What is HRIS
You can use an HRIS to automate many different HR workflows, such as payrolls, perks administration, attendance records, and more. It’s also an effective tool for organising and storing employee data (in the case of HRIS systems, this is usually quantitative data).
Compared with other HR management systems, HRIS works with quantitative data, such how often employees are absent, how long their shifts are, and payroll data. An HRIS can help you to streamline these various processes – it can analyse data you input and use this to improve different areas of productivity, HRIS systems are usually part of a suite of HR systems tools, known as a human resources management system (or HRMS).
Why choose an HRIS?
If your business is growing, and you’re looking to speed up processes, then an HRIS can be useful to you. It’s especially useful if you’re working with numerous employees across the country and need to organise all of their data in one place. If you’re working with remote employees around the world, a cloud-based HRIS can also be a great solution for managing employee data.
What can you use HRIS systems for?
HRIS systems can be used for a range of different purposes, and the best tools on the market encompass most HR processes that use quantitative data. However, many HRIS tools hone in on automating specific types of HR process.
These systems are also usually cloud-based, which means that you can access them remotely and across multiple devices. Another advantage of using a cloud-based HRIS system is that, often, you can integrate these systems with other software that you’re using. You can use HRIS systems to manage the following key areas of your HR strategy:
- Streamlining hiring and onboarding processes;
- Employee engagement;
- Performance management:
- Managing employee attendance;
- Creating an employee self-services system;
- Managing and calculating employee pay;
- Real-time analytics based on employee data;
- Identifying employee lifecycles and gaps in the workforce;
- Creating a visual overview of your business’s organisational structure.
Therefore, HRIS systems are useful in that they can deal with much of the administration work that your HR teams will otherwise be dealing with. Once the pressure is off them, they can focus on more urgent and important tasks which can’t be completed by automation.
Why is automation important?
Automation can be useful as it minimises the amount of human input that’s needed in order to complete tasks. Automation technology also reduces the chance of human error, as well as reducing the number of repetitive tasks that your team has to complete – therefore freeing up their time for tasks which are more crucial and urgent that require their specialist knowledge. Next, let’s assess some other key benefits of using an HRIS system, so you can decide whether this is the right option for you – and why.
Benefits of using an HRIS system
HRIS systems can be useful for your entire company – not just your HR staff. That’s because they benefit your financial and accounting teams, as they can be used to automate your payrolls – for example. Let’s look at some other ways that HRIS systems can benefit your entire business:
Can help you to remain compliant
HRIS systems are able to help you stay compliant with changing business laws. Firstly, that’s because as a tool it helps you to keep all of your employee data in one place, and stores it safely so that this information remains private. Secondly, HRIS systems are able to automate compliance tasks, making sure that any information it processes remains in the parameters of current business regulations.
Can help keep your information more accurate
As all of your information is stored in one place, any HRIS tool that you’re using to manage your payroll system will be able to accurately assess how much you should be paying employees, whether that’s on a weekly or monthly basis. Even if you’re a small or medium-sized business, automated payroll systems can be useful, as they can help reduce the number of errors you make during the process of paying your employees.
HRIS systems can also help reduce errors across any HR task, workflow, or schedule, as data is consolidated in the system and removes the need for paper-based filing.
Improves employee data security
The advanced cybersecurity facilities that come with many HRIS tools can protect your employee data much more effectively than unsecure databases or other storage methods. As your employees will be trusting you with their financial details, addresses, medical records and other private data, making sure that their data is stored as safely as possible can help you stay compliant with UK data privacy laws.
Can help you to manage the entire employee lifecycle
Managing your employee’s lifecycles is a huge component of your HR team’s every day schedule. However, by automating some repetitive aspects of the lifecycle process, you might be able to free up valuable time for your team. For instance, you might be able to automate the onboarding process by offering new employees a self-onboarding process, or providing them with an automated welcome pack and email. When these basics are covered by an automated process, your HR team can focus on the more human side of managing the lifecycle, like introducing new employees to their team and company management.
HRIS systems can automate sending out the prerequisite paperwork that new employees have to sign, including the processing of e-signatures, and helping your employees to keep track of any signed supporting documents.
Finally, HRIS systems can help you to manage, organise, and safely store any employee training records that you might have. This can include keeping note of any training completed, certification information, and the progress that employees have made on certain training courses.
HRIS systems are useful for growing businesses who are looking to streamline the management of HR data in a number of meaningful ways, such as employee training, lifecycle, engagement, data security, and compliance. One of the biggest benefits of using these systems is that it can help you to process data in a way that’s efficient and also less prone to error. Thanks to HRIS systems, your HR teams will have more free time to spend on tasks that require a more human element, such as dealing with disputes between employees, or handling various onboarding processes.
