,

1he Puman 8esource lnformaLlon SysLem (P8lS) ls a sofLware or onllne soluLlon for Lhe daLa
enLry daLa Lracklng and daLa lnformaLlon needs of Lhe Puman 8esources payroll
managemenL and accounLlng funcLlons wlLhln a buslness normally packaged as a daLa base
hundreds of companles sell some form of P8lS and every P8lS has dlfferenL capablllLles lck
your P8lS carefully based on Lhe capablllLles you need ln your company

1yplcally Lhe beLLer 1he Puman 8esource lnformaLlon SysLems (P8lS) provlde overall

* ManagemenL of all employee lnformaLlon
* 8eporLlng and analysls of employee lnformaLlon
* CompanyrelaLed documenLs such as employee handbooks emergency evacuaLlon
procedures and safeLy guldellnes
* 8eneflLs admlnlsLraLlon lncludlng enrollmenL sLaLus changes and personal lnformaLlon
updaLlng
* CompleLe lnLegraLlon wlLh payroll and oLher company flnanclal sofLware and accounLlng
sysLems
* AppllcanL Lracklng and resume managemenL

An effecLlve P8lS provldes lnformaLlon on [usL abouL anyLhlng Lhe company needs Lo Lrack and
analyze abouL employees former employees and appllcanLs ?our company wlll need Lo selecL
a Puman 8esources lnformaLlon SysLem and cusLomlze lL Lo meeL your needs

WlLh an approprlaLe P8lS Puman 8esources sLaff enables employees Lo do Lhelr own beneflLs
updaLes and address changes Lhus freelng P8 sLaff for more sLraLeglc funcLlons AddlLlonally
daLa necessary for employee managemenL knowledge developmenL career growLh and
developmenL and equal LreaLmenL ls faclllLaLed llnally managers can access Lhe lnformaLlon
Lhey need Lo legally eLhlcally and effecLlvely supporL Lhe success of Lhelr reporLlng employees


9
1he funcLlon of Puman 8esources deparLmenLs ls generally admlnlsLraLlve and common Lo all
organlzaLlons CrganlzaLlons may have formallzed selecLlon evaluaLlon and payroll processes
LfflclenL and effecLlve managemenL of Puman CaplLal progressed Lo an lncreaslngly
lmperaLlve and complex process 1he P8 funcLlon conslsLs of Lracklng exlsLlng employee daLa
whlch LradlLlonally lncludes personal hlsLorles skllls capablllLles accompllshmenLs and salary
1o reduce Lhe manual workload of Lhese admlnlsLraLlve acLlvlLles organlzaLlons began Lo
elecLronlcally auLomaLe many of Lhese processes by lnLroduclng speclallzed Puman 8esource
ManagemenL SysLems P8 execuLlves rely on lnLernal or exLernal l1 professlonals Lo develop
and malnLaln an lnLegraLed P8MS 8efore Lhe cllenLserver archlLecLure evolved ln Lhe laLe
1980s many P8 auLomaLlon processes were relegaLed Lo malnframe compuLers LhaL could
handle large amounLs of daLa LransacLlons ln consequence of Lhe hlgh caplLal lnvesLmenL
necessary Lo buy or program proprleLary sofLware Lhese lnLernallydeveloped P8MS were
llmlLed Lo organlzaLlons LhaL possessed a large amounL of caplLal 1he advenL of cllenLserver
AppllcaLlon Servlce rovlder and SofLware as a Servlce SaaS or Puman 8esource ManagemenL
SysLems enabled lncreaslngly hlgher admlnlsLraLlve conLrol of such sysLems CurrenLly Puman
8esource ManagemenL SysLems encompass

1 ayroll
2 Work 1lme
3 8eneflLs AdmlnlsLraLlon
4 P8 managemenL lnformaLlon sysLem
3 8ecrulLlng
6 1ralnlng/Learnlng ManagemenL SysLem
7 erformance 8ecord
8 Lmployee SelfServlce

1he payroll module auLomaLes Lhe pay process by gaLherlng daLa on employee Llme and
aLLendance calculaLlng varlous deducLlons and Laxes and generaLlng perlodlc pay cheques and
employee Lax reporLs uaLa ls generally fed from Lhe human resources and Llme keeplng
modules Lo calculaLe auLomaLlc deposlL and manual cheque wrlLlng capablllLles 1hls module
can encompass all employeerelaLed LransacLlons as well as lnLegraLe wlLh exlsLlng flnanclal
managemenL sysLems

1he work Llme module gaLhers sLandardlzed Llme and work relaLed efforLs 1he mosL advanced
modules provlde broad flexlblllLy ln daLa collecLlon meLhods labor dlsLrlbuLlon capablllLles and
daLa analysls feaLures CosL analysls and efflclency meLrlcs are Lhe prlmary funcLlons

1he beneflLs admlnlsLraLlon module provldes a sysLem for organlzaLlons Lo admlnlsLer and Lrack
employee parLlclpaLlon ln beneflLs programs 1hese Lyplcally encompass lnsurance
compensaLlon proflL sharlng and reLlremenL

1he P8 managemenL module ls a componenL coverlng many oLher P8 aspecLs from appllcaLlon
Lo reLlremenL 1he sysLem records baslc demographlc and address daLa selecLlon Lralnlng and
developmenL capablllLles and skllls managemenL compensaLlon plannlng records and oLher
relaLed acLlvlLles Leadlng edge sysLems provlde Lhe ablllLy Lo read appllcaLlons and enLer
relevanL daLa Lo appllcable daLabase flelds noLlfy employers and provlde poslLlon managemenL
and poslLlon conLrol Puman resource managemenL funcLlon lnvolves Lhe recrulLmenL
placemenL evaluaLlon compensaLlon and developmenL of Lhe employees of an organlzaLlon
lnlLlally buslnesses used compuLer based lnformaLlon sysLems Lo

* produce pay checks and payroll reporLs
* malnLaln personnel records
* pursue 1alenL ManagemenL

Cnllne recrulLlng has become one of Lhe prlmary meLhods employed by P8 deparLmenLs Lo
garner poLenLlal candldaLes for avallable poslLlons wlLhln an organlzaLlon 1alenL ManagemenL
sysLems Lyplcally encompass

* analyzlng personnel usage wlLhln an organlzaLlon
* ldenLlfylng poLenLlal appllcanLs
* recrulLlng Lhrough companyfaclng llsLlngs
* recrulLlng Lhrough onllne recrulLlng slLes or publlcaLlons LhaL markeL Lo boLh recrulLers and
appllcanLs

1he slgnlflcanL cosL lncurred ln malnLalnlng an organlzed recrulLmenL efforL crossposLlng
wlLhln and across general or lndusLryspeclflc [ob boards and malnLalnlng a compeLlLlve
exposure of avallablllLles has glven rlse Lo Lhe developmenL of a dedlcaLed AppllcanL 1racklng
SysLem or A1S module

1he Lralnlng module provldes a sysLem for organlzaLlons Lo admlnlsLer and Lrack employee
Lralnlng and developmenL efforLs 1he sysLem normally called a Learnlng ManagemenL SysLem
lf a sLand alone producL allows P8 Lo Lrack educaLlon quallflcaLlons and skllls of Lhe
employees as well as ouLllnlng whaL Lralnlng courses books Cus web based learnlng or
maLerlals are avallable Lo develop whlch skllls Courses can Lhen be offered ln daLe speclflc
sesslons wlLh delegaLes and Lralnlng resources belng mapped and managed wlLhln Lhe same
sysLem SophlsLlcaLed LMS allow managers Lo approve Lralnlng budgeLs and calendars
alongslde performance managemenL and appralsal meLrlcs

1he Lmployee SelfServlce module allows employees Lo query P8 relaLed daLa and perform
some P8 LransacLlons over Lhe sysLem Lmployees may query Lhelr aLLendance record from Lhe
sysLem wlLhouL asklng Lhe lnformaLlon from P8 personnel 1he module also leLs supervlsors
approve C1 requesLs from Lhelr subordlnaLes Lhrough Lhe sysLem wlLhouL overloadlng Lhe Lask
on P8 deparLmenL

Many organlzaLlons have gone beyond Lhe LradlLlonal funcLlons and developed human resource
managemenL lnformaLlon sysLems whlch supporL recrulLmenL selecLlon hlrlng [ob placemenL
performance appralsals employee beneflL analysls healLh safeLy and securlLy whlle oLhers
lnLegraLe an ouLsourced AppllcanL 1racklng SysLem LhaL encompasses a subseL of Lhe above

Asslgnlng 8esponslblllLles CommunlcaLlon beLween Lhe Lmployees



Employee Self Service (ESS) is a web-based application that provides employees with access to
their personal records and their payroll details. The most common Ieatures oI ESS allows
employees to change their own address, contact details and next oI kin. OIten included with ESS
is the ability Ior employees to apply Ior leave and have that application directed to the employees
manager Ior consideration. Some applications enable employees to change their bank account
details and provide details oI payslips, both current and historical. ESS can operate as a Ieature
on an employers intranet or via a web ASP service.
Recently, a second wave oI ESS shiIted the Iocus Irom these purely eIIiciency based applications
towards empowering employees and managers to take more responsibility Ior their jobs and
development. Career planning, skills proIiles, learning, objective settings, appraisals and more
and more analytics are increasingly popular ESS applications. This development is driven by
improved technology, a better understanding oI human resource management (HRM) with a
more hands oII role oI the HR department and by an increasingly web savy workIorce (most
notably new employees belonging to the Millennial Generation).
ESS is increasingly popular in the tertiary sector where there is a high proportion oI the
workIorce with computer and internet access. The principal advantage Ior employers providing
ESS is that it is a more eIIicient means oI collecting changes to employees details and
distributing payroll related details to employees. This is particularly true Ior organizations
dispersed over a number oI physical locations. Human Resource Management proIessionals
increasingly value ESS as a means oI empowering employees.