Introduction.
Human Resources Information System (HRIS) is an online or computer based solutions that integrate the human resource management with software to increase the efficiency within a business. The HRIS allows the company to plan its Human Resource Management (HRM) in a more efficient and cost friendly approach. The system improves decision-making efficiency in HR to improve the quality and productivity of both the employees and the managers.
The HRIS brings together the HRM activities under a single system. A good HRIS will manage the employee’s data, make reports and analyze of employees information and process documents related to employees. (Demand Media, 2011). Administration of benefits, integration of payroll and other accounting software’s and applicants C V management and any other service that fits the business are integrated as well.
The HRIS save time for the HR managers instead of appending many hours dealing with non-strategic issues of management such as traveling to workplaces or other departments of the same business. The system allows information exchange with greater ease through single locations of announcements, web links and company policies. This helps to reduce redundancy within the business since it can be accessed from any point.
The HRIS system chosen should fit their goals, objectives and mission to accommodate its future needs and its success. The HRIS should be flexible and provide customization to the business needs throughout the life of the business.
Business assessment.
Castle’s Family Restaurants is a California based food outlets with eight branches that offer fast food services to their customers. The restaurant plans to expand and open up ten new branches in the next five years of which four restaurants will be opened before the end of the year. (Demand Media, 2011). The new restaurants shall be located in the neighboring states of Nevada and Arizona which will provide new services that are not currently being offered.
The restaurant has a current workforce of 357 employees, of which 140 are full time-based and the rest on part time basis. The company projects the number of employees will increase in the next five years of their expansion strategic framework to an average of 1150 employees.
The current Human Resource Management is centralized to one manager, and there is no information system that assists the manager to carry out his administrative functions effectively. (HR payroll systems, 2013). The HR administrative functions are under one HRM who oversees the activities in all the restaurants. The manager travels to each and every restaurant to oversee the operations.
HR Problems identified.
The challenges that Castle’s Family Restaurants are facing are usual hurdles that a fast growing business encounter. The family business ownership structure does not include professionals in early stages but the family members irrespective of skills. These should change with time as the business grows and accord them to professionals with the right skills and expertise in HRM, management, accounting and technical services. Castle’s Family Restaurants should differentiate HRM from operations management for smooth running of the business.
There is only one manager to take care of more than 350 employees in different localities that involves a lot of non-strategic activities such as traveling and unnecessary cost implications in managing the workforce. With other operational duties, the manager alone cannot manage the workforce appropriately.
The HRM management is not computerized to allow easy and effective management of resources. The HRM operations are carried out on different platforms that make it expensive, time costly and ineffective. (Husain, Wallace, & Cornelius, 2007, p. 17)The excel spreadsheets are prone to manipulation hence unsecure platform for payroll services. The hiring, recruitment and attending to the employees are done at the restaurants that are located far away.
Lack of the information technology platforms to improve the efficiency of the human resource management. Scrutinizing the job qualifications manually from hundreds of resumes from potential employees and shortlisting is a tedious process at this age and time. The HR managers have to write reports from all these employees, and this traditional way is quite inefficient and expensive.
Security of the employee’s and business data are not safe. Saving them on spreadsheets and documents are prone to loss, deletion, manipulation or misuse from anyone who gains access to the computer. Innovative ways of managing this information is necessary to reduce the chances of data infiltration.
HRIS needs assessment.
The primary objective of HRSI is to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of HRM. The system automates the standard functions and improves service delivery. The system captures information and retrieves the information conveniently when needed. These ensure the decisions made by the HRM are for the good of the business.
Human Resource Information System will resonate all the HRM activities on one platform that will allow the HR manager to oversee the operations of all the restaurants virtually. The system is a web-based platform that is fed with employee's data analyzes, processes and this data using several software fitted to the system. (Kossek, Young, Gash, & Nichol, 1994, p. 87)These means that the HR managers can do their operations for any one outlet center at the comfort of their couches and minimize tedious traveling and manual operations.
The HRSI creates an online recruitment where the system receives the resumes and shortlists the candidates with just a single hand on the computer. The manager only meets few shortlisted applicants for interviews. The manager will no longer need to travel to the restaurants to oversee the hiring process hence save gasoline costs and save time for the manager that will increase the productivity.
The HRIS system is integrated with payroll system that allows real-time processing of payroll to ensure accuracy and offers flexibility. Live processing offered by many HRIS allows instants audits and reduces the processing time with more than 40 %. Synchronization with ledgers, attendance systems and faster payroll processing of HRIS will significantly improve the efficiency of payroll services. The flexibility of these systems allows you to reduce errors instead late detections that might be costly. The payroll system is secure and not prone to manipulation.
HRSI allows the employees to update their information on the system, and this lightens the HR managers’ workload. The employee’s data necessary for promotions or any other purpose is facilitated by the system. The system allows the managers to obtain data they need to legal or ethical support in report writing.
Conclusion.
HRIS is a managerial tool that all the HR managers need to adopt and use in their daily operations to improve efficiency and reduce the costs in HRM. The systems bring all the HRM operations on one platform accessible from homes and offices. (Winkler, König, & Kleinmann, 2012, p. 21). The HRM no longer needs to travel to all the outlets to oversee the operations but most of the duties such as recruitment, placements. Moreover, the interaction with the workers can be carried out virtually through this system.
The Castle’s Family Restaurants is growing at faster pace and employees are expected to double in the next five years. The management of this resources will require efficient and sustainable HRM approach that will maximize their productivity while reducing the HRM cost. HRIS will help the restaurant achieve its goals and objectives by offering a viable and efficient platform to manage the human resources.
References
Demand Media, B. (2011, June 23). Factors to Consider When Developing a Human Resource Information System. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/factors-consider-developing-human-resource-information-system-60470.html
HENDRICKSON, A. R. (2003). Human Resource Information Systems: Backbone Technology of Contemporary Human Resources. Journal of Labor Research.
HR pay roll systems., D. (2013, October 3). human resource management information technology. Retrieved from http://www.hrpayrollsystems.net/hris/
Hussain, Z., Wallace, J., & Cornelius, N. E. (2007). The use and impact of human resource information systems on human resource management professionals. Information & Management.
Kossek, E. E., Young, W., Gash, D. C., & Nichol, V. (1994). Waiting for innovation in the human resources department: Godot implements a human resource information system. Human Resource Management.
Winkler, S., König, C. J., & Kleinmann, M. (2012). What makes human resource information successful? Managers' perceptions of attributes for successful human resource information. International Journal of Human Resource Management
