HRIS Module

• There are four groups of transparencies

here, designed to go with the topics listed in
the teaching note:
– Overview (4 slides)
– Kinds of systems (8 slides)
– Client/server technology (7 slides)
– Implementation & org change (14 slides)

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 HRIS Overview
• Technology is increasingly pervasive
– Push: hardware and software costs go down
– Pull: greater need for good HR systems

• HR people need to be aware of what

information systems can do

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 Technical basics
• Database technology
– Storing and retrieving data
– Usually relational databases
• Network technology
– Distributing information
– “client/server” systems
– Intranet and the WWW

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 More than just technology
• Systems are embedded in organizations
– Routines, procedures, etc.
– Jobs, division of labor, etc.
– Information, power and influent
• Organizational factors make all the difference
– Untrained or resistant users can kill any system
– Poor fit with org. structure, culture or routines
can also kill a system
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 HRIS require careful planning
• IS dept. needs to manage technical details
– Databases, network connectivity, etc.
• HR needs manage the change process
– Training
– “PR” and communications
– Need to identify sources of resistance to change
& strategies for managing resistance

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 Kinds of Systems
Executive Support
Strategic planning
Plant opening/closing

Mgmt Reporting Decision Support

EEO, OSHA, etc. staffing (long and short term)
absenteeism by department benefits planning

Transaction Processing Workflow

time and attendance recruitment & hiring
forms requests performance appraisal
benefits enrollment

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 Transaction Processing
• Basic, routine requests
– Time & attendance records
– Benefits enrollment
• Normally done with a form
– Labor intensive & Error prone
• Automation of routine transactions provides
data that other processes can use
(informating HR work)
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 Management Reporting
• Basic, routine questions
– How many people work here?
– What are we paying them?
• Also need capability to generate “ad hoc”
reports to answer non-routine questions
• Client-server systems can enable more
flexible reporting by allowing users to
design their own reports
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 Workflow
• Most transactions require multiple steps
– Hiring is a classic example
• Where does the paperwork go next?
• Workflow systems expedite processing by
moving the “paperwork” from step to step
electronically
• Vision: the paperless office
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 Decision Support
• Algorithms can be used for routine
decisions
– daily/weekly/seasonal staffing levels)
• Analysis tools can be used to support non-
routine decisions
– When bargaining over wages or benefits, DSS
can help analyze true costs over time.

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 Enterprise Resource Planning
• Very popular category of software
– PeopleSoft, SAP, Oracle, Baan, JD Edwards,
etc.
• Objectives:
– Integrate HR, financial and manufacturing data
into a single system
– Facilitate operations and decision-making
• Can be very complex: thousands of tables!
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 Special purpose systems
• Many other kinds of systems are available
– Job description writers
– Applicant &resume tracking
– Test administration
• Or you can write your own
• A constant issue: systems integration
(getting systems to work together)
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 What do systems do?
• Automating: replacing human work with
machines
– Generally aimed at cost reduction
• Informating: creating information as a by
product of work
– Feeds management decision making
– Can enhance effectiveness
• HR Systems can do either or both
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 Client/Server Systems
• A way of distributing computing resources,
such as:
– Files -- data and programs
– Processing
– I/O devices (print, fax, etc.)
• Objective: To create flexible infrastructure
and provide information at your fingertips

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 Why is C/S so popular?
• Hoped-for benefits (pull)
– Lower cost, greater IS value
– Greater functionality & flexibility
– Fits 1990s organizational paradigm
• Enabling technology available (push)
– Cheap, powerful hardware
– Relational database technology
– Network technology (the intranet)
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 Trend toward distributed resources
• 20 years ago
– Central mainframe running batch jobs
– Dumb terminals, but limited interactivity
• 10 years ago
– Central mainframe
– Mini- and micro-computers attached
• Recently
– Increased network capacity & cheap PCs
– 90% of corporate MIPS are on the desktop
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 What is a client?
• A process that interacts with the user to:
– provide a user interface
– formulate queries (for example)
– communicate with server
– analyze data returned from server
• Examples:
– WWW browsers like Netscape are clients
– E-mail readers like Eudora or MS Outlook
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 What is a server?
• A set of processes that:
– provides services to client(s)
– responds to requests (does not initiate)
– makes the system transparent to client
• Examples:
– Web servers respond to requests for web pages
– Also: File servers, email servers, print servers…

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 HR & client server systems
• Most major HR applications use client-
server technology
– Data are centralized and can be shared
– Access and decision-making can be
decentralized
• Examples:
– Open positions need to be posted everywhere
– Policies and procedures, benefits enrollment. . .
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 C/S systems are not simple
• Lots of pieces interacting
– Server platform, client platform, network ...
• Maintenance is expensive
• Security and control is always a concern
– Who should have access? To which data?
• HR requires excellent support from IS to
make these systems successful
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 Implementation and
Organizational Change
• Many parts of organization are affected
– Resources/authority/jobs are at stake
– Politics and resistance are likely
• Need to adopt appropriate tactics
– Always: Participation
– Frequently: Co-optation
– Occasionally: Managerial fiat

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 Cross-functional teams are needed

• System builders are responsible for:

– Technical quality
– User interface
– Overall organization impact
– Design and implementation process
• No single function can handle all this!

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 User involvement is key
• Users provide essential information
• User involvement tends to generate
resources needed for org change:
– “Buy-in” (or co-optation)
– Commitment
• User involvement tends to promote:
– Increased satisfaction
– Higher probability of success
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 System Development Life-Cycle
WARNING: The most expensive errors happen early. . .

Requirements
Design

Customization

Implementation

Maintenance

Time (1-2 years for complex system)

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 Requirements analysis
• Problem definition: What are our needs?
• Feasibility: technical, economic, operational
• Possible outcomes:
– Do nothing; leave well enough alone
– Upgrade/extend existing system
– New System
• Output: Project/system proposal
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 If you don’t know what your
requirements really are...
• Try prototyping
• Use the prototype to elicit user reactions
and define requirements
• Revise and enhance the prototype to refine
the requirements
• Good approach for complex situations
where requirements are unclear

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 Selling your project
• Hard to justify on cost-benefit alone
– Direct savings are easy enough to document
– But systems are expensive…
• HR systems are required to do business
– Payroll taxes, FMLA, OSHA, and many other
record keeping functions are required by law
– Why not get a system that can also help further
strategic goals of the organization?
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 Systems are risky
• Failure is common
– Almost all projects fail a little bit (over budget,
behind schedule, marginal functionality)
• Some project fail completely
– A large scale HRIS is expensive ($ millions)
– Consultants can help, but are also expensive
• IS people adopt a “risk-benefit” perspective
– How risky is your project?
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 Risk-benefit perspective
Project Risk
High Low

Cautiously Identify &

High
Examine Develop
Potential
Benefits
Routine
Low Avoid!
Projects

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 Make or Buy?
• Requirements form the basis for this
decision. If at all possible, try to buy!
– Most systems can be customized
– It’s easier to change your processes, if necessary
• Writing custom software only makes sense if
you have very unusual (and inflexible)
requirements (or the project is very easy)

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 System Design
• After needs have been identified, still need
to decide details of what system will do
• Says what is to be done, but not how to do it
• This is needed even when purchasing
software
– Vendor will have customization methodology
• Output: Design or customization
specifications
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 Customization
• Even packaged software required
customization
• Large Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
systems (like SAP, PeopleSoft, Baan, etc.)
can have literally thousands of parameters
that must be set.
• This is a significant effort

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 Implementation
• Data conversion & Roll-out
– Parallel systems: safe but expensive
– Direct cut-over: risky but cheap
– Phased approach (e.g., by geographic area)
• Documentation
• User training & support

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 Production and maintenance
• Average breakdown of effort:
– 20% debugging & emergency fixes
– 20% changes in data, files, reports, etc.
– 60% enhancements
• 50% of life-cycle cost
• An effective requirements/design process
greatly reduces these costs
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