There comes a time in the growth of every company when whomever is in charge of Human Resources goes to the president and says, “We need help.”
HR does not necessarily need more people to do the repetitious filing, collecting and administration of policies, it needs a systematic approach that can save everyone time and money. HR needs a Human resources management system.
If you are thinking about a Human Resources management system, here is a checklist of things to consider:
O The first and most basic function of a Human resources management system should be to streamline a lot of what happens every day in managing HR functions. If a human resources solutions proposed to you by a vendor seems complicated, it probably is. The “human capital” of your company will not feel served, it will get ticked off. Simplicity and effectiveness. Simplicity and effectiveness. Simplicity and effectiveness. Get that right and you will never regret it.
O Make sure what is being offered will work on your systems. The original Human Resources management systems ran on mainframes (and some still do in larger corporations). Client server architecture changed that, but today many Human Resources management systems can be hosted offsite and be available online any minute of any day. Make sure vendors show you solutions like that.
O Include a training module in your Human Resources management system to not only track training your people have, but also to develop succession planning matrices for your senior managers.
O Look at Human Resource management software that employees can easily interact with, accessing their own HR information (payroll, benefits, training schedules) and signing on for things (like yearly benefit renewals) themselves.
O Make it useful to management. Every business reengineers or reinvents itself, and the Human Resource solutions you choose should be able to assist in that process, providing data senior managers need to see. The Human Resources management system you choose must also enable senior HR managers to validate their efforts as they align HR with business strategy and implementation.
O Provide a feedback mechanism though the Human resources software you choose. Give employees a voice and prove that you are listening by responding.
O Make sure the system you use is scalable. Growth happens, and the system must be able to grow with the company and still be efficient and effective. It must also be able to parse if your company is merged, split or downsizes.