Specialist recruitment giant Peoplebank is seeing significant time savings after implementing a digital signature system that has significantly improved its everyday work processes.
The implementation of Secured Signing's public key infrastructure-based, cloud-hosted digital signature platform grew out of a back-office review designed to make the contracts process easier for contractors.
As part of that review, Peoplebank developed two processes, known as eStarter and eContracts, that automate the processes involved in contract preparation including the preloading of contact information and the management of the signing process.
Because they are built around a hosted digital signature infrastructure, those processes allow contractors and employees to complete and digitally sign key documents related to the contracting process.
Availability of non-repudiable digital signatures has also allowed Peoplebank staff to quickly prepare and give contractors bundles of digital documents spelling out workflow steps and information such as job-related policies. Contractors can complete necessary paperwork from both computers and mobile devices without having to travel to a Peoplebank office, or scanning and completing paper forms on their end.
Introduction of the hosted digital-signature capabilities has not only boosted accuracy significantly but is estimated to be saving staff an hour and a half per prepared contract – a huge benefit that Peoplebank CEO Peter Acheson believes will improve efficiencies and bolster the company's competitive position.
"The value that Peoplebank brings to clients is to shine better light on the likely fit between a candidate's skillset and the organisation's technical and cultural needs," Acheson said in a statement. "We're excited by opportunities to spend less time on the back-end and more time on high-value aspects of our work."
Those high-value aspects now get more time and attention from skilled recruiters who have been freed from the need to manage massive piles of paper and can instead focus on jobs like data analysis and supporting contractors in their new roles.
The use of digital and electronic signatures to secure key business documents has been a sticking point for Australian businesses, with adoption of even simple digital images of signatures lagging other countries. Companies like DocuSign have been working to integrate the technology with Microsoft's Office 365 in an effort to make it more accessible for customers.
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