HR Software Selection Myths Part 2

In the second part of this series, we’ll look at some more of People-Trak’s Software Myths and Legends (based on this informational article) from an onboarding perspective.


HR Department Job Loss

It’s understandable for HR staff members to feel threatened by the implementation of automation products. After all, there’s a long history in this culture of replacing people with machines that can do the job better, faster, and cheaper. But many organizations have a woefully understaffed, chronically overworked HR department to start with. Employers typically want greater efficiency and strategic improvement more than they want to cut their HR headcount. Automating a process like onboarding simply frees up HR to start using its own human resources more effectively. For example, HR staff can spend more time with each new hire making them feel welcome and comfortable instead of plowing through a stack of forms.

Implementation and Consultation Worries

As the folks at People-Trak mention, a small to mid-sized business shouldn’t have an excessively lengthy implementation for HR software. At Emerald Software Group, our onboarding software clients are typically medium to large sized businesses. However, there’s still a fairly modest time commitment involved for implementing the basics of Universal Onboarding (forms automation, policy acknowledgements, Payroll integration). Further interfaces can be phased in at a pace that is convenient for the client so that everything goes smoothly.

We do recommend collaborating with an HRIS analyst to speed things up. If you have an analyst on staff, that’s perfect. He or she will have a full understanding of your business, HR, and IT processes. If not, we can still work with HR and IT to make sure everyone is on the same page about things like system requirements and functionality. We’ve structured our onboarding products with ease of customization (such as look and feel) in mind. We also have a long list of interface solutions prepared for commonly used HRIS and Payroll applications. If you have non-standard back end systems, that’s fine too. We are always looking for more opportunities to expand our experience interfacing with new products.

HR Technology and Worker Privacy

Workforce Magazine has a somewhat disturbing article online this week about the applications available to HR for monitoring employee activity on the web. These new tools go far beyond simply documenting worker use of company computers. Keyword recording software and firewalls that block access to certain sites are commonplace enough that they no longer raise eyebrows.

The latest generation of monitoring software takes surveillance to the next level. Besides taking screenshots of every web page an employee visits at work, it can also scour the web in general to dig up information about workers that might raise a red flag. It doesn’t matter if the employee (or someone else) posted questionable content at home on their personal time. If the employer can sniff it out, they may use it to make disciplinary decisions.

Examples of images and content posted on social networking sites that have resulted in suspension or termination recently include:

• Photos of a female employee at a bachelorette party (with live entertainment) posted to the internet without her consent

• Negative comments about working conditions including criticism of a particular supervisor posted by an employee on her own time

The employees in the widely publicized cases above ended up on the winning side of court cases against their employers. However, the battle over free speech and privacy vs. corporate interests is just getting started. Read the full article to get a feel for the arguments made on each side of this tense issue.

HR Tech Doesn’t Have to be Invasive to Provide Benefits

There’s no consensus, but the middle ground seems to be that encouraging employees to behave responsibly online is the safest, least invasive action employers can take. One way to do this is through acculturation onboarding that provides clear information about employer expectations. Assisting employees in participating on the company’s own internal networking platform could also give them a place to socialize during work hours without breaking any rules. Our Acculturation Portal supports both of these initiatives to help employers set healthy boundaries and communicate about appropriate behavior.

What’s Up With IaaS?

Cloud services are typically grouped into 3 categories. Software as a Service is the best known option since hundreds of vendors in HR software and related business spheres provide their services via this model. Our Universal Onboarding program is an example of an application that can now be accessed in a cloud-based format for clients who want to get on board with this technology. Platform as a Service is becoming popular with both vendors and end users who need an affordable and readily scalable base on which to construct custom applications. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the third category. This sector is poised for exponential growth as organizations migrate from legacy server systems to virtual servers.


More Companies are Switching

According to CIO.IN, 25% of organizations are currently planning to take advantage of IaaS through third party providers like Amazon and Google. These companies use virtual servers to shift loads around the cloud and make the most of available resources minute by minute. This is in stark contrast to traditional data centers that typically have a great deal of infrastructure available at all times but rarely operate anywhere near peak capacity. Legacy data centers have to be constructed to factor in plenty of capacity for those times when demand increases, and customers pay for the assurance of this availability even when they aren’t using it.

The Cloud IaaS Difference

With cloud infrastructure, usage is metered. Customers pay for what they use and can scale up or back at any time. This is particularly useful for IT in the development and testing of new applications that may require additional server space on a temporary basis. The organization doesn’t have to invest in permanent infrastructure upgrades to avoid interfering with other processes on their existing servers. For inward facing applications such as HR, IaaS could offer an organization the ability to explore new training and development programs cheaply and effectively.

The corporations running the cloud infrastructure have access to such a massive quantity of server resources that available capacity for their entire customer base is more than adequate even when demand is high. At the same time, it costs a fraction of the expense of running a legacy server system in terms of energy. This means customers often pay much less than they would when running their own servers in-house or outsourcing to a non-virtual infrastructure provider.

HR Software Selection Myths Part 1

People-Trak has an educational pdf available about HR software myths and legends. It offers a look into the mindset of the inexperienced software buyer. It’s definitely a thought provoking piece and worth a read. Here are some of the highlights along with how they apply in the field of onboarding software.


HR Software as the Unlimited Problem Solver

Just as HRIS won’t make all your blues go away, an onboarding system isn’t guaranteed to eliminate snafus. Not every software product for new hire onboarding is created equal. You need one (like Universal Onboarding) that will enforce rules regarding how each data panel is completed. Otherwise, HR will still spend hours dealing with exceptions in new hire forms. You also need to take a close look at all the policies you have new hires sign off on during onboarding. Your software can support you in collecting acknowledgements, but it won’t protect you from litigation if your policies are not compliant with labor laws.

HR Software Complexity and Expense

It is possible to overspend on HR software – if you don’t understand what you need. You should review both the actual functions of an application and how each function dovetails with your organization’s business strategy to determine whether a product is worth its price tag. For example, onboarding that enhances compliance and automates processes has a high value for any business. With SaaS options and a fee based on a “per new hire” schedule, the costs are minimized without sacrificing quality.

Extensive HR Training Requirements

People-Trak suggests that HRIS software should be designed to simply automate tasks and therefore should require little training. We agree that a well-designed system should be easy and intuitive to use. But it’s not true that automation is all an application should offer. If a software product does not actually improve the way you carry out HR processes, it’s probably not a Best of Breed solution.

HR Software Implementation – Who’s On First?

Compare HRIS has a great article available about setup order for employers who are looking to implement multiple HR applications. The short answer to the question about which one goes first is “It depends”. As Clay Scroggin points out, typically you want to start with what’s most important. For a company that is making the switch from a paper based system to a paperless one, the obvious first step is a basic HRMS database. That’s because any data collected with other applications (such as ATS) will probably feed into this system. Plus, it provides the foundation from which other applications (such as Payroll) will draw their information.


Choose What Will Provide the Greatest Benefit Right Now

Assuming you’ve already got your basic employee database covered, you can branch out based on your business priorities. Your goals might include relieving some of HR’s administrative burden and increasing employee satisfaction by implementing an ESS. For some businesses, better performance management and employee development are the logical next steps. Or, you could automate onboarding to increase compliance and protect against audits, fines, and litigation.

Consider the Complexity of Implementation

Another thing to bear in mind is the amount of time and effort required for user adoption. For example, an MSS portal requires your organization to spend time training every manager on how to use the system and following up to make sure they use it consistently. With a module like Universal Onboarding, new hire end users don’t require any training – it’s a wizard based application that walks them through everything step by step. HR’s side is also straightforward since it uses tools like Adobe that most people already have some familiarity with.

Finally, there’s the issue of IT involvement. The more complex the implementation, the more time and effort it will take to complete. Employers may wish to begin with something simple to start the software project off on the right foot. At Emerald Software Group, we recommend a phased implementation for clients who want to interface onboarding with multiple back end systems. This approach gives HR tools like error and omission free new hire data collection and payroll integration they can use right away. These features capture most of the value and functionality of the application. The second phase allows completion of the remaining interfaces with excellent attention to detail and without the type of rushing that could lead to a poor outcome.