We’ve written a lot about automating accounting and other core areas of business.
That’s great for a financial analysis. But the best way to understand and appreciate the operational side of your business is to manage staff with HR software too. Since HR influences every department and employee, the data it generates can be used to optimize every aspect of your operations.
Rolling out HR software presents at least 7 great ways to streamline and optimize operations, improve decision making, and drive efficiency and productivity across your organization:
Perhaps the most obvious means where HR software outperforms traditional paper files, databases and spreadsheets, is in providing one source for all the information for each and every employee within the organization. Since HR recruits, serves and monitors employees’ performance and development, there is a trove of data available to track on each person. Without automation, simple requests take up a disproportionate amount of HR staff time. Say, for example, requesting copies of previous payslips or check-ups on holiday time – both fair requests that HR is there to answer, but time consuming. A dedicated HR system allows a degree of self-service that an employee can use themselves, freeing up HR team members to devote their skills to more important tasks.
It may sound odd to “invest” in HR software – but since it increases the efficiency of the department and allows for a smaller HR team to serve more employees, that’s truly the right word to use. A typical company might employ one HR professional for every 50 to 100 staff. However, a well-integrated system with appropriate supervision and a workforce familiar with accessing it can enable each HR staffer to handle 30% to 60% more employees. This can save tens of thousands in wages every year.
In case you haven’t seen the latest and greatest HR automation packages, let’s be clear — HR software can do far more than automatically generate letters and payslips. The best packages provide a huge amount of collated data showing trends across the workforce. When used by your CFO, business advisor or financial analysis such data can be extremely valuable in answering questions about why and how certain departments are performing as they are. For example, a line manager has a large turnover of staff – is this just a statistical anomaly or is there a deeper reason? One team outperforms another each month even with more difficult tasks – is it a training issue or a leadership concern?
It is the potential for solving these qualitative issues using quantitative data that makes HR software so intrinsically valuable.
On a more immediately practical use for day-to-day operations, HR software incorporates the possibility of setting up an employee database, in which every employee will have a profile, a brief list of their roles and duties, and of course, contact information. This encourages working in partnership across departments and can be especially useful for staff when they are working off site.
Paper – and even electronic – trails may not be enough to protect the company should a legal issue arise between them and an employee. Imagine a scenario where a line manager claims to have never been offered training to perform a health and safety seminar and an accident occurs in their department. They may claim never to have received a letter or read an email – HR software demands that such messages are reciprocated as being read and understood by the respondent and will notify staff of any excessive delay. In an increasingly litigious workplace this can be an invaluable safety net should the worst case scenario arise.
A good HR system incorporates the same level of security used by financial institutions and governments – not only are they extremely secure but they are also backed up on remote servers. So even if there was a disaster and the onsite storage was destroyed by fire, the HR data will be immediately recoverable as soon as operations are ready to recommence.
Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you to tie in all your automated systems to the centralized accounting and/or dashboards in your business. Generating data is great — but only if you are able to use it efficiently and regularly. Establish clear reporting and trend-tracking procedures… and make sure that the HR function is measured not just in operational terms, but also in financial terms. Having deep data on HR will make this a cinch.
So when you’re ready to automate & computerize, don’t let HR get left behind. Valuable benefits await those companies bold enough to capture, store and report the goldmine of data that resides inside the Human Resource department.
Dedicated to your success
– FUSE FINANCIAL PARTNERS
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8326 Pineville Matthews Rd #407
Box #473831
Charlotte, NC 28226
Phone: (980) 819-0510
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