The 5 Types of Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS)

Protecting the Earth is hard.

Luckily, with earth, fire, wind, water, and heart, Captain Planet is able to swoop in

and save the day.

Similarly, HR teams have to tackle a lot.

Recruiting, performance management, payroll, learning and development, and resource management

fall on their shoulders so having a solid HRIS, or human resources information system,

can make or break an organization.

That said, there’s a bunch of different kinds out there.

So in this vid we’ll take a look at 5 different types of HRIS tools and look at what specific

challenges they’re built to tackle.

But before that, hi!

I’m Kyle, and I’ll be walking you through this overview of 5 types of HRIS tools.

If you find this video helpful, do me a favor and hit those like and subscription buttons

down below.

We’ll start off our list with Operational HRIS, which are HR systems that help people

managers and HR staff with the hustle and bustle of moving folks around.

These solutions are used for companies that want to prioritize developing and investing

in their employees.

For instance, internal job posting systems help to identify a need for a certain role

and, hopefully, a candidate within the organization that can fill that need.

This helps employees advance their careers and ensures that there’s enough support

to take on the new role when the time comes.

ATS, or applicant tracking systems, can also be included in operational systems although

they are also often their own separate solution.

When included though, they are used to identify qualified candidates for jobs and streamlining

the tasks associated with bringing them on.

Performance management systems are also a part of operational HRIS to support employee

retention, promotion, transfer, job rotation, or contract termination needs.

Strategic HRIS tools help with analysis, decision making, and goal setting in relation to workforce

planning.

These are useful for growing organizations that want to be intentional about the employees

they hire and develop, in order to find the right talent and reduce turnover.

Job analysis and design tasks involve identifying the necessary background and skills, scope

of responsibilities, reporting structure, and salary for any given role.

This functionality helps identify skills and role gaps in the current workforce, all of

which have downstream implications for recruiting strategy as well as learning and development.

A recruiting information system stores specific skills that hiring managers analyze when evaluating

candidates.

It also gathers useful hiring metrics to help HR teams optimize hiring processes.

These metrics include the number of current openings, how and where they’re advertised,

time to fill vacancies, and time to onboard new hires.

A learning management system (LMS) supports succession planning as operational decisions

are made regarding job rotations or promotions.

It tracks skill sets for employees across the company and identifies employees who are

ready to pursue additional training or certifications based on recent changes to their roles or

responsibilities.

The tactical HRIS category targets efficiency and compliance for functions like compensation,

recruiting, training, and benefits.

Tactical HRIS functions support macro-level HR decisions about how to most effectively

invest in and allocate resources.

Tactical HR modules aggregate external data related to competitors, the industry, and

new federal regulations that inform job analysis and design.

Compensation and benefits management modules affect employee recruiting and retention.

From a leadership perspective, salary and benefits are two of the most expensive investments

an organization makes in its employees.

Therefore, company leaders have a vested interest in regularly reviewing the organization’s

benefits package and compensation strategy.

As the name implies, a comprehensive HR information system functions as a one-stop shop for storing

any information needed to perform nearly all HR functions.

It serves as a central repository for a wider range of data that supports operational, strategic,

and tactical HR functions combined.

These three functions do not operate in a vacuum; rather, they influence each other

in different ways.

For example, data about a role’s design in terms of where it fits into the reporting

structure and how it contributes to a company’s goals serve both operational and strategic

angles of job analysis and design.

It makes sense for larger businesses to use a comprehensive HRIS since it integrates data

across all three types of functional systems.

This information provides valuable insight so HR and business leaders can make informed

decisions quickly.

Smaller businesses, however, may want a simpler HRIS solution that fulfills core HR needs.

In this case, comprehensive HRIS may be overwhelming to implement and maintain.

Plus, the price point of a comprehensive HRIS puts it out of reach for many smaller businesses’

budgets.

In contrast to a comprehensive HRIS, a limited-function or specialized HRIS focuses on one or a few

core information systems to support a narrow list of HR functions, such as payroll and

benefits administration.

They’re a less expensive option compared to comprehensive HRIS solutions, and even

HR teams of one can manage this kind of software alone.

A limited-function HRIS is, therefore, generally suited for smaller companies with lean HR

teams.

And that does it for our list of the 5 main types of HRIS tools out there!

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For more information on all the HR tools that are out there, visit our website at technologyadvice.com

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