When a new employee joins an organization, the Human Resources department must gather several different types of information from them. For example, W-4 forms and direct deposit documents are distributed so they can collect data like name, address, the account and routing numbers of the bank account in which they want their funds deposited, and how much of their paycheck the employee wants withheld for federal income taxes. These files are usually sent to new hires via email and then returned back to the HR specialists inbox when completed. All of this data must then be entered into the company’s accounting software.

Boring, repetitive, time-consuming: all terms HR specialists would use to describe this process. They must toggle back and forth between applications, leaving room for error. And the time knowledge workers spend on this takes away from face-to-face opportunities with the new hire. There’s definitely an opportunity for improvement here.

By automating the process of downloading email attachments and saving the data in a company database, this workflow can be completed more quickly and with fewer errors. This helps the organization achieve more efficiency. More accuracy means there are no problems with a new hire’s compensation or taxes, so higher compliance. And rather than spending 12 minutes on the manual process, HR specialists can use that time to engage with the new hire in-person to make sure their first day is positive. This experience will be more fulfilling for employees and worthwhile for the new hire.