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A Complete Guide to Understand HRIS for Your Business Benefits

Updated : Jul 20, 2023
What is HRIS?

Quick Overview: Unravel the potential of Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) - a pivotal software in the HR domain. This guide serves as a valuable resource for businesses seeking to optimize their HR operations and overall organizational performance. Join us on this journey to unlock the power of HRIS and harness its benefits for enhanced HR management and organizational success.

A decade ago, I started my first job at a very small company, which had hardly ten to twelve people of staff. During that time, I was physically getting paychecks at my desk every month, which was the extent of our HR management.

After a few years, I started working with a new company that was using an HRMS (Human Resource Management System). And I was completely blown away by how the software offered functionalities, seamless execution, and operations processes. Payroll management, time-of monitoring, performance management, and recruitment management system – all in one platform? And it came with many perks?

At that time, what I realized was a pretty standard HR platform felt like the pinnacle of luxury to me.

Now, I would detest working for an organization that didn’t have an HRIS – Human Resource Information System. The reason behind the above statement is that HRIS not only makes it easier for an HR department to manage all the data of employees in one place, but it also improves workforce management smoother by introducing convenience to processes that may otherwise be somewhat frustrating.

So now, I can clearly state that - with the technology shift of HR management in every organization, less emphasis is being placed on traditional workplace norms like 9 to 5 workdays, organizational charts, and corporate hierarchy.

This actually makes organizations focus more on creating business values, vibrant workplace culture, and improving the particular parameters that increase each employee’s productivity. This calls for increased remote teamwork, flexible work schedules, and increased collaboration.

If we shed some light on the statistics as a renowned HR software development company, you will be amazed to know that the HR tech market is predicted to reach $90 billion by 2025, an 89.87% jump.

What should be if the above stats and cloud-based HR solutions don’t fascinate you?

Now is the right time to embrace the benefits of HRIS and its modules to manage your HR workflows and processes.

More than the data and real-life examples (which are stated above), we have a lot for you in this detailed guide. We will answer to all your questions like “What is HRIS?”, “What does an HRIS do?”, “Importance of HRIS”, and “What are the most popular HRIS systems in the market?”.

On This Page
  1. What is HRIS?
  2. What Does HRIS Stand For?
  3. What Does an HRIS System Do?
  4. HRIS vs HCM vs HRMS
  5. Two Pillars of HRIS System
  6. Benefits of HRIS
  7. HRIS Features
  8. How to Choose the Right HRIS?
  9. Implement HRIS with Radixweb

What is HRIS?

Let’s start with the basics: What is HRIS system and what does HRIS stand for?

A Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is software that provides a centralized repository to collect, store, manage, maintain, and process employee data. An HRIS software manages data at every level of the employee lifecycle, from talent recruitment and onboarding employees to employee exit from the company.

A robust HRIS automates core human resources (HR) tasks while facilitating accurate record-keeping, compliance, and reporting. In short, an HRIS can help your organization and HR management become more efficient with the help of technologies.

HR solutions delivered by Radixweb, such as HRIS, offer organizations a wide range of benefits. The prime advantage you can leverage as an organization is that they streamline your processes so that you can have an informed decision, helping your business to meet its objectives.

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What Does HRIS Stand For?

It might not be as difficult as how to pronounce caramel or crayon, but the trilogy of HR software for HR professionals is far from universal.

We have seen many companies using – HRIS, HRIS system, and HRIS software – along with a fourth Human Resource Management System (HRMS). But, here, the traditional HRIS is the most common. Just because many people think HRIS software and HRIS system are redundant. Though it isn't universally agreed upon what the "S" stands for, adding "system" or "software" isn't necessarily incorrect.

HRIS stands for Human Resource Information System. It smoothens the process and management within an organization and delivers accurate information about employees to make an informed decision.

Moreover, HRIS functions enable organizations to monitor and analyze employee performance and engagement activities. That means, it informs the managers about the skills and qualifications that the team possesses. So that managers can plan some training courses and learning sessions to improve human capital management – HCM.

What Does an HRIS System Do?

Each HRIS comes with multiple functionalities and modules. But some of them have standard key tools.

You can find the following key features in an intuitive HR information system from the admin side.

  • An employee contact manager
  • Payroll processing
  • Time-off tracking
  • Benefits management
  • Employee performance review management and training
  • Legal compliance management
  • Recruitment and onboarding tools

Besides, the human resource information system’s employee side module will provide:

  • Benefits enrollment
  • Paystub records and tax documents
  • Holiday calendars
  • Performance reviews
  • FSA/HSA management

Moreover, some HRIS platforms also offer built-in savings tools, discount programs, and many other functions.

Since every data is managed from a unified location, human resource software allows you to create reports that help you identify trends.

HRIS vs HCM vs HRMS

Here, the terminologies – Human Resources Information System (HRIS), Human Capital Management (HCM), and Human Resources Management System (HRMS) can be used interchangeably.

HRIS vs HRMS vs HCM

However, these terms carry a few differences that you should be aware of.

Human Resource Information System (HRIS)

HRIS is a set of systems that focuses on administrative tasks and employee records, like maintaining compliance, recruitment, and ongoing employee data management and processing.

Human Resource Management System (HRMS)

HRMS is an extended version of HRIS. HRMS is similar to HRIS, which focuses on people management tasks and offers advanced features like payroll management.

Human Capital Management (HCM)

HCM is an umbrella term. Both HRMS and HRIS systems fall under the concept of Human Capital Management (HCM). HCM is a strategic approach to acquiring and managing employees from the beginning of the employee lifecycle.

In a nutshell, HCM is a set of practices for people resource management. And these practices are implemented in three different categories: workforce acquisition, workforce management, and workforce organization.

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Two Pillars of HRIS System

Two major pillars make HRIS stand firm in managing employees and policies for overall organizational support.

Structural Design

Organizational structure design means HRIS is responsible for accountability and process for operational functionality. HRIS defines functions, roles, and reporting management within an organization.

The right HRIS will help you acquire suitable and skilled talent for the right place. In short, HRIS can help you get the right people with relevant skills who work towards your business objectives under the right structure.

Employee Data Management

With HRIS implementation, you can get every detail of all employees, including name, address, compensation, benefit selections, hiring date, and more. Having accurate data of employees, you can quickly help employees develop career plans, give them the proper training, and enhance their performance.

The HRIS enables automated reporting, self-service, and record-keeping functionality. This will help your organization drive better efficiency while providing ease of use for employees.

Benefits of HRIS

An HRIS is designed to streamline and automate a work process that consumes a lot of time, repetitive work, paperwork, and information errors. Hence, you can leverage multiple business benefits when you develop HRIS for small business with the help of experienced developers from Radixweb.

Advantages of HRIS

Record-Keeping

An HRIS software keeps employees' data organized so that you can access them without any issues. Moreover, you no longer have to rely on traditional paperwork as you can search and manage a database in seconds.

Time Saving

While having an HRIS by your side, the time of your HR team gets saved in generating reports, doing manual paperwork, and capturing signatures. This leads them to focus on their core goals and business-oriented outcomes.

For example, the software developed by Radixweb saves our clients around 70 hours per month.

Performance Management

Employee performance is easily tracked using the HRIS tools for managers.

For example, our HRIS software sends regular notifications about employees’ performance directly to their managers. This way, managers should review the team’s performance reviews and work on their skills to increase productivity.

Better Compliance

For compliance-related purposes, some data is gathered and stored. The HRIS has the capacity to keep all of this data. Data must be stored safely, securely, and in accordance with GDPR requirements.

Furthermore, people can quickly navigate the system to find information about various corporate policies because everything is on one platform. These data-based insights enable businesses to ensure adherence to local and federal requirements.

Recruitment and Onboarding

Applicant tracking system module allows you to compare candidates and store their details for future reference.

At the time of offering the candidate a role, employee data can be automatically integrated into the onboarding element of the software. This actually saves your time and provides a streamlined approach.

All this data is stored electronically and easily available to access for everyone. This will help employees to organize their roles accordingly and identify any flaws in the company.

Improved Efficiency

Storing all the information in one place not only helps you manage the data but also saves time. However, some organization still follows the traditional approach. So, fetching the accurate data of employees from the correct location in paperwork will surely consume your time.

HRIS comes to the rescue here. Many HR admin tasks can be automated so the HR team can free themselves from such tedious tasks and engross in work that’s worthy.

Self-Service HR

The final advantage that HRIS offers is self-service HR to managers and employees. Employees can quickly find answers to their basic queries without bothering your HR team.

For example, at Radixweb, when you hire software developers for HR domain, they build an HRIS portal that allows employees to update their information with a single click. Well, our HRIS software actually delivers a good employee experience apart from just freeing up your HR team.

Employee Experience

Versatile employees like versatile employers. Hence, the HRIS solutions from Radixweb enhance employees' perspectives toward their organizations. The HRIS software gives a smooth onboarding process, quick access to contact information, and the ability to update data with a better experience.

Common Features of HRIS

You will find numerous HRIS systems and software in the market. Since an HRIS consists of multiple functionalities and modules for HR, every individual functionality is a part of the system and useful for employee information.

However, the scope of functionalities of the HRIS system depends on your business requirements and its usage. But here are the most common features or functions you will find in the HRIS tool:

Features of HRIS

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

Applicant Tracking System, referred to as ATS, is one of the fantastic modules or key functions of HRIS. ATS manages all recruitment data and processes of an organization. It is a one-stop solution for your candidate information, allowing you to track candidate data, match job openings, and process resumes from your application tool. In the end, it helps you guide the recruitment process and saves time.

Payroll Management System

An automated payroll management system is used to manage employees' payroll and benefits. An HRIS payroll system gathers payroll-related data and benefits of employees at one location and generates pay slips seamlessly for every month. As a result, an HR system eliminates human errors and tightens data security to keep confidential data more secure.

Time and Attendance

Time and Attendance module lets you track the data of employee attendance time using a built-in clock module. This allows you to track data on how many hours each employee has worked during the given timeframe so that you can perform the following action accordingly. This module is rightly suitable when your employee work during different shift timings.

Employee Data Management

With the help of HRIS, you can easily store, manage, and access employee data, which are stated below, in a centralized way.

  • Employee qualification
  • Date of birth
  • Salary
  • Contact information
  • Tax information
  • Role responsibilities
  • Date of Joining

HR teams can easily customize access control in order to search for suitable candidates for their organization and update information as required.

Workforce Analytics and Reporting

Reporting and analytics is an essential module in HRIS. This allows you to generate HR reports based on your specific queries – employee absence, performance, working hours, etc. and gives you accurate data and analytics.

In addition, the insights of analytics will help you make better-informed decisions.

Onboarding

You can centralize the onboarding process that improves employee and employer experience. Furthermore, with the utilization of HRIS tools like centralized data and automated workflows, your organization can maximize efficiency and reduce costs.

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Let’s Get it Done

Choosing the right HRIS that satisfies your organization’s objectives could be a daunting but rewarding task. Practically, every team member within an organization will see an impact of the HRIS implementation. Hence, the system should be powerful enough to store and manage data while delivering a seamless user experience.

How to Choose HRIS?

Moreover, the organization must conduct a thorough assessment of the organization's needs and market demands. As a renowned HR custom software development company, we have listed several steps that organizations should consider while selecting the right HRIS.

  • Your team sizes
  • Nature of your business
  • Location of your team members
  • Whether your team includes employees, contractors, or both
  • What training do you require
  • What processes do you want your HRIS to help with
  • Your budget
  • Book a demo with the top-choice vendors

Once you are clear with the above questions, you can look at different types of HRIS software and vendors available in the market. Consider whether any of them are fulfilling your business objectives. If yes, then shortlist the vendor's lists and connect with them for the demo – trial period.

Implement HRIS with RadixwebThe majority of the problem organization face nowadays is choosing the right HRIS among plenty of. And unfortunately, they get the wrong one which don’t satisfy all their requirements. Hence, you need a customized solution that meets all needs of your organization today and tomorrow, but not something that only sounds good now but won’t be scalable with growing market demands.At Radixweb, we have created all-in-one HRIS software which provides deep localization and compliance across multiple locations. Our custom software developers, who know the best approach for human resource management system, aim to provide end-to-end HRIS solutions that redefine the future of HR functions and manage all HR processes.Our HRIS system solves your organizational challenges and sets your HR team free from traditional and tedious work. If you come across any queries during your HRIS research, including whether HRIS is a suitable option for an organization or not, feel free to connect with us. We will monitor your business domain and recommend you the right solutions.

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Maitray Gadhavi is a Vice President of Sales at Radixweb who accelerates the growth of organizations through innovation-led custom software development. Balancing the long-term gains in an evolving industry, he brings the voice of the customers into the enterprise. Binge-watching favourite series is his idea of fun after work.