Whether you own a business or head the Human Resources department, you know what top talents can do. When armed with the right set of tools, they have the power to propel a business to success. Top talents, however, aren’t always easy to come by, which is why taking care of those you already have is important. One way to do that is to ensure that their HR needs are addressed in a timely manner.
Timeliness and accuracy being two important elements, it’s no surprise that a lot of businesses today, big or small, are employing the help of HR software solutions to simplify and streamline their HR needs, some of which being turnover reports, sick/vacation/bonus accruals, trainings and certifications, performance evaluations, benefits enrollment and updated contact information.
HR software – the benefits
If you haven’t yet joined the fray, you’re probably wondering what’s in it for you if you choose to implement an HR software. Here are some of the benefits:
- Increased productivity
Using an HR software to track every employee information and request (a routine task that happens within the HR department on a regular basis) saves you half the time it normally takes to do the process manually, which, then affords you more time to do more important stuff, like creating/revising employee training manuals, resolving employee conflicts, if any, planning team building activities, among others.
- Data accuracy
If there’s one thing that irks an employee the most, it’s HR not getting his/her information right despite multiple requests for erroneous fields to be corrected, especially if such errors are directly tied to benefits, tax exemptions, deductions and the like. With an HR software, you get one central repository of employee data that you can update as needed, and which can also be forwarded to other pertinent departments, such as Payroll, for example.
- Task distribution
Normally, when an employee sends in a request, say, for vacation leave, a sequence of tasks is set to motion. HR acknowledges the request, which, depending on your business protocols, then checks things with the Workforce Department or any such department overseeing the company’s service level and staffing requirements. Once approved, the employee is informed, and other necessary data tracking steps within HR are performed.
With an HR software, tasks are automatically created for each step, and then distributed to pertinent individuals through push notifications, reducing the need for constant follow-ups among the participants.
- Data tracking
In the leave request example above, data such as the employee’s available leave days, requested leave dates, and whether the request is approved or denied are involved. Alongside task distribution automation, data tracking can be automated as well, making yearly/monthly/weekly audits a breeze, as opposed to tracking every piece of data for each employee manually.
- Real-time visibility
Let’s say the business just hit the big time, and you’re in need of new employees, not just several but a good number of them. If you’re the HR head, naturally, you have to stay on top of things, particularly if there are hiring schedules and targets you need to strictly adhere to.
The right HR software is equipped with a central dashboard that gives you immediate visibility into the status of every task being undertaken by your staff, eliminating the need for board meetings and numerous status updates. This allows your people more time to actually get the job done.
Conclusion
Technology has come a long way, and the ability to address your workforce’s concern in a manner that doesn’t require them to jump through hoops is a big plus in taking your relationship with them to the next level. This way, they recognize that you value their contributions and that your HR department is willing to work with them, not just for them.
About the Author:
Maricel Rivera is a researcher and freelance writer currently writing web content for Comindware, a business solutions software provider. Comindware Tracker, Comindware’s core product, is a single software with pre-built templates that can be tweaked to suit your specific business needs, whether that be for HR, Finance, Sales and Marketing, Software Development, IT Helpdesk, and so many others.