The booming economy and the globalization of the business processes have made the Human Resource departments in organizations scramble for effectiveness and efficiency in recruiting and maintaining talents. This has naturally led to the HR groups seeking cutting edge tools and technologies to help them improve their performance. A majority of organizations now uses some of HR Information Systems (HRIS). In any typical organization, HR departments use the internet and intranet to deliver their services to employees. A streamlined HRIS system consists of all activities and functions, from the simple storage and communication of information, to more complex transactions. As technology advances, the range of functions that HRIS undertakes increases. HRIS is beneficial to the entire organization at all levels, starting from the upper management to the lowest level in an organization. Some of the benefits include a faster, more accurate and more streamlined operations and business processes with a significant reduction in HR operational budget. It also empowers the personnel at all levels to fulfill some of the basic tasks by themselves, thanks to the power of automation at various levels. The use of HRIS can reduce the administrative and transactional burden, change their structure and enable them to play a more strategic role. HRIS can facilitate efficient processes and cut costs and can go even further beyond by improving the communication and customer service, thus transforming the HR function from an administrative one to a more strategic one. HRIS is a system that helps to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve, and distribute information about an organization’s human resources. The tools and instruments that comprise HRIS can range from a simple spreadsheet to the most complex, elaborate and gigantic software systems that implement and deploy HR functions such as communications, policies, payroll, talent management, recruitment and selection, performance and review, compensation and benefits, training and development, health and safety, employee relations and legal issues, retention and work-life balance, etc. Technologies that HRIS adopt are in line with developments elsewhere. Sophisticated and customized Graphical User Interface (GUI) is an integral part of HRIS system nowadays. The front end capabilities offered by dynamic GUIs have made adoption easier. The cloud technology that is becoming more popular has reduced the upgrades and maintenance cycles, thus reducing the cost. Cloud technology is fast replacing the scenario of one vendor operations and this empowers the organizations to bargain and cut the cost down by implementing HRIS. HRIS also offers an opportunity to consolidate all the legacy systems that are in place. The data gathered by HRIS over a period becomes voluminous. The emerging technology of Big Data is enabling organizations to mine data to the deepest possible level, slice and dice them and pr.

1. The booming economy and the globalization of the business
processes have made the Human Resource departments in
organizations scramble for effectiveness and efficiency in
recruiting and maintaining talents. This has naturally led to the
HR groups seeking cutting edge tools and technologies to help
them improve their performance. A majority of organizations
now uses some of HR Information Systems (HRIS).
In any typical organization, HR departments use the internet
and intranet to deliver their services to employees.
A streamlined HRIS system consists of all activities and
functions, from the simple storage and communication of
information, to more complex transactions.
As technology advances, the range of functions that HRIS
undertakes increases. HRIS is beneficial to the entire
organization at all levels, starting from the upper management
to the lowest level in an organization.
Some of the benefits include a faster, more accurate and more
streamlined operations and business processes with a significant
reduction in HR operational budget.
It also empowers the personnel at all levels to fulfill some of
the basic tasks by themselves, thanks to the power of
automation at various levels.
The use of HRIS can reduce the administrative and transactional
burden, change their structure and enable them to play a more
strategic role. HRIS can facilitate efficient processes and cut
costs and can go even further beyond by improving the
communication and customer service, thus transforming the HR
function from an administrative one to a more strategic one.

2. HRIS is a system that helps to acquire, store, manipulate,
analyze, retrieve, and distribute information about an
organization’s human resources. The tools and instruments that
comprise HRIS can range from a simple spreadsheet to the most
complex, elaborate and gigantic software systems that
implement and deploy HR functions such as communications,
policies, payroll, talent management, recruitment and selection,
performance and review, compensation and benefits, training
and development, health and safety, employee relations and
legal issues, retention and work-life balance, etc.
Technologies that HRIS adopt are in line with developments
elsewhere.
Sophisticated and customized Graphical User Interface (GUI) is
an integral part of HRIS system nowadays.
The front end capabilities offered by dynamic GUIs have made
adoption easier.
The cloud technology that is becoming more popular has
reduced the upgrades and maintenance cycles, thus reducing the
cost.
Cloud technology is fast replacing the scenario of one vendor
operations and this empowers the organizations to bargain and
cut the cost down by implementing HRIS.
HRIS also offers an opportunity to consolidate all the legacy
systems that are in place.
The data gathered by HRIS over a period becomes voluminous.
The emerging technology of Big Data is enabling organizations

3. to mine data to the deepest possible level, slice and dice them
and produce meaningful analytics, a key ingredient for
improving efficiency in HR. Every vendor that provides HR in
one form or another is adopting Big Data or has plans to include
it in their technology roadmaps.
Some of the areas that are addressed by HRIS are:
New generation of recruiting tools such as Face Book, Linked
in, Google plus, My Space, Big Data, etc., where there are
opportunities to find talents at minimal expense.
Mobile Applications that can be used for learning and training,
recruiting, collaboration and employee management
Information Technology vendors specialized in the field of HR
are many.
Of these, the core players are
Oracle
,
SAP
,
Workday
,
ADP
,
Ultimate
, Infor (Lawson) as well as talent vendors such as
CornerstoneOnDemand (grew at 61% last quarter), Silkroad,
SumTotal, Lumesse, Halogen, PeopleFluent, Saba, and Kenexa.

4. The products offered by these vendors cover a wide spectrum of
different aspects of HRIS.
The Forbes magazine provides the following top trends in
technology.
1.
Cloud Technology. A good implementation of this technology
provides cost effective and easily maintained solution to
manage HR functions.
2.
Gamification:
This technology is for here to stay and can be effectively used
to communicate, engage, train, attract, and retain top talent.
3.
Integrated social media for better communication and
collaboration.
4.
Virtualization:
This technology has been gaining popularity more and more
over the years and helps in reducing maintenance as well as
providing scalable and secure solutions.
5.
Big Data and Business Analytics: A technology that is evolving

5. very fast is being adopted by almost all vendors to efficiently
manage the employees.
The above mentioned technologies are critical in maximizing
and sustaining workforce productivity.
HR is very critical to any business, regardless of the size of the
organization, even though the level of HRIS implementation
varies according to the nature and type of business.
HR enables business execution and this is one of the primary
reasons as to why this takes precedence over other functions in
businesses.
HR is considered as playing a strategic role than a mere
functional one and company executives are proactively reaching
out to them to help in implementing business strategies.
Major corporations and individually owned mom and pop shops
have an implementation of HR systems.
The smaller companies realize the benefits more so than others
as HRIS makes them agile and respond to market fluctuations.
HRIS technology plays a critical role in transforming HR from
personnel management to business execution.
HR leaders must effectively use this technology to drive more
business relevant conversation with other executives in the
organization.
Tim’s Coffee Shoppe is in the business of providing beverages
to customers.
The business model is not very complex, however, there are
complexities involved in managing the business, more so in the

6. areas of personnel management.
One of the major HR requirements is regulations that cover
Occupational Safety and Health, Equal Employment
Opportunity, and Employee training.
The business thrives on good marketing and customer
satisfaction.
The employees play a crucial role in the success.
HRIS technology will therefore help immensely in successful
running of the shop.
However, due the small size of the company, it is not
recommended to seek high end technology solutions.
A cloud based, hosted technology to manage the HR functions
will be an economical solution.
This approach will minimize investment in IT personnel that is
required to manage complex systems.
The responsibility of maintaining a system round the clock
shifts to the vendors and this will enable the owner to focus on
business and improving the bottom line.