A More Secure and Accessible HR Onboarding Process

There’s never been a better time for human resources departments to go digital. Implementing technology to automate employee processes, from recruiting to learning and development, enables HR leaders to spend less time on manual processes and more time thinking strategically about the future of their organization. 

But HR transformation is still a work in progress, especially when it comes to onboarding. Outdated systems and software negatively impact the new hire experience, resulting in unnecessary delays and endless rounds of paperwork. In fact, Glassdoor reports that only 12% of workers are fully satisfied with the employer’s onboarding process. The main culprit? The dreaded I-9 form, which requires HR staff to copy a new hire’s ID, file and store it securely, and then return it to the employee. This process can take hours, if not days, to complete. 

But I-9 forms exist for a reason. They ensure employees are who they say they are and, by law, are eligible to work in the U.S. 

Still, that doesn’t mean completing them should be a hassle. Digitizing the process can help HR departments comply with necessary hiring regulations while prioritizing the employee experience. 

A platform that puts security first 

From their social security numbers to banking information, employees provide sensitive data to an employer when they begin a new job. It’s HR’s responsibility to make sure this information is stored and protected. As a result, many organizations are reluctant to go digital because they are afraid data might be compromised due to growing cybersecurity threats. These anxieties are not unreasonable—Cisco reported that 53% of mid-market companies have experienced a security breach. 

However, a secure ID verification platform like DocSign Identify can alleviate these concerns by offering a diverse range of authentication methods to verify and store a new employee’s information. HR departments can leverage this technology to scan a new hire’s government-issued ID and cross-check the name on the email they provided to the name on their ID, maintaining compliance through security verification protocols. (Of the list of documents I-9 requires, the ID Verification product currently supports passports and driver's licenses.) DocuSign even goes so far as analyzing specific ID features, including security markings and watermarks, to ensure its validity. 

A trusted storage option 

Once an employee’s identification is confirmed, many HR departments prefer to save a copy of the ID so they can access it at a later date. In a recent DocuSign survey, 74% of respondents who said their company has a need to verify the validity of ID documents also stated the need to store these documents. With ID Verification and its newest feature, ID Evidence, all sensitive employee I-9 information, including photos, can be stored safely and securely in the cloud. That means HR managers can find it all in one place, as opposed to relying on haphazard filing systems.

DocuSign integrates with more than 350 systems, including Greenhouse, SAP, Workday and Oracle, allowing HR to streamline and store employee documents in their existing HR systems —and making it easy for organizations already using the DocuSign Agreement Cloud to implement. 

By making these small changes, organizations can move beyond manual tasks and introduce a secure and manageable approach to onboarding, resulting in more strategic HR teams—and happier employees. 

Ready to transform your employee onboarding process? Get started with DocuSign.