6 HR automation concepts to streamline your work

Hiring the proper folks and setting them up for achievement is without doubt one of the most rewarding components of HR—however it will probably additionally really feel like taking part in a (extremely regulated) sport of whack-a-mole. You are reviewing resumes, scheduling interviews, sending provide letters, and establishing onboarding duties, all whereas attempting to maintain the human facet of HR entrance and heart.

When these day-to-day duties pile up, it is simple for particulars to slide via the cracks or for the work to start out feeling reactive as a substitute of strategic.

By automating HR with Zapier, you possibly can join the instruments you already use to deal with the busywork for you—routinely parsing resumes, sharing job openings, updating spreadsheets, and extra. Listed below are among the finest Zaps (what we name automated workflows) to assist streamline your HR processes and get again to specializing in folks as a substitute of paperwork.

Desk of contents

What’s HR automation?

HR automation is simply what it seems like: utilizing know-how to care for the repetitive duties in your HR workflows, so your workforce can deal with the human a part of human sources.

Issues like sending out provide letters, scheduling interviews, onboarding new hires, reminding of us about lacking paperwork, updating worker data, and chasing down approvals all add up quick. HR workflow automation steps in to deal with these repetitive processes for you—normally with the assistance of instruments like Zapier, your human sources info system (HRIS), and different apps you are already utilizing.

For instance, as a substitute of manually copying candidate information out of your applicant monitoring system (ATS) into an onboarding spreadsheet, you possibly can construct a easy automation that does it immediately each time a candidate is marked as “employed.” Or as a substitute of sending a Slack reminder to hiring managers on the finish of each week, let an automation ping them routinely if suggestions is overdue.

By automating repetitive duties, HR professionals get extra time to deal with technique, tradition, and the folks behind the processes.

Advantages of HR automation

For each one individual you rent, your recruiters probably speak to (or in any other case work together with) a whole bunch extra. The sheer numbers concerned within the recruiting course of makes it onerous to scale with handbook processes solely. Simply take it from Zapier buyer Edward Tull of JBGoodwin REALTORS:

“We rent over 300 folks a 12 months, however we speak to a number of thousand. It used to take a variety of handbook work: emails, cellphone calls, handwritten notes. Recruiters have been spending 25% of their time simply coming into information.”

As a substitute, HR workflow automation let JBGoodwin streamline processes and develop their enterprise with out supersizing their HR workforce. Listed below are a couple of of the largest advantages you will see while you begin automating.

Time financial savings 

Let’s begin with the apparent one: automation offers your workforce again hours. No extra chasing signatures, copy-pasting information, or sending the identical e mail 20 occasions. You construct the workflow as soon as, and it simply runs. 

JBGoodwin, as an example, noticed a 20–25% discount in handbook workload for recruiters after implementing a couple of easy automated workflows.

Fewer errors

People are nice at a variety of issues, however double-entering names into 5 completely different methods with no typo is not one in every of them. Automations cut back the danger of handbook errors, which is particularly useful while you’re coping with delicate worker information or compliance necessities.

Quicker processes = higher expertise

Environment friendly onboarding, well timed paperwork, and quick response to candidates all go away an excellent impression. Automation retains issues shifting, so staff and candidates aren’t left ready round.

Extra time for high-impact work

When the busywork is dealt with, HR groups can shift their vitality towards the strategic stuff: bettering retention, constructing nice tradition, and serving to the enterprise develop. That is the place people shine.

Scales together with your workforce

As your organization grows, HR duties develop with it—and quick. Automation helps you retain up with out hiring a small military to handle all of it. 

The identical workflow that works for 5 hires a month can normally deal with 50 with no drawback. For instance, after automating lead enrichment workflows at JBGoodwin, the company noticed a 37% enhance in recruiting.

Challenges of HR automation

Like something value doing, automating HR processes comes with its personal set of challenges—particularly in the beginning. Listed below are a couple of of the commonest.

Automating a damaged course of

In case your present HR workflow is messy or unclear, automating it will not repair the issue—it’s going to simply make the mess sooner. Earlier than you begin constructing, it is value stepping again to scrub up or rethink the method itself.

Over-automation

Not all the pieces ought to be automated—particularly in the case of folks. Some duties want a human contact (assume: troublesome conversations, nuanced suggestions, or something emotional). Automation ought to help your workforce, not exchange its humanity.

Knowledge privateness and compliance

HR information is delicate. In the event you’re automating the way it strikes round, you might want to be sure to’re doing it securely and consistent with any privateness legal guidelines or compliance necessities. The excellent news is that Zapier and different respected instruments take this severely—but it surely’s nonetheless one thing to remain on prime of.

HR course of automation use instances

There is no scarcity of shifting components in HR—recruiting, onboarding, worker administration, compliance, you title it. The excellent news is that if it is repetitive, predictable, and follows a transparent sample, it is in all probability automatable.

Listed below are among the most typical (and useful) methods HR groups use Zapier to save lots of time, cut back errors, and create a smoother expertise for candidates and staff alike.

Share job openings throughout platforms

Recruitment, particularly at a rising firm, includes a variety of juggling schedules and back-and-forth communication with candidates. However first, you must be sure to unfold the phrase about new job openings. 

In the event you’re a rising firm, sharing these openings throughout varied platforms can take up an excellent portion of your day. As a substitute, arrange a Zap that shares that job posting on LinkedIn, Fb Pages, or wherever your skilled community lives everytime you share a job posting in your firm’s job board.

Need to give your job put up further polish earlier than it goes stay in all places? Add a formatter step to scrub up or reformat your job description, like trimming character limits for LinkedIn or stripping out inside notes. You may even add an AI by Zapier step to auto-generate a catchy abstract or customized caption for every platform (like “We’re hiring a Advertising Supervisor in Chicago—come be part of us!”).  

After all, earlier than you possibly can even share a job opening, you could be spending hours at a time writing job descriptions and creating interview supplies. As a substitute, pace up the method (and keep away from the headache of misaligned expectations and rushed paperwork) with this AI-powered hiring materials template.

AI-powered hiring materials

Make kicking off hiring a breeze with AI-generated job descriptions, software questions, and interview guides.

Get notifications for brand new purposes

When you put up a job, you are more likely to begin seeing these purposes roll in. However do not waste time and sources double-checking these websites each 5 minutes. As a substitute, you should use these Zaps to get notified in your workforce chat app each time a brand new software is submitted. 

That approach, you and your staff can tag workforce the evaluate course of effectively and go away no stone unturned in your seek for the proper individual. 

Parse and save resumes and different hyperlinks

You may arrange an automatic workflow to maneuver e mail attachments, like resumes, to an organized folder in your cloud storage as a substitute of protecting them in your e mail inbox, the place they may get misplaced or unintentionally deleted. 

You may also routinely parse resumes with an AI device like Hirize to transform resume information from PDFs, texts, and pictures into structured, accessible codecs.

Alternatively, you would possibly wish to simply save different vital candidate info in a protected place, like a portfolio, LinkedIn profile, or elsewhere. In that case, you should use this Zap to do precisely that: 

Add candidates to your HR device

Now, for instance you’ve got discovered the right candidate, they usually’ve accepted a job provide. 

Earlier than you possibly can even start onboarding them, you will must set their profiles up in your HR administration device, together with vital worker info. That approach, they will be capable of handle trip time, entry payroll info, and so forth down the road. 

With these Zaps, at any time when a brand new candidate is submitted by way of a type or database, they will be added routinely to your HR device. 

Professional tip: A multi-step Zap can flip a easy automation right into a dynamic automated workflow. As soon as you’ve got added a candidate to your HR app, use Zapier’s built-in delay device so as to add some respiration room earlier than persevering with the workflow—like sending a follow-up e mail or inside guidelines. Or, use a path step to department your workflow relying on the position, location, or division. For instance, if the brand new rent is distant, routinely set off an IT guidelines for gear transport; in the event that they’re within the workplace, notify the workplace supervisor to prep a desk. These sorts of sensible workflows result in smoother onboarding.

Onboard and practice your staff

Efficient, streamlined onboarding can form the way in which your staff expertise their first few weeks at a brand new firm. 

With automation, you may make positive they obtain the proper coaching supplies on the proper time all through your entire course of—with nothing falling via the cracks. You may even arrange Zaps that routinely invite them to a brand new Slack channel as soon as they’ve accomplished sure onboarding steps. 

And when you’re onboarding, you possibly can even create an automatic workflow that helps new hires create customized “Learn Me” paperwork that clearly talk their work kinds and make it simpler to combine into a brand new workforce. Or, give them entry to an worker onboarding chatbot that may reply FAQs and make new hires really feel supported with out stretching your HR workforce too skinny.

Workforce cohesion: AI Workforce ReadMe creator

Automate workforce ReadMes to strengthen workforce relationships and streamline onboarding.

Worker onboarding AI Chatbot Template

Empower your HR workforce with an OpenAI-powered chatbot for a seamless onboarding expertise.

Handle time without work and birthdays

It may be fairly troublesome to maintain monitor of all people’s OOO time, particularly for those who’re a part of a giant workforce. 

Whereas managers usually keep on prime of their staff, you may make their lives simpler by routinely posting summaries of these absent in your workforce chat app. You may even arrange an automatic workflow that sends them well-wishes on their birthday.  

You may also use an agent like this one which scans your Google Sheets roster for birthdays and anniversaries, then sends a customized Slack message to staff in your behalf.  

Streamline your HR processes with automation

A profitable human sources division performs a key position in a optimistic work setting with glad, productive groups. You employ your judgment to seek out high quality candidates, your creativity to construct partaking and efficient onboarding processes, and your perception to help staff and assist them navigate troublesome conditions.

By including automation into the combination, you possibly can spend extra time specializing in the human facet of HR and go away the admin to the bots. Edward Tull of JBGoodwin says it finest:

This text was initially printed in March 2017, with earlier contributions from Elena Alston. It was most lately up to date in November 2025 by Nicole Replogle.