Overview of human resource information system

Mohammad Mosaddek Hussain The span of commercial organisations and companies are growing day by day in almost every sector. A large number of employees need to be deputed to attain the goal of the organisations. In doing so, we have to collect and store all information about employees of all categories. An effective Human Resource Information System (HRIS) may help us retrieve ready reference about any employee but creation and maintenance of this system is not easy. Trained and experienced Human Resources (HR) staffs have to be deployed to maintain and practice the HRIS. On the other hand, HR department requires detailed information about the personnel of the organisation. Furthermore, the success of Human Resource Management (HRM) department depends upon the quality of information collected and stored by them. Competent HR professionals need to be devoted to obtain and update employee databases incorporating necessary information such as: detailed biographical information; existing skills of individual employees; future needs of HR in the organisation; current productivity of HR; identifying training needs of employees; contact address of kith and kin; and antecedents of previous service and personal activities. Needless to say that collection, storage and retrieval of information plays a very effective role for the management in taking various decisions. Once the database is created, maintenance and its use would become an easy task provided data security and privacy of employees can be safeguarded. HRIS may be defined as a systematic way of storing data and updated information for each individual employee to aid planning, decision making and for reporting to external agencies. Moreover, various types of information are necessary for internal control, feedback, corrective measures and for statutory obligation. Main objectives of HRIS: (a) obtain up-to-date data and to preserve data of individual employees for ready reference and for future use, (b) providing a basis for planning, organising, decision-making, controlling and functions related to HR management and administration, (c) meet day-to-day transactional requirements such as counting daily attendance, leave, etc., (d) supply employee data and submitting tax returns to the government and other statutory agencies as and when necessary. Besides the above, the HR department can store files and data with other departments as and when necessary. There may be new additions made in the HRIS. Moreover, a HRIS would have to be designed around a database comprised of employee and position records as a whole. Access to the database could be in batch mode or through on-line transactions, with ad-hoc enquiries being satisfied by a report writer. Different types of standard reports, such as age analysis, absence reports, salary review reports and employees' full profiles could be used to facilitate the day-to-day functioning of the organisation. Several steps should be followed in setting up a HRIS. These are: (a) Inception of data: Keep in mind that data must originate somewhere. The data originator should make a primary report showing the justification of introducing HRIS. (b) Survey and feasibility study: The current system should be studied critically to identify the problem areas and the probable benefits of the HRIS. Simultaneously, a cost-benefit analysis of HRIS should be carried out in terms of labour and material utilisation. (c) Selection of project team: While the feasibility study report has been accepted and the resources are allocated to this end, a very competent team should be deputed to run this project. The project team should consist of a HR representative, knowledgeable about the HR functions and activities of the organisation and representative from management information system. (d) Determination of requirements: A detailed statement of requirements specifies exactly what the system needs to do, the objective here being to make sure that the mission of the HRIS is properly aligned with the needs of the management. (e) Vendor analysis: This step helps to determine what types of hardware and software are applicable that will best meet the needs of organisation with a minimum cost. This is a very complex task. It involves discussions with various vendors on how their HRIS will meet the various needs of the organisation. (f) Negotiation of contract: Contract basically deals with the cost, delivery; vendor's responsibility with regard to installation, service maintenance, training of employees etc. (g) Employee training: Initally, project personnel should be trained to use the system and they could train all users within their departments and sections. (h) Tailoring the system: This system involves making changes to best fit the needs of the organisation. (i) System to be tested: Testing is to verify output of HRIS and make sure it is doing what it was designed to do. All reports need to be examined and critically analysed to measure accuracy. (j) Scrutiny and inception: Even after testing the whole system, often some tiny errors surface during the start-up. This type of errors should be rooted out immediately. (k) Running in parallel: For security reasons, the new system is run in parallel with the old till the new system stabilises, and the employees gain confidence in its operation. (l) Maintenance: It is observed that this system normally takes several months for the HR people to get acquainted with HRIS. (m) Performance audit: After a year or so, the project team should audit the performance of HRIS and if required, corrective measures would have to be taken as soon as possible. How the HRIS benefits an organisation: This system ensures higher speed in retrieving and processing of data; reduces duplication and processing of data that minimises cost; facilitates in classifying and re-classifying data; aids in better analysis for effective decision making; ensures higher accuracy in information and data, report etc.; facilitates in bringing improved quality of reports; creates better work and corporate culture. And finally this System creates more transparency in the organisation. Barriers of HRIS: Often we see the benefits of computerised HRIS but it has also some practical problems which need to be addressed. These are: a) It is very expensive in terms of money and personnel requirement. b) It may prove bothersome and inconvenient to some employees who are not accustomed to the progressive use of computers and latest devices. c) It is obvious that the personnel designing HRIS often do not have a thorough knowledge and understanding of what constitutes quality information to the users in the current job situation. Thus the users do not get the exact reports as per need. d) Needless to say that computer cannot substitute the human brain. It is a given fact that human intervention is a must to run any organisation or machine-- computer can at best aid the human effort. The "Garbage-in Garbage-out" (GIGO) is the key expression in any computerised system. There is no denying the fact that information is a vital element to management. Accurate, timely and relevant data is necessary for various decision making processes. Being the key to employee productivity, competitive strength and corporate excellence, information is recognised as the greatest resource for the organisation. Undoubtedly, a well-designed and comprehensive HRIS provides the necessary data within the shortest possible time at a reduced cost. Computerised HRIS is, therefore being increasingly used in organisations and its benefit and competency in handling human resources will help the organisation in its further growth. The writer is secretary of the Popular Medical College. He can be reached at email: mosaddekshaheen@yahoo.com