Challenges
- Slow hiring hampered by in-person and paper-based processes
- High supply costs and time-intensive processing of onboarding forms
- Inaccuracies due to data-entry errors
Solutions
Results
- Faster hiring with processes handled online from anywhere
- Redirected $8,000 saved on paper and postage into recruiting
- More accurate HR data and more flexible processes for remote working
The sudden shift to remote K-12 operations after school closures due to COVID-19 wasn’t easy for anybody. But Boerne ISD was ready. With an online K-12 HR solution in place, Boerne ISD eased their transition to virtual talent management.
With tools to recruit, hire, and onboard remotely, they avoided disruption in processing applications, screening candidates, and scheduling interviews—putting them ahead of their staffing goals for the 2020-21 school year.
Boerne ISD didn’t predict the unprecedented school closures, but they did see online HR management as the way forward for faster hiring, cost savings, and improved accuracy. After years of dealing with a digital HR system that still required paper forms, the district switched to PowerSchool Applicant Tracking and Employee Records to take their entire hiring process online.
In-person, paper-based hiring was costing time and money
The district’s former solution for digital HR processes allowed them to post jobs online, but applications still involved paper forms. Receiving and processing these forms slowed the candidate screening process, and that could cost them high-quality hires in a competitive job market. In some cases, top candidates could receive a job offer before Boerne ISD had the chance to schedule an interview.
On top of taking longer, this outdated process cost thousands of dollars in paper supplies and hours of effort as the district grew. The HR team spent hours in the office copying, printing, and mailing onboarding forms to new hires. Then, someone had to be in the office to receive the forms, review them, and then enter the information into their digital system. The whole process was error prone as it could be difficult to decipher each applicant’s unique handwriting.
Boerne ISD needed a solution that was faster, less costly in the long run, and more accurate. While shopping for a new K-12 HR solution, they recognized the value of automated functions and being able to complete processes online whether staff was in the office or not. They wanted the flexibility for applicants, new hires, and staff to complete all processes and requests anytime, from anywhere.
Gaining remote K-12 HR operations and saving money with paperless processes
The benefits of virtual talent management were obvious, even before the COVID-19 response forced their schools to close for the final months of the 2019-20 school year. “We knew there had to be a better way,” says Dr. Elaine Howard, Chief Human Resources Officer. She says they chose PowerSchool Applicant Tracking and Employee Records to take their hiring process entirely online.
From the start, Howard says the results were clear. “It’s automated the entire department,” she says. Now, applications move quickly through reviews, so supervisors and principals can quickly schedule interviews with top candidates. Paper forms no longer sit on a desk or in a file folder until it is sent to the next person in the process. Digital applications immediately deploy to the appropriate reviewers, and each person is notified when they need to complete a task.
The flexibility to view applications and communicate with others involved in the hiring process from anywhere also means supervisors and principals can complete their reviews from home, when working in another district building, or while away at a conference.
Howard says they’re saving significantly on paper supplies, especially when it comes to sending onboarding packets to new hires. Howard says, “Now, when a hiring decision is made, the onboarding packet automatically sends via e-mail to the new hire. It doesn’t take any time at all from our staff, and it costs us nothing in postage.” She says the district is saving about $8,000 in supplies and postage, which they’ve put into ramping up their recruiting efforts.
Preparing new hires for the 2020-21 school year with “pajama onboarding”
Applicants and new hires enjoy more flexibility with the district’s new tools for hiring and onboarding. Howard says almost the entire onboarding process can be completed by new hires online, on their schedule.
Given social distancing guidelines still in place over the summer, she says they’ve kept onboarding on track for the coming school year. “We call it the pajama onboarding process,” she says, “because they can do it at home, in their pajamas.” Even during times of regular school operations, it means teachers and new hires don’t have to take time out of their day to stand in line and fill out forms in an office.
Transitioning to remote talent management was seamless
Perhaps the greatest unforeseen benefit of moving to online hiring and onboarding was an easier transition to working remotely in 2020. With the tools and processes already in place, the staff was already effectively trained on working from home—they just had to do it. “It made going to the remote working environment seamless for us,” Howard says.
Staff continued recruiting and hiring while working from home, and applicants’ experiences weren’t interrupted. Howard says supervisors and administrators began scheduling their own interviews with candidates on video platforms through Applicant Tracking, and this made the process even more efficient and faster. We actually stayed a little ahead of our hiring goals throughout the transition, she says.
For Boerne ISD, the future of K-12 HR lies in the flexibility to connect with people wherever they are
Time and cost savings were just the beginning for Boerne ISD. Moving to a completely online solution for hiring and onboarding has also improved accuracy of information and enabled Howard’s team to do more, faster, from anywhere. She says online processes are clearly the future, and that’s what staff members and new hires prefer.