The benefits of Business Intelligence as regards the HR department have been proven. However, HR dashboards and report templates cannot be compiled overnight. Indeed, a BI project requires meticulous preparation, but it also requires that an effective HRIS (Human Resources Information System) be chosen. Here are seven criteria to help you choose the right HRIS for your business.
Determine your business’s needs in order to find a suitable HRIS solution
Prior to roll out of an HRIS, it is vital that your business’s needs and requirements be identified. Skill management, administrative management, schedule management, etc.: the HR department must decide which processes it wants to optimize using the new solution, but also which low added value tasks it wants to automate or simplify.
Once your business’s needs in terms of HR have been identified, you can then draw up a list of the features the HRIS tool must have, for example:
- Leave and absence management.
- Payroll management.
- Management of forecasting requirements in terms of positions and skills.
- Talent management.
- Quality of work life.
In this respect, it is vital that a list of requirements in relation to the HRIS be drawn up, in order that the project be precisely framed and that requirements as regards functionality be set out clearly. Your business can then design an assessment grid that details the features required by your business, so that different HR management software solutions may be compared.
However, the choice of an HRIS does not only depend on its features — many other criteria must be taken into account to ensure that the right solution is selected.
Seven essential criteria to take into account when choosing your business’s HRIS software
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Ergonomics
As the HR department becomes increasingly digitalized, businesses must be able to rely on ergonomic and fluid solutions. In other words, employees must be able to learn the software quickly and perform various tasks completely on their own. This saves them valuable time, allowing them to focus on high added-value tasks.
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Flexibility
As a business grows and its market develops, its needs change constantly. Thus, the HRIS it needs at the moment is not the same as the one it will need in five years. That’s why it’s important to select a flexible tool, one that offers genuine adaptability, in terms of features, over the long term.
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Interoperability
It is advantageous to choose an HRIS that is able to interface with your business’s other software solutions and systems. An illustration of this is the use of connectors and application programming interfaces (APIs) to enable a coherent ecosystem to be put in place, in which tools can interface.
This approach allows you to prevent certain technical issues from cropping up, and it also limits the risk of data entry errors from occurring, since data from the various software programs are sent automatically. Ideally, all payroll and HR data should be stored in a centralized database.
In addition, it’s beneficial to select a software solution that uses an open language, which provides superior interoperability compared to a proprietary language.
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Assistance
The roll-out of an HRIS solution is a particularly complex project, and this is why it is always reassuring to get help with your roll-out. In this instance, the services offered vary greatly from one software company to another. Some offer step-by-step support during roll-out, and also provide a support service run by helpful and easily-reachable staff, once the software has been installed.
To get customized service, entailing a genuinely close long-term business relationship, it is strongly advised that you call upon the services of a France-based software company, and you will get customer service in French.
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Maintenance and updates
Before purchasing an HR software solution (HRIS), the company must ensure that the solution will be updated regularly by the software company. This will ensure the company has a high-performance, secure tool that meets its requirements over the long term.
In addition, the HR department is subject to specific constraints that are set out in regulations, and thus the solution must be adjusted so as to comply with new legislation. Some software companies even offer a service whereby they inform businesses of any changes to legislation that affect the latter.
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Constraints on your business
Each business is subject to specific organizational constraints that must be taken into account when you’re choosing the right human resources information system for your business. Here are some examples:
- Number of simultaneous users: The software must be able to cope with a certain number of users without its performance dropping.
- Firms that have more than one place of business or that have subsidiaries: The solution must be suitable in relation to firms with more than one establishment.
- Resistance to change on the part of employees: The tool must be intuitive enough and easy enough to use in order to be adopted quickly by teams. Good internal communications, workshops, and training sessions should also be planned, to make the changeover easier and to reassure users.
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Data security;
HR reports and dashboards are likely to contain sensitive information about your business and its employees. It is thus vital that you select a HRIS tool that ensures that such data is protected.
In this regard, compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a vital prerequisite, hence the advantage of opting for a software company based in France or in the EU.
Special care must also be taken with data hosting. Opt for a secure, HDS-certified cloud-based solution that uses reliable, up-to-date servers.
The perfect HRIS tool must be ergonomic, secure and flexible, and must meet the needs of the company. Based on these different criteria, you now have all the cards to choose the right human resources information system and take advantage of all the benefits of HR Business Intelligence.
