Since the Electronic Signatures Act was signed into legislation in 2000, e-signatures have carried the weight of pen and ink signatures to make contracts legal and binding. As a result, it is a great reason to use e-signatures for employee onboarding. Here are five more.
#1 Going Paperless Is Finally a Reality
E-signing facilitates a paperless system. No onboarding system was able to be truly digital before e-signing became possible. Even if HR departments put documents into digital format, there was still a need for a physical signature on paper documents. That meant retaining originals and dealing with all the hassles of paper storage. Now, employers can handle onboarding virtually.
#2 ROI Is Lightning Fast
According to research by AIIM, using electronic signatures for business has one of the shortest payback times of any technological investments. In their survey, “81% of digital signature users saw a payback within 12 months, and 25% saw ROI in three months or less.” Obviously, the more your organization goes paperless, the higher and faster the ROI. Onboarding is a great place to start.
#3 E-signing Promotes Automation
E-signatures enable workflow in unprecedented ways. New hires can complete onboarding from any location, even remotely. Then, management sends virtual documents to additional parties for their signatures as well. Therefore, there’s no longer a need to hand carry papers from person to person. Also, there is less lost documents on the manager’s desk and less wait time in HR for signoff. Instead, the forms flow directly to the right people for review and approval.
#4 Security and Compliance Can Improve
When properly stored and managed in compliance with the law, e-signed documents can be more secure than paper. Lost or stolen documents are not as common any longer. This makes security one of the most important reasons to use e-signatures for employee onboarding. Even better, the risk of filing a document that an applicant forgot to sign is nil. The onboarding software enforces the rule for completing the forms and collecting signatures.
#5 Workers Enjoy Convenience
Older generations are now comfortable engaging in online transactions, making convenience one of the reasons to use e-signatures for employee onboarding. Using e-signatures simply adds to the sense that your company culture is forward thinking and geared toward efficiency. E-signatures are simple for workers to use and understand and can help them complete onboarding faster.
These are a few of the reasons to use e-signatures for employee onboarding and other new hire forms. And, it’s clear why we use this technology for all our solutions at Efficient Hire. An electronic signature is valid for everything from I-9s to W-4s, company policies, and more. To learn more about how you can take onboarding fully digital, contact our sales team and get access to a free demo.