Empowering the HR Team with a Good Human Resource Information System

A Human Resource Information System or HRIS essentially refers to a HR software designed with the help of technology to carry out HR activities and processes electronically. It is a single central repository of all data required by the HR department for efficient management of Human Capital. All HR processes and systems including Recruitment Management, Payroll  management, Leave Attendance System, Performance Management System  as well as Employee self service form part of a good Human Resource Management System.

A basic HRIS (Human Resource Information System) comprises of a centralized database as well as a system for database management. Advanced HRIS systems also provide tools and resources for data analytic by organizations.

A hallmark of a good Human Resource Information System is the flexibility of its databases to integrate with a wide range of applications and platform. Advanced HRIS systems also provide owners with the capability to generate customized report as well as undertake complex data analysis for better decision making.

Features of a well designed Human Resource Management System include:

My profile Page which allows employees to enter and update personal and professional information related to self and facilitates easy exchange of information between employees.

Leave Management System customized to meet the specific leave policy of a company allows an efficient online leave approval and tracking process. Employees can view their leave balance as well apply for leaves online. It also allows employees to select the category of leave under which they would like to apply. Since it is workflow based HR software, the leave application will automatically flow to their reporting managers for approving or rejecting. Once approved it flows down both to HR and to the employee to let him know the status on his application.

Performance Management System allows management to set clear goals and expectation as well track and review them periodically to ensure company objectives are being met. They also provide for employees to capture details regarding their performance throughout the year and do a more objective performance discussed based on goals achieved.

Company Update section allows management to share important news, events and updates related to the company at the same time across a geographically dispersed workforce. Employees feel a sense of belonging with the company as they are made aware of what other divisions and businesses are doing and what are the important milestones for the company.

Recruitment Module allows the recruitment or HR team to upload internal job postings on a regular basis to provide employees with an opportunity to apply for jobs or positions within the company that they might be interested in.

Training module helps HR team to manage trainings efficiently and effectively within the organization. Training calendar for a month or a quarter or even a year can be published and employees can be encouraged to apply online for the particular trainings they would like to opt for. Feedback on training can also be collected and reviewed online for enhancing training programs.

Travel Management System provides for employs to submit a travel and advance request online as well as submit expense claims online and track the status of the claims. ESS workflow system enables all such requests to flow to the respective function avoiding the need for any paperwork altogether.

Knowledge Management is a relatively new feature available mostly in advanced Human Resource Information System. It provides for a central repository for all project or work documents and files by all functions. This enables other employees to access and reuse material and collaterals already available rather than creating them afresh every time they are required.

Like the Knowledge Management, the Blog is also a fairly recent addition to the HRIS and is probably available only in advanced versions. It allows for employees to exchange thoughts and ideas on important issues and can be the germinator of many interesting concepts, big reason why it is so popular among technology companies.

Newer features are being added everyday as the HR function seeks to redefine itself to move away from repetitive non value adding activities to play a more strategic and business value adding role. Read more.

Leveraging HR Software to Build a Culture of Trust And Transparency

HR teams across organizations have had to gear up to face new challenges in deploying and managing an increasingly diverse and globally dispersed workforce. The answer to some of these challenges have been through technological interventions such as  Human Resource Management Systems that have helped bridge the communication gap between employers and employees. While Human Resource Information Systems have helped in managing and analyzing employee data for better decision making, challenges in administering employee benefits program remained till Employee Self Service applications came into being.

Why HR Software is needed?

Organizations are increasingly realizing the value of deploying HR software to enable the HR time to be more productive and reduce cost and time spent on routine administrative activity. An integrated Human Resource Management system which combines Leave Attendance System, Leave Management System and Performance Management System with Payroll Management enables organizations to do away with tons of paperwork and establish work flow based systems which can be easily tracked and recorded for future reference as well.

Employee Self Service (ESS) is an application that enables employees to interact directly, through their HR software to view, and in some cases edit or update data, in the system. A tool that is gaining ground very rapidly, Employee Self Service portal empowers an employee to manage a number of self related tasks like leave or reimbursement application, personal information updation and accessing company related information otherwise routed through Human resources or management.   ESS is one HR software that directly impacts employees in a positive manner by giving them access to their information on demand, anytime anywhere without having to follow up with the HR or any other business support teams.

Need for an integrated HR system

A Human Resource Information System or HRIS enables organizations to maintain a secure and central repository for confidential information and processes related to Human resources.  It makes it easy to track and assess employee trends and movements and to determine the future shape of employee initiatives in the organization. A workflow based leave management system enables employees to apply for leaves online as well as keep a track of their leave balance without any outside intervention. It also allows managers to access leave records of team members reporting to them as well as track how many team members have applied for leave simultaneously in a given week or month. Managers can also approve or reject leaves online which then reflect in the system so that the employee can view the status of his application. Likewise managers can also submit their own leave application which then flows to their reporting manager and so on and so forth making the whole process flow seamlessly and effortlessly.

A well designed Human Resource Management System with interconnected modules, has the potential to reduce at least 2/3rds of routine administrative operations from HR function, enabling them to focus time and resources on more strategic value adding propositions and initiatives. It also helps to build a culture where employees are self driven with more accountability as all data pertaining to themselves and their teams are available to them online. Read more.

Payroll Software is a Cost Effective Tool for Streamlining of Payroll Operations

As the world becomes increasingly globalized with the rise in mergers and acquisitions and a highly mobile workforce, the payroll process is becoming increasingly complex and difficult to administer. Technology has come to the rescue with advanced payroll software, customized for   local or global use to administer payroll processes for multiple locations with a single employee database, accessible from anywhere.

 Payroll software takes away a major part of the heavy lifting process from the Payroll / HR team with very little input needed from the employer. Basic information that payroll software requires to process payroll include employee wage information and hours. The payroll software is designed to handle all the complex and tricky calculations as well as withholdings. The software also includes features for automatic updates every time tax laws undergo an amendment. Some advanced payroll software are also equipped with features to  fill out employment tax forms on behalf of the employer as well as send reminders for filing them.

Payroll Software offers businesses significant advantage in terms of reducing costs and liability, and increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the payroll system by minimizing the possibilities of human errors. Key benefits include

1.Helps businesses to organize, simplify and integrate complex business processes into a single system.

2. Diligent compliance systems lead to reduced risk of liability through oversight.

3. Ensure accurate and reliable processing and reporting of financials.

4. Ensure privacy and confidentiality of payroll data through controls.

Given below are some must have features of a good payroll software aimed at efficiency and accuracy of the entire payroll process

1.Simple and easy to install. It saves time and expense on training new employees .

2.Flexibility to customize as per your business requirement. Every organization operates in a unique way. An effective payroll software should be customizable to create custom categories of income and deductions and apply the pertinent tax laws for calculation of the same.

3.Include features for online filing of tax forms from data generated through the payroll software

4.Generate custom business intelligence reports exportable to PDF, Excel, or Quickbooks format.

5.Validating mechanism to ensure accuracy of data and calculation

6.Control mechanisms to protect against data hacking

Well designed and implemented payroll software can be a huge time-saver making it much easier to manage complicated calculation, constantly changing tax laws and ensure all your payroll data is available in one repository.

Advances in technology is leading to a growing trend towards web based payroll software allowing for further streamlining of payroll operations and greater cost savings. Web based payroll software also allows easy access to management to data for better, and faster decision making. They also do not need expensive on location hardware and software applications leading to significant cost savings for business. Web based payroll software also make it possible to apply updates easily and seamlessly, while also ensuring data reliability and security and disaster recovery remotely without the need for onsite IT support. Read more.

HRMS- Leveraging Information Technology To Strengthen Human Capital

An organization wide information system is designed to link & interlink the various functional areas of an organization, while at the same time providing businesses with an important management tool. A Human Resource Management system broadly refers to the systems & processes at the intersection of Human Resources & Information Technology, that deal with information and data related to employees at all levels in the organization. It, in turn, enables the organization to develop and strengthen their strategic human capital to leverage competitive advantage for growth.

 Human Resources Management System, or HRMS is an integrated HR system designed to simplify the task of analyzing vast amounts of data and information used in HR decision-making. It is of invaluable help in human resource management, right from payroll processing to record management and retrieval, onto business intelligence reporting.

The role of a HR professional can be broadly classified into 3 categories

HR professionals typically land up allocating bulk of their time and effort towards administrative tasks, which are also by nature time consuming. However the HR function, can add the greatest value at the strategic level through well thought out and executed intervention programs. This is where HRMS can add significant value. By enhancing efficiency on administrative tasks, HRMS can free up bandwidth of HR professionals to focus on strategic HR initiatives. A well-designed and implemented Human Resource Management system can add significant value to the HR function in 2 ways:

As technology continues to advance, there is going to be an increasing dependence on Human Resource Management systems for the efficient delivery and support of HR activities as well as HR management. An efficient HRMS can, not only enhance an organization’s productivity and profitability, it also plays a key role in re-engineering and transformation of the HR function itself. Human Resource Management systems are being adopted to provide some key advantages to businesses:

HRMS systems act as technology tools to make employees more self reliant in terms of HR services by ensuring all information is available to them anytime and anywhere. The internet era is making all of us data consumers in a big way, and employees typically want the same amount of access and control over data in their work life. An efficient Human Resource Management System, helps to link together geographically and functionally spread employees and provides a sense of transparency and fairness in dealing with organizational matters.

HRM systems are being used to transform the HR function itself. Since HRMS makes it possible to collate and analyze disparate data points, there is a greater focus on data and metrics reporting to calculate the ROI on any HR activity or intervention. This is leading to greater focus on tasks and activities that add value.

One of the key challenges for HR professionals is how to convert HR data into a format which is easy to understand and interpret for senior management.  An effective HRMS will enable the use of advanced BI reports and applications for analyzing large amount of data. HR dashboards, strategic, real-time and graphically formatted data, has already become an integral part of the employee-related decision making by the management.

Over the last decade or so, Human resource management systems have been instrumental in bringing about a significant change in the way the HR function itself is managed and operated in an organization. They have increased the efficiency of the HR function, have helped employees to be better informed and have helped build a more positive perception towards the HR function, as a whole. A well-implemented Human Resource Management System, leveraging technology for effective implementation of HR processes, will ensure that organizations continue to reap competitive advantages from its HR function. Read more on OfficeNet

A Quick Guide To An Employee Self Service System

"An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success." --Stephen Covey

A well-designed intranet based employee Self Service system is a powerful empowering tool for employees, a relatively low cost means of building a positive association by ensuring all relevant information is available to them at the click of a finger.

In current times, with the internet making access to information instant and easy, employees and managers are simply not willing to wait for information to be made available by a HR representative in a time lag. Employee self-service as a concept, was born out of this very need of businesses to be able to access critical employee information as and when needed. The original concept was to provide an application that could:

ESS was first adopted in a big way by the IT services sector due to the availability of a significant proportion of employees with access to and possessing knowledge of computer and internet. It is particularly advantageous for large corporations with offices and employees spread out geographically across cities and countries. A well-planned and implemented Employee Self Service system provides employees, access to a diverse range of information and forms from a single login. Employee Self Service systems are increasingly evolving into technology tools enabling employees and managers to handle most of their role based data and processes.

Some key benefits of a well-developed ESS system include

Employee Self Service is no longer focused only on providing applications designed to provide relevant information in real time.  It is increasingly being used as a powerful tool for empowering employees and managers to assume greater responsibility towards their jobs as well as professional development. Career planning and growth, skills profiling, learning metrics, goal setting, performance appraisals and a host of analytics are getting added to the ESS applications. Technological advancements, particularly in web technologies, and an improved understanding of human resources, conceptualized and led by HR, but driven by the workforce have triggered this evolution in the ESS application.

A well structured and implemented Employee Self-Service system can take away a sizeable chunk of all HR transactions out of your HR department, freeing up valuable time and resources for more strategic business value adding responsibilities.

Employee Self Service is now an established Business application developed and implemented with the aim of empowering employees and reducing paperwork errors and cost. By reducing paper waste, ESS also lends itself to being an extremely popular Eco friendly initiative as more companies increasingly look for ways to 'go green'. Read more.