Wake up from your HR nightmare

Moving Away From Spreadsheets

 
Most organisations and individuals use spreadsheets to store information as well as other certain processes and calculations. Spreadsheets are great, in fact, I use spreadsheets and find them very useful, I have a couple of spreadsheets running daily. They assist me with my day to day tasks and I’d find work quite difficult without them. However, spreadsheets are not a suitable substitution for a HR system.

1. The reason why you need to stay clear from Excel

 
For those that use spreadsheets as an employee data management tool they are a HR manager’s worst nightmare… Well, maybe not worst nightmare, but pretty close to it! Spreadsheets leave room for inaccurate data and inefficient processes. HR managers spend just as much time fixing and looking for missing data as they do updating the spreadsheets in the first place. Speaking with HR managers on a daily basis, I’ve heard first hand the same thing over and over again that “managing and entering information in multiple spreadsheets is a pain!”. Individuals are leaving spreadsheets behind and for good reasons, they inhibit you from performing the tasks and missions why you chose to work in HR in the first place, to help people! Instead, you are now stuck at your desk sifting through paperwork and updating Excel data sheets with no time to interact with your staff.

2. A centralised HRIS: your getaway to strategic HR

 
HR software is your nightlight to this spreadsheet nightmare. A centralised HRIS will provide you with more time to spend with your people and not your spreadsheets. Using spreadsheets to manage employee data means that your data is scattered, it is very difficult to pull information together and make strategic decisions, instead you are constantly faced with the task of keeping these spreadsheets up to date. Using a HRIS and keeping all your employee data in a central place will allow you to utilise your employee’s data to make strategic decisions surrounding the organisation as well as using this data as a tool for your employee’s development – the real reason you entered the world of HR in the first place.

Employee engagement is a major factor for HR managers, leaving the spreadsheet behind and implementing a HRIS with Employee Self Service will lead to a more engaged workforce. Paper heavy and frustrating tasks such as leave requests can be eliminated on both ends through a HRIS, allowing you as a HR manager to focus less on busy admin time, as well as the employee applying for time off. This leads to a less frustrated and therefore more productive employee. You will then have the time, tools and information through the HRIS to focus on creating an awesome company culture. Culture is so important, leaving spreadsheets behind and moving to an HRIS is the shock you need to foster the development of a great atmosphere around the workplace.

3. Why no more spreadsheets means safer data

 
There are also security concerns involved with using spreadsheets, most data breaches in organisations are through HR. This is a result of spreadsheets, because even if they are locked down securely, they are not a safe place to store confidential information. In previous roles, colleagues have been mistakenly sent emails of organisational data. This can be a major issue and breach of confidentiality. Eliminating the use of spreadsheets to manage HR not only will eliminate menial administration tasks, but on a more serious note implementing HR software will provide a higher level of protection to business and employee data than a risky spreadsheet can offer. Data stored securely in an integrated human resources system with different security settings for certain employees and managers is a sophisticated way to address security and privacy around confidential documents, which are essential to an organisations’ privacy.

Spreadsheets present a whole range of problems for HR managers as well as the organisation itself. The sigh of relief I hear when I’ve shown a HR manger the benefits of a HR system is enough to realise that the era of HR spreadsheets must come to an end. Implementing an HRIS can eliminate all these problems by replacing the spreadsheet with a central system which stores your information securely. Spending more time with your employees and interacting through a HRIS instead of hidden away behind piles of administrative work will lead to an efficient and innovative take on HR, as well as a more positive you, and this positive vibe will transition through to your employees and organisation.