Using a paper-based system for HR was once very common. However, not only is this bad for the environment, but it can be very slow to achieve anything. For those running a small business, a lot of time can be saved by using a dedicated software-based HR system. Even if you only have a couple of employees, the benefits can still be worth-while.
HR systems, or HRMS, typically cover most basic HR functions:
- Employee Database
- Team organisations
- Sickness, annual leave, and other time off records
- Company and employee files and documents
If you?re not already using software for your HR requirements, here are some of the top reasons to start today.
1: Stop Wasting time on HR
Storing all your employee information in one place saves you time. It can be frustrating to have to look through different files to find the information you need at any one point. In an HR system, your data is all to organised together for you. This can speed up lots of employee-based tasks.
Organised HR Data
Not only is everything in one place, but it is also co-ordinated to be more useful. Even if you are already using spreadsheets or calendars to track certain employee details, HR systems can streamline your processes. By collecting all your employee information into a single place, it can be looked at from different points of view. You can see a single employee as a whole ? their personal details and their calendar ? or you can see the calendar for your entire organisation. You don?t need to look in different places for different things.
Faster sick and holiday leave management
Paper-based holiday systems are incredibly slow. When an employee requests some holiday, you need to check every other employee?s paperwork to make sure there are no reasons to turn down the request. This problem is even worse if you have more than one office or location. Where is the paper stored? Who does the checking?
On the other hand, HR systems allow you to see the holiday of all employees immediately. Some even highlight overlaps in holiday requests automatically, so you don?t even need to check yourself.
2: Accurate Records and Employee empowerment
Most HR systems have self-service features built-in. This means that employees can login to the system themselves to update their records. Your employees know their address, their next of kin details, bank account details and more. By letting them provide these details, you not only empower your employees, but you ensure that you have accurate records too.
3: Better communication with employees
One of the main side effects of streamlining HR tasks, as described above, is improved communication with your employees. When an employee requests time off, you will be able to approve it much more quickly. This not only saves you time, but your employees won?t feel neglected or worried about their request.
4: Cost savings
HR systems are very cost-effective. The time you and your employees save on updating and searching paper-based files ? not to mention the cost of paper itself ? will easily cover the cost of a typical HR system.
Conclusion
The are many more benefits to using an HR software system compared to sticking with paper or spreadsheets, and these are just our top examples. Most businesses that start using an HR system tend to start for just a single benefit ? improved holiday management perhaps ? but soon find that they are rewarded with so much more: Company policy document sharing, staff performance reviews, reporting across their employees and so much more.
