MANAGING AN HRIS
Qualities of an effective HRIS manager
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Goal setting
▫ Establish goals based on well-established business procedures
and make those goals clear to supervisors and staff.
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Communication
▫ Good communication skills are so basic to successful management that a
few of particular importance to HRIS managers are included in the
accompanying sidebar.
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Planning
Qualities of an effective HRIS
manager(Cont)
• Organization
▫ Organizational skills are particularly important in an inter-disciplinary field such as HRIS management.
▫ Management must tailor procedures specifically to particular situations.
▫ Moreover, many of the individuals whom HRSC decisions affect directly do not work under the supervision of the HRSC manager; some may not only report to separate functions or departments but also hold relatively high positions in the organization. ▫ Often the manager must delegate organizing responsibilities, such as software
development planning, coding, testing, project monitoring, request tracking, and auditing. The manager must ensure proper organization of all vendors and in-house system documentation and other communications, especially material for
distribution among users.
• Negotiation
Qualities of an effective HRIS
manager(Cont)
•
Delegation and supervision
▫ The first step in delegating is determining what to delegate and to whom. ▫ The HRIS manager should delegate clearly, making sure staff members
understand the criteria for satisfactory performance.
▫ Successful delegation includes accepting that the results may be different from what the HRIS manager would have done.
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Team building, intervention, and group dynamic
▫ The effective HRSC manager uses these skills to make the entire HRSC work as a unit and as a vehicle to develop effective user groups.
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Willingness to learn
▫ HRIS management is complicated and multidisciplinary.
Steps to get the best possible HRIS manager
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must recognize that the positions of project team leader
and system manager are two different jobs
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must define the system manager position, creating a
complete job description and background requirements
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make designating and preparing someone for the
manager’s role part of the project team’s goal.
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once the project team identifies potential managers,
the selected manager
should coordinate their project
team assignments to help them develop and refine the
management skills and technical background
Stages of the HRIS life-cycle
Start-up
Growin
g
Managing HRIS: a start-up system
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during most of the start-up phase, the project
team leader rather than the HRIS manager often
leads system development. The transition
usually takes place after the HRIS installation
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the HRIS manager should make sure that the
staff complete every implementation step
thoroughly, especially training and testing
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this phase requires careful attention to
Managing HRIS: a growing system
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once the project team has installed and tested the new
system, the HRSC emerges as an active interface between
users and the system
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management of the growing HRIS and HRSC structures
includes complete staffing assignments, communications
links, organization charts, reporting mechanisms, and the
adoption of more sophisticated maintenance tools and
techniques
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during this period of growth, staffing needs shift as technical
demands, moderate and communication skills become central
to interaction with users and external agencies aiming for
Managing HRIS: a growing system
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the HRIS manager must supervise system
maintenance in a well-organized manner,
keeping track of every request and response
Managing HRIS: a mature system
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When maintenance demands increase tremendously and
become the main consumer of HRSC resources, the
system has achieved maturity
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The management goals during maturity are to keep use
and productivity at their peaks and to counter the
increased maintenance burden with more effective
productivity tools and techniques
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In this stage, the more expert user begins taking a
creative role in system evolution
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The HRSC manager should ensure that the IC, user
Managing HRIS: a decline system
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The HRSC manager has responsibility for monitoring the
health of the system and calling attention to its status and
needs
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When audits, surveys, indicator analysis or ROI evaluation
indicate a system is decline the HRSC manager must decide
what action to take
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Alternatives include patching the existing system together to
buy time, accelerating the decline by pulling the plug on the
system, or planning to develop or acquire a new system
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Actual management of a declining system has three
components: planning for the phase-out of existing
Managing HRIS staff
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Establishing the HRSC staff
▫ The process of establishing the HRSC staff starts quite
early in the system planning process
▫ The size of the HRSC operation plays a significant role
in the type of person best suited for HRSC staffing
▫ When it is time for system replacement, the HRIS
manager must reassign staff so the HRSC can
Managing HRIS staff (cont)
• Growing HRSC staff
▫ HRSC staff growth usually begins with the transition from primarily development staff to staff dedicated to enhancement and maintenance work
▫ The HRIS manager should strive to maintain a significant level of continuity between project team staff and HRSC staff
▫ The process of growing staff members involves presenting different levels of experience to individuals as they become ready to grow
▫ One of the most powerful tools in reallocating staff successfully throughout the system life cycle is offering professional growth opportunities
▫ Often the emerging HRSC needs not only a different kind of professional staff but also more staff ▫ As the HRSC becomes larger and more comprehensive and as users become more involved with the
Managing user relations
Promoting user involvement
Getting user started
Establishing an IC
Developing a user community or communities
Promoting user involvement
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The most successful HRIS projects involve users from the
beginning. The first step is to inform users about the plan to
develop HRIS and ask for their input in the design process
(use inquiry methods like questionnaires, surveys, interviews
and checklists
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Whenever users provide input, the HRIS should keep them
informed of later developments so they know that their
efforts did not fall into some bottomless pit of bureaucratic
red tape
Getting user started
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Orienting users to a new system involves understanding not just the
practical aspects of change but the psychology of change as well
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An effective manager makes sure that all HRSC staff are sensitive to
the fact that people resist change, even when they know it is inevitable
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User relations during this period should take account of the qualities
of the specific change involved. A manual-to-automated change
creates different challenges than an automated-to-automated change
or a mainframe-to-microcomputer change
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The HRSC must make sure that participating users have both the
guidance and the tools they need to succeed in systems work
Establishing an IC
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Some HRSC coordinate their user services through a
group known as the human resource information center
(HRIC)
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The HRIC handle training, user hot lines or other on-call
support, assistance with use of report and screen
creation tools, decision support systems and other
advanced user techniques
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The main role of IC is to bridge the communication gap
between users and the technical community
Developing a user community/communities
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In a large organization, each user community may have its own
HRSC contact person, training sessions and even regular meetings
to share ideas, questions, and feedback
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An HRSC manager can find many ways to reach users and have
them accept ownership of the system and effective approaches
include user groups, newsletter and survey
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Users are more comfortable dealing with new information when
they are formed into groups
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User newsletters foster both the user groups and the feelings of
user ownership
Giving user what they need
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By designing the system properly from the start,
the HRSC can meet most users’ needs with
standard reports and procedures
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With any system, users sometimes want what
the system cannot yet provide. In this case,
HRSC should make the maintenance or service
request forms available
Managing HRSC relations with other
departments
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HRSC actions that foster a desirable image among
other departments include the following:
▫ Keeping commitments once made
▫ Being responsive to requests, comments, and other
communication
▫ Actively maintaining contact through tools such as
newsletters, bulletins, staff profiles and vendor press
releases
Managing HRSC relations with other
departments
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The HRIS and IS
▫ Respect the standards and rules IS has established
for system applications
▫ Earn respect for the HRIS
▫ Be willing to admit lack of knowledge
▫ Do not expect technicians to be experts in all
technical areas
Managing HRSC relations with other
departments
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The HRIS and finance
▫ Have twofold relationship:
1. they are partner operations, sharing
information about fiscally important aspects
of human resource management;
Managing Top Management
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Only by having management support can the HRIS
continue to function and improve service to users.
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Many HRIS managers feel that the most important
issue in their relationship with corporate staff is
managing the expectation of management
▫ Selling the HRIS
▫ Fostering a system that earns management support
▫ Resolving conflicting priorities and perceptions
Selling the HRIS
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Selling the system to management goes beyond the budget to
making sure management knows that the organization will derive
some ROI and other ongoing benefits and values from it (for
example timely, organized, accurate, logical information; data
arrayed to present the information needed for decision support)
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Having make sure that the HRIS will provide what management
needs, the HRSC manager must receive in return management’s
ongoing commitment to provide support for the system
Fostering a system that earn management
support
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In order to earn management support, the HRSC
staff must:
▫ Make sure those data are available in a timely fashion
▫ Respond promptly to any management
communication
▫ Share any news with management of all HRIS
successes and improvements, as well as positive
feedback from users
Resolving conflicting priorities and
perceptions
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An effective HRIS manager acknowledge the political
reality that management holds ultimate power over the
HRIS
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In assigning priorities to HRIS work, the manager
must ascertain management’s highest priorities and
apply tools and resources accordingly whenever
possible
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If a conflict develops between management requests
and other priorities or what the HRIS can currently
Keeping the management committee active
• The HRIS manager should assume responsibility for keeping this committee responsive and contributing to HRIS.
• The manager should schedule and facilitate meetings, as well as help justify continuance of the committee to management
• Why keeping the management committee active important?
▫ These individuals understand the HRIS better than do other managers outside human resources, they can perform a valuable liaison function
▫ Corporate management input is a standard component in the audit process, so an ongoing committee serves as an established conduit for this communication. The committee can suggest issues that need attention and give feedback on HRIS
activities, achievements, and needs. Members of this committee offer management’s perspective on HRIS priorities such as which module to undertake, integration with the corporate data base, and planning for system replacement
▫ Committee members may feel a greater sense of ownership than do other members of corporate management, and thus can understand the HRIS perspective on
Managing HRSC relations with other
groups
The HRIS and the
general employee
population
The HRIS and external
agencies
The HRIS and the general employee
population
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The corporate culture of the organization determines the
extent to which the HRSC maintains direct contact and
communication with the overall employee population
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Whatever the philosophy, the more HRIS changes affect
users, the more employees need information about the
changes and how they will experience them in their daily
routines
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This communication should stress how the system will
benefit employees, such as through more flexible benefits,
more accurate career development and tracking
The HRIS and external agencies
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External agencies with which HRIS must deal include employment
firms, departments of labor, workers’ compensation commission,
insurance carriers, other benefits providers, labor unions, banks, and
payroll processing services.
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A few tips on how to ensure good relations follow:
▫ Make sure HRIS staff understand protocol for interacting with outside
agencies
▫ Limit access to the HRIS – remember that the main responsibility of the
HRSC is to support internal users
▫ Be responsive – submit reports on time and answer letters promptly
▫ Make sure external agencies understand that the HRSC is only the
custodian of the data in the HRIS
The HRSC and outside experts
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The HRSC may need to use vendors and consultants on an
occasional basis for further maintenance of the system or to help
resolve planning issues or particular problems
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The HRSC manager needs to keep infrequent contact with the
vendor, know what enhancements are imminent or planned, and
possibly assign a technical person to monitor this and report
significant developments
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In terms of consultant relations, the HRSC manager should use a
consultant who has the appropriate knowledge and experience
required and who also work well with the HRSC staff members
