Powerful Can Be Affordable

For a company with 250 employees, you'd think Chris, the HR Manager, uses an HR information system (HRIS). Actually, she is still using Excel spreadsheets and paper. Why? Chris says, "Because we just don't have the big budget needed for an HRIS implementation." Well there’s good news for Chris: an HRIS does not have to be expensive.

Not only can an HRIS be affordable, it should also be powerful to help you with:

Easy Access to Employee Data

While not all HR databases are alike, most offer a basic set of features that lets you organize, store and retrieve employee data efficiently. These basic features include:

  • Database for storing employee information (hire date, job and salary history, demographic data, etc.)
  • Tracking Leave and Attendance
  • Training and Licensing Management
  • Benefits Administration
  • Report Generation – for management and for government compliance
  • Some Customizable fields

Government Compliance

Many programs include reports needed to be compliant with government regulations, such as FMLA, OSHA, EEO, and Affirmative Action. Latest addition? PPACA – The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Some systems charge extra for this, so it’s best to ask and verify. (With HRnetSource, it’s all built-in. No additional fee for the required ACA Reports.)

Strategic Planning

Many HRIS systems offer tools to help you analyze the employee data for strategic planning:

  • Employee Turnover
  • Succession Planning (skills lists and required training by job, by employee)
  • Salary Review & Budgeting (breakdown of salary & total employee costs)
  • Benefits (cost trends)
  • Performance and Talent Management

An HRIS can be affordable

Investing in a powerful yet affordable HRIS will give you quick access to all your data, increase the efficiency of the HR department and free up time for more pro-active initiatives as well as strategic planning.

Some organizations are moving to “the cloud” or prefer a cloud-hosted solution. That option is available with HRnetSource as well, using the hybrid approach – loading the system in a VPS or Virtual Private Server.

Cost Comparison: HRnetSource vs a typical SaaS option (with subscription – per employee per month fee)

It’s important to understand the cost differential (huge) between a one-time software licensing fee and a hosted systems (or Saas / software-as-a-service) that charges a subscription fee: PEPM (per employee per month). Use this comparison chart and price-analysis tool to see how much money you save by not going for the subscription option.

What about payroll?

If you have an existing payroll provider or in-house system, HRnetSource can interface to it using an automated import and export function. This eliminates duplicate data entry, and helps to ensure data integrity. If your current payroll provider offers an HR module, check to make sure that the functionality of the HR module is as good as what you would get with HRnetSource.

Scale up your HRIS over time

If you can’t afford the entire HRIS suite, consider scaling your system up over several months or years. Purchase the core HRIS today and then add features later as your budget allows. This way you are not sacrificing the system you ultimately want for the reality of what you can afford today.

An affordable yet powerful HR system will improve your HR department's efficiency and productivity. No question about that. Management needs to consider the tradeoff of doing nothing. Do you want your HR Manager spending hours tracking down data in Excel spreadsheets and file cabinets? Or would you rather free up that time to help with strategic activities such as talent acquisition, training, performance management and workforce planning?