80% of the HR document workflow converted to electronic format. Best practices of the YURiA-PHARM pharmaceutical group of companies

YURiA-PHARM’s organizational structure encompasses the head office, regional offices, and production facilities. They are situated in various locations across Ukraine. As a result, there were challenges in managing HR documents:

• Significant time and financial resources were allocated to document logistics;
• Documents were frequently misplaced during processing and signing. The situation only deteriorated further during the war.
• It proved challenging for HR officers to monitor the status of a document during its processing. If there were any queries regarding a specific document, these were addressed via telephone.
• In the event that an employee made an error, they were required to re-submit and re-sign the document. This resulted in a notable slowdown in HR processes.
• During periods of high document processing, such as for vacation requests or new hires, the head of the company had to sign up to 1,000 HR documents per day.

At the beginning of 2023, the number of employees in companies reached pre-war levels. The number of HR processes increased, creating an urgent need to optimize them. The group of companies opted to transition to an electronic HR document workflow to facilitate the expeditious signing of documents and minimize the occurrence of errors.

The audit of HR processes revealed that the majority of issues encountered by YURiA-PHARM companies pertain to vacation processing. YURiA-PHARM has a workforce of over 3,000 employees. The HR department receives an average of 300 to 500 applications for vacation per month. HR officers process between 600 and 1,000 documents (applications and leave orders) each month. Consequently, the companies opted to automate and streamline this process initially.

The company was fully prepared to implement electronic documents at a technical and organizational level, which significantly minimized potential difficulties. The IT department took the necessary steps to prepare the infrastructure in advance of integrating the Vchasno.ODE service. In collaboration with Vchasno’s management team, we devised a plan for switching to electronic documents, assembled a test group, and conducted training.

YURiA-PHARM adheres to a philosophy of continuous development. Consequently, there was no resistance from within the company. The digitalization of documents was viewed as a positive step forward by employees, who saw it as a way to save time and improve efficiency.

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In early 2023, YURiA-PHARM began implementing the Vchasno service for HR. The transition to electronic documents consisted of several stages.

Analyzing HR Processes and Preparing for ODE Implementation. First, company managers studied the HR legislation and coordinated their actions with the current regulations. The legal department ensured that electronic HR documents would comply with labor laws and be accepted by government agencies.

We then conducted a work process audit to determine what actions an employee takes when requesting a vacation. With paper documents, the entire vacation application process took 1 day and 40 minutes.

The next step was to set up a CRM system in which the company creates HR documents. The system was integrated with the HR and accounting software and the Vchasno.ODE electronic document workflow service to fully automate the vacation processing.

The next step was to set up a CRM system in which the company creates HR documents. The system was integrated with the HR and accounting software and the Vchasno.ODE electronic document workflow service to fully automate the vacation processing.

Electronic Signature Registration. Employees were allowed to obtain QESs themselves in a convenient way. The number of positions using digital signatures increased from 50 to 1300. Currently, 46% of all YURiA-PHARM employees (specialists, managers, top managers) use digital signatures.

The CEO’s electronic signature was delegated to responsible persons and this was documented in the companies’ internal regulations. This reduced the burden on company executives who signed HR documents.

Testing. We studied the specifics of each area of the company. We trained employees and developed step-by-step instructions for them. We formed a test group and worked with them through the entire process of applying for vacation in an electronic format.

After the implementation of ODE, employees agree on the dates with their manager in the company’s chatbot. Once agreed, they sign the generated application in Vchasno. The entire process of applying for vacation was reduced to 10 minutes.

Scaling. The successful experience of the test group in processing vacations allowed us to implement an electronic HR document workflow at the company’s headquarters and later in the regional offices.

In the first stage of the project, we converted all types of vacation to electronic format. Subsequently, we automated other HR processes in the company: hiring, transfers to other positions, and issuing certificates of employment.

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