Keeping employee records and information

Last updated: 2024-02-08

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Without information on human resources, it can't be done

No company, small, medium or large, can do without a solution to store some of its most sensitive information - employee and applicant data. Some companies make do with a filing cabinet, some with excel spreadsheets, but larger companies need a more secure and transparent solution. Human resource management software helps maintain and share vital information about people and their context within the company, which will also help with collaboration between the company and its employees. It facilitates their recruitment, onboarding, evaluation, training and management. So, today it is impossible to imagine HR and human resource management without the help of various systems and software. There is a plethora of different systems available on the market. Let's take a look at where and how they can help us in our daily work and how to choose the right one or rather how to use them together.

What does HR and human resources management actually involve

HRM is a very broad area of processes in an organization. It is important to see the subject of HRM in its entirety and understand the basics, then decision making is easier. It is not only about HR processes, but it is also important to keep in mind what information HR works with. It is all the information about people - applicants and especially employees, and most of all the information related to their functioning in the company.

Records of job applicants and candidates

The life cycle of employees begins with their recruitment. Applicants and all the processes associated with them are the first step that HR managers must control. The processes around applicants include registering job seekers, evaluating their CVs, suitability of candidates for the vacancy, interviewing and testing candidates, as well as selection procedures.

Employee records

Employee records are the absolute foundation of all HR. As an employer, you need to have all the necessary personal information clearly, reliably and securely available. Each employee typically has a file containing both work-related and private information, so you need to ensure that only authorized persons have access to this information:

Personal data
Job title and job classification
Employment contract and salary details
Professional qualifications and education
Work restrictions or medical information

Personnel administration

Once a person is employed in a company, a whole range of administrative processes arise around them. At the heart of it all is good record keeping of employees and, where appropriate, outsourced data, which is important from both a legal and practical perspective. The system should therefore be flexible enough to record exactly the data your organization needs (uploading files and reports directly to individual profiles, records of what assets have been entrusted to them, what contract has been signed with them, etc.). The life of an employee in a company brings the need to have as much information in one place as possible, such as:

Basic personnel information
Job classification in the organizational structure
Job description
Work benefits
Issued job aids
Operational requests and needs of staff, such as leave requests, etc.

Salaries and wages

Everything from filing all documents for salaries and wages to clearing and paying them. Staff remuneration is an important part of HR. It involves keeping records of all the information on which remuneration is calculated, calculating the remuneration itself, paying it out, and even communicating with the authorities. There are a number of specialized software for this area.

Human resources management

The aim is to optimize the use of human potential in the company, including the professional development of existing employees, the creation of new positions and the management of recruitment procedures. This area includes, for example, training employees, familiarizing employees with policies and other important documents and guiding or supervising the onboarding of new employees. The system should also facilitate and streamline the management of recruitment procedures for existing and new positions:

Employee records
Registration of applicants for positions
Records of employment contracts
Records of time worked, leave and sick leave
Records of medical examinations
Employee benefits
Training, familiarization of employees with policies and other important documents
Job positions, job descriptions
Organizational structure
Employee evaluations
Records of company assets entrusted to employees (keys, stamps, IT equipment, etc.)
Records of work equipment
Processing, settlement and payment of wages and salaries
And others

Employee organizational context

Based on this data, it should be possible to generate the entire organizational structure of the company, which can be further used, for example, in human resources management.

What types of HR systems exist

The system should allow you to keep records of the people in your company, process them and manage human capital towards developing individuals, teams and thus the whole organization. These three areas are:

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

These are specialized systems that assist in the recruitment, recording and assessment of job applicants. They are essential in large companies that have to deal with a large number of job applicants. ATS systems help them sort applicants, evaluate resumes, and sometimes help evaluate applicants. They also sometimes allow them to organize and assess selection procedures. ATS systems typically support the entire recruitment process.

Onboarding software

This type of software focuses on onboarding support. It supports the entire process from onboarding preparation to the whole onboarding and onboarding process, typically the first three months of onboarding. Onboarding software focuses on both the soft aspects of onboarding (orientation to the new environment). It should also address the problematic elements (issuing job aids and other duties related to the new hire's job). Sometimes these systems are built entirely independently, other times, they are part of systems to support HR administration.

Personnel administration - keeping information about people in the company

HR systems may not be intended only for HR managers, but they also overlap with regular managerial work. Therefore, they are also designed for managers to effectively support their daily work - from the evaluation of employee performance to their personal development.

Payroll systems

Payroll systems are designed to process workers' salaries and all related administration resulting from a given country's legal obligations.

Time and attendance systems

Companies that need to have a clear overview of their employees' attendance use attendance systems that record the exact time employees arrive and leave the workplace.

Staff appraisal and development

Specialized workforce assessment software allows you to create and evaluate workforce development plans. This is usually annual planning and evaluation of staff development based on their career path and career plan. These systems are sometimes part of complex HRIS applications.

Familiarisation with documents

Job duties arising from the job description are necessary components of personnel and organizational management in companies. Adherence to work procedures, compliance with standards, policies, and other company procedures is challenging to maintain in larger companies on paper alone. These systems also help firms to prove that a given employee has been adequately briefed on work procedures. The systems thus help reduce the risk of litigation.

Intranets

These are types of software that support internal communication within a company between the company and employees. It is a kind of bulletin board for employees to share important information across the company. This can be policies, phone books and contacts for colleagues.

Corporate Social Networks and Employee Engagement - Employee engagement

These are a type of software that link to an intranet. This type of software helps engage employees in company processes, such as innovation of the workforce in general. Typically, this involves supporting various discussions, interests, projects or other professional groups within the company.

Human resource management, HR systems or HRIS systems

These are complex applications that cover a large part of the HR processes mentioned above. They include comprehensive information, including planning analytical tools for managing the workforce in a company.

Why should you use a system for HR

The systems store your data and can work with them effectively

The information is always up to date, and the system records full history. You and your colleagues will save time because you do not have to message each other to get up-to-date records. While the export to Excel will give you the view, you were used to.

You can select the information you keep track of based on the needs of your company. You can also create categories for your staff (for example, employees, contractors, and partners). This is because you usually want to keep track of different information for each of them.

The system will allow you to be up to date with everything, thanks to many aspects. The first aspect being simple analysis and charts that are always ready for you. The second one being notifications of important data, dates, or changes in important records. The third aspect being the ability to interlink information to gain a complex overview of all connections. Thanks to that, you will find employee's assets quickly or the project they are working on.