03
APR 2020
The digitalization of human resources processes is essential in the context of COVID-19 pandemic crisis. For companies, the main objective is to continue business operations in the usual manner as much as possible, and the HR department is fundamental in this regard. This department must continue sending documents to employees, respond quickly to their requests, continue the recruitment processes, edit employment contracts and submit them electronically to the ITM, all without any face-to-face interaction and within the requirements of social spacing.
In this regard, TotalSoft has approached the situation based on the needs of both actors involved: on the one hand the organization and the HR department and, on the other, the employee. As the interaction between the employee and the employer must remain strictly remote, several software solutions become necessary. These include the electronic signature and the chatbot.
Electronic signature for traceability, ease and safety
In case the employment contract must be modified, or a new contract must be signed, the standard flow is for the employee to physically travel to the headquarters of the organization and sign the documents. Subsequently, they are signed by the legal representatives of the organization, also physically.
The electronic signature solution proposed by TotalSoft simplifies the entire process, summarizing a few digital steps: the HR specialist makes the changes in the contract or adds the new contract data in Charisma HCM, the software solution for human resources management. Further, the electronic document is sent to the employee by email. The employee can view the documents and electronically sign it with an authorized signature from CertSign, valid for a certain period of time.
Once the contract is signed, it becomes secured and that version can no longer be changed. Later, the document follows the natural flow and is sent, also electronically, to the other legal representatives of the organization. Each person can electronically sign the document, the parties being notified each time someone signs it. In the end, each party receives a final copy, a format that can be submitted to the ITM without further intervention, the electronic signature being recognized by the state authorities.
The major advantages of this solution are the traceability, with a clear record of when the document was signed by each party and the format in which the document was signed, all in real time, and also the safety in the context of COVID-19 pandemic that requires a minimal physical interaction.
“The digitalization of human resources processes is essential during this period, when most of the employees on the local market are working from home. This will not change too much even after the quarantine is over, the physical employment contract will become history, as it happened for the employment record. If in the past the signing of an employment contract lasted up to 2 days, today it can be signed in 3 minutes. We already have the answer of the ITM which states that as long as the document is signed by all parties with a valid and certified electronic signature, then it has legal value”, said Mihai Găvan, Charisma HCM Global Sales Director at TotalSoft.
HR Chatbot available on any digital communication platform
In order to support the employees working from home and who need support from the HR department within flexible hours, TotalSoft has developed the chatbot Timea, the virtual colleague from HR.
“We approached this solution after analysing global trends in communication. We noticed a very clear tendency among people to communicate through text messages. It is by far the most used form of interaction. As a result, we wanted to help employees based on a familiar digital platform which is available 24/7”, said Mihai Găvan.
If some years ago was difficult to believe, today, thanks to technological advancement, most HR requests can be solved by sending simple messages to a virtual assistant, to whom anyone can ask for help using available communication platforms: Facebook Messenger, Skype, WhatsApp, Slack, etc. Timea, the chatbot provided by TotalSoft, can help employees access immediately and at any hour the balance of their holidays, to receive by email different certificates, to initiate flows such as holiday request or reporting medical leave to the organisation.