A Human Resource Management System or HRIS (Human Resource Information System) is a form of HR software that combines a number of systems and processes to ensure the easy management of human resources, business processes and data. Human Resources Software is used by businesses to combine a number of necessary HR functions, such as storing employee data, managing payrolls, recruitment processes, benefits administration and keeping track of attendance records. It ensures everyday Human Resources processes are manageable and easy to access.It merges human resources as a discipline and, in particular, its basic HR activities and processes with the information technology field, whereas the programming of data processing systems evolved into standardized routines and packages of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. On the whole, these ERP systems have their origin from software that integrates information from different applications into one universal database. The linkage of its financial and human resource modules through one database is the most important distinction to the individually and proprietarily developed predecessors, which makes this software application both rigid and flexible.
Human Resource Information Systems provide a means of acquiring, storing, analyzing and distributing information to various stakeholders. HRIS enable improvement in traditional processes and enhance strategic decision-making. The wave of technological advancement has revolutionized each and every space of life today, and HR in its entirety was not left untouched. Early systems were narrow in scope, typically focused on a single task, such as improving the payroll process or tracking employees' work hours. Today's systems cover the full spectrum of tasks associated with Human Resources departments, including tracking & improving process efficiency, managing organizational hierarchy, and simplifying financial transactions of all types. In short, as the role of Human Resources departments expanded in complexity, HR technology systems evolved to fit these needs.
History
HR Basics: Human Resource Information Systems - HR Basics is a series of short lessons, designed to highlight what you need to know about a particular human resource management topic. In today's HR Basics, ...
The emergence of Human Resources Management Software
The trend of automating payroll and workforce management processes began during the 1970s when due to limited technology and Mainframe computers, companies were still relying on manual entry to conduct employee evaluation and to digitize reporting.
The first ERP system which integrated HR functions was SAP R/2 (later to be replaced by R/3 and S/4hana), introduced in 1979. This system gave users the possibility to combine corporate data in real time, and regulate processes from a single mainframe environment. Many of today’s popular HR systems still offer considerable ERP and payroll functionality.
The first completely HR-centered client-server system for the enterprise market was PeopleSoft, released in 1987 and later bought by Oracle. (In the UK 'Compel' was released by CIPHR in 1983 as a dedicated HR Management System). Hosted and updated by clients, PeopleSoft replaced the mainframe environment concept and gained a huge popularity that preserved it on the scene for many years to come. The system is still active today, while Oracle has also developed multiple similar BPM systems to automate essential corporate operations.
Web-Based Human Resources Management Software
Beginning with the late 1990s, HR vendors started offering cloud-hosted HR solutions to make this technology more accessible to small and remote teams. Instead of a client-server, companies began using online accounts on web-based portals to access their employees’ performance, and track accomplishments regardless of their location.
The beginning of 2000 marked a new and advantageous concept in HR development. More and more systems were tackling specific tasks such as recruitment or benefits administration, including best of breed systems that replaced the one-size-fits-all ERP + HR formula.
Mobile Human Resources Management Software
In 2014, companies used the benefits from the cloud hosting milestone to transfer HR functionality on mobile devices. Ever since popular vendors have been releasing special Android and iPad/iPhone applications to meet the needs of all teams and businesses.
Recent developments of Human Resources Management Software
In 2015, HR software users got acquainted with gamification technology namely systems that attach an entertaining dimension to traditional HR operations, and motivate employees to perform better by awarding them with badges and bonuses.
Another popular innovation related to specialized HR systems is video hiring, as most providers embed web conferencing widgets in their products, allowing managers to locate and attract talents without geographical limitations.
In the future, Human Resources Management software is expected to reinvent its capacity, boost efficiency with more personalized and candidate-centric recruiting, streamlined interfaces, and automation of more HR-related processes that are currently performed manually.
Functions
The function of human resources (HR) departments is administrative and common to all organizations. Organizations may have formalized selection, evaluation, and payroll processes. Management of "human capital" progressed to an imperative and complex process. The HR function consists of tracking existing employee data which traditionally includes personal histories, skills, capabilities, accomplishments, and salary. To reduce the manual workload of these administrative activities, organizations began to electronically automate many of these processes by introducing specialized human resource management systems. HR executives rely on internal or external IT professionals to develop and maintain an integrated HRMS. Before clientâ€"server architectures evolved in the late 1980s, many HR automation processes were relegated to mainframe computers that could handle large amounts of data transactions. In consequence of the high capital investment necessary to buy or program proprietary software, these internally developed HRMS were limited to organizations that possessed a large amount of capital. The advent of client-server, application service provider, and software as a service (SaaS) or human resource management systems enabled higher administrative control of such systems. Currently, human resource management systems encompass:
- Retaining
- Hiring
- Onboarding
- Administration
- Managing Payroll
- HR planning
- Recruiting/Learning management
- Performance management
- Employee self-service
- Scheduling
- Absence management
- Analytics
- Employee Reassign module
- Grievance handling by following precedents
The payroll module automates the pay process by gathering data on employee time and attendance, calculating various deductions and taxes, and generating periodic pay cheques and employee tax reports. Data is generally fed from the human resources and timekeeping modules to calculate automatic deposit and manual cheque writing capabilities. This module can encompass all employee-related transactions as well as integrate with existing financial management systems.
The time and attendance module gathers standardized time and work related efforts. The most advanced modules provide broad flexibility in data collection methods, labor distribution capabilities and data analysis features. Cost analysis and efficiency metrics are the primary functions.
The benefits administration module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee participation in benefits programs. These typically encompass insurance, compensation, profit sharing, and retirement.
The HR management module is a component covering many other HR aspects from application to retirement. The system records basic demographic and address data, selection, training and development, capabilities and skills management, compensation planning records and other related activities. Leading edge systems provide the ability to "read" applications and enter relevant data to applicable database fields, notify employers and provide position management and position control. Human resource management function involves the recruitment, placement, evaluation, compensation, and development of the employees of an organization. Initially, businesses used computer-based information systems to:
- produce paychecks and payroll reports;
- maintain personnel records;
- pursue talent management.
Online recruiting has become one of the primary methods employed by HR departments to garner potential candidates for available positions within an organization. Talent management systems typically encompass:
- analyzing personnel usage within an organization;
- identifying potential applicants;
- recruiting through company-facing listings;
- recruiting through online recruiting sites or publications that market to both recruiters and applicants.
The significant cost incurred in maintaining an organized recruitment effort, cross-posting within and across general or industry-specific job boards and maintaining a competitive exposure of availabilities has given rise to the development of a dedicated applicant tracking system, or 'ATS', module.
The training module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee training and development efforts. The system, normally called a "learning management system" (LMS) if a standalone product, allows HR to track education, qualifications, and skills of the employees, as well as outlining what training courses, books, CDs, web-based learning or materials are available to develop which skills. Courses can then be offered in date specific sessions, with delegates and training resources being mapped and managed within the same system. Sophisticated LMS's allow managers to approve training, budgets, and calendars alongside performance management and appraisal metrics.
The employee self-service module allows employees to query HR related data and perform some HR transactions over the system. Employees may query their attendance record from the system without asking the information from HR personnel. The module also lets supervisors approve O.T. requests from their subordinates through the system without overloading the task on HR department.
Many organizations have gone beyond the traditional functions and developed human resource management information systems, which support recruitment, selection, hiring, job placement, performance appraisals, employee benefit analysis, health, safety, and security, while others integrate an outsourced applicant tracking system that encompasses a subset of the above.
Assigning Responsibilities Communication between the Employees.
The Analytics module enables organizations to extend the value of an HRMS implementation by extracting HR related data for use with other business intelligence platforms. For example, organizations combine HR metrics with other business data to identify trends and anomalies in headcount in order to better predict the impact of employee turnover on future output.
There are now many types of Human Resources Management System (HRMS) or Human Resources Information System (HRIS) some of which are typically local-machine-based software packages; the other main type is an online cloud-based system which can be accessed via a web browser.
The Staff Training Module enables organizations the ability to enter, track and manage employee and staff training. Each type of activity can be recorded together with the additional data. The performance of each employee or staff member is then stored and can be accessed via the Analytics module.
Employee Re-Assign module is a recent additional functionality of HRMS. This module has the functions of Transfer, Promotion, Pay revision, Re-designation, Deputation, Confirmation, Pay mode change and Letter Form.
See also
- Bradford Factor
- Competency-based management
- E-HRM
- Human resources for health (HRH) information system
- International Association for Human Resource Information Management
- Job analysis
- Learning management system
- Organizational chart
- Strategic human resource planning
- Applicant Tracking System.
- List of Human Resource Management Software
References
Further reading
- Maier, C., Laumer, S., Eckhardt, A. & Weitzel, T. (2013) Analyzing the impact of HRIS implementations on HR personnel's job satisfaction and turnover intention. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 22 (3), 193â€"207. doi: 10.1016/j.jsis.2012.09.001.
