better results
document management, and
No one enjoys preparing for audits, but a thorough assessment is well worth the investment when if it’s
workflow software, including
cost-efficient and lets you make needed improvements. By establishing a strong, central infrastructure
document archiving, lifecycle
for your information systems and putting the tools in place to manage your information effectively,
management, electronic
your audits will produce timely results, be hassle free, and let you respond quickly to a changeable
forms, and email management
regulatory and work environment.
products. To learn more about
our products and services visit
Rather than drowning in burdensome preparations, work interruptions, and final reports, EDM will
our website at www.docfinity.
empower your auditors to access what they need quickly and effectively so you can make prompt and
com, email info@docfinity.com,
meaningful improvements. In the end, everyone wins.
or call us at 800-678-3241.

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rights reserved. DocFinity is a registered
trademark of Optical Image Technology, Inc.

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