The collection, recording, storing, analyzing & retrieving of data about human resources is done effectively with the help of the Human Resource Information System (HRIS). Different aspects related to the working life of employees are considered, like salary, compensation, leave, payroll, accidents & other benefits.
Information on all these areas of human resources is acquired by the Human Resource Information System. The human resource manager utilizes this information to perform his functions in an effective way.
In olden days, personnel officers in organizations spent a lot of time & effort collecting simple data about their employees regarding leave entitlements and salary & wage aspects. The reason was that all this system was managed manually, which did not cover the latest advanced aspects of human resources.
This manual information was maintained to ensure proper wage & salary disbursement, notification of leave entitlement of employees, & compensation & superannuation claims of employees. This human resource information was not properly utilized to ascertain future trends, identify & solve problems like long-term staffing, etc.
Development of Human Resource Information System
At the early developmental stage of the Human Resource Information System, the main focus was to use this system for operational & administrative purposes. Different forms were available for the collection of diverse human resource data like employee compensation, leave requests, salary variations, accident data & superannuation claims, etc.
In the decades of the 1970s & 1980s, many changes occurred in the area of human resource management that changed the functioning of HR personnel. As payroll systems became more complex, more flexibility was required to collect & maintain necessary information. In light of such a needy situation, the development of sophisticated information systems was facilitated that could cover new human resource issues.
In some big organizations, human resource functions were separated from payroll processing systems by developing separate sections of centralized payroll processing. Moreover, some organizations gave contracts for their payroll processing to external parties like bureaus that could perform these tasks in a much more systematic & cost-reduction manner due to the presence of more advanced technological systems.
Nature & Benefits of HRIS
All the human resource data of an organization is recorded & maintained with more comprehensive, accessible & accurate systems called Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), which directly help in organizational planning. The main purpose of HRIS is to support or facilitate operational & tactical decision-making, to evaluate policies & programs, to avoid litigation & to assist in daily operations.
There are several benefits of employing a proper HRIS in an organization like:
-
HRIS uses decision support software that helps to improve planning & program development. This further speeds up information processing & improves the timing of responses.
-
Administrative & other human resource costs are reduced through it.
-
Human resource information remains accurate & updated.
-
Communication increases at all levels of the organization.
There is no single system that can be considered the best one for maintaining all relevant human resource information. Moreover, a suitable HRIS system in one organization may not be useful for other similar organizations. However, a standard HRIS deals with information on the following aspects:
-
Employees
-
Positions
-
Jobs & conditions of work
-
Certain HR events like recruitment, selection, training & development, etc.
Uses of HRIS
The Human Resource Information System is extensively used in operational, strategic & administrative fields not only by the human resource manager but also by other managers of the organization.
In operational uses, HRIS points out potential internal applicants for vacant positions, promotes career opportunities to existing employees of the organization & saves the costs of external hiring.
In the strategic field, current selection & promotional programs can be made effective along with improvements in organizational strategies by utilizing the valuable information of HRIS.
Strategic Planning & HRIS
HRIS facilitates the strategic planning process of an organization, which in turn improves performance. For this purpose, proactive managers use useful HRIS information for developing quantitative measures & performance targets.
HR plans can be refined on qualitative as well as quantitative bases, which results in more effective functions performed by HR managers. Performance of different employees can be compared with benchmarked industry performance & in this way differences are reconciled.
The Security & Privacy of HRIS
It is the duty of the HR department to develop policies & procedures that secure important employee data so that it cannot be retrieved by any unauthorized person. For this purpose, the main control is to restrict access to HRIS information.
Functions of HRIS
HRIS performs the following important functions:
• Information of job analysis is maintained by HRIS.
• HRIS contains programs that can prepare job descriptions & job specifications.
• Records of rejected applicants are maintained by HRIS.
• Extra time & money in the compilation of reports are saved.
• Discrimination against women or minorities is prevented.
• Internal recruiting is facilitated.
• Jobs are posted for applicants by HRIS.
• Applicants are tracked by it.
• Matching of job requirements & applicant qualifications is done easily.
• Ability tests are administered & stored by HRIS.
• The structured interviewing process is promoted by it.
• It facilitates the training process.
• It facilitates managerial & career planning.
• Different individual & group employees are rated by comparing their performances through HRIS.
• Accidents & their costs are recorded by it.
• It maintains employee contracts & seniority lists.
• It monitors employee attendance.
• Compliance with labor laws is facilitated by it.
