The HR function in modern-day workplaces is complex. The HR team has to recruit new employees, train them, monitor performance, decide on compensation and benefits, and address employee queries. These tasks are time-consuming and leave HR little time to focus on other crucial tasks. For example, a study shows HR professionals spend over 30 hours interviewing and vetting new candidates. And we are talking about small-medium businesses. Imagine the time large enterprises spend on such activities.

To address these issues, enterprises are investing in Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS). An HRMS like Oracle (or what we knew as PeopleSoft) streamlines and simplifies a gamut of HR-related modules like tracking applicants, streamlining employee payroll, and managing learning and development. Modern HRMS also have an employee self-service module that allows employees to self-track and apply for leaves, download pay slips and other vital documents, and access HR policies to get answers to all their HR queries.

Powerful HRMS has helped HR teams to be more productive and save time on administrative tasks. It has also improved employee engagement as the HR process has become transparent, reducing dependency on HR teams for routine queries and procedures. However, despite these benefits, HRMS quite complex and often prove challenging to manage.

Complexities in HRMS

Here are a few challenges that enterprises face with their HRMS:

One-Size-Fits-All Solution

According to HR experts, an off-the-shelf HR management system may not suffice for a big enterprise as-is. For instance, an enterprise with multiple offices in different regions could well require a customized portion of the HRMS to manage payroll information and maintain records of employees joining and leaving in places where different rules and regulations apply. Such situations create obstacles for HR professionals in managing HR operations and presents a challenge for workers who want to draw insights out of the data.

Steep Learning Curve

As features and functionalities pile up, the growing complexity of the user interface of HRMS could dissuade employees and HRs from using it as it involves learning.

Disparate Tools

Enterprises use disparate point systems to manage various processes like recruitment, payroll management, compensation and benefits, and more. Too many systems working in silos can burden the HR team. It becomes necessary to integrate these systems with the core HRMS, create workflows, and open access to data across systems and tools. From managing the data to standardizing it, reducing silos, and coordinating with multiple vendors, the HR team gets overwhelmed. This also lowers productivity as most of their time is spent collating and organizing data rather than using insights to make meaningful decisions or engage with employees.

Compliance Issues

Labor laws, HR policies, and compensation guidelines are subject to frequent changes. The HR team needs the HRMS to be updated regularly to ensure compliance with the latest regulations. Reporting on these facets is another challenge as the HR team needs to keep the top management as well as other stakeholders updated always. Ensuring employees receive accurate information is also crucial. Failure to update the HRMS on time could result in employees receiving outdated compliance information.

Employees rely on self-service applications to access personal information, monitor their progress, and manage their leaves and other documents. Hence, enterprises must simplify employee self-service and maintain it regularly. It will reduce dependency on HR teams and empower employees to access information and make decisions independently.

Secrets To Simplifying Employee Self-Service

1. Automate Self-Service

The purpose of employee self-service is to give employees the power to perform actions independently. For example, employees can check and apply for leaves or track their skills proficiency and apply for an upskilling program through self-service applications.

Automating self-service means employees don’t have to worry about following up with different stakeholders. The automated workflows will guide them through the process.

Organizations can also consider including a chatbot to provide useful content and guidance to employees immediately. They must also provide early training to help employees acclimate to automated HR processes.

Many modern HRMS allow the creation of custom application to address some of these needs while plugging into the power of the core solution. Leveraging the latest application development technologies to take advantage of this option is a great option for enterprises looking to improve, augment, or extend the functionality of the HRMS.

2. Integrate with Other HR Systems

From raising an IT ticket to raising reimbursement claims and downloading pay slips, employees would prefer to adopt self-service to complete these tasks. Enterprises can integrate the HR systems with internal and external applications to centralize all information and workflows to ensure this level of support is available to them.

This integrated system will exchange data with other applications and enable employees to access all information and benefits in one place. They will be able to track the status of their support requests and follow up for action as necessary. This seamless functioning will make adoption of the HRM itself easier and encourage employees to use the platform more frequently and completely. Enterprises must provide the adequate support to help employees leverage the full potential of the self-service application.

3. Improve Responsiveness

As more employees work from remote locations or travel for work, enterprises must consider extending the accessibility of the HRMS through a responsive mobile application that can be accessed from anywhere, anytime. Then employees won’t have to wait to open the laptop or be physically present to perform specific HR tasks, such as logging their attendance or raising tickets. This will lower the adoption barrier and encourage employees to use the application more frequently.

4. Maintain Security

The HRMS and employee self-service module houses sensitive data about employees, such as their bank account details, work experience, and other private information. Hence, it’s crucial to secure the application.

Best practices like multi-factor user authorization and encryption will help enterprises safeguard data and prevent data leakage. Additionally, enterprises must educate employees on potential security risks and provide training on mitigating them to increase compliance.

Some security risks are inevitable, but small precautionary steps like these will help enterprises and employees prevent data loss and strengthen their security posture.

How To Make HRMS and Employee Self-Service Efficient?

As your enterprise grows and employees increase, HRMS management will become complicated. Keeping up with employee needs and maintenance will also become more challenging. One way to overcome these challenges is to outsource application support and maintenance to a specialist.

At i-Source, we help enterprises with Application Maintenance and Support (AMS). We provide the following services:

These services can help enterprises build a robust and simple self-service application.

To upgrade your existing HRMS and improve employee adoption, contact us. We will be happy to transform your HRMS.

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