How Easy Is Distribution?
The largest share of participants (45.6%) find that document distribution is sometimes challenging but manageable. 33.6% of respondents said that it’s a hassle for them to track employees down or to get responses, and for a lucky 15.5%, document distribution is “super easy.”
Processes with Many Documents
Just over half (50.6%) of those surveyed said that they can easily and efficiently manage processes involving many documents (such as onboarding). 39.7% of participants said that their system for these processes is lacking, but they somehow muddle through. Just under 3% of participants selected “Other,” with responses including:
- Yes and no. Getting documents filled out is easy, but [getting a] copy of identification for the Form I-9 is difficult.
- We have a system, but it is time consuming.
- Usually things are done on time and in the right order, but not always.
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Who Responded?
A total of 525 participants responded to the Employee File Management Survey, representing a diverse array of industries, business types, organizational sizes, and locations.
Respondents hailed from all across the United States and also from around the world, with the largest percentage of participants (19.9%) reporting from companies that are located in the East Central United States. The second-largest region represented was the Southern United States, which made up 19.1% of the response pool. 13.9% of participants identified themselves as being employed at organizations with a nationwide presence in the United States, and 5% responded from non-U.S./international regions.
Of those who identified themselves, the majority (59.5%) represent privately owned, for-profit companies; 20.6% are employed by nonprofits; 11.4% work in the public sector; and government organizations were represented by 8.5% of the response pool.
Respondents identified themselves as being employed in 19 different industry categories as follows:
|
Answer Options |
Response Percent |
|
Health Care and Social Assistance |
16.5% |
|
Manufacturing |
13.0% |
|
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services |
9.5% |
|
Other Services (except Public Administration) |
13.5% |
|
Finance and Insurance |
9.3% |
|
Educational Services |
7.8% |
|
Public Administration |
4.5% |
|
Transportation and Warehousing |
2.3% |
|
Retail Trade |
2.0% |
|
Information (Media, Data, Telecommunication) |
2.0% |
|
Wholesale Trade |
2.3% |
|
Accommodations and Food Service |
2.8% |
|
Construction |
4.5% |
|
Utilities |
0.5% |
|
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing |
1.8% |
|
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting |
1.0% |
|
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation |
1.5% |
|
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction |
1.3% |
|
Administrative and Support Services |
2.5% |
|
Management of Companies and Enterprises |
1.5% |
At 52.6%, managers made up the largest portion of the respondent pool. A little over 13% of participants identified as executives (i.e., VP level or higher), and staff-level employees made up 17.9% of those surveyed. The smallest group represented (at 7.3%) was comprised of supervisors. The 8.8% who identified as “Other” specified their roles as (among other positions):
- Compliance
- Director of HR
- Consultant
- Generalist
- Bookkeeper
Choosing the right way to manage your documents is just part of the world of HR. Additionally, you need a go-to resource, and our editors recommend the “everything-HR-in-one” website, HR.BLR.com®. As an example of what you will find, here are some policy recommendations concerning e-mail, excerpted from a sample policy on the website:
- Privacy. The director of information services can override any individual password and, therefore, has access to all e-mail messages in order to ensure compliance with company policy. This means that employees do not have an expectation of privacy in their company e-mail or any other information stored or accessed on company computers.
- E-mail review. All e-mail is subject to review by management. Your use of the e-mail system grants consent to the review of any of the messages to or from you in the system in printed form or in any other medium.
- Solicitation. In line with our general policy, e-mail must not be used to solicit for outside business ventures, personal parties, social meetings, charities, membership in any organization, political causes, religious causes, or other matters not connected to the company’s business.
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