We all know that HR is struggling with manual working nearly single day they spent in the office which makes their potential suffer, but if this problem is addressed properly, their skill-set of strategic decision making can be harnessed. Here are some of the main features that you shall look out for while investing in a cloud-based HR Software keeping in mind the recent advances in technology.
Mobility: The mobility shall impact employee engagement tremendously in the days to come. The use of ESS Portals by the employees to mark their attendance, regularize the attendance data, apply for leaves, and claim reimbursements by themselves which shall lower the administrative workload from the HR’s profile, ultimately lowering overheads associated with it. The data may be collected at various locations is synchronized to a centralized database. This functionality allows businesses to manage the Payroll Process and solve employee grievances from a central location without hiring additional staff locally to address these issues. The ease of operation and accessibility makes the HR functions simple and less expensive as you shall not require to buy servers and other ancillaries or pay for their maintenance.
Configuration Capabilities:
There are no two businesses in the world which may operate exactly the same way even if they are engaged in the same field. Thus an HR Software can only be useful to companies only if it is modular in nature as you may want to configure even the most intricate features to suit your organizational requirements. This may include your shift, break, leave, travel, claim and reimbursement policies along with defining the pay components. In the absence of such configuration, the software tends to increase the complexity of HR administration as the number of adjustments and interpretations to be made are large in number. This is also important as the same approach may not be relevant for two departments or locations of the same company. So while selecting an HR Software, you may discuss the amount of configuration facilitated by the vendor and if it may be sufficient to contain your present as well as future organizational needs.
Integration and Automation:
While most of the cloud-based HR solutions have a comprehensive approach to the data gathering, but improper integration may lead to manual data entry and validation which was the problem behind using software for Payroll activities. A good advantage of integration is linking the Payroll with the employee performance which is a widely discussed agenda for the HR professionals across the organizations. The performance data is collected continuously and converted into KRA-KPI matrices which can be translated in monetary incentives which motivates the employees to contribute better. The tasks such as compiling data and validating it, considering alterations made by the staff and generating reports is completely automated which leaves more time for the HR to work on employee relations and decision making.
Latest Technologies:
The use of the RPA (Robotic Process Automation) can radically reduce the clerical formalities. For instance, the HR software may read the mail containing invoice as the subject and automatically download the attached bill. The OCR technology shall fetch the relevant data and the corresponding entry shall be made in the system leaving a notification for the admin. The Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning may help analyze data to provide intuitive inputs to the user regarding employee behavioral patterns and financial aspects of employee management. Using SNA (Social Networking Analysis), employers can correlate the employees’ working patterns and particular behavior when stimulated by external or internal factors. Thus, the use of such cognitive technologies can improve the quality of work without bothering the budget of the company. They also contribute to the business by providing detailed analysis which may serve as a governing factor for the success of the business.
A lot of features and functionalities are available in the market but some of them are a bare minimum for any organization. You may or may not find them necessary at the present moment but considering the future requirements is very critical as migrating to different platforms can be tormenting and expensive at the same time. Apparently, the cloud-based payroll software is gaining momentum in India and they will contribute immensely in shaping the way HR departments function for the good.