When HR information systems first came on the scene, there was a a general reluctance to shift from paper HR to electronic HR systems as they were seen as technically cumbersome and too expensive – which may have been partly true in the early days.
But, today all that has changed. Modern HR systems are more user friendly, cost effective, empowering and affordable. They make HR much easier by automating laborious processes, and providing strategic management data at the push of a button.
However, all systems are not equal and you should always check that the HR system that you are using or considering is the best value and most powerful option available. If fact, any HR system that you use or are planning to use should have features mentioned below.
5 key features your HR System should have to deliver maximum ROI:
- Accessible on the go. By now your HR system should be web or cloud based and accessible on the go, whether in a different country, different office, at an airport or train station, or simply when working from home. This is a non-negotiable system feature.
- Attendance Management. One of our biggest output and productivity killers in the UK is sickness absence. Your system should as a minimum enable you to effortlessly record, track, calculate, benchmark and report on sickness absences and holiday absences in your business. It should quickly highlight problem areas so you can take corrective action.
- Self Service. Your system should enable employees to securely log-in, update and maintain their details on the system and they should be able to submit absences, holiday requests, and self appraisal data directly to the system. Modern HR software should be automating these time consuming manual processes.
- User Friendly. There has been such a rush to market in the HR software space that user friendliness may have been sacrificed to get the system out of the door in some HR systems. If your system is not easy to use, you simply won’t get the return on investment from the system and you should not settle for an awkward to use system. There are plenty of intuitive, user friendly systems out there and if yours is not user friendly, find one that is.
- Powerful Reporting. Your system should be taking all the manual effort out of reporting and should have a library of template based reports (along with the ability to build custom reports) on attendance, performance, joiners, leavers, turnover etc… and do graphical representations. If your system has anything but a powerful, empowering and easy to use reporting system, then look elsewhere.