Free up Man Hours with an HRIS System

Many small business owners aren’t sure if they should invest in a Human Resources Information System (HRIS). However, even    small businesses devote a great amount of time to performing menial, human resources related tasks. Many of these tasks could be easily automated, and would not only reduce the number of employee hours wasted, but would greatly increase the accuracy and completeness of your records.

Consolidate Your Records

Keeping records manually can be time consuming for employees who have to update files with a pen and paper. Using an HRIS system to process your records can save an enormous amount of staff time, improving both the efficiency and effectiveness your office. For example, instead of relying on handwritten data for payroll, and using calculators to add up the time, an HRIS system can perform this task much quicker with very little errors.  Does more than one person in your office keep track of the same information? An HRIS system can act as the singular, easy to navigate database for employee information, providing instant access.  With a few easy clicks, you can have a wealth of information at your fingertips. Encouraging employees to keep their own personal information updated can also save countless hours of work for HR employees, allowing them to focus on more important projects.

Increase Reporting Capabilities

One of the major benefits of using an HRIS as a central database for information is the ease at which you can run a variety of detailed reports.  The incredible amount of data that can be cataloged coupled with the ability to deliver reports swiftly and accurately, can positively affect your business decisions. Employees and managers can find answers to their questions quickly without having to consult with HR staff. For example, you would have the ability to instantaneously run an up-to-date compensation report to obtain the information needed to prepare your annual budget. The extensive amount of time and effort previously spent on HR employees compiling this information and preparing it for a report will be saved, freeing up many of those potentially wasted hours for work on more productive endeavors. Employees could also have the ability to log into the system to access and monitor their personal information including vacation accruals, performance reviews, and benefit information. Instead of taking up time having an HR employee look this information up, it could be available to them in seconds. Read more about performance reviews…

Streamline Recruitment

In this economy, the number of applications submitted for any job opening can be in the hundreds, and sorting through to find the perfect match for your business can be a very long and drawn out process. An HRIS system can save your employees countless hours of sorting through unqualified and undesirable candidates.  Through the HRIS system, candidates would submit their resumes online, and the system would archive the information.  Your hiring manager could then perform a detailed search, based on the desired qualifications for the position, including: education level, years of experience or particular skill set. Putting an end to the arduous task of wading through resumes can put your employees back to work on more essential tasks. Read more about Finding Immediate Talent…

With the possibilities and potential savings that an HRIS system would bring to your business, you can’t afford not to purchase one. Having one database for all human resources information ensures that it is accurate, up-to-date, and readily available as soon as you need it, allowing you to make confident company decisions. Thanks to automation and the inclusion of employee self-service, HR employees can focus on more productive tasks, saving your company many potentially wasted man-hours and allowing your business to grow.

Are you still using Excel spreadsheets as your method of tracking vacation time and payroll? Or is your preferred method an Abacus? Maybe you are still using the old method of counting beans? If this sounds like your Human Resource Software, then maybe it is time for you to look at updating to software from this millennium. If your eyes glaze over and your head begins to spin when you compare software for human resources, you’re not alone.

Looking back at the many years that I ran Human Resources for companies ranging in staff size from 15 employees to over 80 employees, I wonder how in the world I did it. My cubical often looked like Mount Notebook Helen, with no desk space available when vacation calculations had to be done each month. Between the sticky notes and paperclips to mark pages and remind me of future issues, I looked like I was failing art class. It is amazing anything was accomplished. There was a payroll company software system, an accounting software system, and Excel was our lifeline, similar to the IV in a comma patient’s arm. To my amazement, there are still a lot of companies operating in this chaotic mishmash method of doing things. There is an abundance of software for Human Resources out there in this day and age. Why are so many companies, small and large, still operating in the Stone Age? Is it because they are intimidated by the software? Or possibly because they just don’t know it exists? Costs of the software could be a reason. But, if a cost comparison of the time it takes to manage all the piles of scattered data were done, it would have to be cheaper to convert to specialized software for Human Resources.

With so many company cut backs Human Resources always seems to take a big hit staff wise. The balancing act of how many people are needed to manage how many total employees, is sometimes as tricky as the waiter that brings out an entire family of four’s dinner plates at once by stacking them on his arms. One wrong step and it’s a mashed potato mustache. Tricky times call for creative and sometimes genius solutions. So why not invest in the time and energy to research software for your Human Resources needs?

The right HR software can increase productivity, minimize errors and possible legal issues. All of these things directly affecting a company’s bottom line and ending up paying for the software in the long run. Additionally, specially designed software for Human Resources maintains continuity, making staffing transitions easier and less costly, while providing a small company room for growth.

With the resources available on the internet today to research software for Human Resources, it seems impractical not to. There are options available to fit any size company. In the current economy it only makes sense to take advantage of any opportunity to make your company stronger and more stable. It is time to Let Go of your Old School HR Software – It’s time for an Update!

HRMS systems are also the best way to monitor, manage and pay your federal and state Payroll Taxes.  In fact, it is often said that Human Race may beat death one day, but it will never beat taxes!

Sometimes outsourcing the task of tracking and paying taxes is simple when organizations such as ADP WorkForce Now and Ceridian provide software and personnel to help with payroll! Other organizations with an HRIS such as Abra HRMS or Ultipro focus solely on software as a solution.  Either way (whether you want the people-backed software or just the software) it is a personal preference and a complete integrate HRMS will help you stay compliant.  You must bring together both the HR and (HR) Payroll departments together.

The special promotional code to receive the discounted rate is COMPARE10 (all caps).

Below is a summary, with links, on what to expect at this year’s show. I skipped SHRM this year but will be attending HR tech.  I prefer HR tech mostly because I find that more HR technology vendors show up than show up for SHRM. I don’t get a booth or attend any of the events; I just walk the expo hall and chat with my existing and potential vendors for CompareHRIS.com.

“The famous Shootout has become a track this year with up to eight vendors giving 25-minute demos based on our scripted scenario. Bound to have a couple of ERPs and lots of Talent Management vendors. Best way to compare live software, since they will largely be showing you the same thing. If they follow the script and don’t cheat! Which is why we have judges, two of the three bloggers above.”

“The HR Technology® Conference & Expo is the best in the world, at least according to Workday and PeopleSoft founder Dave Duffield, and many of the estimated 18,000 HR practitioners, vendors, consultants, analysts and bloggers who have attended in the last 12 years from 24 countries.

“The source of its popularity and strength is its devotion to education, not to sales. Speaking slots are never sold to vendors or sponsors, and all the session content is vetted in advance by Co-chairs David Shadovitz and Bill Kutik, editor and technology editor of Human Resource Executive magazine.

“Here are just a few of this year’s highlights: the debate between guru Naomi Lee Bloom and Gartner’s Jim Holincheck, Oracle revealing more of Fusion HCM, the legendary Shootout, the Blogger Insight Panel (members not yet chosen), and “Awesome New Technologies for HR” from bleeding edge start-ups (chosen at the last possible second). To see them all, download the pdf of the full conference brochure: http://www.hrtechnologyconference.com/WEB-BROCH.pdf?submit22=Download”

Be great to embed the link for downloading the brochure, since I think it makes the event make more sense than the website, which is not optimally designed. Obviously, please include the link to our home page, www.HRTechnologyConference.com

Search Engines and Searches

If the term HRMS had replaced HRIS, then wouldn’t that mean that fewer people would be searching on the term HRIS than HRMS? Well, of course it would.  Unless, of course, no one realized the terms were changing. According to Google Ad words keyword research tool there are over 210,000 global searches per month on the term HRIS but only 200,000 global searches for HRMS per month. If the term HRMS is replacing HRIS, then those searching online for these types of systems don’t seem to be aware of it. Either way I feel pretty safe with how well CompareHRIS.com is positioned with keyword ranking. We currently rank #4 for HRIS on Google and #5 for HRMS.

Vendor System names and industry confusion

If the term HRMS was replacing HRIS, wouldn’t it make sense to see fewer and fewer companies use the HRIS term? We list 20 of the industry’s leading HRIS/HRMS systems on CompareHRIS.com, 5 of those systems list themselves as a HRIS, 2 list themselves as a HRMS and 3 list their products as a HCM. I guess an argument could be made that the term HCM is replacing HRMS as well.

In conclusion

If the term HRMS is replacing HRIS, it does not appear that the people searching for these types of systems know. Nor does it appear that the software producers know. I wrote an article last year on the subject of comparing these terms that you may find interesting as well:

HRIS solutions versus HRMS solutions – What’s the difference?

So what do I want in return?

If you have written a term paper on selecting or implementing an HRIS/HRMS system, I’d like to publish it on CompareHRIS.com and/or HR-softwareblog.com. I’m certain our readers will benefit from your unique perspective and research. For me, it means a few less articles I need to write. If you visit the articles page of CompareHRIS.com, you will quickly notice that as President of the site, I spend a great deal of time writing.

So what’s in it for you?

Well…. it might not look bad on the old resume to have a link to an article you created about HRIS systems published by CompareHRIS.com. With the article, we’ll also include an author biography which can include anything you wish. On top of the fact that your article and bio will appear on a website which receives over 10,000 visits per month from HR professionals around the globe, we may also include your article in our newsletter which is sent to over 14,000 HR professionals each month. I’ll also make suggestions on other sites to which you may be able to submit your paper to further increase exposure. It’s never too soon to start establishing yourself online as an industry expert.

Who and how to contact?

If you have an article or research paper you would like to publish with us, email me directly at C.Scroggin@comparehris.com. We ask that the papers be original content created by you and that you include an author bio section. I’ll let you know if and when we are able to use the article.  And at that time, I will provide additional sites to which you may want to submit the same article.

Our free HRIS comparison tools include our HRIS software selection tool and our HRIS quick product search option. CompareHRIS.com’s HRIS selection tool is comprehensive, free, and easy to use. Customers simply answer a series of questions about their requirements and rank the importance of each. CompareHRIS.com then automatically generates a free report showing ranked scores of the HRIS products that best match their needs. From there, customers may compare the features of each product side by side, view additional product details, view a pre-recorded demo or request a free trial.

Welcome to our new vendors and we hope all our visitors will continue to take advantage of all the HRIS/HRMS resources CompareHRIS.com has to offer!  And please feel free to drop us a line about your personal HRIS/HRMS selection success story.

It offers a detailed description and ‘How To’ guide of the eight steps that will aid in the most efficient and effective HRIS/payroll implementation.  And as we all know, we want to make this implementation process stress free, if possible.  With this guide in hand, you will be assured that this process will be as complete and stress free as possible. 

To learn more, view Executing Parallel Testing: Part 2 of a 2 part series.

Workforce – Of the top three HR publications, I think workforce has the fewest articles on HRIS systems. Truthfully, I am not sure if I have ever seen one. They have a special advertising section which is usually basically a white paper by one of their advertisers but that’s about it.

I am not the only one who has noticed a lack of content on HRIS systems for Workforce. As I scanned the last magazine issue, I counted only three HRIS vendors advertising in the magazine.

HR Executive – Rarely are any articles written on HR technology at all but even less often do I see any articles on HRIS or HRMS. Once in a while, I do see an HRIS or HRMS system mentioned in the news section but that is about it. If they write about HR technology, it is far more likely to be articles about talent management than anything else.

It’s a little surprising that HR Executive does not do a better job writing about HRIS technology considering that they hold the HR technology conference each year. Most of us in the industry would agree that this is by far the best conference on HR technology.  Shouldn’t the magazine present articles reflecting this as well?

As with Workforce, I noticed only a few advertisements from HRIS vendors. So the question is starting to become are HRIS companies not advertising in these magazines because they are not writing about HRIS systems or are the magazines not writing about the topic because HRIS companies are not advertising with them?

HR Magazine – HR Magazine actually writes a few articles a year on HRIS systems but not enough, in my opinion, and when they do most aren’t very helpful. I was actually interviewed for an HR Magazine article about open source systems a little over a year ago and it was an awful experience. The writer misquoted me, misspelled my name, and misstated what I do for a living. The article itself was biased and, in my opinion, wrong with its conclusions and assumptions. Since then, I have seen one article on hiring a digital native to manage your HRIS and, until this month, that was pretty much it except for the news section.

The SHRM national conference is the biggest show in HR but not for technology. I am hearing more and more that advertisers are skipping the SHRM show and advertising at HR tech instead. I did notice a few more ads for HRIS systems in HR Magazine but this may have more to do with them having the most subscribers. This would also mean, for me at least, that they should also be providing the most helpful content on HRIS systems.

Closing

I might be biased, actually I am certain I am, but HRIS systems are used every day by those companies that have a system and those companies that don’t are looking for advice on how to select and purchase one of these products. Why then are the leading expert HR publications not writing about the topic? If you guys need topics, or even a guest writer, let me know. I might be interested.

Now that you realize this process is a little different than other sales you may have participated in, what next?  To find out the next steps, please visit How to Sell HR Software.