A Human Resource Management System (HRMS) is an IT product that automates Employee Management functions. The HRMS or HRIS can exist either as a module of an Enterprise (ERP) system or as a separate software application or cloud service. Until recently, only larger organizations were able to afford management systems catering to functional departments such as sales, marketing, customer service, finance, HR and supply chain. These days, smaller organizations can finally afford and equally benefit from open market, available, integrated employee systems, that include all the above features, along with sophisticated means of managing employees.
A Human Resource Management System offers a variety of benefits to both large and small organizations. Namely, increased efficiency leading to improved productivity. If the HRMS is easy to use, scalable, supported and most importantly affordable, the result is lowered expenses and increased profits.
A good people management system can yield extraordinary results making an entire HR department more effective. For example, in this case study, a spokesperson from Serendebyte, an IT solutions firm, reported “We are almost 100 employees now, but our HR team size has remained the same as it was when we had 15.”
Here are some functions of an optimal HRMS/Employee Management application:
- Leave and Absence Management
- Attendance and Timesheet Management
- Performance Management and Appraisals
- Employee Self-Service
- Recruitment & Onboarding Management
- Shift and Schedule Management
- E-Signatures
- Expense and Payroll Management
- Real-Time Reporting and Analytics
Apart from these functions, an HR management system should be:
Flexible: To integrate well with the business processes of the HR department
Comprehensive: Supporting most HR functionalities required by HR
Artificially Intelligent: Automating manual processes with a well-structured workflow
Scalable: Grows with an organization as it expands and as time passes.
Cloud-based HRMS have become very affordable, with benefits outweighing in-house hosted options. This keeps the IT footprint manageable and responsive, with all operations managed through a web browser.
If desired, the HRMS system can be the first module implemented out of an entire ERP system. Then the benefits for organizations becomes even more beneficial, as follows:
- A Paperless Office: With HRMS you can conduct all your recruitment functions online and create a CV bank. Moreover, all types of candidate documents can be stored on the HRMS.
- Increased Efficiency: The overall efficiency of a department increases by several folds, reporting performance levels in real-time, ensuring timely and effective decision making.
- Shorter Cycle Time: The overall time taken to perform a task in HR department reduces significantly, directly impacting results from repetitive workflows.
- Easy Performance Management: An HRMS supports KPIs for teams and individuals, where each team member can be evaluated and appraised accordingly.
- Analysis, Workforce & Succession Planning: The HRMS may assist in forecasting future workforce needs and in succession planning of the current workforce.
- Boosted Trust and Transparency: When employees can easily interact with an accessible HR department, it encourages a more open and trustworthy working environment.
All told, organizations will need to have HRMS to compete in this technologically fast-paced world and a competitive market.
Dianne Clark, of Trendspire Inc. provides assistance to organizations that are considering adopting technology to accelerate their growth and productivity. If you are considering an HRMS or any other IT product, consider her 90 Day Digital Transformation Program available on Trendspire’s website. Dianne can also showcase HRMS and ERP systems on the market for lower than $50 CAD per user/month with no setup fees.