Paperless office - myth or reality?

The paperless office is a workplace that has minimal paperwork and relies on digital documents instead. With the vast majority of business processes having to take place entirely remotely in 2020, digital administration is now more important than ever.

Manpower sees serious interest on the topic, so we have invited the pioneers in the digitalization of HR processes - Ingram Micro to share their experience. We are discussing the advantages and challenges that paperless office brings with Eva Makedonska – Human Resources Director, and one of the leading HR specialists in the country, part of the Ingram Micro team since the opening of their center in Bulgaria.

A paperless office sounds like a dream come true - what part of the paper carriers have you managed to replace with digital ones at the moment?

Technologies provides huge potential and we could digitize absolutely everything in the company's HR processes, but at the moment I would say that we have digitized about 80% of the paper documents.

This is a huge achievement, which we congratulate you for. Still, have you faced any administrative or regulatory obstacles due to that initiative of yours?

In fact, we have not had any regulatory obstacles so far. Almost everywhere the electronic signature on a document is sufficient for the validity of the documents. If necessary, we can always provide a paper signature. After we made this huge step, indeed many employers and HR people, consultants and lawyers contacted me to inquire about the risks we had taken. We, on the other hand, also worked with consultants and relied entirely on the Bulgarian and the European legislation.

What motivates your purposeful work towards eliminating paper documentation?

Ingram Micro has offices in more than 40 countries around the world and we have the opportunity to compare HR processes in Bulgaria with those in the rest of the world and we saw that in our country the process is not automated and requires people to physically come to the office to sign or request signed document. Working from home, so to speak, was the basis for quickly and purposefully improving the process and removing much of the paper.

Certainly working remotely requires more flexibility from this point of view as well. And what are the biggest positives you report?

The pros are many and I could spend hours on the topic, but I will list the following:
- Hiring people remotely;
- Automation of documents and the process of their creation;
- Saving time and eliminating mistakes caused by work "by hand";
- Modern approach to administration;
- Employees, who are satisfied with the speed and precision with which we take care of their documentation;
- Popularity…because we are pioneers in this transformation.

Ingram Micro is a leading distributor of technology products and services. Its activity is related to the sale, purchase and logistics of hardware and software products, as well as the connection between IT manufacturers and the global sales network. Ingram Micro is one of the largest American companies and has over 30,000 employees worldwide.
The company set foot in Bulgaria in 2012 with its EMEA Global Business Center. Currently, the center in Sofia employs 1,100 people who are engaged in various outsourcing activities.