Switching to a Paperless Office with ERP

Going paperless is one of the biggest benefits an ERP system can offer. Not only is reducing paper waste great for the environment, it’ll help reduce a lot of that office clutter. Now, instead of spending money on costly ink and toner cartridges, waiting for massive documents to print and then never quite having enough space to store them afterwards, all your business processes can be handled electronically. No mess, no paper and no wasted time.

Sounds pretty great, right? It is – mostly.

The fact is, many businesses fail to consider the effect that a paperless office will have on their culture. At many major companies, some employees have been around for years, or even decades, and these people can be the most resistant to change. They’ve gotten used to writing things down on notepads, crunching numbers with a pen and paper and keeping track of things in hard copies, not computer files.

How can you make the transition to a paperless office easier for your employees? Here are a few tips from Panorama Consulting’s ERP 360 Blog.

1. Use a consistent naming convention.Employees who are used to leafing through physical pages of paper may have some difficulty navigating vaguely-named menu options on a computer screen. Using a consistent and clear naming convention – “finances,” “HR,” etc. – will help eliminate some of the confusion. Even the most traditional employees will quickly see the benefits of electronic filing when the system is easy to navigate.

2. Remember that electronic filing means increased accountability.
When forms are submitted using paper, it’s easy to hide behind a slightly updated version of the old “dog-ate-my-homework” excuse: “I don’t know where the form is,” “I submitted it last week and I don’t know what they did with it,” “It must be lost in the mail,” etc. However, when forms are submitted and tracked online, there’s no lying about when and how they were sent and received. This is a double-edged sword, since it means that while employees can hold one another accountable for mistakes, they must also be more careful about their own performance.

3. Anticipate changing roles.
Employees are bound to be angry if you spring massive structural changes on them at the last minute. Make sure that each employee understands that ERP implementation means that his or her role may undergo a few changes. For example, filing papers may become much less necessary and filling out paperwork may become quicker and easier when done online. However, changing roles shouldn’t be a frightening prospect to employees – make sure they understand that their jobs are not in jeopardy, even if things undergo some changes.

4. Don’t think electronic tracking means you don’t have any responsibilities.
Electronic paperwork is pretty amazing, but it isn’t magical. There are still a lot of things that you’ll have to do manually, such as track and record data. However, because electronic processing allows for increased self-service, this tracking and data entry will become much easier when every employee can simply manage his or her own tasks and needs. For example, employees will able to enter their own requests for time off and check their vacation balances without having to go through a supervisor. This frees up the supervisor for other pursuits and means the employees won’t have to wait to get answers, as long as they’ve been updating their own sheets.

Reducing the need for physical paperwork can be a huge boon to a company. When you follow these steps, it’ll be a boon to your employees, too.

Did ERP help your company go paperless? How did you feel about it? We want to know!