As mentioned in the previous post, there are many ways to define HRIS. So here we go, here are the eight types of systems we look at as a team and we’ll be talking about in this blog.
Payroll (the easy one): can someone get paid?
– This can include Tax Filing or not; Almost always comes with HR as well – although not in every case, which creates the bevy of HR-only solutions out there like Silkroads, etc. Most of the big service bureaus will sell a Payroll-only option.
Time and Attendance: another core service, although some marketing genius is out there transforming this into Workforce Management. I’ve never seen something go from commodity to caviar so fast!
Reporting: this really isn’t a category, but I’m calling it out separate as it’s THAT important. Too many systems do not offer consolidated reporting or force employers to use proprietary systems that suck [technical term].
HR (the confusing term): my definition = anything boring, not able to be productized on its own.
– I always think of company property, organizational structure – who reports to whom, and compliance reporting on EEO/OSHA, etc. There’s a real hodge-podge of items here, but recently several aspects have been able to break away and stand apart from their family of origin. (I’m thinking of some of the guys from high school who left geeks and came back for our 10 year reunion as studs – Joe, Matt, Tony – this post is for you!)
Talent: the latest category from HR and is still evolving; it’s as if they took all the strategic portions of HR and decided if they could productize it, they could sell all their HR buyers more expensive software again!
– Performance, Recruiting, Succession, Compensation and Learning is how we think of the Talent Management suite based upon some of the early innovators. Not every firm has every piece, but they’re all scrambling in a multi-year version of Musical Chairs.
Self-Service: Employee and Manager Self-Service (ESS) are now becoming so commonplace, that it’s rare to see a line-item price from vendors for them anymore. I remember when ESS was an additional $1.50-$3.00 PEPM for an employer on top of their HRIS fees.
– This gets confusing though, because like reporting, it can span only one module/function or the whole suite of HR Technology. Often employers are forced to stick a third party system on top of conflicting systems in a desperate hope of unifying the employee’s HR experience. Results of this are usually horrid.
– Sometimes there can be Payroll Self-Service-only or Benefits-only which leads us to the final topic, Benefits Administration.
Benefits Administration
– When I first started working with vendors like the late, great (sort of) SHPS I would get confused by their term “enrollment and eligibility” or “Benefits Administration and Online Enrollment.” Weren’t those the same things? Ahh, I quickly learned not all vendors had both parts of the solution or were competent on both sides of the equation. Often I found us dropping in an Enwisen or some such to put lipstick on the pig of their ERP Benefits Administration.
– Online Enrollment: this is the employee self-service portion of this slice of the HR Tech pie. Can employers ditch the paper? Can employees research, price and – most importantly – understand their benefits?
– Benefits Administration: every sexy employee-facing system needs the workhorse back-end to get the job done after the elections are made. This was a part I liked to ignore, as there was so much complexity; I have never found the bottom of this particular rabbit hole. [Get some, Lewis Carroll!]
- Carrier Feeds: these almost deserve an entry of their own as difficult as they’ve been over the last decade, but at long last they are quieting down and becoming easier and more affordable.
- Decision Support: this could be listed under Online Enrollment, but is a total brain portion, not beauty. Helping an employee or spouse model different cost scenarios and compare plan options, network coverage, and understand our healthcare system (good luck with that!) are the true Rosetta Stone of the HR world. [For the record, this is an Indiana Jones-type reference. I’m not talking about translation software. But if I have to work this hard to explain my references, I should probably stop already.]
HRIS: this is the broadest term; the “one ring to bind them all” [showing off my Tolkien geek here]; it includes all modules above and any other function Swiss Army wants to add to their knives. I’d like to say – although this is only in my dreams– that a true HRIS also has to have an integrated database underneath all the modules to enable true reporting power.
There are so few true HRIS solutions out there compared to all the millions of “point” solutions that only address one or a couple of the modules listed above. Folks like ADP, Ultimate Software, Ceridian, Oracle, Workday stand tall in this marketplace. But these giants are surrounded, and vastly outnumbered, by the Lilliputian swarms of “specialist” vendors or “best of breed” solutions.
You know, as I am writing, I’m realizing that all this complexity is why I have a job (and there are even systems I’ve totally left out such as Expense, etc.). If it is this difficult for me to define one word, HRIS, you can understand how this pays the mortgages of our 16 full-time and 12 part-time teammates at Lockton. So I guess I shouldn’t poke too much fun at it! It’s all better than the Excel spreadsheets most employers truly use to run HR!
Call it whatever you want – I’ll figure out what we’re talking about soon enough.
HRIS Support: Operators are standing by.