Benefiting from online HR

Online human resources management systems offer organisations and employees considerable benefits, says Anthony Robinson, chief executive of Saratoga.

Keep your people briefed about the company and its plans - and how they fit into the bigger picture - and chances are they will be happier in their work. They are also likely to share with colleagues a heightened commitment to corporate objectives.

With everyone better informed and pulling together, the company will be poised to improve its competitiveness and profitability.

The old 'put it on paper' method is laborious and smacks of top-down aloofness, if not downright arrogance. One-on-one meetings and staff briefings may have the benefit of face-to-face interactivity. But the verbal route can lead to critical misunderstandings or mistakes in relaying and absorbing important company information. Timing and distance are often problematic as well, especially for staff employed at widely scattered branches.

Video conferencing is limited by cost, logistical and technical considerations.

To overcome all these shortcomings, companies are turning to online human resources management systems. The HRMS is Internet/intranet-based, and is accessible via a standard Web browser. It is an evolving solution that electronically manages HR processes, data and reporting through a central system.

South African solutions generally have two big advantages over multinationals' offerings. Firstly, they're tailored to domestic SA needs. Secondly, they come at a lower cost.

The benefits of online HR systems to both the organisation and the individual are considerable.

Putting all the company's HR functions and services on a Web-enabled system has an initial cost. Thereafter maintenance is relatively simple and inexpensive - and staff usually respond to the new system speedily and enthusiastically.

By simplifying and delivering as many HR services as possible electronically the company will ensure that, in this usually labour-intensive area of the business, it achieves optimum understanding and productivity.

For one thing, an HRMS frees decision-makers to give their full attention to the most pressing challenges facing the company. They can deal expeditiously with regulatory and policy issues. They can invest more time pursuing business development strategies and negotiating contracts. In short, they can tackle a broader array of top level tasks knowing that potentially time-consuming and costly HR matters are being managed online.

An HRMS also lifts much of the administrative burden from the shoulders of harassed HR personnel. Managers of HR departments, freed of day-to-day hassles, can concentrate on strategic issues that can add value to the organisation.

At installation time the system workflow can be mapped to provide a `best fit' to various business functions and procedures. Integrated workflow allows all HR transactions to be linked to relevant corporate processes - and can provide for all data and applications to be approved and reviewed by key people.

An efficient online HR system should be designed to interface with various leading payroll packages at the back-end. Ensuring no duplication of effort, no human error. Only critical data would then move between the HR and payroll systems. This would allow a company to manage payroll data in its payroll system and HR data in its new HR system.

Statutory reporting should be a standard function of any worthwhile HR online system. Business intelligence tools can add sophistication by incorporating, for instance, employment equity, skills development and other regulatory information.

Built-in reporting gives executives and managers up-to-the-minute information on company policies and procedures. In fact, it can be used to communicate with staff - wherever they may be in the world -- on all sorts of issues, developments and objectives.

Personnel can be kept up to date on all HR matters through e-mail notifications and reminders.

The great value of an online HR system to staffers must be its up-to-date accuracy and comprehensiveness. Whether at head office or in outlying branches, they must know they are getting the same immediate and reliable HR service.

Of prime interest to employees is the access that an HRMS system gives them to their own personnel and payroll records. Employee self-service (ESS) makes employees responsible for their own HR details. With management approval, ESS allows them to interrogate and manage those processes required to meet their basic employment needs.

The trust and confidence generated by up to date, accurate and immediately accessible online HR information will do any business, big or small, a power of good - in all kinds of ways.