Assignment:
The booming economy and the globalization of the business processes have made the Human Resource departments in organizations scramble for effectiveness and efficiency in recruiting and maintaining talents. This has naturally led to the HR groups seeking cutting edge tools and technologies to help them improve their performance. A majority of organizations now uses some of HR Information Systems (HRIS). In any typical organization, HR departments use the internet and intranet to deliver their services to employees.
A streamlined HRIS system consists of all activities and functions, from the simple storage and communication of information, to more complex transactions. As technology advances, the range of functions that HRIS undertakes increases. HRIS is beneficial to the entire organization at all levels, starting from the upper management to the lowest level in an organization. Some of the benefits include a faster, more accurate and more streamlined operations and business processes with a significant reduction in HR operational budget. It also empowers the personnel at all levels to fulfill some of the basic tasks by themselves, thanks to the power of automation at various levels. The use of HRIS can reduce the administrative and transactional burden, change their structure and enable them to play a more strategic role. HRIS can facilitate efficient processes and cut costs and can go even further beyond by improving the communication and customer service, thus transforming the HR function from an administrative one to a more strategic one.
HRIS is a system that helps to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve, and distribute information about an organization's human resources. The tools and instruments that comprise HRIS can range from a simple spreadsheet to the most complex, elaborate and gigantic software systems that implement and deploy HR functions such as communications, policies, payroll, talent management, recruitment and selection, performance and review, compensation and benefits, training and development, health and safety, employee relations and legal issues, retention and work-life balance, etc.
Technologies that HRIS adopt are in line with developments elsewhere. Sophisticated and customized Graphical User Interface (GUI) is an integral part of HRIS system nowadays. The front end capabilities offered by dynamic GUIs have made adoption easier. The cloud technology that is becoming more popular has reduced the upgrades and maintenance cycles, thus reducing the cost. Cloud technology is fast replacing the scenario of one vendor operations and this empowers the organizations to bargain and cut the cost down by implementing HRIS.
HRIS also offers an opportunity to consolidate all the legacy systems that are in place. The data gathered by HRIS over a period becomes voluminous. The emerging technology of Big Data is enabling organizations to mine data to the deepest possible level, slice and dice them and produce meaningful analytics, a key ingredient for improving efficiency in HR. Every vendor that provides HR in one form or another is adopting Big Data or has plans to include it in their technology roadmaps.
Some of the areas that are addressed by HRIS are:
New generation of recruiting tools such as Face Book, Linked in, Google plus, My Space, Big Data, etc., where there are opportunities to find talents at minimal expense.
Mobile Applications that can be used for learning and training, recruiting, collaboration and employee management
Information Technology vendors specialized in the field of HR are many. Of these, the core players are Oracle, SAP, Workday, ADP, Ultimate, Infor (Lawson) as well as talent vendors such as CornerstoneOnDemand (grew at 61% last quarter), Silkroad, SumTotal, Lumesse, Halogen, PeopleFluent, Saba, and Kenexa. The products offered by these vendors cover a wide spectrum of different aspects of HRIS.
The Forbes magazine provides the following top trends in technology.
1. Cloud Technology. A good implementation of this technology provides cost effective and easily maintained solution to manage HR functions.
2. Gamification: This technology is for here to stay and can be effectively used to communicate, engage, train, attract, and retain top talent.
3. Integrated social media for better communication and collaboration.
4. Virtualization: This technology has been gaining popularity more and more over the years and helps in reducing maintenance as well as providing scalable and secure solutions.
5. Big Data and Business Analytics: A technology that is evolving very fast is being adopted by almost all vendors to efficiently manage the employees.
The above mentioned technologies are critical in maximizing and sustaining workforce productivity.
HR is very critical to any business, regardless of the size of the organization, even though the level of HRIS implementation varies according to the nature and type of business. HR enables business execution and this is one of the primary reasons as to why this takes precedence over other functions in businesses. HR is considered as playing a strategic role than a mere functional one and company executives are proactively reaching out to them to help in implementing business strategies. Major corporations and individually owned mom and pop shops have an implementation of HR systems. The smaller companies realize the benefits more so than others as HRIS makes them agile and respond to market fluctuations. HRIS technology plays a critical role in transforming HR from personnel management to business execution. HR leaders must effectively use this technology to drive more business relevant conversation with other executives in the organization.
Tim's Coffee Shoppe is in the business of providing beverages to customers. The business model is not very complex, however, there are complexities involved in managing the business, more so in the areas of personnel management. One of the major HR requirements is regulations that cover Occupational Safety and Health, Equal Employment Opportunity, and Employee training.
The business thrives on good marketing and customer satisfaction. The employees play a crucial role in the success. HRIS technology will therefore help immensely in successful running of the shop. However, due the small size of the company, it is not recommended to seek high end technology solutions. A cloud based, hosted technology to manage the HR functions will be an economical solution. This approach will minimize investment in IT personnel that is required to manage complex systems. The responsibility of maintaining a system round the clock shifts to the vendors and this will enable the owner to focus on business and improving the bottom line.