3 ways your HRIS system could be letting you down
Ask 10 HR managers what an organization’s human resource information system (HRIS) is supposed to do, and you’ll likely get 10 different answers. From payroll to expense management and benefits administration, a company’s HRIS is an invaluable tool when implemented correctly — in theory.
In practice, however, studies have found that most organizations barely get beyond its administrative support functions.
Failing to realize the true potential of your HRIS means your HR professionals may be burdened with cumbersome paperwork. This is not only time-consuming and expensive, it affects their capacity to play more a strategic role and add value to your organization.
The simple truth is, human resource information systems just aren’t made to do everything your HR department needs them to do. Consider performance management, applicant tracking, onboarding and offboarding, training and development, employee surveys and other functions. All too often, organizations treat these like separate functions that each require their own niche solutions.
In fact, 74 percent of organizations use four or more systems in addition to the HRIS.
Instead of efficient processes, now you’ve got a sprawling HR tech landscape with separate systems that don’t communicate with each other.
The top 3 HRIS issues
This tech sprawl affects your organization in a number of ways. Here are my top three issues:
1. Costly information bottlenecks
Lack of integration between systems ensures your HR personnel are buried in non-strategic tasks. Meanwhile, manually pulling data and constantly switching between disparate systems is time-consuming and impractical.
For example, your company may have an applicant tracking system that manages prospect applications, interviews and hiring. When you hire someone, the documents from the applicant tracking system need to become a part of the employee file. And if this employee is terminated, their file needs to be updated with that information to ensure all systems are on the same page.
It comes down to your HR department to ensure the right information is in the right places at all times. Information bottlenecks can result in costly mistakes such as payroll errors.
2. Employee data exists in silos
Storing and managing your employee information in many different systems raises the chance that those sources will have conflicting information, leaving you unsure what to believe. If different versions of a document exist in different systems, which one is up-to-date? What is it costing your organization every time a document has to be reproduced because it’s buried in a system it’s not designed for?
A “single source of truth” for employees minimizes the costs of errors and facilitates seamless processes across the organization. Here, a case management approach provides HR with a single view of all information surrounding an employee issue or incident, which ensures you never lose any information.
3. Your HR department may never become a strategic partner
Instead of spending time on value-adding activities such as recruiting the best talent, creating retention strategies or working on succession planning, your HR department spends its time on administrative, monotonous tasks. For example, if a department has recently been reorganized, HR personnel may find themselves busy compiling and updating documents — instead of the consultative role they could have played in the reorganization.
Why does this matter? Numerous case studies show that HR departments seen as full business partners rise to the occasion and are able to deliver results directly linked to an organization’s profitability.
Should you get rid of your HRIS system?
Not at all!
One way to bridge these gaps is with a robust content services platform — the “glue” that keeps other systems in place. The right platform easily integrates with your existing systems and helps them communicate, building true end-to-end automation for your HR processes.
By freeing people to focus on higher-value tasks like recruiting and building a great place to work, everyone wins.
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