Right now, the average company employs about one HR staffer for every 100 workers. Employees who still want paper have checks mailed to their homes. But payroll supervisor Mirella Alexander says 95 percent of the company's 2,000 employees have gone virtual through a system that stores all electronic pay stubs. With that kind of take-up, it's not surprising Alexander is no longer walking the halls at Autodesk. The move has not only saved time, it has also improved the accuracy of the data, reports Frank Granato, manager of US benefits and HR systems.
Nobody needs to be in the business of handling paper.
Moreover, the behavioral change among employees prepares them for other self-service options down the line. The Times provides Web-based benefits enrollment. It has also rolled out a graphical interface for employee stock purchases, as well as online direct-deposit information. Consultants advise against making too much data available to workers, however. Some companies, they note, make the mistake of stuffing their HR user interfaces full, cramming 20 self-service applications into one site.