10 Features To Look For In Your Next HRIS

If you have decided to get a new HR Information System for your business, congratulations on making a wise decision. Take this from folks who have helped organizations transform their HR department by selecting the right system and implementing it. This blog has been designed to help you in the early stages of the selection process. It will highlight some key features to look out for when considering what HRIS suits you best.

1. Self-service Functionality (Employee & Manager)

One of the main purposes of HRIS software is to save your HR team from tedious and time-consuming work, affording them more opportunities to have a greater impact. Self-service allows employees to input and update their own information. This not only gives back precious time to your HR staff but also ensures that data is updated effortlessly and accurately. Managers can also carry out various administrative tasks themselves, allowing them to keep up to date about their team at the click of a button.

2. Real-time Reporting

Data is the new currency! Companies are making big decisions based on data. For example, introducing wellness initiatives or deciding on a new perk for the team. Real-time data helps you to make informed people and business decisions. HR systems are not only for the HR team but should also serve other functions within the business. Thus, your HRIS should be able to provide reporting analytics with customised dashboard capability and scheduled customised reports according to the wider business needs. This is extremely useful when building a business strategy and makes decision-making easier for many areas of the organisation.

3. Cloud-based

These days, as many businesses are becoming fully or partially remote and less office-based, it is important that we can save our work centrally on the cloud where it can be easily accessible. It helps team members view and update necessary information, data, documents and files from anywhere in the world, at any time of day. This level of agility is invaluable for fast-paced, growing businesses of any size. Traditional systems required installing across your network and ongoing maintenance from IT experts. Cloud systems are often more cost-effective compared to traditional software infrastructures.

4. Automated Notifications

HR superheroes need to remember many dates: birthdays, work anniversaries, and the due dates for onboarding and offboarding tasks. The list goes on. These may sound minor to some people, but these dates are very important when it comes to showing your staff how much you care and ensuring HR compliance. It is not easy to remember all of these important milestones, especially in times of change, but your HR system can help you keep on top of these dates and the necessary actions with automated notifications. Make your team feel valued and add to the culture of your organisation by never missing an important date again!

5. User Role Creation

Your new HR system will not only be used by the HR team. Different user groups will require different features and accessibilities determined by the needs of the business and applicable data protection laws. To be successful in implementing an HR system in your business, it is important that everyone uses it and experiences it for themselves. Users need to see how it helps them and their department directly. For that, they must be able to use it in a customised way.

6. Paperless Processes

Do you feel the pain of filling in paperwork and having to move documents from person to person to ensure the task gets done? HR systems should help you move towards paperless processes, making teams more accountable with clear task ownership. Digital workflows help support team coordination and provide visibility to see who has completed a task and who is next in line. In addition, built-in eSignature capabilities or integration with a digital signature platform will greatly enhance your HRIS. All of this helps save the company time and money - plus it saves trees!

7. Ease Of Use

Almost all modern HRIS platforms are designed to be easy to use. However, watching a demo or even testing a demo account for yourself is the only way to judge how intuitive a system is. If you are selecting the system for a complex workforce, you need it to be user-friendly. Limited training should be required for most people to be able to carry out basic tasks such as submitting time-off requests. Of course, adequate training will be needed to complete more complicated duties, but simple exercises should be innately accessed from the dashboard. The easier the platform is to use, the more people will enjoy using and engaging with it.

8. Open API Integration

There might be some HR software that does not meet all of your needs or doesn't talk to the system your finance team uses, for example. Having custom API integration available will help your systems talk to each other, making better use of your wider Tech Stack. It will help you to keep information up-to-date across all systems by only having to input changes into one platform.

9. Enhanced Employee Interaction

HR systems obviously hold essential employee information, job titles, locations, contact details, departments, org charts etc. But you can also add additional information to help staff get to know each other: like their favourite foods, vacation spots, hobbies, books, music and sports. When an employee has a first-time meeting with a fellow colleague, they can check these details and learn more about them in advance. This information can be used as a great ice-breaker during these initial interactions, helping to build company culture. Your team will thank you!

10. Support Packages

Even the most well-intentioned HRIS software purchasing decision can be undermined by sloppy aftercare and support services. Sooner or later you’re bound to hit a bump in the road and you’ll need someone to help. Support packages that include live, real-time assistance by email, phone or instant messaging and access to online FAQs and tutorials can be very effective. Even better, is a vendor who is willing to agree to a set of service level indicators such as responsiveness and time to resolution of problems. This will help avoid potential arguments at a later date.

Can you think of any other important features that you’d like to see in your new HR system? Remember, DayoneHR can help you to identify and implement an HRIS for your company. Book a call with us today if you would like to hear more about how we can help you build out and implement a new HRIS.