The Importance of Mis in the Human Resources Department Essay Example

provide and analyze data about customers; the important feedback from the analysis can help the company know their customers and improve their business according to the customers’ needs. With all this information based on MIS, a company can analyze and predict business situations in the future.

As a result, they know where they need to improve or how they need to react in order to stay competitive and become the business leader (Pant & Hsu, 1995). Therefore, MIS is very useful in helping managers to predict business situations, based on what is going on in the market, and to make important decisions for the business processes and the operations accurately. MIS in the Human Resource Department Furthermore, besides helping managers in making decisions for the company in general, MIS also helps companies and managers organize their employees and even their future employees.

This is very important because the most important asset in any company is its employees. The activities to maximize employee’s capabilities and their performance in an organization is coordinated by the organization’s Department of Human Resource Management or Human Resource Development (McManara, n. d. ). The Human Resource Department (HRD) is the area in a company responsible for managing the company’s employees as an asset of the company. The main role of the HRD in a company is to provide managerial services for employees and to support company activities.

To be more specific, the HRD’s function in a company is to perform administrative processes. It consists of keeping data profiles for all employees, usually including their personal histories, skills, capabilities, accomplishments, and salary (Wikipedia, 2011b). In addition, the HRD also

needs to make sure that the work practices follow the law. In other words, the HRD employees are also responsible to administrate, record and keep secure all the staff data, payments, reward systems, and employees benefits. They need to make sure that employees can do their jobs, so the business processes go smoothly.

Besides that, the HRD is also responsible for all support services. The clerical duties that include clerical, typing, filing, maintenance of the office accommodation, transportation, reception, telephone, telex, and facsimile. The communications duties that include collecting and delivering documents, security, and advertising. Also, the HRD is responsible for other activities to ensure the smooth running of the organization (McManara, n. d. ). In the past, all of these administrative activities were done manually, resulting in a lot of administrative work for the HRD.

In order to reduce the manual work of these administrative activities, companies began to use electronic devices or technologies to automate most of these processes. Even before the 1980s, many HR processes were transferred to mainframe computers that could handle large amounts of data. Today, because of the needs of high capital investment and the high cost of software programs, advanced companies tend to use a client server, an application service provider and a Software as a Service (SaaS) to enable and to control the company’s administrative systems (Wikipedia, 2011b). Software as a service (SaaS) is a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally (typically in the internet cloud) and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet” (SIIA, 2001). In today’s

business, it seems that HRD cannot do much without the presence of MIS. The combination of Human Resource Management and Management Information Systems is called the Human Resource Management System (HRMS) or Human Resource Information System (HRIS) (Gale, 2001).

Some companies, such as human resources outsourcing companies, depend on the combination of both of these areas. These companies use information technology to do most of human resource activities in doing their business processes. They select, recruit and train potential employees, whom they send to other companies. The use of information technology to do human resource activities is usually a part of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in a company. ERP systems integrate information from different applications into one universal database. It connects human resource operations into the business operation.

MIS has important roles in supporting most of HRD activities in each sector, which are recruiting, training, payroll, work time, benefits administration, HR management information system, performance record, and employee self service process. Therefore, nowadays many companies often use MIS to deal with administration jobs to make employees work faster and more effective. The Application of MIS in the HRD Management information systems have many benefits for the Human Resource Department in many different aspects. Most of MIS functions in HRD is to upport and to manage employees’ administration processes of a company.

HRD important sectors in a company that are typically being supported by MIS functions are in recruitment sector, training sector, payroll, work time, benefits administration, HR management information system, performance record, and employee self service process. Recruitment “Recruitment is the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a

job” (Wikipedia, 2010). In order to compete and to reduce cost, companies need to find way to make the recruitment process as efficient as possible.

As a result, MIS roles are central in this area. These days, most companies use e-recruitment methods to make the processes faster, more efficient, and cost saving. With e-recruitment, companies can introduce their company, promote or post the job opening, and even do the recruitment processes online. Nowadays, with the improvement of internet technology, online recruiting has become one of the most popular techniques that HR departments use in order to find potential candidates for available positions.

In general, management information systems can really support the recruitment processes, in addition to analyzing personnel usage within an organization, identifying potential applicants, recruiting through company-facing listings, and recruiting through online recruiting sites or publications that market to both recruiters and applicants” (Wikipedia, 2011b). Companies can also post available jobs and contact potential candidates by using their own web-sites or through special recruitment portals, such as JobsDB or JobStreet. com.

Recently, companies have also started to recruit through social networks, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and through virtual or cyber world games, such as Second Life. Also, most companies use internet teleconference technology, such as Skype or Yahoo Messenger to interview candidates from distant places. Even though the quality and validity of the online-only recruitment processes are still questionable due to their limitations, this recruitment method is becoming more popular and, in the future, might become the primary mode of recruitment.

One of the main reasons is because it can significantly reduce costs and simplify the recruitment process, especially

when distance is a limitation. Training After recruiting and selecting candidates, the company must train the new employees. Management information systems, such as the widely used learning management system, assists companies during the training process through administration, planning training tracks, and tracking employee development efforts. The learning information system allows the HRD to track the education, qualifications, and skills of the employees.

This system can even point out what training courses and materials are available to develop particular skills that employees need to improve. The more advanced learning management system for managers can help managers support training, budgets and calendars with performance management and appraisal metrics (Ellis, 2009). Administration Procedures (Employee Self Service Systems, Work Time, Benefits & Payroll) After new employees are trained, they can start doing their new jobs and do the general daily administration procedures in the HRD.

These administrative procedures include attendance, equipment requests, and other administration or transaction processes. The employee self-service systems can manage these processes by allowing employees to do the processes by themselves (Wikipedia, 2011b). For example, an attendance record technology can automatically save attendance data when employees simply swipe their ID cards upon arrival or departure. Employees can also easily get their attendance records from the system without have to ask the information from HR personnel.

As a result, this system can help HRD and other employees to do their jobs. In addition, MIS contribute to administration of work time and benefits by gathering important data, making a clear work time standard, and also making a clear benefits standard of work-related actions. The most advanced systems recently provide large flexibility in data collection

methods, labor distribution capabilities and data analysis features. One of the major functions of this system is to regulate cost analysis and efficiency metrics.

In addition, MIS can also assist companies administrating and tracking employee participations related to benefits programs. This system has a significant role because it usually covers insurance, compensation, profit sharing and retirement (Wikipedia, 2011b). “Payroll is the sum of all financial records of salaries for an employee, wages bonuses and deductions” (Wikipedia, 2007). In the United States, payroll has a significant role in a company. One of the main reasons is because tax regulations can be so complicated.

The HRD is responsible to make sure that employees are paid accurately and timely and that taxes are paid correctly based on the laws. As a result, a payroll software can be very useful to keep the records and count the money and taxes withheld. In the payroll process, MIS can support HRD by processing the payments automatically from data collected about employees’ time and attendances, calculating various deductions and taxes, and generating periodic payments and employee tax reports.

The HRD usually gets the data from time-keeping procedures that the HRD has set to calculate the payments (Wikipedia, 2011b). Therefore, this system basically can cover all employees payments and transactions and also can combine them with the company’s financial management systems. The HR Management System The HR management system is a system that covers many other HR aspects over the duration of the employee’s time at the company. This system records profiles of all employees and all other information needed that is related to company business.

It records basic

demographic and address data, selection, training and development, capabilities and skills management, compensation planning records and other related activities. In addition, advanced information systems and technology can provide the systems to interpret applications, send the data to related database fields, inform employers, and also provide position management and position control (Wikipedia, 2011b). These kinds of systems are very important, especially for managers, to make important decisions related to businesses and employees.

An example is in the replacement process. A manager can choose and decide “the right person” to do a particular job based on the employees profile records from the data profile record systems. Nowadays, software systems for mining information in human resource areas have improved a lot. It is called Human Capital Management (HCM) software. HCM is a wide range of applications designed to help human resource jobs. HCM business software is growing fast in the business market recently.

A research from AMR predicts that revenue from HCM applications will grow 11 percent annually from 2006 to 2011, with a total revenue of $10. 6 billion. Many companies use this software because it is very useful. This software consists most of HR core function systems, such as applications for tracking basic employee profile data such as name, contact information, job title, manager and salary. This software also includes tools for running payroll and benefits administration (Frauenheim, 2007).

Therefore, this HCM software has become a new trend in the market, and so many companies have been using this kind of software to manage their businesses, especially in human resources. Conclusion In conclusion, it is clear that MIS have central roles to support

the activities of the HRD. MIS can help HRD manage its functions, such as the recruitment, placement, evaluation, compensation and development of the employees of an organization. These days, most companies use their own human resource management information systems.

However, some companies cooperate with outsourcing companies to perform the HRD functions. Many businesses already use computer based information systems and technology to perform HRD activities. Therefore, nowadays HRD in many companies often use MIS to deal with administration jobs to make employees work faster and more effective. One of the main reasons to use MIS is because it can significantly reduce costs and simplify the HRD’s administration processes. With the support of MIS in HRD, a company can improve its employees to do their jobs more effectively.