Human management systems (HRMS) entail vital connection between human resource and information technology. The system combines HRM and particularly its primary HR functions with information technology aspects, while the data processing system gets developed into standardized usual patterns and packages of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software (York and Tyson, 1996). These EPR systems emanate from software that joins information into unified worldwide database.
The system facilitates automation of duties that concern human resource management. The advantage is that it minimizes the manual work load of the human resource department, and also enhances standardization of the many processes in the entire department as it accelerates effectiveness and efficiency. Efficiency is of essence in the HR department as a number of tasks take place with minimal interruptions and hitches.
In most cases, the human resource department goes about its businesses without much notice from other departments. It is only when problems emerge that attentions go to it. This shows that most organisations do not prioritize their HR departments. Consequently, they deprive HR departments full space of exhibiting their potentials in the organisation.
The system controls all the company’s activities that include training and development, compensation, recruiting, and performance management. It aims at meeting the needs of the human resource component of companies and industries. Therefore, it facilitates the management of significant aspects of staff work effectively.
However, the system reduces the HR department workloads and accelerates the efficiency of the department through standardising HR processes. In addition, the system is able to perform tasks of tracking and analysing time management, and work patterns of the employees. These applications come in a wide variety of platforms for aiding the department manage their tasks and facilitate the automation of various duties. Therefore, organisations cannot do without them.
The HR function’s reality
The HR department assumes a relevant position as it portrays the company’s development and integrity. The core duties of the HR department involve evaluation of the company’s activities and monitor the work trends of the company’s workforce. The human resource department works in collaboration with the higher management so as to invent business plans and strategies that facilitate the growth of key business elements.
Human resource functions remain extensively administrative and similar in every organisation. Processes of selection, promotion, evaluation and payroll are official in a number of organisations. Effective management of human capital seems an imperative and complicated task for most HR professions.
However, their tasks range from tracing countless data of each employee, employee’s background, their knowledge and skills, capabilities, experiences and payroll accounts. In order to reduce manual workload associated with HR tasks, organisations opt for electronic automation through the introduction of new and creative HRMS/HCM technologies.
With complexities that come along with the programming of the system, IT professions stepped in to maintain, and develop HRMS. Prior to the introduction of client servers in 1980s, the mainframe computer provided “the automated system for the HR and handled enormous amounts of data transactions” (Chaudoir, 2008).
Consequently, the internal developed HRMS could only operate in large and medium organisation due to the high cost of capital investments in the purchase of the propriety software. The arrival of the client server HRMS empowered the HR to have authority over their systems.
The server development revolves around four key areas of HR functionality they include: payroll, benefits administration, HR management, time and labour management. The four basic tasks of the HR department define the HRMS software systems. They have modules that capture the requirement of each responsibility.
Payroll Module
Management of a company’s workforce payroll proves to be an imperative and demanding task for the HR department. Payroll is the average amount of funds a business pays its workforce over some given amount of duration. If done manually, it is confusing that is the reason why organisations prefer an individual handling the process rather than multiple persons. If carried out wrongly the consequences are enormous audit, finances and accounts associated conundrums (Chaudoir, 2008).
The module for HRMS facilitates provision of useful services meant to automate the processes of payroll. They promise quality work carried out on time and mistake free. At the basic levels, the module works together with manual forwarding of the employees working hours, the reporting to work data, based on paper time sheet that the employees fill.
In advanced payrolls systems, systems automatically track the employees’ working hours via a tracker attached to the employees’ computer. The HR enter employees’ data into the system then the payroll module calculates the employees’ average pay, and income tax deductions before generating the final salary and tax report.
Time and Labour Management Module
This is a significant tool that aid in putting together and evaluating the workforce information for the purpose of business cost accountability. The result of combining the data from the time keeping systems and the date available from the payroll module facilitates the presentation of comprehensive data to the upper management, exhibiting the labour resource in the organisation.
When managers utilise the time and labour management module, they conserve time to automate duties that previously seemed tiring task such as responding to time off requests, preparing payrolls and collection of data. The system facilitates the manager handling only data from employees they can manage. This leaves managers with more time for making the firm’s project successful and handling productivity.
Benefits Administration module
The HRMS benefits administration module gives way to the HR department, to oversee and make changes regarding the employees involvement with benefits associated with the program. These programs vary, ranging from programs developed in favour of the employees such as pension plan programs, health insurance, and some other programs that focus on accumulating profit, for instance profit sharing and stock option.
Human Resource Management Module
This module facilitates simple and efficient data organisation systems. It enhances putting together of the workforce population data affecting production of business technology and future goals. This aids the human resource department in handling its human labour resources, and constantly monitoring the employee’s degree of capability that ought to run parallel to the workforce skills and qualifications.
Kramer, Ringling and Yang note that advanced HRM modules have the capacity to automate the application processes for “certain post through categorising the general data and doing away with matches through to any relevant database” (Kramer, Ringling and Yang, 2006).
The above modules are relevant and beneficial to the business. HRMS enable business to convert human resource data into electronic mode. This results into data merging with larger data pools within the business. Effectiveness and efficiency result from human resource data integration into the field of business resource planning. In developing business strategy, efficient workforce data remain relevant. Firm HRMS displays scales that range between effective management decisions and avoidable executive errors.
Benefits of HRMS
The HR modules have benefits of enhancing operation and efficiency in the HR department as well as the entire organisation. HR modules can change information available on human resources into a digital format. This process enables such information to be parts of the knowledge management system in an organisation. This means that such data from the HR department can form of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.
When analysing the entire enterprise general resources and their usages, HR data forms part of the valuable data for analysis. For instance, HR data analysis can focus on time usage among the workforce so as to enhance decision making process of the organisation. Therefore, HR department becomes a part of the wider organisational decision-making processes (Kramer, Ringling and Yang, 2006).
HR modules help in automating HR functions and processes. A number of enterprise resource planning software exist that can automate the work of HR department. A part from HR modules solutions, there are also other modules, dealing with areas of finance and manufacturing. HR modules are parts of the wider ERP systems that focus on Human Capital Management. Such solutions help the organisation plan, align and enhance HR objectives in the entire context of the organisational strategies.
HR modules help organisations achieve certain advantages relating to recruiting and retaining of key personnel for the organisation. At the same time, such systems help improve decision-making processes and avoidance of risks. Most organisations have achieved superior performance and their corporate objectives by recruiting, training, and retaining their key workforce.
HR modules can help an organisation align career plans, pay and performance as ways of identifying and retaining key personnel. Identification and management strategies of HR trends have helped most organisations enhance their decision-making abilities. This enables organisations to adapt HR processes quickly with “the dynamic industry needs and reduce chances of operational risks” (Masters and Kotsakis, 2008).
In terms of service delivery, HR modules create opportunities for an organisation to offer support services to both management team and the workforce. HR managers rely on their portals for active involvement in “recruitment, deployment of employees, managing compensation processes, departmental budgeting, and other areas of HR functions so as to implement their policies and procedures” (Masters and Kotsakis, 2008).
Workers mainly use their portals to seek information, tools and services that enable them perform their jobs in a better manner. ERP modules provide opportunities for sharing services through deployment of a uniform solution across the entire organisation that can support various departments such as finance, business strategies, and information technology (Masters and Kotsakis, 2008).
HR modules have capabilities of supporting various areas of Human Capital Management related to talent management areas. Competency management has a wide scope that HR modules cover. It covers such areas as identification and optimisation of both short-term and long-term skills needed, creating competence log, and identifying key competency areas an organisation requires.
Some HR modules have the capabilities of supporting end-to-end recruitment process and aligning recruitment processes as required. In this context, the HR modules can support the tracking system and combine internal and external job requirements. This reduces recruiting and sourcing costs. HR modules that support performance management look at an individual’s objectives, organisational objectives, and a benchmark appraisal system.
Organisations can rely on the HR modules that have capabilities of integrating employees’ data, planning, and administration processes into one platform. In the HR department, core functions include managing the workforce, payroll and benefits.
Areas of workforce management cover information, deployment, and execution of organisational strategies. In the context of benefits and payroll management, HR department tracks, plans, prepares, and implements various definitions of individuals’ benefits and payroll, which may be different depending on the size of the organisation.
HR modules also perform workforce analysis. Most HR modules have extensive analytic tools that can plan and measure goals of the HR department and other units of the organisation, such as business and finance units. Such HR modules can provide a detailed account of employee planning and talent management.
This may cover areas of budgeting, headcounts, and demographic factors in an organisation. HR modules that account for analysis of talent take into consideration cases of efficiency of recruiting procedures and effectiveness of internal processes that recruits encounter.
In conclusion, HR modules use technology to streamline the core areas of HR functions that include payroll, benefits management, HR management, and time and labour management. The HR modules can rely on the Internet capabilities such as communication and workflow path and change the HR data into Web-based elements of the larger ERP system. This can enhance efficiency in the organisation by reducing costs of HR processes.
The HR modules move the HR functions away from the paper system to self-service functionalities that provide a wide range of benefits to employees, management team, HR department, and the entire organisation. Key areas of HR modules have been time and cost management as these are the main areas that account for most of the HR functions and resources.
The system can help HR department handles matters related to workforce data, costs, benefits, training, processes, access to information, and provisions of instructions. Employees can personally handle such issues so as to reduce HR processes time and costs leading HR effectiveness in service deliveries. As a result of efficiency, HR department can use few resources in managing its administrative functions and spend the rest of the time and resources creating and implementing strategic HR policies that can enhance business innovation.