Human Resources information systems

A human resources management system (HRMS) or Human

Resources Information System (HRIS) or Human Capital
Management (HCM) is a form of Human Resources (HR) software
that combines a number of systems and processes to ensure the
easy management of human resources, business processes and
data. Human resources software is used by businesses to combine
a number of necessary HR functions, such as storing employee
data, managing payroll, recruitment, benefits administration, time
and attendance, employee performance management, and tracking
competency and training records.
A human resources management system ensures everyday human
resources processes are manageable and easy to access. It merges
human resources as a discipline and, in particular, its basic HR
activities and processes with the information technology field,
whereas the programming of data processing systems evolved into
standardized routines and packages of enterprise resource planning
(ERP) software. On the whole, these ERP systems have their origin
from software that integrates information from different applications
into one universal database. The linkage of its financial and human
resource modules through one database is the most important
distinction to the individually and proprietarily developed
predecessors, which makes this software application both rigid and
flexible.
Human resource information systems provide a means of acquiring,
storing, analyzing and distributing information to various
stakeholders.[1] The wave of technological advancement has
revolutionized each and every space of life today, and this includes
HR. Early systems were narrow in scope, typically focused on a
single task, such as improving the payroll process or tracking
employees' work hours. Today's systems cover the full spectrum of
tasks associated with human resources departments, including
tracking and improving process efficiency,
[2] managing organizational hierarchy, tracking absence and annual
leave, simplifying financial transactions, and providing reports on
people data. In short, as the role of human resources departments
expanded in complexity, HR technology systems evolved to fit these
needs.
What is HRIS?
A human resources information system (HRIS) is a software solution
that maintains, manages, and processes detailed employee
information and human resources-related policies and procedures.
As an interactive system of information management, the HRIS
standardizes human resources (HR) tasks and processes while
facilitating accurate record keeping and reporting.
Essentially, an HRIS is a “two-way street” in which information
about employees is delivered into the organization and, conversely,
back out to employees. By eliminating paper-based and manual
HR-related processes, an HRIS offers more seamless, streamlined,
and efficient interactions between employees and the companies
they work for while freeing HR professionals to perform more
strategic and high-value work.

HRIS vs HRMS vs HCM - What are the differences?

The terms HRIS, human resources management system (HRMS),
and human capital management (HCM) are often used
interchangeably. However, there can be subtle differences between
the three, depending on which features a company chooses to
enable.
HRIS
Originally referred to a basic system of keeping administrative
employee records. As HR functions became more complex, HRIS
incorporates processes such as talent acquisition, recruitment, and
ongoing employee data management and processing.
HRMS
Came into use as organizations began to use increasingly
sophisticated software and automated tasks to perform their HR
functions—though it is still used interchangeably with HRIS. Todayʼs
HRIS may include payroll management and time and labor.
HCM
Refers to a broader or umbrella solution that covers every aspect of
the HR function and workforce management. Additional
functionality includes advanced talent management tasks such as
performance management, succession planning, compensation
planning, strategic workforce planning, and every other HR planning
activity. HCM covers the range of HR functions whether they are
data-based, transactional, or strategic.
HRIS vs HRMS vs HCM
What is an HRIS System? The Two Pillars
An HRIS is built on two pillars that create the foundation for
managing people and policies to support overall organizational
effectiveness.

Organizational design
From a structural perspective, HRIS includes roles, functions, and
reporting hierarchies. By defining the organizational structure, HRIS
provides recognizable accountability and a pathway for operational
functionality and consistency.
The right HRIS helps you address business challenges by helping
you put the right talent in place. Through the consistent, automated
management of acquisition and recruiting data, your HRIS can help
you build a workforce that has the right people with the right skills,
working in the right functions and under the right structure, to meet
your strategic goals.
Employee data management
Similar to customer relationship management but within an
employer/employee setting, the HRIS provides a comprehensive
view of every employee including name, address, date of hire,
compensation, benefit selections, and much more. With the right
data, youʼll be better able to connect with your employees, help
them develop career plans, find the right training, and take their
performance to the next level.
The HRIS enables automated and standardized record keeping,
reporting, and self-service functionality. This can lead to more
accurate and up-to-date information management that drives
greater efficiency while providing convenience and ease of use for
employees.
Human Resource Information System (HRIS) – Concept
Information is the life-blood of an organization particularly in the
case of systems and contingency approach of managing. Although
there is a tendency to use data and information interchangeably,
there is a distinction between the two concepts. Data is raw,
unanalyzed numbers and facts about events.
Information, in contrast, results when data is organized or analyzed
in some meaningful way. For example, data regarding employee
turnover or other events may be collected on per annum basis but
these are of no use unless these are analyzed in terms of certain
comparable context such as employee turnover to total number of
employees during the year, or comparative figures of employee
turnover over a period of time.
Such a comparison provides base for making decisions. Since every
manager in the organization makes decisions about planning,
organizing, directing, and controlling of his functions, he needs
information of various types. In order to ensure this, every
organization designs information systems which have taken the
shape of management information systems (MIS) which integrates
information of different functional areas and provides reports in
structured form.
The concept of human resource information system (HRIS) has
been derived from the concept of management information systems
(MIS). MIS is defined as systematic collection, maintenance, and
retrieving data for providing support to the operations,
management, and analysis decision-making functions in an
organization.
Based on this concept, HRIS can be defined as follows:
Human resource information system is a systematic process for
collecting, storing, maintaining, and retrieving data needed by an
organization about its human resources and various activities that
are relevant for their management.
Thus, like any other information system, HRIS has three basic
components—input, storage, and output.
1. Input:
Input function provides the capabilities needed to enter data,
relevant to managing human resources, into the HRIS. Input function
prescribes the procedures for collecting data by whom, when, in
what format, and from what sources (internal and external).
2. Storage:
Storage function involves storing data in various files and updating
data from time to time to keep them up-to-date. Based on storage
of data, output in the form of information, relevant to action and
decision making, is prepared.
3. Output:
Output function of HRIS is most visible as it is directly relevant to
users of HRIS. In a computerized HRIS, output may appear in two
forms- hard copy printed on a piece of paper or soft copy visible on
computer screen. Whatever form is selected, output is presented in
a form which is easily understandable and useful to users.
Human Resource Information System (HRIS) –
Objectives

Provide Historical Information and Evidence

HRIS is a part of a management information system, which keeps
track of their employeeʼs data like their joining date, cost incurred on
recruitment, their performance record, their feedback, and all other
important information which is very necessary for an organization.

Provides up-to-Date Information

The organization keeps each and every single detail about an
employee. HRIS is updated every time when an employee joins or
leaves the organization. It is updated every day with other important
information.

Helps in Personnel Research and Personnel Audit

HRIS also helps in conducting the research or investigation about
an employee because sometimes, employees provide false or fake
data in order to join the organization.

Needed to take Personnel Decision

HRIS also helps in making personnel decisions. HRIS helps the
management in forecasting the demand and supply for manpower
in the organization. It also helps in taking decisions like recruitment,
selection, placement, training needs, and promotions, etc. of an
employee.

Deciding Payrolls and Career Path

HRIS records all the information about the human resources of the
organization. On the basis of the qualification, experience, past
performance HRIS helps the management in deciding the payroll
and career path like promotion, demotion, training, development,
transfers, etc about the employees.

Supplying Information to the Government and Various

Agencies
HRIS also supplies the information to the government and various
agencies for additional use.

Helps in Evaluation and Modification of HR Policies

It helps in evaluating and modifying the HR policies from time to
time. If there is any need to change or update any policy, HRIS will
help the organization in making the necessary changes.

Helps the Company to Detect Frauds, Mistakes, and Errors

HRIS also helps the company to detect the frauds, mistakes, and
errors made in the data recorded in the information system. It
checks all the frauds and corrects mistakes and errors wherever
required.

Benefits of an HRIS
As we discuss in our Digital HR Certificate Program, using an HRIS
has a number of clear benefits. Thatʼs why companies of all sizes
implement this tool to support their people operations. Centrally, the
HRIS holds employee information. A wide range of employee data is
then easily accessible, in one system.
● Record-keeping. An HRIS is a record-keeping system that

keeps track of changes to anything related to employees. The

HRIS can be seen as the single source of truth when it comes to
personnel data.
● Compliance. Some data is collected and stored for compliance

reasons. This includes material for the identification of

employees in case of theft, fraud, or other misbehaviors, first
contact information in case of accidents, citizens identification
 information for the tax office, and expiration dates for mandatory
certification. All this information can be stored in the HRIS. It is
essential that data is stored safely and securely, in line with
GDPR regulations.
● Efficiency. Having all this information stored in one place not
only benefits accuracy but also saves time. Some companies
still keep a lot of data about employees as physical paperwork.
Finding the right folder, and locating the right sheet, can take up
a lot of staff time.
● HR strategy. The HRIS permits the tracking of data required to
advance the HR and business strategy. Depending on the
priorities of the organization, different data will be essential to
track. This is where the HRIS shines.
● Self-Service HR. A final benefit is the ability to offer self-service
HR to employees and managers. This enables employees to
manage their own affairs. When done right, the HRIS can offer a
good employee experience. Keep in mind that not all HRIS
systems offer this in a user-friendly manner!
HRIS implementation
[. Search. Start your implementation by finding out what your
different stakeholders need from an HRIS. Based on these
requirements, you can create a list of potential providers. You
can then invite these providers to make proposals. Ideally, at the
end of this phase, youʼve chosen a suitable HRIS provider.
\. Plan and align. In this phase, you choose an implementation
partner, create a steering committee and an implementation
team. The steering committee usually consists of senior
delegates from your chosen HRIS provider, the HR director from
your organization, the internal project manager, and preferably a
senior user from your business (optional). The implementation
teamʼs main responsibility is working on the day-to-day tasks
that come out of the implementation.
a. Define and design. At this point, you need to specify your user
groups and map out your processes and workflows. Define the
functional and technical requirements for your HRIS
infrastructure, system, and security. Also, note that you might
need to build integration between your HRIS with other existing
systems during this phase.
b. Configure and test. In this phase, you need to create a core test
team to test your new HRIS and provide feedback for potential
improvements. After this, you should also create a user
acceptance test, where you can bring in a number of users to
provide final feedback.
c. Train and communicate. Before the Go-live moment, you will
need to prepare a training program for your technical staff, a
communication plan, a Frequently Asked Questions page, as
well as other support documents.
d. Deploy and sustain. Once all your support processes are in
place, you can officially launch your HRIS. Remember to
constantly collect feedback and to update your training material
in line with the evolving systems. Constant, accurate
communication is key here.

HRIS strategy

Compatibility with Existing Technology

In many cases, an HRIS is brought in after some HR functions have
already been automated using different tools. It is not always
necessary or prudent to scrap those systems in order to transition to
using just an HRIS; sometimes the best option is to integrate the
existing technology with the new HRIS. It is important to review the
pros and cons of both approaches and consider looking for an HRIS
that can be easily integrated with other systems if you decide that
you want to keep your existing programs.
Vendor Support and Stability
Vendors are a critical piece of the HRIS puzzle, as vendors are the
ones who can help you solve problems with the HRIS and can keep
the system running for years to come. If a vendor is new or unstable,
it may be wise to move onto a vendor with a proven track record so
that you do not end up high and dry if the vendor ends up going out
of business. Do research to find out the quality of the vendor
support from existing customers, including turnaround time for
requests.
The Ability of HRIS to Adapt to Company Growth
If you operate a stable business that performs well, chances are
good that your company may grow and expand at some point in the
future. Selecting an HRIS that is designed to adapt to the needs of a
growing business or that can be used by businesses slightly larger
than yours may help you to avoid the future headache of having to
acquire a completely different HRIS and start all over from scratch.
While your business may not grow or expand for several years, it is
good to think ahead and save complications later.
How Long HRIS Implementation Will Take
The expected HRIS implementation timeframe is an extremely
important consideration for selection. The longer and more complex
an implementation project, the more it costs your company and the
longer it keeps your employees from focusing on revenue-driving
activities. Information regarding HRIS implementation timeframes
may be obtained from vendors, but it may be wise to speak to
companies that have gone through the actual implementation
process in order to assess the accuracy of those estimates.
After finding out how long implementation generally takes for a few
different systems, it is helpful to figure out exactly how much time
your company can reasonably spare. This will help you to narrow
down your HRIS options and hopefully select an HRIS that truly
works to meet your companyʼs needs.
Recruitment and Onboarding
It is important to ensure that a new HRIS will meet all of the
recruiting and onboarding requirements of your strategy. Digitizing
both the recruiting and onboarding process can ensure that your HR
department not only has access to a wider pool of qualified
candidates but also allows hiring managers to immediately take
action to make an offer to the best possible recruits.
A HRIS can also streamline the onboarding process by allowing HR
managers to keep better track of all documentation. This can help
ensure that all legal requirements are met, all paperwork is filed
digitally in the same place, and determine compensation for new
employees.
Employee Engagement and Promotion
Another important strategy to consider when looking at a new HRIS
is your plan for keeping employees engaged and productive. The
new HRIS should offer features that allow HR managers to track
rewards and recognition given to employees, both financial and
non-financial. Your strategy to keep employees engaged and
productive is important to your overall HR strategy and the HRIS
should ease the work needed.
Employee career advancement and promotion is also something a
HRIS should include. Your companyʼs strategy for succession
planning can save time and money by negating the need to hire
outside talent for higher-level positions. The HRIS should be able to
manage the paperwork for the promotion process as well as training
programs, manuals, and other documentation employees may need
to perform their tasks and develop their skills.
Managing Employee Performance
Consider your HR strategy for monitoring employee performance
when you examine the features of a new HRIS. Digitizing annual
reviews is only part of what a HRIS can do for your HR department.
Your new HRIS should also assist your HR managers with the
process of setting goals for employees and tracking their progress
towards those goals.
Having a reliable method of viewing progress can help employees
stay motivated.
Modernizing HR
As the world becomes increasingly technology-oriented, itʼs
important to consider technology itself as a part of your overall HR
strategy. Not only does a HRIS help make your HR department more
efficient and free your HR managers from the more mundane tasks,
but a HRIS can also act as a part of the companyʼs image.
Employees, especially younger employees, may see a lack of
technology as a sign that your company may not be the best fit for
them. A company that uses technology to make both the running of
the company and its employeesʼ lives easier may be seen as being
more modern and with the times than companies that do not.

Employee Information Management

As day-by-day data is becoming one of the most significant assets
for a business, a rise in the threats to data security is also taking
place simultaneously.
The HR department maintains accurate data about employees,
including sensitive employee information and confidential business-
related data. Hence, managing and governing this data
systematically becomes very important, which cloud HRMS does by
providing you utmost security from any loss of data, information
security threats, and unauthorized access to data.
Data is centralized in one easily accessible point within the
software, rather than being scattered across infinite files and boxes
of employee data or complicated spreadsheets.
HR may spool out all accessible information about the organization
and its employee- from the total number of employees to the total
count currently on leave, pending fines, the date they joined, and
even filter data by department, age, salary groups, and other
factors.
This software also provides an employee self-service portal, giving
them access to log in and view important information and a
knowledge base of informative documents. This is one of the
important modules of HRMS.
Payroll Management
Every company needs to figure out the best way to manage payroll.
A disorganized payroll process jeopardizes the companyʼs
reputation by upsetting employees, causing legal issues, and
leading to the companyʼs downfall.
For a variety of reasons, having a payroll administration feature in
your HRMS is critical. The risk of overpaying, underpaying, and
other payroll challenges are avoided because the module is
integrated with the leave management and other important
modules.
HRMS online software can fulfill all the requirements concerned
with accounting and managing an employeeʼs payroll. It involves
accelerating the process of payroll, reimbursement of claims and
loans, facilitating view, accessing, and printing of pay slips,
customizing payroll reports as per requirement, and provisioning
benefits like gratuity and final settlement.
Recruitment and Onboarding
It is essential to implement a well-structured and smooth
recruitment and onboarding plan. According to Brandon Hall
Groupʼs study, companies with a good onboarding process can
increase new hire retention by 82 percent and productivity by more
than 70 percent.
Itʼs a known fact that labor costs are generally one of the highest
expenditures in any business. That is why optimizing recruitment
efforts with HRMS online software becomes a great help to
companies.
Cloud HRMS makes it fast and simple for post-hiring needs. It can
automatically sort all applications to save a lot of time from
managers to HR professionals. During the onboarding and training
phases, HRMS can also forward recruits to the next phase of the
hiring process, which is very efficient in terms of money and time.
Managing Attendance And Tracking Absenteeism
When you have a large workforce, efficient time and attendance
tracking become a very important aspect of a successful HR
strategy.
Outdated time and attendance tracking systems may cause havoc
at your workplace with wrong information flowing through your
records. Hence to overcome this drawback, HRMS online software
automates time and attendance management.
It reduces the possibilities of errors and eases the application of
complex rules. For tracking absenteeism, biometric identification is
incorporated that also keeps a check on ‘buddy punching.ʼ
Employee Benefits Administration
For some companies, the main reason behind using online HRMS
software is that it benefits the administration. It is so because it
reduces potential costs and saves time. This module includes online
open enrollment, management of the benefits life cycle, statutory
compliance, and automated communication of enrollment options
and information.
Workforce Management
Workforce management is all about providing timely information
and enabling employees to make the right choice in any of the
circumstances.
This plays a major role in managing and monitoring employee
benefits, healthcare, pension/welfare packages, tracking enrolment
options, etc. It includes features like automatic event management,
contribution breakdowns, legislative compliance, and a plan
comparison tool for aiding employee choices.
Performance Reviews & Appraisals
Employers can track how their employees contribute to attaining the
organizationʼs goals using the performance management module. It
allows you to track, monitor, and review employee performance to
increase organizational efficiency and deliver relevant feedback to
the employees.
Incorporating performance review software will help you set and
manage goals, schedule appraisal meetings, and provide you with
overall performance feedback.
HR Analytics
HR analytics refers to the process of measuring the impact of HR
metrics like revenue per employee, offer acceptance rate, training
efficiency, training expenses per employee, voluntary turnover rate,
involuntary turnover rate, time to hire, time to fill, absenteeism, and
human capital risk.
This module of HRMS integrates with other modules and systems to
generate reports through which one can get a broader view of the
overall performance so you can take the necessary steps.
Employee Scheduling
Everyone is aware of the fact that employee scheduling is a very
tedious job. Managers and HR personnel spend a lot of time
creating schedules for the following weeks, especially complex shift
patterns or a large workforce.
When problems in scheduling arise, the quality of work might be
compromised while wasting a lot of time. This module of HRMS
helps to prevent such situations by providing benefits, as it has
built-in scheduling software. It makes your priorities clear and
enhances efficiency in the organization.
Learning And Development
Training is one of the key functions that an HR department
performs. This module of HRMS makes you capable of having
documents uploaded, managed, and distributed for trainees
through web-based software.
It is integrated with employee performance goals and incorporates a
calendar function that helps instructors schedule training and
evaluations that are easily accessible to trainees. It facilitates them
to communicate with other trainees and instructors.
It includes features like- Learning portal, setting and managing
goals, individual user learning plans, streamlined learning
administration, and training recommendations linked to the role,
skillset, and career aspirations.
Talent Management
This module helps you in identifying the individuals who have
potential. It assists in setting up talent pipelines along with specific
roles and succession planning in mind.
It keeps an eye on attracting and retaining fresh talent, skilled
employees, and an efficient workforce with features like-
succession planning, integration with key recruitment campaigns,
alignment with organizational strategic business goals, reward
benchmarking (internal and external), and identification of career
paths and individual career planning.
Disciplinary Management
Without a single spreadsheet or piece of paper, your HR can ensure
compliance with the organizationʼs disciplinary policy, develop
escalation steps for disciplinary cases, administer penalties, track
ongoing cases, and refer to past instances using a disciplinary
management module.
Exit Management
You can provide a professional approach to employees leaving your
firm for any reason using the exit management HRMS module. You
can use the feature to monitor resignation requests, organize exit
interviews, track the offboarding process, and even develop exit
procedures based on your companyʼs policies.
The Roles of Human Resource Information Systems in Human
Resource Planning
Total Rewards
● One HR function that can benefit from the use of human
resource information systems is total rewards, which refers to all
components of the overall compensation model, including salary
and benefits. Your companyʼs HR department can more
effectively track and plan for changes to employeesʼ salary,
insurance, retirement and other benefits options using an HRIS.
Electronic records keep track of current expenses, and many
systems offer projection models and calculators that can help
you analyze the impact of various changes. This is especially
useful when preparing for annual increases or benefits open
enrollment.

Workforce Planning
● Human resource information systems keep track of critical
employee data such as demographic information, job titles and
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission identification
codes. Storing this information in an electronic database allows
you to analyze it more easily when working on recruitment
strategies, progression planning and affirmative action
programs. HR reps can quickly run reports to determine items
such as how many employees were hired last year, average
length of tenure and a breakdown of the employee population by
specified EEOC criteria such as gender and race.
Training and Development
● Small businesses also may look to an HRIS to assist with
training and development initiatives. Depending on the needs of
your company, you can use an HRIS to facilitate the annual
performance review process, to allow employees to sign up for
 company-sponsored training classes or to build a talent
inventory of what education, experience and training each
employee has. Having this information readily accessible by
managers and human resources representatives is an asset
when developing new training programs or when restructuring
departments or positions.
Risk Management
● Human resource information systems also minimize risks
and potential liabilities. This is accomplished by keeping
electronic records of items such as employee discipline notices,
safety training employees have received, accident logs and
workersʼ compensation claims. This data is analyzed by the HR
department to identify ways to improve workplace conditions,
safety training classes and disciplinary processes to ensure
compliance with all federal and state labor laws.
Other technology enablers
1. Big Data Powers Organizations
Ensuring compliance and avoiding risk are the two key underlying
aspects of every function and task. However, technology has
transformed the monotony through HR platforms that digitize the
information human resource needs. One such technological trend is
Big Data, which is helping HR professionals to understand their
customers, market to target audience group, and communicate with
prospective customers. When integrated with other technologies,
Big Data helps to gain deep insight and allows HR professionals to
make decisions powered by vital information.
Big Data gives HR managers a fact-based view of the current
workforce and helps them to identify emerging trends. Moreover,
analytics helps recruiters assess potential employees and let them
make better risk management decisions.
2. Mobile Apps are the Future
The smartphone has started to dominate the HR landscape. As the
workforces across various operations seek access to applications
via mobile devices, companies are considering adopting HR
systems. Delivering this kind of functionality implies that
organizations will consider HR applications with the mobilization
process and the interface that employees are looking for. More on,
the trend of creating applications that streamlines the basic HR
functionality continues to evolve.
3. Social Media – A Powerful Tool
Social media plays an active role in HR today, especially when it
comes to recruitment. Putting it into numbers, LinkedIn, the
foremost social network for finding jobs, has grown from having 414
million members in 2014 to its membership of 738 million in 2021
(LinkedIn, 2021).
HR departments use social media not only for recruitment but also
for employee engagement. It is considered as a prime source for
companies to reach their HR goals. It has become so prevalent that
35% of workers know of job openings through social media
(Jobvite, 2019) while 77% of recruiters find talent on LinkedIn and
63% leverage Facebook (My Perfect Resume, 2021).
Social media offers countless benefits to HR professionals and lets
them keep up with the news, technology, and trends. You can
nurture relationships by sharing industry knowledge. All these
reasons have made it an ideal platform to engage employees, build
relationships, and bolster communications in the workspace. More
companies will consider integrating applications with LinkedIn or
Facebook instead of developing corporate applications in the future.
4. Cloud Technology & SaaS
Be it a web or native application, SaaS apps play a key role in every
sector, including HR. Cloud-based applications are inevitable in
todayʼs business environment. Collection and data storage have
been so difficult until the evolution of the cloud. With the advent of
cloud technologies, all information, such as documents and other
pertinent data, can be easily accessed online. Employee information
can be archived and organized in a secure location.
5. Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT)
Most companies love the innovation that can make their products
work smarter. BYOT has become a new trend today, and companies
started embracing it due to the advantages it brings to businesses.
Among these are savings on the part of the company as they donʼt
need to provide employees with the hardware for work, and
convenience on the side of employees. It has been found out that
employees are better able to balance their personal and
professional lives when they use their own devices for completing
work tasks.
95% of companies are now allowing the BYOT practice (Techjury,
2020). With this, 67% of employees use their own devices at work.
However, companies are making sure that they have a BYOT
program in place and that their policies for protecting confidential
data or when an employee device is lost or stolen are followed.