The Human Resource Information System

The human capital is truly one of the most import valuable part of every business institution, therefore, it is essential and critical for a business to be adaptable to the growing need to invest in the proper management, development and preservation of its people. In line with this, a lot of companies nowadays, are using human resource information system (HRIS) as a simple database to store employee records and basic information. But HRIS, was not able to fully meet the successful management of human resources. And thanks to the rapid advancement of information and technology system, talent management systems have been created to help companies not only to store employee records and basic information but also cater various and complex HR functions in a simplified, effective and efficient way.

As mentioned in the article, talent management systems are generally considered to be comprised of four modules, also called “pillars” namely recruitment, corporate learning, performance management, and compensation management. And these four modules are being offered by vendors in one entire suite, however most companies rarely buy it because it is too expensive. So what they normally do is they purchase one module at a time not only to manage their cash outflow but to assess the capability of the system. And once proven that the purchased module is able to meet the companies’ requirements and expectations, they may opt to purchase another module until such time that the whole talent management system is fully implemented inside the organization.

For the first pillar which is recruitment, it is the basic foundation of HR function with the objective to meet both the needs of the company and the needs of internal and external applicants. In order to help them find the right candidate for the job, HR department uses traditional way by relying on job search engines such as Jobstreet and LinkedIn and also through head hunters. HR department must ensure that there is a right person for the vacant position. Because of this essential function, HR department must have a reliable tool or system to carry out their tasks effectively and efficiently. In line with this, the recruitment management software system will enable HR department to perform and facilitate their tasks in an advance and effective manner. This is because the system is designed to automate and simplify the processes from job opening to hiring new personnel through discovering, assessing, and selecting right fit candidate.

For the second pillar which is corporate learning, HR department’s function does not end with recruitment process. They must ensure that the hired personnel will have a continuing development of talents and skills. It is their responsibility to identify the need of each personnel inside the organization. A certain training / seminar is not applicable to all because each personnel has different level, position and job description. In addition, corporate learning nowadays are open to new ways to develop employees, trainings/learnings are not confined to the four corners of the office. Usually, they identify the appropriate training / seminar for each individual or group. Therefore it is essential that they maintain a database of all personnel’s learning path and career achievements. In line with this, learning management system will help HR department to keep track of the career development of each staff. It will also assist department head (e.g. Finance Department) to plan their workforce to temporarily replace someone that is enrolled in a certain training / seminar. I think that learning management system is also useful if there’s a need for internal promotion. It will enable them to easily assess potential personnel by checking the training and seminars that they’ve attended. The efficiency of the system will help them compare competitive personnel within hours instead of going through the traditional way of using manual tracker and various documents which will take them days or even months to accomplish. Corporate learning is essential to develop and push each employee’s fullest ability and capacity.

Following corporate learning, is performance management. Most companies are still using the common way of assessing the performance of employees, which is the annual performance review. This kind of assessment allows the manager and the employee to sit down and have a one-on-one discussion on the result of previous year’s performance based on pre-defined criteria where they need to agree on the identified accomplishments, strengths and areas for improvement. It also includes setting up of new goals and identifying tools that will help the employee achieve such goals. However, there is an increasing rate on the number of companies that perform frequent reviews, I think the reason for this is to identify if an employee requires coaching on areas where he/she needs improvement. Performance management is a great way to acknowledge employees who did well and showed dedication, commitment and excellence, but it also help the heads of various departments to be more open and encourage those employees that needs improvement. It will enable them to come up with fresh and innovate ideas that will motivate and bring the best of their people.

The last pillar is called compensation management. When handling various computations related to compensation, most companies are using Microsoft Excel instead of dedicated software. However, when there’s a wide information that must be analysed, there are available compensation management modules being offered in the market to automate the task. It will enable users to perform tasks, retrieve data and execute computations as directed. Excellent compensation management helps organizations in attracting employees, fire up better performance, promotes motivation and ensure retention of top talent. A top talent will have a hard time leaving the company if he/she receives what she deserves or even more. She will likely stay if the compensation is commensurate to his/her skills and experience and if he/she is being rewarded for valuable contributions for the growth and success of the company.

On the other hand, there is a talent management suite that include all four pillars mentioned above. Though it may be appealing for companies who have capacity and resources to purchase this suite, they still need to test, evaluate and raise all the relevant questions in order to come up with a wise and sound decision whether to purchase a talent management suite or one pillar at a time.