The function of human resources, at its core, is to strategically manage an organisation’s workforce to get the most from its investment in people. However, in today’s world, that can encompass everything from the recruitment and onboarding of employees, compliance and employee relations, performance management through to training and staff development plans, employee engagement, reward and recognition.
A Human Resource Information System (HRIS), or simply HR software, enables all of the above activities to be managed seamlessly, more commonly these days through cloud-based software, meaning business owners, line managers and HR managers can ditch the spreadsheet and have more time to focus on other essential areas of their role.
Why your business might need HR software
Feature-rich HR software provides a business with benefits beyond the elimination of manual processes and spreadsheets with deep and actionable insights helping to drive the optimisation of performance across the business.
The typical challenges faced by a business owner or HR manager when realising they need HR software typically fall into one or more of the following areas.
There is a lack of dedicated HR resources
Within a lot of small to medium sized companies, the role of HR may be either delegated to a non-HR representative (such as an office manager) or otherwise be absorbed into the roles of line managers. This means that HR is likely an immature function and managing employment issues is likely diverting attention from adding value to core business and that a lot of time in a normal week is lost to these activities.
With constantly changing legislation, compliance and reporting requirements, it can be easy to miss important updates which may put your business at risk if not implemented. HR software not only has compliance requirements built-in, but will also provide managers with more time to focus on getting the details of legislative changes correct.
HR managers are spending too much time on HR administration
If you were to ask yourself which HR activity, if managed effectively, would provide the biggest positive impact on overall business performance and productivity, HR administration would be well down the list. Yet, if you ask HR managers what they seem to be spending their time on, it more often than not is high on the list of their day-to-day HR activities.
Repetitive HR processes can be automated through HR software, enabling employee and manager self-service capability. Examples include recruitment, onboarding, leave management, timesheet management, performance management, correspondence and reporting.
This means that HR managers can dedicate more time to strategic HR initiatives that can add real value to the business and increase overall productivity.
Record keeping and processes are managed in spreadsheets
Remaining compliant is a concern shared by most businesses owners who employee staff, and at the heart of compliance is accurate record keeping. Spreadsheets, documents and folders on a share drive start to become difficult when considering the management of version control and viewing privileges.
Ensuring the latest version of documents are always available, along with securely storing staff details, employment conditions and preferences in a cloud-based application provides confidence that record-keeping and compliance requirements are always being met.
There are no staff benefits program in place
Businesses today realise that a rewards and recognition program is an integral part of the engagement and retention of top talent. Benefits programs can be pivotal in growing the company culture and a killer if they are not done right.
It can be both time-consuming and challenging for a business owner or HR manager to research, implement and operate a separate staff benefits program alongside the other requirements of their role. HR software can provide inbuilt employee rewards programs that have been built with best practice methodology so you can be sure they will engage and recognise those staff that are superstars.
Your way to a better world at work
EI not only implements Employment Hero for its clients, but has also designed its HR and payroll services around the HR software, for businesses looking to reduce time spent in spreadsheets and HR document management, improve staff retention and ensure business compliance. You can read more about how Employment Hero changed the world for three businesses here or contact us today to speak with one of our consultants about your business needs for HR software.