The human resources (HR) department is a key component of any organization. They oversee functions spanning hiring, compensation and benefits administration, attendance tracking, productivity and performance monitoring, succession planning, and contract terminations.
With all these balls in the air, it can become extremely challenging for the HR department to cope, more so when serving a growing team and expanding organization.
Human error will always play a role when manually dealing with HR processes, which is why automation through software usage is on the rise – to minimize, if not totally eradicate, human error and maximize overall efficiency.
HRMS – some examples
The umbrella term for the niche tool catering to every HR need is HRMS, or human resource management software.
Widely adopted HRMS titles include Workday, PeopleFluent, PeopleSoft Human Capital Management by Oracle, SAP SuccessFactors, Ultimate Software’s HRIS/HRMS, ADP Human Resources Management, Infor HCM, Cornerstone OnDemand, SilkRoad HRMS, Skillsoft’s SumTotal, Lumesse HRIS, Halogen, and Saba Cloud, to name just a few.
HRMS – the advantages
With the use of HRMS, users deliver hassle-free employee assessments, 360-degree feedback, and peer evaluations. Aligning employee goals with the organization’s objectives becomes a whole lot easier, and real-time analytics helps managers visualize the current skills and possible training opportunities for each employee.
Likewise, HR solutions foster improved collaboration and easier identification of leadership potential within the organization.
Let’s take a closer look at these 5 advantages:
1- Employee assessments
The foremost function of HR in many organizations is to create a culture and environment to motivate and retain high-performing talents, as well as deal with individuals who no longer deliver output as expected, ideally through positive approaches such as coaching or performance improvement programs.
Having all pertinent information accessible in one place, a more detailed picture of the employee and their performance can be viewed and evaluated by managers, with feedback collected across the organization, including the employee’s peers, clients, and direct reports, if applicable.
2- Alignment of goals
Goals are set by the manager at the start of the year, quarter, or specific time period, depending on the company’s processes, which are then sent to be reviewed by each employee.
The employees can agree with all the goals, suggest modifications, or add entirely different goals. HR software also helps users set goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound).
This process ensures that your employees know and understand what your company is trying to achieve, as well as, and most especially, how their functions and performances contribute to the company’s core mission, allowing them to focus their efforts on your organization’s important, strategic goals.
3- Improved collaboration within the organization
Collaboration can only be strengthened with greater visibility across roles, functions, levels and skills. The most sought-after HRMS solution includes a centralized information database that goes beyond the basic information of hire date and salary grade.
Because HR data are in a centralized repository where employees are given their own login credentials to update their records, request time-offs depending on their available credits, send anonymous or authored feedback, and so on, employees and HR personnel can move beyond manual spreadsheets and documents to collaboratively track and process HR activities that can include tax status updates, skills training and certification, performance evaluation, and compensation issues.
Additionally, many of the HR systems available in the market today offer an employee directory, one where employees can share their individual competencies and achievements.
They can enter their locations, the languages they know, elaborate on their skills, certifications, and projects both accomplished and in progress. This enables others looking to build teams of employees with certain competencies easily find their ideal candidates.
4- Real-time analytics
HR solutions afford managers the ability to run reports to identify and analyze trends across the organization, e.g., training and development opportunities, staffing trends, or if current hiring requirements are being met.
Most HRMS have self-service capabilities that empower rank-and-file employees to view their targets versus actual metrics, and supervisors can see, at a glance via a single-screen dashboard, their team’s productivity scores, attendance metrics, employee leave balances, among other things.
Application integration makes HR suites more robust. Your primary HR data solution can feed data directly into another business solution, say, one that handles benefits and payroll, for a more seamless flow.
This eliminates data duplication and data entry errors, the consequences of which are tedious and time-consuming, not only for the employee, but especially for the HR professional who manages the organization’s employee database.
5- Easier identification of leadership talent
Succession planning is one HR initiative that cannot be taken for granted. A company’s leaders play a role in propelling an organization forward, and choosing the right people for the job is an important first step.
HRMS makes it simpler and easier to identify employees with attendance issues, search and match those with skills for a specific purpose, and recognize the employees who consistently demonstrate leadership capabilities via the feedback their managers and colleagues give them.
Final word
When employees have the confidence in an HR solution that dependably and accurately measures performance across the organization, the benefits can be enormous.
Confidence builds trust, and trust is one intangible benefit that can create a positive ripple effect. Individually, employees are motivated to perform their level best, and as teams, they can be a real force to reckon with.
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