“Tell us about the future of HRIS software”
This is definitely something on the mind of most of the prospective customers looking for a new HR system. Many HR professionals are currently over-burdened and struggle with manual processes that result from the use of older, fragmented systems. They are often unaware of the great strides that have already been made and available in HRIS systems today. In my opinion, there are 3 key trends that will remain for a while, here they are:
Integrated Systems
One of the greatest challenges organizations face is the lack of integration. They toil to accurately get all of their data into one place, so that they can access the information necessary to improve their processes, plan and to inform their decisions. This is well understood and expected by all organizations looking for new systems. As more and more organizations are realizing that productivity is hampered when people need to switch or verify data from one system to other, there is a growing trend of using a comprehensive integrated system that can do it all.
Automation
Automation is important to an organization’s success yet the full degree of its readiness is less understood. The automation of core HR functions frees HR professionals to innovate and to contribute more strategic value to the organization.
Much of the daily drudge work performed by HR professionals can be eliminated with the use of Self-Service portals. HR can free itself by enabling employees to access information themselves for:
- Employment records – W2s, T4s, records of employment;
- Earnings and benefit records;
- Notices, manuals, policies;
- Allow employees to update their own personal data.
By combining integration with automation, HR professionals can reduce the time they spend building reports by as much as 80%. Adhoc reports can now be made to auto generate and distribute to the people that use them. In addition, this information can be used to produce presentation-ready visuals and automatically populate dashboards to inform and support management decisions. Automation is increasingly used in different areas of business from machine learning to AI. This is just the beginning as HR will incorporate more automated processes to utilize their resources and time in a better way.
HR Workflows
With the exception of workflow, automation is accepted and pretty standard stuff. Workflow provides additional efficiencies by automating, accelerating and tracking business processes within organizations. The concept of workflow has been around for many years but organizations have continued to struggle with its deployment. Workflows break down because each organization is unique and business processes are complex.
In addition to complex business processes, each task is broken down into – who has the know-how, and the authority to complete it. To further complicate the process, authority can be formal or informal, and authority needs to be assignable in the event of someone’s temporary absence. Workflow needs to be flexible enough to account for this.
What happens to a $5000 purchasing request, when the person with authority is absent, and the task can’t wait for their return? What should happen if that person temporarily passes their authority to someone else in their absence so that tasks continue to flow. If you want to find out more about workflows, I'd highly recommend reading the eBook: 10 processes HR can use workflows for to get some ideas on how HR can use workflows in your organization.
The challenges of Workflow are now formally overcome by defining the system of record for the authority and competency information and placing it on top of the entire technical fabric of the organization. This advancement means that workflow now works, it is here – the Future is Now.
Bringing it all together
Integration, Automation, and use of HR workflows are something that will help organizations to prepare for changes no matter what lies ahead. Wisdom says you need to think of trends at least 5 or 10 years ahead and work towards it now. Therefore thinking of the future now will help in incorporating long-term thinking in your HRIS strategy and choosing systems that are flexible to change with trends.
About the Author:
Matthew Colclough is the Senior Sales Consultant at StarGarden Corporation. Matthew has over 15 years of experience in business development, and creating strategy that drives sales for continued growth.