Electronic signature of HR documents: beware of the parapet syndrome

The electronic signature guarantees the integrity of a document and much more…

The legal guarantees that electronic signatures now provide and the reliability of the technological solutions offered by market publishers should reassure organizations. Especially since without electronic signature, employment contracts are signed on average in 7 days (BPCE estimate across 6 companies deployed with DocuSign, December 2017.) and it takes an average of 5 hours to prepare a contract (from a sample of 6 BPCE group companies). Now with electronic signatures, HR managers have the tools to instantly send a document to be signed anywhere, from multiple media. The time and resources saved in getting a contract signed in a few hours is still very satisfying.

Today, as the signature is one of the most used acts in the life of organizations, digitizing the signature gives coherence to the company’s digital policy. It is an innovative way of branding the employer of companies that have adopted it and brings satisfaction to both employees and candidates.

And yet, the transition from handwritten to electronic signatures on employment contracts and HR documents has not yet become widespread in Human Resources departments. Apart from a few groups that are pioneers (BPCE…).

Digitizing the signature gives consistency to the company’s digital strategy

The electronic signature must be part of a coherent digitalization strategy. For example, thinking about electronic signatures without adequate archiving would be an artifice. For example, there is the ritual of the signature which is a privileged moment between the manager and the employee, between the recruiter and the candidate. Some employees fear the end of the contact and the meeting.

Another point of vigilance is the ” parapheur syndrome “, a disorder that strikes people (assistants, managers, directors…) who, faced with the arrival of electronic signatures in their organization, fear losing influence, a stature conferred on them by piles of parapheurs. The same fear exists for many assistants or managers, who no longer have the opportunity to go to the director’s office or to hand out contracts to employees. This might seem anecdotal, given the challenges facing companies, if the “parapheur syndrome” did not generate significant resistance to change.

The deployment of the electronic signature cannot be envisaged without a change management, without a global and coherent digitalization strategy. Let’s remember that the electronic signature is not just a new process to be deployed. For if the signature is an inscription that a person makes of his or her name or a sign to affirm the accuracy, the sincerity of a writing and to assume responsibility for it, according to Béatrice Fraenkel and David Pontille, anthropologists of writing, the signature is also and above all an age-old practice and an entire part of our cultural system of validation and authentication of writings.

It is therefore important to carefully choose the appropriate electronic signature solution and to surround yourself with experts in change management to help your employees appropriate the electronic signature.

Human Resources Management: 4 major challenges to consider

The human resources department plays a key role in managing and improving the company’s performance. In an ever-changing world, HR is facing several major challenges that will be important in the future.

Develop the employer brand and attract talent

Recruiting new competent employees is essential for a company. This is the role of human resources. To do this, work on the employer brand, the true identity of the company, is necessary.

Enhance the employee experience and build loyalty

The employee experience has become a “must” that must be well defined and implemented. This employee-centered approach seeks to enhance the value of the human being by placing him or her at the heart of human actions. To retain employees, HR will need to think about a true employee experience from the beginning of the relationship with a candidate.

Coping with new regulations

New regulatory constraints have been added to the challenges faced by the human resources department. The RGPD, the withholding tax among others have added work to the table of HRDs.

Develop a digital culture

With the rise of digital technology and the development of new and more efficient tools, one of the major challenges of the HRD will be to lead and accompany the change within the company. Taking advantage of new and more efficient technologies will allow you to automate a good number of HR processes with an HRIS tool. These are the main challenges facing the human resources department in the months and years to come. The objective is to face them in order to improve the global performance of the company.

Also read in our report on HR – Finance – IT issues and innovations:

• Generation Y is changing the way work is organized: an opportunity for companies!
• Candidate experience: still a central issue for HR departments in 2020
• Corporate training: a transformation in progress?
• Continuous feedback: towards a new management style?
• HR innovation: what can we expect in the coming years?
• Big data and BI: from predictive to prescriptive analysis
• Infrastructure as code: why is it a key IT issue for the future?
• IT containerization is changing application development
• Low code platform: the future of application development?
• SOA and microservices: what are the benefits for an enterprise?
• Performance management: CFOs’ priority for 2020
• The finance department is always at the heart of digital transformation
• Risk management, cash management: what challenges for CFOs in 2020?