Human Resource Management Purposes And Uses

HRMS stands for Human resource management system. It refers to systems and processes used to link between Human resource and information technology. This provides integrated system to give information used in HR decisions. It is also known as HRIS (Human Resource Information System). Technology and internet has transformed all of the business of the world and so is HR department. According to (Gara 2001) information systems help in keeping data and database accurate and updated and can easily be accessed in time of need. A lot of companies are paying attention on technologically handle HR matters and making manual work to computerized workflow. (Tannenbaum 1990) defines HRMS as a system that store, analyze and distribute data and information about a company’s HR.

HRMS has different aspects and organizations choose these systems according to the need of that organization. HRMS provides with the management of employees. It analyzes the reports of employees and provides management with the information about employees. HR is also responsible for staff handbooks and safety procedures and guidelines and HRMS has helped it in communicating it to all employees in organization.

Technology has provided human beings with vast amount of data and it can be analyzed easily and this is a valuable aid in HRM. It has helped in payroll processing to keeping records in organization. Technologies have helped in safekeeping of records and information and use it with ease and thus it also has helped HR department. HRMS systems consist of various management systems which help in making HR decisions. They include Payroll determination system, HRM information system, Recruiting system, Record of performance of employees, Self service system for employees and benefits administration system etc.

HRMS also is needed nowadays as workforce size is increasing and it’s a need of modern organizations and their structure. Also legal environment is also changing which has compelled the companies to implement technology in its departments.

Purpose of HRMS

According to (Kovach and Cathcart 1999), the purpose of HRMS is related to administrative and operational efficiency in the organization so that it reduces both cost and time. One research shows that the reports that took thirty hours to generate can now be generated in minutes using HRMS (Mathis and Jackson, 2002). Automation helps HR work to be done efficiently and with less paperwork and this efficiency improves HR operations.

The other purpose of HRMS is to provide analytical support (Kovach and Cathcart 1999). (Mathis and Jackson, 2002) called it as effectiveness and this purpose is more related to HR planning. HRMS helps HR in making decisions on information rather than on perception and intuition.

As per (Thite & Kavanagh 2006), the purpose of HRMS is giving service, and this service is in form of timely and accurate information to the users of the system.

(Wright, McMahan, Snell, & Gerhart, 1998) have classified HR activities in 3 categories:

Transactional i.e. day to day transactions which deal mostly with recordkeeping

Traditional i.e. recruiting, training, planning, and management of performance

Transformational i.e. which focuses on change e.g. cultural and structural change.

Most of the time spent in organization was on transactional activities and another purpose of HRMS is to automate transactional activities to reduce the time spent here and concentrate more on other categories.

As already mentioned the functions of HRMS, here are the purposes that these systems serve for HR.

The payroll determination system automatically calculates the employee pay from data of his work time and his attendance on job. This system itself deducts taxes according to the income of the employee and then issue pay cheques. Payroll system encompasses all transactions of employees and is also linked with FMS (financial management system) of an organization and it then makes changes in financial reports accordingly.

Recruiting is one of the primary functions of HR department. HRMS has provided HR department to analyze the potential person for the organization through recruiting process.

Record of performance of employees keeps the records for the performance of the employees within the organization and then it helps in determining the promotions, bonuses and other facilities to be provided to the employees. It also tells whether the employee is working efficiently and effectively or not.

Self service system gives some of the options to employees for their easiness. This system provides employee to see HR related data e.g. an employee can see his attendance using this system without consulting record keeper for attendance. Employee can also check his left vacations using this system. They also update their contact information through this system. This system gives immediate access to its payroll and benefits section and thus helped employees and saved their time.

These above mentioned systems helps HR department in decision making.

Uses of HRMS

Human resource management has many uses. The first is the automation which has improved the overall working of the HR department. It has helped in HR planning by providing organization charts. It also gives absenteeism analysis within a second and organization can easily analyze the reasons of employee’s absenteeism. It also has restructured the costs and made JD (job description) tracking easy.

HRMS also facilitates the Equal employment opportunities and helps in making action plans, tracking of applicants, work force utilization and availability analysis. These helps in determining that where job is necessary, how to hire and whom to hire etc. the basic thing is to hire the right number and right kind of person in the job of their kind at the time of need. It also helps in keeping the record of employees, what training they’ve been through and also it keep the interests of employees by career planning and their experience. Computer based training and job performance record of employee are also used in HRM. It also determines the employees firm will need in future.

HRMS systems also helps in recruiting process, computerized tests are being conducted for selection of employee and to test person’s potential skills. These tests and interviews and their results then are analyzed by HRMS. Then job schedules and job placement reports are generated through these systems and these systems help in selecting the right person for job by searching his skills.

HRMS automates those tasks which used to take a lot of time of HR department when done manually. This includes payroll calculations and determining the employee wages but now HRMS has automated these tasks and all things are being done using automated systems. It also automatically calculates the vacations and other benefits of the employees. It compares the salary and benefits given by firm with its competitors thus making compensation competitive in market. It also maintains the safety record books, accident record books and measures the standards for health, safety and security.

Another work of HR department is to report to government. Human Resource Management system keeps track of data needed by government agencies and produce records as per the rules and regulations and needed under the law.

Recommendations and Conclusion

HRMS play important role in Human Resource Management because it improves the functioning of HR department and help it in both administrative work as well as analytical work. The use of HRMS is increasing in the market and it gives competitive edge to the user.

After analyzing the purposes and uses of HRMS, what I analyze is that it is not about converting to HRMS or doing the things manually but it is about competition. If you want to stay ahead, no matter what you have to implement HRMS. If it’s implemented properly then it will become the strength of the firm.

Effective Human Resource Management System gives information about everything related to HR department. It tracks the current company employees, can check the information about old employees and other HR related things.

One thing to be kept it mind that first of all analyze the needs of the company and then search about HRMS systems in the market and choose the one which can fulfill all the company needs and then make changes and customize it according to your needs. Critical issues must be kept in mind during the implementation of HRMS and try to solve them accordingly to get the desired results.

So in the end what I think is that that it is not about to implement HRMS or not to implement HRMS but it’s the need of an organization to implement to it. This is about lowering your costs in the long run and gain more advantage of the technology. It’s about to remain competitive in the market place with others who are using modern technology

References

Gara, S. J. (2001). “How an HRIS can impact HR: a complete paradigm shift for the 21st century.” Society for Human Resource.

Tannenbaum, S. I. (1990). “HRIS: user group implications.” Journal of Systems Management, vol.41, pp.27-32.

Kovach, K.A., & Cathcart, C.E. (1999). “Human resource information systems: providing business with rapid data access, information exchange and strategic advantage.” Public Personnel Management.

Mathis, R. L., & and Jackson, J. H. (2002). “Human Resource Management” (10th ed.).

Thite, M., & Kavanagh, M.J. (2006), “Evolution of Human Resource Management and Human Resource Information Systems.” The Role of Information Technology.

Wright, P., McMahan, G., Snell, S., & Gerhart, B. (1998). “Strategic human resource management: Building human capital and organizational capacity.”

Kanthawongs P. (2003). “Does HRIS matter for HRM today?”

Web References:

http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossaryh/a/hris.htm (accessed: March 18, 2011)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resource_management_system (accessed: March 18, 2011)

http://www.nmatec.com/hrwise/what (accessed: March 22, 2011)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/46338080/Introduction-to-HRIS (accessed: March 25, 2011)