The 5 best human resources document management solutions in 2023

Document Management for Human Resources Overview

Making use of a human resources document management system is essential in today's business world.

This is why today, we'll provide our insights on why FileCenter is the top candidate for the title of the best human resources but we'll also provide you with three alternatives. We'll cover the key features and answer the most common questions from HR executives searching for a new HR-oriented to help improve their department's productivity, effectiveness, and accuracy.

FileCenter: The Best for HR

While building and improving FileCenter over the years we've evaluated all alternatives to our software in order to produce the best document system for human resource departments. Our software is fully featured, easy to use, and secure.

We've made sure that our software is in line with regulatory compliance and secure as HR documents contain private data and security is of utmost importance.

Additionally, our software integrates with your workflow and doesn't require employees to re-learn new processes in order to digitize their HR documents.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are human resource documents?

To answer this in short, HR documents are written and retained records of specific employment-related events and the details behind their occurrence.

In part, HR documents may be composed of several government or legally-mandated bits, along with other policy-driven elements as well as the general breadth of record-keeping.

In the case of employee files, this might be a summary written record of the employee's actions, discussions, contributions, incidents they were involved in, the training they have undergone, and so forth. Maintaining a consistent and concrete record of these events gives the organization the ability to have accurate information on which they can base decisions such as performance reviews down the line.

So, in a sense – it's not unfair to say that HR document management is effectively a function of the organization's "memory."

2. How do I organize my HR files?

Whether your organization employs a paper record or a more modern document management practice when it comes to filing and organization of vital data and employee records, keeping up with a consistent process is key when it comes to organizing your HR files.

From accurate and standardized naming conventions to a logical organizational hierarchy between your files and folders – you should maintain the same uniform approach to sorting and organizing your data. This helps make it easily searchable and helps avoid any information gaps, misplaced documents, and filing errors.

3. Are electronic employee files legal?

From a compliance standpoint, digital (electronic) employee records and files are just as legitimate and valid as their physical paper-copy counterparts.

Various government institutions such as the Department of Labor in the United States openly accept digital records as valid documentation. However, you should be mindful of certain compliance rules and legalities around things like the retention period, security of your electronic storage system, data encryption at-rest, and in-transfer as well as having a valid audit trail.

4. How do you document an employee?

Whether you're looking to document a specific incident, create a record of employment or create additions to an existing employee record – an HR document is a crucial piece of data that can be used across the organization to evaluate performance reviews, make critical business decisions and gain a comprehensive overview of the organization's performance on a granular level.

Employee documentation should be written immediately after the interaction in question. Putting this off until a later time generally affects the quality and accuracy of the information. This documentation also has to be entirely objective, fair, and complete, while also being entirely compliant with the legalities surrounding employment and HR best practices.

Other Reliable HR Document Management Systems This Year

A. PeopleDoc

Coming in first, we have a relatively new solution that has combined the most modern range of features with an HR-centric approach to create a document management solution that really centers around managing employee data.

PeopleDoc is a fully cloud-driven platform that boasts case management, in-depth document management alongside HR operations automation and granular security policies, among other features that help organizations keep their vital employee data in one centralized secure location.

In addition to this, the platform also caters to a global marketplace and can be regarded as an all-in-one solution for HR departments when it comes to the management of employee information. And it's not an understatement to say that it's an excellent fit for small and large organizations alike.

B. OpenKm

It's no secret that most HR departments frequently feel overwhelmed by record-keeping and paperwork. And when it comes to an overview of the top solutions that can help an organization go fully paperless, no top-list would be complete without talking about OpenKM.

As one of the longest-running solutions, OpenKM has garnered a lot of attention and lasting love from a variety of industries and fields. It is actively employed in law, healthcare, and HR.

OpenKM features one of the most powerful and robust feature-kits of any. From purely document-centric features to employee file management, retention periods, KPI management, and seamless search functionality alongside highly-customizable granular security policies. This cloud-driven human resources document management software is definitely one of the best in its class.

However, with many modern organizations making the switch to an entirely on-premise solution for their HR department OpenKM may have one slight drawback. It's entirely cloud-driven with a web-based client for HR professionals and other staff to access their workspaces and documents.

But, if you're not all too keen on going down the on-premise route and you need more in-depth document management that extends beyond HR-centric functions, then OpenKM might just be a good solution for you. And hey, they even offer a free 14-day trial for organizations to give things a go and explore how well OpenKM lines up against their needs.

C. DocuVantage

Last, but certainly not least, we have DocuVantage. This web-based cloud solution focuses less on document management and wanders into the realm of general HR management. This includes functions like accounts payable, invoicing, and other critical information processing that takes place in any traditional department. And while some may see this as a disadvantage, this is actually a huge step up compared to the general broadly-specialized.

The core features that DocuVantage boasts include direct OCR-driven scan-to-storage functionality, a wealth of integrations with popular HR suites and document creation tools, and a powerful KPI-based reporting system.

However, it's definitely fair to say that it stands somewhere in the middle between being a true full-fledged and an HR suite of its own. It has extensive capabilities in both of those realms, however, it's also just shy of a few features that the top contenders all offer from being able to crown itself the king of either category. Though, on the flip side, this also makes it quite an amazing solution as it boasts just enough capabilities in either direction to be an incredibly viable and useful all-in-one HR document management solution, and then some.

DocuVantage is certainly a fantastic fit for many smaller or mid-sized organizations that don't have incredibly complex requirements. Though, we personally felt that the user interface looks and feels a little dated, albeit very intuitive and easy to use.

Closing Thoughts – Picking Out The Best Document Management System For HR

Undeniably, as the world becomes increasingly digitalized, many HR departments are struggling to keep up with managing their employee files by means of a more traditional approach.

A modern human resources document management solution poses an incredible amount of value to practically any organization, and many of these solutions can be tightly interlinked with critical business analytics and intelligence platforms for a more complete overview of your organization's growth and performance.

Today, we've covered the top three HR-oriented document management solutions to help you streamline your data and revolutionize your department's efficiency. We've also answered some of the burning questions that many of our readers have when it comes to selecting the right for their HR department.

We hope that after reading this article, you can now confidently shop for the right HR document management system to fit your particular business' requirements and needs. And hopefully, we were able to suggest an option that made its way onto your organization's software short-list.