Is the potential of human resources software being overlooked?

A recent report revealed that while the business environment has changed over the past 20 years, the role of HR hasn’t evolved enough. Admin tasks required to adhere to legislation and compliance have resulted in a lack of focus on strategy.
 
LEEDS, U.K. - Sept. 14, 2015 - PRLog -- Straight talking from Ed Lawler, Professor of Business, USC and Author of "Effective Human Resource Management" who recently published an article on the Huffington Post website. Lawler quite frankly stated that, while the business environment has dramatically changed over the last 20 years, the role of HR hasn’t.  A long term study found that HR still allocates the same amount of time performing administrative activities as it did 20 years ago. Compliance and adhering to legislation can impact on HR’s influence on business strategy. A step change needs to occur in order to affect how talent is managed, recruited organised and rewards, in order for companies to continue to be productive.

While many industry leader are pushing for business to make the most of the data accessible to HR departments to help predict workforce behaviour to optimise productivity. This is despite that 40% of HR professionals are still using manual methods to record their personnel data and less than one in five (17%) HR professionals use analytics software.

Lawler calls for a more effective administration;

“The creation of this "organization effectiveness" function may be key to ending the criticism of HR for its failure to address key business issues in organizations.”

So how exactly can this be achieved? We have anecdotal evidence that the implementation of a decent HRMS can save up to 20 -30 hours a week in administration, which inevitably frees up resources to enable HR professionals to focus their attentions on more strategic HR strategies. The primary time saving comes from automated tasks, but also from the extensive and efficiency of reporting. The question is – Are all HRs ready to embrace this shift change, access a new level of data, analyse it and by more proactive on behalf of the organisation.

A survey commissioned by Cascade HR showed that 76.22% of respondents – from administrators to senior managers – believe HR’s strategic input still remains poorly acknowledged.

The statistics come as no surprise to the Cascade team, who, with nearly 700 clients throughout the UK, have long talked about these challenges.  But with discussions surrounding big data continuing apace throughout the industry, a potential turning point is looming, believes Cascade’s CEO Oliver Shaw.

“Some people no doubt think ‘big data’ is just the latest fad to hit the headlines,” he said. “However, as commentary unfolds as to the power of the metrics that HR has at its fingertips, it seems the concept is gradually attracting more attention. And this is important – complex data isn’t just for scientists and analysts anymore.”

If HR can pay attention to some of the data that so many senior business leaders don’t see, Shaw believes the profession could start to shed this long-standing frustration with the boardroom.

“I’m a big believer that HR professionals do hold the key to some much more powerful strategic thinking within private sector organisations,” he continued. “By interrogating the right data, for instance, they could aid much smarter resource planning. It would certainly capture my attention if someone told me how many people I had in work today, their productivity ratio, how many more people we need to fulfil our objectives, how many CVs we’d have to see and interviews we’d need to conduct to fill that gap, what our recruitment pipeline looks like, how long it will all take, and at what cost.”

When it is it works well. Through using HR Software, one client of Cascade HR rolled out an innovative new absence management strategy. It saved the company £291,000 as a result. But what was more remarkable, was the long term benefits the strategy brought to both the employer and the employees. By using the software to scrutinise absenteeism within the workplace, it identified those who suffered from long term illness and helped to integrate them back into employment under more suitable conditions.

For more information about HR Software contact us on 0113 255 4115 http://www.cascadehr.co.uk/hr-software/

Citations

Ed Lawler - HR: From Criticism To Destruction, Huffington Post 09.09.2015
HR Professionals not utilising analytics Software – HR Magazine posted 10.9.2015
EHR Software BuyerView | 2014 - softwareadvice.com
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Tags:Hrms, Hr Software, Human Resources Software
Industry:Human resources
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