The employment and the administration of people have seen a rapid transformation from the days of management of Labour to what is known today as Human Capital Management (HCM) or Human Resource Management (HRM).
Today, other than a handful of small or start-ups, virtually every business Organisation that employs 10 or more employees, uses some form of software solution to manage their HRM activities.
Types of HRM solutions
Traditionally, most software solutions had to be installed on-site and most often on a central server with access to ‘client’ PC’s. These are known as ‘on premise’ solutions. Today, most solutions are installed and operate in geographically dispersed locations commonly known as on the ‘cloud’ and accessed via the internet. More on that later.
Functional Segregation or Modularisation
Since HRM covers many areas from Recruitment to Retirement, it is common to see separate ‘modules’ being developed catering to specific functions. Some common (functional) modules include Recruitment, Payroll, Attendance & Leave, Performance Appraisal, Training & Development, Benefits, Loans and so on.
Why modular?
A key reason for segregating the functions as Modules is to be able to provide a customised solution to a given Business and charge only for the modules that are required. This also allows a business to add modules as it grows.
Is there a HRM Starter Kit?
Whilst each business may have its own unique features / requirements a starting point is to be able to ‘process’ pay (payroll) for employees. Besides the Payroll module, this may also involve Time & Attendance, Leave, and sometimes Loan modules as well.
In order to be able to use the Payroll modules, unless the software is rudimentary, the more established HRM solutions may have what is called the Base Solution or the Core Solution which includes additional Modules that form the backbone of the HRM Solution.
For instance, iOM’s HRPro has what is called Profile Manager and Access Manager that forms the base system. These modules contain information pertaining to the Organisations HR Policies as well as the key information of each employee such as Designation, details of Emoluments, action dates such as Contract Expiry or Increments, Deductions, etc.
What is the typical duration?
What is meant by duration is gap between when the project kicks off and the elapsed time until the live roll-out. This generally depends on the following variables (in the order of impact):
Based on these, the typical implementation time can vary from 1 month to 12 months.
In summary, whilst the factors mentioned above are important for the selection of a solution ‘best’ suited for ‘your Organisation’ it is important to note that the ultimate success factor hinges on the discipline and the commitment of the Implementation Team and the support of the Management.