It’s no news that today, the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is not just a traditional cost-driven partner but plays a strategic role in the decision making process for effective and efficient HR Management. Several researchers propose expert systems or knowledge-based systems for decision-making in the Human Resource sector which, unfortunately, has some unavoidable limitations.
Human Resource Information System, abbreviated as HRIS software, is an indispensable part of organizations for achieving a competitive edge. It is responsible for saving time & resources by accomplishing HR tasks more quickly and accurately. Researchers have reported that data is normally collected without human intervention, precisely summarized, correctly generated, properly disseminated, and transformed into specific formats through automation, enabling HRIS to fit different requirements of HRM practitioners. Also, HRIS consists of a friendly user interface, powerful analytical tools and reporting tools for information sharing purposes.
Here are a few functions that support HRIS being the “BRAIN” of an HR:
- Data Mining and KDD
- HR Decision Support System
- Intelligence-based DSS
- IDSS for HR
- Intelligent HRIS
Let’s discuss each point in detail:
Data Mining and KDD
Knowledge Discovery in Database or KDD is a widely used term in intelligent data processing. It is a non-trivial process of identifying potentially useful, valid, novel, and ultimately logical patterns in a data set. The term KDD describes the entire process of extracting information from a data warehouse. Moreover, data mining is one of the challenging steps of the KDD process. Data mining consists of “discovery driven techniques” for analyzing a big quantity of data. It reveals meaningful hidden patterns to the HR for identifying trends, relationships, and association among the data measurement. And so, this useful information extracted through an HRIS software is utilized to achieve specific business objectives.
HR Decision Support System
Another “brainy” work of HRs after data management is decision-making. In the Decision Support System, data and models are used to solve managerial semi-structured and unstructured problems. Moreover, DSS includes a knowledge-based approach. It collects useful information from a combination of raw data, documents, business examples and personal knowledge to discern and solve problems and arrive at determinations. It has a robust reporting facility that contains ad hoc reporting capabilities, pre-built analysis functions, and multidimensional analysis. DSS does not supervise the decision and never replaces human decision makers, but it supports users and helps them make better and consistent decisions. So, presently, HR managers depend on DSSs for making the best decisions in the shortest possible time.
Intelligence-based DSS
When it comes to HRIS, every detail needs to be accurate. To overcome the trivial drawbacks of DSS, IDSS is used as a decision support technology. It is a new type of DSS, integrated with AI techniques. This system is a mix of the basic function models of DSS and the knowledge reasoning techniques of Artificial Intelligence. It solves intricate, imprecise and ill-structured problems. IDSS also uses human judgment and preferences for uncertainty or incomplete data in the decision-making process. So, it gives a push to the HR’s brain for resolving decision-making problems.
IDSS for HR
In recent times, HRIS is integrated with analysing the ability to create different types of reports for HR professionals. They can make better decisions related to semi- structured and unstructured problems in respect to accuracy and uncertainty. There are a few studies where IDSS is applied to HRIS software for HR management such as for staffing, training and development, performance appraisal and HR administration.
Intelligent HRIS
Intelligence is a significant attribute of the brain. The intelligence-based HRIS model consists of 3 basic segments: Input Subsystem, Decision Making Subsystem, and Output Subsystems to provide any HR related report and to suggest solutions of structured, semi structured and unstructured HR problems and making it available to the users.
Wrapping Up
Until now, working professionals had a little idea about HRIS. All they knew was that it is an amalgamation of HR and Information Technology and manages information related to HR operations such as:
- Recruitment
- Personnel Tracking
- Absence Management
- Training & Development
- Benefits & Compensation Administration
- Workflows Management
- Self-Service Portal, etc.
The key takeaway of this blog is to give readers a deep dive into the technicalities of an HRIS software and explain how each part of it is activated as an HR’s brain.