HR Pulse

Work smarter - the latest technology options

The HR environment is constantly faced with an onslaught of new products and solutions. A number of factors including lower technology constraints, reduced technology costs, and opportunities for process reengineering to provide greater cost and process efficiencies, have made this possible.

Whilst we are bombarded with new technology choices – things like ERP, BPO, HRO, RPO, VMS, MSP, T&A - we are expected to embrace these changes , adapt our processes and move with the times to remain competitive and relevant.

Research shows a large number of companies are either transforming, or planning to change how they handle HR functions. These changes are motivated by a need for both cost savings and increased efficiencies.

In this article we unpack some of the technology options available and look at their benefits. In the toolkit we consider which questions need to be asked to determine the most appropriate solution for your specific environment.

T&A – Time and Attendance

T&A solutions provide worked time or clock in and out data, and are often interfaced with access control. This data provides worked time data for approval and payment in a Time Sheet Automation, ERP or VMS solution. These solutions simplify timekeeping, authorisation and improve cost visibility, whilst enhancing process efficiency through automation of:

• Timesheet generation
   
• Calculations of time and associated pay and bill rates
   
• Authorisation processes

ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning

ERP.com explains that ERP stems from the manufacturing environment and a need to link materials planning, manufacturing, sales and financial controls. It says that over time, ERP solutions have spread to other business areas such as CRM and HR to facilitate enterprise-wide integrated business solutions. These solutions are often very large and therefore have long and expensive implementation timeframes.

BPO – Business Process Outsourcing

BPO is the outsourcing of operations and responsibilities to third party providers, traditionally using a fee-for-service model. The solution provides flexibility, allows the client’s staff to focus on core business and increases the efficiency of business processes. In order to ensure that a BPO solution is successful, it is essential that comprehensive business continuity programs are in place.

HRO – Human Resources Outsourcing

HRO covers the outsourcing of processes within the HR space. HRO is a subset of BPO focusing on HR and often covers HR administration as well as processing of benefits and payroll.

RPO – Recruitment Process Outsourcing

Wikipedia describes RPO as: " ..a subset of BPO, when a provider acts as a company's internal recruitment function for a portion or all of its jobs," that is, where a service provider assumes control of the recruitment process using their own or the clients’ staff. RPO covers the entire recruitment process from job profiling to on-boarding.

RPO provides a number of benefits including improved time to hire, increased flexibility, increased quality of the candidate pool for the client, enhanced ability to measure processes, reduced cost and increased compliance.  Successful RPO programmes require strong client relationships and management of the risk of all HR "eggs in one basket".

VMS – Vendor Management Solutions

According to the Staffing Industry Analysts Insight, 2007, VMS has become very widespread over the last few years and is an evolution of MSP that has been made possible by the development of technology including the internet.  VMS is generally a software solution that manages contingent workforces in a vendor-neutral manner,  by distributing jobs to staffing providers, facilitating the interview and hire process, collating worked time data and providing a mechanism payment of the authorised time. VMS leads to reduced costs, standardisation of processes and billing mechanisms, as well as optimisation of supplier databases. We have also seen a large increase of VMS solutions being applied in the permanent recruitment space.

Successful implementations require strong client vendor relationships, a willingness to share information and priorities and a solid understanding of both parties’ businesses

MSP – Managed Service Provider

In an MSP, responsibility for day-to-day management of selected business operations is passed to an individual neutral vendor, who will manage multiple vendors on behalf of the client. This provides a single vendor for the client to manage, creating procurement benefits. MSP is often underpinned by VMS technology.

Benefits of the solution are increased efficiencies, increased control of costs, transparency of the process, improved vendor performance, the ability to measure delivery and standardised terms and conditions.

In order to be successful, an MSP must understand the clients’ environment intimately and should have detailed and specific measurement criteria in place.

As we can see, there are a number of solutions available. What is important, however, is that you choose the right solution for your business as this will unlock a number of benefits and will free up HR professionals  to perform their core roles. This is vital, as Bersin and Associates noted in its research paper, Top Best practices for the High Impact HR Organisation, 2011, - Budgets, organisational structure and department size have less impact on business performance then the skill of the HR professional.

Additional Reading

Kleinman, Lawrence S, Human Resource Information Systems, Reference for Business, Encyclopaedia of Business, 2nd Ed, 2012 .