Human Resource Management Systems

Human Resource Management Systems, also called Human Resource modules, is a link between this management and information technology. The system provides a single, accurate view of all activities including recruiting, performance management, training and development and also compensation. This system reduces the workload of the department as well as increasing the efficiency of the department by standardizing the process. This department plays an important role in the smooth running of the company by tracking and analyzing the time keeping and work patterns of the workforce. There are a wide range of applications available to help the department in their tasks, making possible the automation of certain tasks and helping in the organization many other tasks.

The function to large extent is administrative and common to all organizations. Most organizations have formalized selection, evaluation and payroll processes. The function consists of tracking innumerable data of each employee from personal histories, data, skills, capabilities, experiences to payroll records. Organizations began electronically automate many of these processes by introducing the systems to reduce the manual workload. The executives depend on internal and external IT professionals to develop and maintain their systems due to complexity in programming capabilities and limited technological resources.

The invention of client server systems helped HR executives to take the responsibility and ownership of their systems. These client server HRMS are mainly developed on four principal areas of HR functionality. They are:

Payroll

The payroll module automates the pay process by gathering information of an employee such as time and attendance, calculating various deductions and takes, generating periodic paychecks and employee tax report.

Time and Labor Management Module

It applies the technology and methods to gather and evaluate employee work and time information. This module is the key ingredient to establish organizational cost accounting capabilities.

Benefits Administration Module

This module permits the professionals to administrate easily and track employee participation in programs ranging from healthcare provider, insurance policy and pension plan to profit sharing or stock option plans.

Management Module

It is the component covering all other aspects from application to retirement.

HRMS is a web- based system .Only a web browser (internet explorer, Netscape) is needed to access the system. It serves three categories of users:

Heavy user
This user's job includes entering, requesting and updating data. Transactions are submitted frequently.

Light user
A light user submits requests of updates infrequently i.e. a few times a day.

Self-service user
This category of user requests and updates his or her own personal data or visits services such as job listings infrequently.

HRMS merges the management as a discipline and in particular its basic HR activities and processes with the information technology field whereas the planning and programming of data processing systems evolved in to standardized routines and packages of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. As a whole these ERP systems have their origin on software that integrates information from different application in to one universal database which makes the software application both rigid and flexible.

It can convert human resource information in to a digital format allowing that information to be added to the knowledge management systems of the organization. The result of this is that the data can be integrated in to larger Enterprise Resource Planning systems of the enterprise. When the entire recruit to retire process is automated the HR team can concentrate on designing the workforce with the strategic objectives of the organization.