As a business forms, every function is taken for granted as a necessary and serious contributor – except Human Resources. No one questions that there are roles for finance, operations, and sales. Finance will expand with Payables and Receivables, Operations with Shipping and Handling, and Sales with Marketing and Customer Service. But, Human Resources is Personnel, an administrative function – a necessary evil, at that.

Depending on the foresight of leadership, the HR function will remain under the radar in a perpetual struggle for recognition. Despite all the MBA school idealism and the human capital euphemisms, HR still remains somewhat on the back burner. If it does not contribute strategically, it is partly HR’s own fault and partly the myopia of the senior leadership.

The Smallest Businesses

Because there is virtually no task other than clerical in the smallest businesses (less than 25 employees), HR is a records function. In its first phases, a small business can manage its clerical tasks internally or externally. Quickbooks, SimpleHR, OrangeHRM, and People-Trak HR all administer records and run payroll. They will likely keep your small staff in FLSA and FICA compliance. But, they do nothing for so-called “human assets.”

However, this could be the first opportunity to form a strategy for the future. For example, some software apps are more static than others. Choose one that has potential for expansion in numbers and quality. Business growth may be steady but slow; still, you may want to introduce the potential for performance and training tracking, management planning and talent management.

Bigger Small Businesses

Simple software applications are not enough once HR issues start adding up. Software does not discipline, praise, or motivate. If administrative functions have been outsourced to software or vendor, the owner/manager must still manage the more human issues.

So, somewhere around 150 to 250 employees, a business will hire a Personnel or HR Manager. This “manager” role is prophylactic; the job is to keep the wolf from the owner’s door. It is not a policy making position, and, at its best, it satisfies itself by running a tight ship. This begins as a one-person office and grows with low-level employees.

Growing Businesses

Once over 250 employees, any business will be pulled in several directions. The volume of the clerical work, the administrative burden of staffing, and the level of employee stresses, all increase exponentially. But, because HR does not produce, handle, or ship anything, it is deemed as non-productive. And, all overhead is subject to cost reduction.

That perception of HR will continue unless HR can change it. Among its options are to frame strategies with a clear return on investment. It must mine the avenues it has control over:

• aggressively negotiating the cost of benefits
• structuring compensation consistent with strategic futures
• partnering with peer managers to realize their respective goals
• providing data and human capital futures before they are requested

These skills are not easily outsourced and develop an HR Manager’s personal maturity and professional respect.

Maturing Businesses

At 500 plus employees, the corporation needs current, authoritative, and accountable input. This is where an HR Director earns his/her stripes. The Director status ideally reports directly to the CEO, so HR has an attentive ear on issues of talent management, hostile workplace, and compensation issues.

If the CEO respects the role of HR Director or VP, increasingly complex administrative tasks are managed down the line or in HRIS. The HR officer is adviser, counselor, and arbiter. HRIS lets the HR Director offer solutions not problems, strategies not limits, confidence not concerns.

Big Businesses

As companies go national and global, HR is a whole other animal. Basic personnel needs are handled in place or on location. Benefits and related costs are well into the millions. And, a certain level of human costs – turnover, litigation, and so on – has to be forecast.

Once division responsibilities become divisible by function, the most sustaining strategy makes human assets important again if the HR Director is equipped to forecast and add future values. With HRIS information available in real time to the officers in the C-suite, the HR Director can integrate data to support the allocation, development, and management of talent to support strategic goals across the corporation.

Human assets gain value as a function of HR leadership. If it leads, the assets will develop. If it does not lead, the leadership and the assets remain functional.

{ 0 comments }

Below are some interesting numbers pulled from the 2013 HRIS/HCM REQUIREMENTS REPORT published by compareHRIS.com.

The full report shows responses from almost 1800 surveys collected throughout 2012 which ask HR professionals and decision makers like yourself, a series of questions about HR system requirements and the importance of each.

Purchase Full Report

Share this Image On Your Site

<p><strong>Please include attribution to HR-Software Blog with this graphic.</strong></p> <p><a href='http://www.hr-softwareblog.com/1800-hr-decisionmakers-reveal-hris/'><img src='http://www.hr-softwareblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/HRIS-Requirements-Report1.png' alt='HRIS 2013 Requirements Report' width='510' border='0' /></a></p> <p>

{ 0 comments }

In the first decade of the 21st century, social media and mobile technologies have risen to the forefront in the recruitment of new talent by human capital management departments. More recently, these same “consumer tech” tools have begun to be leveraged in other HR functions, most notably in intracompany communication and collaboration.

While business owners and upper management certainly recognize the value of these social media and mobile technology tools, there is no general agreement as to who in the organization should administer, monitor and safeguard the company business that is conducted on them.

The Conundrum for Management

When it comes to technology, most business leaders do not automatically think of the HCM department as the “go to” people. They are more likely to envision HR personnel as people-centric and non-technologically oriented. Nevertheless, HR is most probably the department that has most readily embraced customer technology and integrated it into their ongoing functions.

In fact, they have already dealt with many of the problems that arise when conducting proprietary company business on social media sites, over the Internet and through mobile devices. It may not seem a natural fit but the HCM personnel may indeed be the most qualified candidates for the job of implementing consumer tech tools across the entire organization.

Expanding the Role of HCM

No one is saying that the IT department will not play a part – just that HCM can handle the administration and enforcement processes. After all, it is only when the technology fails to work that problems develop. Then, people must become involved in the resolution and no one is better than HCM at dealing with people.

If ultimately given the responsibility to oversee an enterprise wide implementation, one of the challenges that HR departments will face is changing their outlook on the traditional ways of dealing with inter-office communications. After all, it would be unfair and ultimately counterproductive to use social media and mobile technologies to find new talent and then prohibit that talent from using the same social tools in the fulfillment of their work-related duties.

In short, HCM (or whichever department is placed in charge) must not see themselves as a hindrance to social communication but rather as a catalyst to engagement, communication and collaboration. In this way, HCM will fulfill an even greater strategic role in the organization.

The Three Steps to Expansion

Developing a consumer tech strategy for implementation across an entire organization is itself a collaborative process. All departments must contribute to the identification of needs and also align their efforts with each other while IT develops and implements the solution with the oversight of HCM.

1. Identify the Need

The use of surveys at all employee levels about the current state of consumer tech usage is essential. Once an overall picture is drawn, further assessments can be made as to what is desired and actually needed to facilitate the use of social media and mobile technology.

2. Align the Effort

With its access to the employee background info, current performance reports, and forecasted talent needs, the HCM department is ideally placed to coordinate the collaboration efforts of the organization across all manner of business goals. This overview is powerful and can create some insights and will allow HR to further facilitate communication between department heads and IT. The end result is better technology solutions for the needs that matter.

3. Provide the Solution

Once IT makes its recommendations and the solution is green lit by upper management, HCM can, again, oversee the implementation. Kickoff meetings, introductory videos and online tutorials are just some of the tools that will allow HCM to promote engagement by all stakeholders in the new solution

The Opportunity for HCM

There is a lot of work in expanding the consumer tech across an organization but the rewards are a better insight into company operations and a more strategic voice in management. In short, HCM cannot afford to ignore technology or even innovation.

Instead, it must be the leader in its implementation in all its forms and across the entire organization. While there will undoubtedly be issues that arise as a result of this expansion, the other risk is to simply be left behind as an important but minor arbiter of company policy as it relates to its employees.

{ 0 comments }

Too many Human Resource professionals do not have enough education in HR technology. Their experience with manual processing often decides their future. They are simply not ready to let go what they are familiar with and/or what works for them. Why let HRIS reinvent the wheel?

To be fair, this reluctance also comes from their sense of the human element. They might like the HRIS ability to count, categorize, and calendar. But, counting and processing human capital is just not the same as processing financial or marketing data. People problems are just different than product quality or process problems. How can HR benefit from improved HR technology and still maintain their special sense of employee involvement?

HRIS requires buy-in.

As HR principals, we need to lead. While many of us have learned on the job and/or grown through earlier software generations or have studied about HRIS in college, we have a professional and personal obligation to stay ahead of the curve.

We are often in a reaction mode, facing employee issues as they arise while allowing HRIS no more room than our filing system. HR leadership demands that we have the information to offer and implement HR strategies that will help define and shape corporate concerns about direction and ROI (Return on Investment). When a CEO asks for HR information, s/he is not looking for last quarter’s report so much as what next quarter will bring.

Before we can expect business leadership to commit to HRIS investment, we have to buy fully into the value and return ourselves. Only then will we have the depth and motivation to convince management that the new cost is better than doing nothing. But, since there are no production units to count, it may be difficult to justify the investment.

How HR affects company revenue?

It most certainly does even though Human Resources functions have always been considered a non-revenue generating expense load. Think of a corporation as a pyramid with layers.

• The largest stratum at the base is filled with support functions: IT, facility maintenance, accounting, and human resources.

• The next layer consists of junior and middle managers who try to steer the operation of the pyramid towards the established goals.

• The level above is where revenue happens, departments that reach customers and produce money: sales, customer service, shipping and handling, and so on.

It’s this revenue level that we must keep happy – and informed. For example, when Sales loses a key Sales Engineer, they worry about losing his dynamic on the sales team and about what business the employee is taking away. But, in real financial terms, there is a measurable loss each day it takes to fill the function. Here’s the math: the Sales Engineer is responsible for $3,000,000 a year, so each day lost can cost the department $12,000 (allowing the position two weeks vacation). So, if there is no job candidate in the pipe, this piece of turnover will cost $1.2 million over two weeks of recruiting and placement. In other words, there is a way to calculate the cost of turnover: exit through hire through training to speed. (Some of the loss is booked and old business, but that can be included in the calculations.)

HRIS shapes strategic HR.

A well selected Human Resources Information System allows the forecasting that other managers and officers need. For example, with employee costs accounting for 30 to 50% of the total expense burden, any modification of these expenses will have significant impact. So, HR becomes a star performer if the system is equipped to forecast impact pending even the slightest change in insurance or retirement benefit costs.

• It can demonstrate – and, thereby, make very real – the short and long-term impact of expansion or allocate specific production costs.

• It can report on the total cost of a change in the compensation cost or a union demand. It will drive HR managers to immerse themselves in all aspects of the business operation, to the benefit of HR and the other departments.

• In short, a good HRIS system will provide all the forecasting necessary to coach corporate leadership to a decision on the allocation and/or human capital management.

Because HR automation manages the calendar as well, it can improve overall employee job satisfaction by initiating employee performance assessment, wage and salary reviews, birthdays, anniversaries, and probation dates. And, this returns us to the start.

Conventional HR management has introduced HRIS with some temerity and allowed it to perform these personnel management chores. Until we are willing to take a larger risk on and able to justify the ROI on a contemporary HRIS system, we are not taking the lead expected of quality HR professionals.

{ 1 comment }

Every decent manager recognizes the need to cultivate and keep the best of the best on their team. Still, every manager has also been confronted by an excellent employee who has finally decided to leave the company for no discernible reason.

While it is not possible to keep all of the people happy all of the time, a good manager should consider the reasons that good people leave. Here are five of the top reasons why the best employees sometimes fall through the cracks and how you can sometimes recover their loyalty before their departure:

• The Company is Under-performing – Admittedly, this situation is hard to repair if it is true. Still, many companies suffer in down markets and the employee may not realize that the job market is not that promising. Explain the more salient facts and hope that the employee can make a reasoned decision.

• The Employee / Employer Relationship is Damaged – Not all business relationships get off to the best start. A shaky start can have unrecognized consequences. Bear in mind that some employees must be “stroked” or their egos do not feel justified. In addition, employees may mistake your original corrections during the training period as an overall criticism of their work ethic. Don’t lose a valuable employee because of an ego issue; either yours or theirs.

• Life Moves On – Employees do a lot of things for a lot of reasons and they do not always revolve around their work life. Babies are born, relationships fail and sometimes the Lottery is won. You cannot control all the variables in an employee’s life but you can be reasonable in the demands that you make.

• Coworker Tension – An employee, even a manager, can have a good relationship with his superiors but sometimes the other employees can make his life difficult in one way or another. This situation is particularly difficult to remedy as favoritism or discrimination can be cited by the other employees. Often, a change of venue or position can keep a valuable employee in the company without causing any further undue strain.

• Stagnation – For the truly great employee, a job must remain challenging with ever increasing amounts of responsibility. Losing one of these gems of an employee because you have become comfortable with the situation is unconscionable. A good manager is always cross-training his subordinates and preparing them for greater responsibility including the fulfillment of his own job. Otherwise, he has no hope of advancing his own career.

Eliminating the Cracks

One of the best ways to stay on top of your employee’s ongoing satisfaction with their jobs is to utilize a Human Resource Information System. An HRIS can archive an incredible amount of information from counseling sessions to exit interviews. This information can then be used to identify the weaknesses in your employee retention program.

The solutions can range from something as simple as better employee feedback programs to far more ambitious expanded employee training programs to relieve some of the pressure on your location managers. In every case, however, an HRIS will allow you to better organize, manage and retain all of your employees, especially the very best. It is an investment that will pay handsome rewards.

{ 0 comments }

While almost every successful company collects tremendous amounts of information regarding their financial and marketing activities, only the most forward-looking use analytics to drive the effectiveness of their human capital management (HCM). The use of analytics is integral to the success of the most outstanding companies. Not only do the resulting workforce management strategies help in the near-term with the current lagging economy but also position the company for the inevitable recovery when it arrives. 

Many companies make the mistake of viewing HCM analytics as a luxury rather than a necessity in down economies. More prudent companies realize that these analytics can help them lower costs when top line growth is stagnant by identifying redundancies and inefficiencies in the work force. More generally, analytics can help with worker turnover, benefits, succession and training. 

The Power of Workforce Analytics 

While it’s been said that statistics can be molded to support any position, careful consideration of key performance indicators (KPIs) and other business metrics can give a decided edge to decision makers in any company. Whether your aim is to identify key business relationships or anticipate certain outcomes, the use of analytical tools such as descriptive statistics and predictive modeling in the HR realm can make a significant contribution towards achieving your company’s goals.

A second benefit that analytics lends to the HR directors and their staff is increased credibility. Backed by facts, figures and credible projections, HR personnel can contribute on an equal level with the finance and marketing departments to more confidently affect executive decisions and company objectives. It’s a win-win situation for HR and for the company. 

Implementing HCM Analytics

There are several schools of thought as to the best way to implement an HR analytics system but most advocate using a staged approach. In most cases, it makes sense to obtain buy-in from all departments and stakeholders by consolidating all data sources onto a unified platform. An immediate benefit is that authorized employees can access a wealth of information in focused and easy-to-use reports.

Secondly, the implementation HCM department and the executive suite should define metrics that are meaningful to the company so that the provider can develop the resources to deliver them. Lastly, a “dashboard” with all relevant info and reports can be provided to the main decision makers. Eventually, HR can consider and develop more sophisticated tools for analyzing a greater variety of information. 

Making Informed Decisions Today and Tomorrow

Workforce analytics can be incredibly powerful in the current recession as it helps determine program cuts, workforce reductions and talent re-allocations. Similarly, the users of these systems can model scenarios when the economy begins to turn around. In many cases, these “analytics pioneers” will have a better understanding of the variables involved as they will be the ones including them in the models and the studies. 

Having accurate analytical studies and models at your fingertips places one in a powerful and influential position. Not only can you explain why some business occurrence happened but you can also make some very good predictions as to what will follow. It is indeed a powerful place to be.

Are You Ready for Analytics?

Forward looking, HCM directors have already changed their attitudes towards analytics and embraced a culture of modeling and predictive study. Instead of merely documenting and evaluating past behaviors, they are actively dissecting the current trends and behaviors in their organizations through the use of analytics. The trend is only gaining ground and any company that hopes to remain competitive should consider implementing an HCM analytics system.

{ 0 comments }

One of the most self-destructive behaviors that any manager can engage in is “looking over the shoulder” or micromanaging his subordinates. While it may take a significant period of time for an assistant manager or other employee to become a trusted member of the staff, managers must refrain from overseeing every action taken by their employees.

This tendency by managers to overdo their responsibilities can actually stymie their subordinates instead of supporting them. Still, managers are ultimately responsible for what goes on inside their “four walls” and must have some way of monitoring the situation.

An excellent solution to this seeming dilemma is the use of a Human Resource Information System (HRIS). An HRIS is doubly beneficial in that it enables a manager to remotely monitor the activities while still allowing a significant measure of autonomy to the subordinates.

Management Empowerment

The implementation of an HRIS into the human capital management process is one of the most empowering things that any company can do. The system can monitor, track and archive a wide range of administrative tasks such as hiring, training and performance, allowing a company’s location managers to concentrate on the more important aspects of the business. In addition, an HRIS allows the HR director or other members of senior management to easily monitor compliance with company initiatives and government regulations.

Employee Empowerment

One of the most common complaints from employees is that they feel out of place due to poor intercompany communications and inadequate training.  An HRIS can effectively address these two issues by providing a single point of contact for all new company information and by automating some of the training process. For example, an HRIS can be designed that allows employees to access the latest in company news and to self-direct some of their training activities. In both cases, employees are empowered to deal with a situation without the need for management interaction.

Enterprise-Wide Empowerment

Pardon us for stealing a term from the technology guys, but enterprise-wide is truly the word that describes the change in mindset that accompanies the empowerment created by the use of an HRIS. The synergies involved, when everyone is on the same page, are truly remarkable. Owners and senior managers know that their message is being delivered in a timely and company wide manner. Location managers are relieved of many administrative tasks that consume so much of their time. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, employees are made to feel like part of the group with at least some power over their activities within the company.

The Ramifications for Your Company

The results of empowerment are widespread.  Employees with greater satisfaction are absent less, cause fewer HR problems and are generally more productive. Happier employees allow location managers to concentrate on their operational activities and thus improve the bottom line. Relieved of micromanaging the operations of the business, the owner or senior management can concentrate on growing the business. In short, finding and implementing the right HRIS is a triple win situation.

{ 0 comments }

The day-to-day procedures used in every company is the sum total of the experience and expertise that the people who worked there could muster over their work lives. As a result, these policies and procedures are a shining example of how to best do things. At least, that’s what we would like to believe.

Instead, many company policies and procedures are merely the result of intellectual apathy and possible laziness and should have been abandoned long ago. As difficult as it is for me to say, no one is more to blame for this problem other than the HR department. It has been and always will be their responsibility to monitor, improve and implement company practices, policies, and procedures. The buck stops here.

The Employee “WHY?”

Nothing is more embarrassing to me as an HR professional than not being able to give a respectable answer to an employee asking why we, as a company, do a particular something. It seems to me that all our policies and procedures should be examined and improved on a continual basis to avoid that very situation. This process is especially important in the HR arena as the person asking the question, i.e. the employee, is our actual customer. If you don’t believe me, just imagine the panic in the executive suite if retail customers were asking the very same types of questions.

Using Technology to Avoid Obsolescence

While the majority of employees will bide their time and keep their mouths shut when confronted with obvious absurdities in company policy, their silence does not mean that the poorly constituted policies do not have a negative effect on employee morale and efficiency. Something as simple as an outdated dress code can sow the seeds of dissent and have a significant effect down the road.

The use of a Human Resource Information System (HRIS) can alleviate many of these problems before they start. First, an HRIS demonstrates that a company is embracing the computer age. It may seem like a small thing but the latest generations of employees are far more comfortable receiving their information from this source than at a company meeting or via paper handouts.

Similarly, an HRIS can be configured to almost guarantee the delivery of a message to every employee in the company. This ability is especially important when it comes to disseminating new or changed company policies. Lastly, an HRIS can provide an anonymous avenue for employee feedback. Any HR department worth its salt should be seeking out this information.

Unearth and Remove the Fossils in Your HR Department

It should be obvious that removing poor company policies and procedures is a good policy in itself. Identifying them is not always easy, however, as many departments wear blinders of incredible efficiency when it comes to criticism of their procedures. The use of an automated HRIS allows a great deal of interactivity between the HR department and its “customers.” It is one of the surest and most effective ways to unearth the fossils in your company policies and remove them forever.

{ 0 comments }

With the current economic malaise and the high unemployment rate, many employers have a false sense of security about their ability to retain their current employees. It is a misconception that has potentially serious short and long term ramifications. Here are five important reasons why employee retention should always be a priority:

• Superior Employees Always Have Options

Well trained and highly experienced employees are in demand at all times. Just as you are always looking to improve the quality and performance of your team, so are your competitors. They would be more than happy to poach even the “least” of your best performers. Be sure to treat your best employees with the attention and recognition that they deserve.

• The Base Unemployment Rate Can Be Misleading

Unemployment numbers are spread across a wide number of demographics. It can provide some guidance when hiring entry level, non-college educated employees but it is significantly misleading if you need employees with Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees who are unemployed at a much lower rate.

• The Best Leaders Recognize Their Own Worth

While, in many organizations, the best leaders have had their responsibilities broadened and their workload increased over the past few years, their compensation has not really kept pace. Simply put, it is a situation that will not be tolerated indefinitely by the “best and the brightest” in your company. Not addressing the retention of your team leaders is doubly damaging to your company as you must rethink your entire succession planning of your organization as well as find a replacement for the individual.

• Disgruntled Employees Never Forget

There is no changing the fact that the labor market will eventually recover and opportunities will be offered to your employees. While the lowered rate still leaves a significant applicant pool to choose from, the situation is changing. Rates are certainly higher than at the worst point of the recession and employees are starting to notice as recruiting activity has noticeably increased. Every employee will consider an offer from a competitor if they feel they have been mistreated or under compensated when they had no other employment options.

• Unhappy Ex-Employees are a PR Nightmare

Obviously, employees leave their current employer for a reason. If you are lucky, your relationship has been an amicable and a mutually beneficial one. If not, your ex-employee can denigrate you to your clients, vendors and, most importantly, future employees. It is a simple fact that, for better or worse, ex-employees are the most trusted source about the working condition at a company. If your ex-employees are sending a negative signal about the working conditions at your company, the recruiting and hiring process will be all the more difficult.

Employee retention considerations are often neglected and sometimes dismissed in a poor economic climate. HR directors and small business owners who make this mistake are courting disaster for their companies. More prudent employers will continually pay attention to their employees and make retention a priority.

{ 0 comments }