Moving Your HR Department Away from Spreadsheets
When computers first became commonplace, many businesses began by using spreadsheets, and they particularly became a staple of the HR department. Indeed, many companies are still operating using spreadsheets to record sickness, holidays, disciplinary incidents, and any number of other areas of HR. Though spreadsheets can be very useful business tools in certain areas, your HR department doesn’t need to rely on them too heavily with the advancements in technology that have been made in recent times.
As technology has moved on, so too should your business. While other areas have more than likely advanced extremely rapidly, it is highly likely that your HR department has been left behind. New technology has now been created that specifically deals with integrating all areas of HR into one system featuring tools for handling recruitment, training, data storage and retrieval and performance management.
Storing all of this myriad of information on spreadsheets can lead to numerous problems. Take your employee directory as an example. There are number of flaws in using spreadsheets for your employee directory. As they are usually only accessible to the HR department, they have an increased risk of being buried amongst other files and may not get updated as often as required. Another bigger problem is that they are manual and much more at risk of being subject to human error than other digital systems.
Another example is annual leave. Many companies still use paper holiday forms which are handed to the HR department to be recorded. This process is unnecessary and time consuming. An intranet system allows employees to request holidays at the click of a button, while also showing the dates on which colleagues have booked time off. This gives a quicker response time for both employees and employers, and is ultimately a much more efficient way of working.
New technology can help standardise your training processes, and upskill your employees through e-learning courses which can be completed on a flexible basis. It can help with performance management and analysis, keeping track of the areas in which each employee needs to improve and making sure this is transparent between employer and employee.
A more accessible HR system leads to greater understanding from employees of how a good HR department benefits them. HR should be seen as working for employees rather than against them, and technology can help you achieve this aim.
HR software is fast catching up on the needs of a modern business. Before, many systems would only be accessible to the HR department and would require specific training, but now the manufacturers have begun to realise that there is a natural advantage for businesses to give all employees access to the software.
Despite all of these advancements and the benefits they bring to business, you’d be surprised how many companies are still reliant on spreadsheets in their HR department. A modern company needs a modern HR department, and this involves ditching spreadsheets, and investing in technology that is streamlined, efficient and cost-effective.