How to help remote workers switch to eSignature solutions

Whether companies are calling employees back to the office and/or plan to offer remote work options for the foreseeable future, the pandemic has left workplaces forever changed. In fact, ever since the disruptive health crisis of 2020, half of all employees no longer want to work in an office anymore.

In just 5-6 short months, this mindset shift has sparked organization-wide digital transformations that would normally have unfolded over a decade. To stay relevant in an uber-competitive environment, your IT team needs to enable a similar remote work revolution at your company, including an emphasis on empowering employees with eSignature solutions.

Why? Because online contract signing is a pillar of productive, safe, and convenient remote work. It also ensures that physical distancing doesn't interfere with everyday paperwork that is essential for business continuity.

It’s no surprise, then, that eSignature solution SignEasy recorded a 2.4x jump in paid users between March and April 2020. At SignEasy, we noticed that IT and HR departments have been the most enthusiastic adopters of eSignature technology, with approximately 210% user growth in Q2 vs Q1 2020. In that same time period, usership inoperations and admin departments grew by 73%, while legal and finance departments saw a 53% increase.

Before you purchase and implement an eSignature software, let’s review the most common challenges, solutions, and implementation options to consider.

Top barriers to eSignature adoption

Many organizations are concerned that eSignature solutions like SignEasy won’t meet strict compliance standards. On the contrary, SignEasy signatures are just as legally binding as wet ink: they comply with all major eSignature laws, including eIDAS in the EU and the ESIGN Act in the United States. Audits are a breeze for companies that use SignEasy, since each electronically signed document comes with a digital audit trail.

Another common concern is migrating to an eSignature solution will cause a dip in efficiency – but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Solutions like SignEasy have been proven to increase efficiency and significantly reduce costs related to printing, couriering, and more.

The benefits of adopting eSignatures are clear – just ask the 7 million Android users that have downloaded SignEasy on mobile! In order to onboard a new solution successfully, though, your IT team needs to ensure that your employees have comfortably adjusted to the ‘new normal.’ Here's how to seamlessly implement an eSignature solution so your employees can send and sign contracts online in a remote work environment.

4 key steps to improve eSignature adoption

Seemingly overnight, the responsibility to make sure that people are productive and remote work-ready has shifted from HR teams to IT teams. Choosing the right online signing software and using effective change management tactics will ensure that the technology is seamlessly embedded into your existing documentation workflow.

The following questions will help you facilitate a smooth transition to electronic signatures:

1. What do your employees need? Understand the needs of your ‘frequent signers’ to determine which steps in the signing process are being disrupted by remote work. Then, choose an eSignature solution that works symbiotically with your employees. One way to make it significantly easier for users to sign contracts online is to select an eSignature solution that integrates with platforms they already use (G Suite, Dropbox, Freshworks, Microsoft Teams, etc.). An easy-to-integrate API platform like SignEasy can also allow you to seamlessly integrate eSignature capabilities into your existing application’s workflows.
2. Is your leadership team convinced? You need your business leaders to truly embrace eSignature solutions so remote employees feel inspired to join in. Their open endorsement and use of the tool will lend credibility to the change, helping the company break its wet-signature habit.
   
   To get C-suite executives onboard, develop a well-researched proposal that broadly answers the following question: “Are you missing out on real innovation, in this time of crisis, by sticking with wet signatures?”
   
   Rather than simply convincing your leadership team of the need to move away from legacy signature workflows, show them how the switch will drive business transformation. SignEasy is one of the most innovative eSignature solutions on the market, leveraging features like FaceID, digital audit trails, and dark mode. Access to these new and innovative security features are the key to an enhanced signing experience.
3. What are your adoption goals? If you want to know whether your employees are getting the most out of your eSignature solution, it is essential that you set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely (SMART) goals.
   
   Here are some sample eSignature key performance indicators (KPIs):
   • Percentage of contracts executed with eSignatures
   • Speed of document generation
   • Improvements in contract closing time
   • Improvements in cost savings (paper, ink, productive hours, etc.)
   • Percentage change in carbon footprint
   • Number of errors in filled forms
4. Are your employees comfortable with the change? Signing should be an effortless process, and eSignature solutions promise just that – especially in a hybrid or fully remote work environment. They also offer a faster and more intuitive signing experience.
   
   If all of these benefits have convinced you to change your signing workflow, here is how you can ensure your employees use it effectively:
   • Communicate - To help employees through the change cycle, communicate openly about why the change is happening and what’s in it for them. You should start the conversation weeks before implementing any eSignature solutions. Feel free to use short emails, blogs, and explainer videos to reinforce the message. By securing employee buy-in well in advance, you will make them feel like they are a part of the eSignature adoption process.
   • Offer remote support - Since SignEasy is very simple to use for all kinds of signing and sending tasks, users often don’t even need to host training sessions. That said, it's always a good idea to offer guidance for employees that need it via simple how-to video tutorials.
   • Roll out in phases - Start onboarding a few early adopters first, monitor their experiences, and iron out kinks in the adoption process. Then, use what you’ve learned to make the onboarding easier for the next batch of users.

It would be best to prioritize onboarding more “receptive” users from departments like IT, HR, and operations. Seeing these employees reap the benefits of online contract signing is sure to encourage technology laggards to try the software for themselves.

If companies want to get the most out of a new technology, they need to get employees on board quickly. Remember: if you get your change management strategy right, you stand to double your eSignature solution ROI.

Just to put things in perspective, in the last 10 years alone, SignEasy has helped it’s customers save $100+ million with touchless contracts. Just think of the benefits your business could reap by making the switch.

Curious to find out? Try out SignEasy for free today. You’ll have 14 days to trial our software and discover why small- and medium-sized businesses across the globe trust us to take care of all their eSigning needs.