Q. How can we maximise the use of our Human Resources Information System (HRIS)?
There are several areas you could
review to ensure you are getting the
most from your HRIS. The first step is to
assess your company’s knowledge of the
system. If there are areas that team
members don’t fully understand, it may be
beneficial to attend some refresher training.
Once you have a thorough understanding of
your HRIS, you will be able to determine if
you are fully utilising it.
User group meetings are another way to
extend your system knowledge, as well as a
great networking opportunity – you may
uncover some excellent system tips from other
users. A good way to keep abreast of changes
is to read the release notes when you receive
system upgrades – you might be surprised to
find some useful features have been added that
give you more ways to use your HRIS.
Reviewing the expectations of management
and stakeholders of the HRIS to refresh your
understanding of their needs – and to
determine if the system is meeting their needs
– is also recommended.
Once you have a thorough understanding
of your system and the organisation’s
expectations, a process review may be
worthwhile. Examine the processes and
procedures that surround payroll/HR and ask
if each process is required or if there is a
better/faster way to do it. Often staff
members perform procedures because that
is how the person who trained them told
them to do it. Further investigation may
reveal a redundant process or a faster way to
perform it. It might be beneficial to have an
outsider come in and review your processes
– your system provider or a specialist
independent consultant may uncover some
significant time and productivity savings.
While reviewing your procedures another
area to assess is data input and output. If your
organisation is spending hours every week or
month on data entry there could be
alternatives. Leave forms are an area where
data entry can be eliminated or minimised.
Most HR/payroll systems offer employee self
service capabilities and these modules provide
a plethora of time and productivity savings to
busy payroll and HR staff. If you already have
employee self service, ensure your organisation
is utilising it fully.
Reporting is another area in which time and
money savings can be found. Scheduling
reports to run overnight will save time and
system resources. It may be useful to prepare a
reporting survey for users to ensure all of the
reports they receive are required – you may find
some reports are no longer needed or a
detailed report is supplied when a summary
report will suffice. If you are still printing and
distributing hard copy reports, it might be
worthwhile to switch to electronic distribution,
which is faster and cheaper.
By understanding the capabilities of
your system and reviewing your internal
procedures for redundancies, you will
uncover many ways to deliver time and cost
savings to your business
By Nick Southcombe, general manager, Frontier Software. Tel: 03 9639 0777 Email: sales@frontiersoftware.com.au
