Why do Human Resource departments need HRIS post COVID-19?
COVID-19 commonly referred to as the coronavirus has dramatically changed the business environment we operate within today. Businesses are constantly being impacted within a fast paced and ever-growing environment that constantly receives pressures from both internal and external factors that are commonly presented in a business’s operations. The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally presented a major challenge that has caused organisations to reshape and rethink various current organisational functions.
Specifically, the pandemic has shifted a large majority of everyday Human Resource (HR) operations to a broader perspective. That is that HR departments are working to meet daily operational functions much faster and easier than before. One way in which HR departments are able to meet current short-term and long-term objectives throughout the COVID-19 period of organisational struggle would be through the utilisation of a Human Resource Information System (HRIS).
Although the question lies why does a human resource department need HRIS post COVID-19. The following five points have been listed out to explain the effective need for HRIS once COVID-19 has ended in order to effectively keep an organisation ahead of competitors and further ensure that employees are operating at their highest performance level.
Remote Workforce
HRIS should be greatly utilised post COVID-19 to ensure that the remote workforce is being managed effectively. Post COVID-19 organisations will effectively decide whether or not to continue working from home, work in the office or work from home and the office, to which majority of organisations will decide to have a combination of working remotely and in office. This becomes a large concern for HR management whereby they must find ways to ensure that employees are being looked after in this new and largely perplexed work environment. To effectively manage this new environment, HR departments can effectively utilise HRIS in order to reduce the difficulty of handling everyday HR tasks. This is done whereby a HRIS system can effectively ensure that HR management can utilise an online automated workflow system to streamline heavy HR processes and ensure that HR activities are being completed quick and efficiently no matter where an employee is.
One way in which HRIS could be effectively utilised post COVID-19 for the remote workforce is through creating contracts or delivering important information that management wants to push to employees. Simply through an all online system a manager may select the employee they want to receive respective details and then send it to them, along the workflow process HR departments may receive a automated notification to approve this to which it will continue to be sent to employees, next the employee will read and sign off the documents, thus triggering an automated notification to the respective individuals an organisation wishes to notify once the workflow process is completed. This is done all online through a paperless system which ensures that the remote workforce is being effectively looked after extendedly through a HRIS system post COVID-19.
Engagement
HRIS should effectively be utilised after COVID-19 to efficiently engage employees further than before. Successful engagement post COVID-19 is of high concern for HR departments as employee retention rates become of large value to HR departments, it could be seen that employees become increasingly likely to resign in a state of normality in the business environment (post COVID-19) than during a global pandemic where job uncertainty and risk is apparent. In order to effectively engage employees, post COVID-19 HR departments should effectively utilise HRIS to analyse key employee metrics such as satisfaction levels to ensure employees are currently pleased at all stages of their employment within an organisation.
Effective HRIS will identify these metrics through forms of engagement surveys such as a pulse survey that is provided to employees on either a weekly or monthly basis to assess the current level of employee satisfaction. The HRIS will than provide detailed data that could be utilised by HR teams to assess the current level of employee satisfaction and in turn create decisions that will ensure employee engagement and satisfaction levels are to remain high in order to retain an employee within the organisation.
Employee Communication
HRIS ensures that employee communication is of integral concern throughout post COVID-19. Key employee communication from HR departments to employees is highly important post COVID-19 as employees are psychologically unsure of what the prospective future holds. In order to effectively reduce the phycological fears that employees may have throughout post COVID-19 and ensure employees are staying positive HR departments should utilise HRIS to effectively rally information from one person to another.
This may be done through effective HRIS whereby the HRIS may have a notice board that displays core information integral to a group of employees to understand and read. Moreover, HRIS provides a platform for HR departments to send direct messages to employees and managers about anything needed to be addressed or said. Specifically, the HRIS communication system could effectively be utilised whereby after HR departments analyse core metrics for employees the HR department is than able to effectively communicate any concerns across to the relevant individuals to than take action on how to fix the current situation at hand or to undertake actions to positively reinforce employees.
Learning and Development
HRIS should further be effectively utilised post COVID-19 to ensure that employees are efficiently being developed through learning programs offered within a clear HRIS system. Post COVID-19 organisations will need to clearly define any new activities or actions that is key to employees to understand and undertake. Moreover, post COVID-19 employee expectations for development in careers are highly likely to have increased. In order to effectively deal with this situation HR departments may utilise HRIS systems to effectively engage employees in learning and development programs within the organisation.
This may be done whereby highly effective HRIS will provide a platform for HR departments to provide employees with learning and training modules to be completed and further analysed by HR teams to see the effectivity of the programs completed. Moreover, effective HRIS post COVID-19 can effectively provide a platform to allow for employees to identify development points that they wish to achieve in order to progress not only their knowledge and skills but also their career to which HR departments may effectively outline the steps the employee needs to take in order to develop whilst providing training and motivation along each step within the organisation the employee takes.
Recognition and Rewards
HRIS may further be effectively utilised to recognise and reward employees throughout the post COVID-19 period. Employees post COVID-19 may essentially be seeking a sense of motivation and morale boost in order to work more efficiently and better than ever. In turn, HR departments work to effectively ensure that employees are recognised and rewarded post COVID-19 and may effectively utilise a HRIS to make this process simpler.
HRIS may be utilised whereby streamlining automated milestones for employees such as anniversaries of employment within the organisation is celebrated or even top performers are directly automated to be recognised and celebrated for their achievements. Furthermore, HRIS can be utilised whereby HR departments may strategically implement a reward system based upon performance management. This may be done whereby incentivised rewards created for the top three performers within a sales team may be implemented to push employees to work strongly towards a goal that the organisation desires them to achieve.
Author
Jake Amodeo
