Last week, I got somehow ‘dragged’ to attend a HRIS presentation at a client’s premises. I saw thus an updated version of what a modern HRIS can do or not for an organization.
HRIS stands for human resources information system. It’s related to human resources management system (HRMS) – the difference is that talent and performance management are usually exclusive to HRMS.
So let me pose a few questions on your need of any HRIS solution – do you even need one?
- Collecting, storing, and processing employee- data is a key part of HR Dept.
And that creates or justifies the need for HRIS.
- Classic HR data ends up been static and stored/ stacked in columns etc.. But both employers and employees nowadays need systems that will integrate their relevant data into other applications which that support data-driven business decisions in real time.
- Applicant tracking is also close to be static and stale too… A recruiter these days, s/he needs want more than just tracking the flow from application to on-boarding. Data should be easily able to show and integrate the history of various recruiting channels to inform all hiring managers of the shortest on-boarding time, or show the source of best performing employees, and/or the source of most recruited employees for example.
- Training data can demonstrate the average performance and efficiency of staff who have attended certain trainings and these data ‘can recommend’ best courses and mentors and/or suggest development of internal courses.
- Mobile applications these days should provision fast and full access to all sorts of administrative, recruiting, talent management, and performance metrics.
- Talent Management systems tend to be unintergrated silo modules/ apps and it feels something is missing when using them
- Are you ready to automate?
The most common universal pitfall (so not only in Ghana) is that people get hyped about technology and they feel the ‘need’ to acquire the latest possible tools and solutions.
Before you do anything else, you need to have mapped and well documented all your HR processes.. This can take 1-2 yrs, depending on the complexity and your understanding of your own HR processes
Without these, it would be extremely premature to go into the market searching for any software solution.
If you have done this exercise and you are lucky, you will find a software solutions that can support the automation of maximum 80% of your HR business processes.
Sorry – vendors lie all the time: the perfect software solution does not exist.
Also, make a inventory list of all your critical processes and prioritize them; eg which of these are most important tor you:
- HR planning and budgeting?
- Recruitment and Selection?
- Hiring and Onboarding?
- Training?
- Employee Relations?
- Employee Engagement?
- Performance management
- Benefits administration?
- Career Planning / Development?
- Succession Planning?
- Offboarding?
- Other?
Lack of well-defined business requirements is the failure cause of 70% do all digital transformation initiatives/ projects
How big do you have to be to use an HRIS? Almost 80% of HRIS users responding to the survey have 100 or more employees; however, 8% of HRIS users among customers surveyed had fewer than 50 employees. But cloud computing and SaaS, have made HRIS applications affordable for smaller employers.
- Are there man-eating HRIS packages and implementations?
Not exactly but start by rethinking your needs:
For example:
- Why do you need HRIS software, and how will it benefit your organization?
- What is your human resources strategy?
- What are your organization’s weaknesses, and what are some ways that new software will help you solve those problems?
- What kind of work culture do you hope to foster in your organization?
- Will the new software help you in the long term and how, or is it only a temporary solution
Make sure that you evaluate 7-10 vendor solutions and you ask not for cute generic demos but for demos utilizing an extract of your very own data…
Make sure that you do not end up with 10 different tools supporting your HR processes.
Run 1-2 pilot-projects for 6-12 months to see what has the best ‘fit for usage’ for your organization. Heavily involve all employees who will be using such solution(s) – you can’t just focus on the automation processes and ignore the people elements…
There is no such thing as a perfect magical HR ERP solution and there is probably no such thing as a cheap and even successful full ERP Implementation anywhere in the World.
Even if an HRIS solution sounds fantastic on a website or phone call, that doesn’t always translate to a fantastic user experience once your new solution is launched at your organization.
- Curating HR Data & HR Analytics
Did you know that only 34% of HR executives rely on data and metrics for decision making?
We all understand that it is necessary to collect all sorts of data from various operations and departments within our organization for successfully implementing analytics in HR.
But which data do you collect?
Are your HR KPIs defined? Well-defined?
And, does your Analytics tool support these KPIs?
Do you have or need trained HRIS Analysts (google this)
How do you assess the Quality and Accuracy of your data?
Unfortunately, when we get any software solutions, we all have the tendency to collect all sorts of data and for no reason
Data should be carefully ‘defined’ and collected – the ‘define’ part usually makes sense when you have had historical data for at last 3 years (rule of thumb)
Make sure that you also have a clear and well-defined Data Management LifeCycle process in your organization… from defining data, naming them, collecting them, organizing them all the way to ‘retiring’ them.
You might want to have a look ot the DMBOK (the Data Management Book of Knowledge) and its relevant Framework, developed by the DAMA International (Data Management Association – https://dama.org )
It is very important to also train all employees who will be using your HRIS to “the art of converting data into meaningful insights.”
And while you are doing all that, don’t forget Privacy and Compliance laws…are you familiar with our Ghana Data Protection Act??
- We are working Remotely
Covid made remote working a standard and that created a surge in monitoring the remote working employees
With the growing number of hybrid workers, managers are often unable to scrutinize every single employee and their work. The lack of personal interaction led to a surge in employee monitoring techniques so a manager could keep track of work and performance, attendance, and leaves, etc….
An HRIS is only as good as its accessibility. And obviously you can’t have an HRIS that does not support of is not available to your remote workers.
Otherwise your HR department and payroll people will get overwhelmed by a plethora of requests for information from the rest of the workforce.and storing people data that no one can access will only create additional administrative tasks.
Only an HRIS with access for everyone removes the need for common requests regarding payroll information, tax data & forms, company policies, etc
- Creating User-Friendly UX Dashboards
Modern and remote employees -especially the GenZers, are spending less and less time reading outdated big employee handbooks and sitting in ubexciting mandatory onboarding sessions.
Nowadays onboarding tends to be done digitally and tracked inside the actual HRIS There is a lot of effort and focus on creating dashboards that simplify HR policy and procedure navigation – design and User Experiences/ interfaces are prioritized both on mobile and desktop platforms.
Also Dashboarding is moving away from heavy HR data (policies, forms, benefits, etc) to include also “people/ social data” like birthdays, work anniversaries, awards and recognition of accomplishments, etc… And in our world of remote working, this can make employees feel more connected to their organization- community.
- Money please
Of course, all these costs money. And money is not just buying a software solution…it’s its annual maintenance, the pilot projects, the training of our people, adjusted documentation and any task an employee performs related to these (they do get salaries- so our employees do have a cost)
There is nothing more frustrating for employee moral than the cancellation of a great underfunded or misbudgetted project…
- Managerial Commitment?
That should be ‘obvious; to most of us… any new project needs a budget and it involves change management- it can’t succeed without strong Management Support at all levels.
- What about AI in HRIS?
HRIS AI features that are appearing and are starting to benefit recruiting and HR staff, as well as applicants, include:
- AI reader-bots read candidate-CVs and provide sorting, filtering and scoring metrics to help recruiters find the est fitted candidates ‘instantly’.
- AI-powered candidate matching criteria for the hiring managers to review.
- Chatbots and automated checklists for newand existing employees to get the answers they need related to an organization’s policies, procedures, benefits etc…
- HR chatbots reinforce employee relations and support workforce engagement. actually HR chatbots can streamline and automate the hiring process, enable employee self-service and enhance efficiency across the organization.
- Understanding the GenZer- Workforce
Generation Z or Zoomers have already entered the workforce and they have their own career priorities, work ethics and value. And it is of paramount importance for Talent Managers to figure out what exactly makes these young employees tick.
Generation Z is entrepreneurial, independent and self-motivated, digital- inclined and have a greater tendency towards networking. GenZers also care for organizations which genuinely support good causes and public good.
HRIS software needs to adjust to these values and ways of thining, something that no HRIS developer has done yet- there are a lot of prediction, but again words are cheap. Let’s wait and see please.
As older generations leave the workplace, new ones come in with different needs. And, the only way to stay ahead of the game is to get the right HR software that work for them and your organisation.
- Think about the Future
The Future always comes a lot sooner than we expect!
HRIS systems have traditionally been separate and ‘silo-ed’ from all other corporate software applications, because of the bad assumption that employee- analytics don’t affect revenue or business intelligence or have any directly impact an organization’s KPIs for future planning.
But this is a fallacy… Knowing that employee- data, can affect other kinds of business data and insights. Thus the need of the recent increased focus on integratiing HRIS and other business software solutions.
In Conclusion – the Bottom Line
The needs of a business are as unique as the business itself, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Whatever HR technology we choose, it should streamline processes and support efficiency across our people team.
That simple!!
And, FYI: 53% of companies are revamping their HR programs to deploy digital tools and 22% have already leveraged AI.
Thank you and Good Luck,
Spiros
About the Author
Spiros Tsaltas –a former University Professor & Management Consultant, is the Interim MD of HIREghana, Ghana’s Leading Recruitment and Executive Search Firm. He welcomes all your comments/ remarks/ feedback /suggestions at Clients [at] HIREgh .com. HIREghana can be reached at +233 50 83 22 535
