1 HRMS System Features
HRMS modules & features
Finding the right HRMS for your business can seem like an endless series of challenges. One of
the first, and most important, is knowing exactly what features, functions, and modules you
need - in other words, knowing what you need the system to do to support your strategic
business goals.
The problem is, when you start looking at what HR software and technology is available,
“HRMS” turns out to be a somewhat slippery term. Some vendors use it to describe a basic
employee database with limited functionality, onto which can be bolted a number of
compatible modules, each providing software support for one of the different HR functions
listed below.
The most popular HR system modules and/or features include:
1. HR database
2. Recruitment/ ATS
3. Performance management
4. Benefits & compensation
5. Workforce management
6. Time and attendance
7. Absence and leave management
8. Learning and development
9. HR analytics
10. Payroll
11. Employee self-service
Module 1: HR database
Not so much a feature as a foundation for all the rest, an HRMS stores your employee records.
This can be as basic as name, address, telephone number, and job role, right up to a complete
work record, including performance management assessments and training undertaken.
This may be the most straightforward feature of your HRMS but in a sense, it’s also the most
critical in that it stores personal information (possibly including bank details for payroll
purposes) and the question of the system’s data security is fundamental.
Module 2: Recruitment/ Applicant Tracking System
A recruitment module should handle all your internal form-filling and authorization processes;
allow managers +/or HR to post advertisements and supporting documentation online, and
offer applicant tracking, and even initial sifting. There may also be functionality to build talent
pools which can then be ‘trawled’ for suitable candidates when a vacancy becomes available.
Of all HR technology, recruitment modules have embraced social media to the greatest extent –
for example, compatibility with LinkedIn and other platforms is increasingly found as standard –
and social capabilities are a key topic when questioning vendors.
Common recruitment module features include:
Customized pipelines for different roles
One-click posting of jobs and job descriptions to a variety of jobs boards
Automated assessment processes, inc. interview scheduling
Applicant tracking
Resume parsing
Standard metrics and analytics for candidate profiles
Mobile app
Gamification (though opinion is divided between the pros and cons)
Social media interface
Digitized offer management
Module 3: Performance management
Automating the appraisal process, recording, and tracking objectives and targets, this module
should incorporate your competence framework, job standards, and/or other relevant systems.
Common performance management module features include:
Setting and managing personal performance goals
Links to a competency framework
Scheduling of appraisal and review meetings
360 performance feedback
‘In the moment’ feedback tools
Big Data gathering for a broader picture of individual performance
Links to talent management and succession planning functions
Module 4: Benefits & Compensation
Benefits management is all about providing timely information and aiding employees to make
the right choice for their circumstances. This module should manage and monitor employee
benefits, healthcare, pension/welfare packages, tracking enrolment options, and any financial
implications.
Common benefits administration module features include:
Online open enrolment
Automated communication of enrolment options and information
Plan comparison tool to aid employee choices, including costs and contribution
breakdowns
Automatic event management of the benefits life cycle
Legislative compliance for your territory
Module 5: Workforce management
Primarily a scheduling function, this module should link closely to (and is often combined with)
time and attendance and leave management. Similarly, real-time functionality may involve
linkages to other business intelligence systems such as ERP and CRM to match workforce
deployment to shifting needs.
Common workforce management module features include:
Scheduling and shift management
Workflow monitoring
Management dashboard with real-time data and metrics
Module 6: Time and attendance
Alongside payroll, this is probably one of the longest-standing automated HR functions: the
time clock. These days, such systems often incorporate biometric identification to avoid ‘buddy
punching’ practices and will link directly to (or be an integral part of) the workforce
management module, with information links to your payroll and accounting software.
Common time and attendance module features include:
Employment attendance tracking
Time clock management
Biometric systems
Functionality for remote and mobile workers
Legislative compliance (e.g., minimum mandated rest breaks)
Module 7: Absence and leave management
Again, often linked to the time and attendance and workforce management functions, your
leave management module is an automated way to allocate, book, approve, track, and monitor
any absence from the workplace. It may be for vacations, compassionate reasons, illness,
parental leave, or even jury duty. Request and approval processes should be streamlined, and
the outcomes incorporated into team calendars where appropriate.
Common absence and leave management module features include:
Self-service leave requests
Integration with workforce management (scheduling) and time and attendance
functions
‘Account management’, tracking accrued vacation time and usage.
Metrics and analytics, including absence levels and trends.
Module 8: Learning and development
Often using the outcomes of the performance management process as a starting point, this
module may produce individual training plans for staff, deal with bookings (for training courses
and other learning options), and manage the follow-on evaluation and feedback process, while
tracking training expenditure against budget allocations.
Common learning and development module features include:
Learning portal
Training recommendations linked to role, skillset, and career aspirations
Individual user learning plans
Setting and managing goals
Links to a competency framework
Streamlined learning administration (reducing the HR overhead)
Module 9: HR analytics
Often incorporated as functions within other modules, HR analytics provide reporting
capabilities (frequently in the form of libraries of HR metrics and benchmarks) assessing and
analysing the data gathered and stored with the HRMS (and other business systems) to provide
strategic and predictive insights that can be used to guide the business strategy of the
organization.
Module 10: Payroll
A basic payroll function will calculate and pay salaries for each employee, withhold the
appropriate taxes and deductions, and organize either the printing and delivery of pay checks
or payment via direct deposit into employee bank accounts.
Traditionally, automated payroll was usually handled by a separate, dedicated piece of
software. However, it’s increasingly common to see payroll functionality bundled up in your
HRMS.
A clear benefit is that the essential employee data necessary when running your payroll is
probably already stored by the HRMS (personal identification, banking details, a record of hours
worked, etc.) Other benefits of HRMS-based payroll are data security and accuracy, less
likelihood of errors, legislative compliance, and having all your people-related automation
accessible via a single portal or access point.
o Salary Structure
o Income Tax
o OPD Management
o Provident Fund
o EOBI Management
o Social Security
o Loan & Advances
o Bank Letter
o Payslip
Module 11: Employee self-service
On a final note, not so much a distinct module as an underpinning (and essential) feature, these
days no HRMS is complete without employee self-service. In fact, it’s pretty much a must-have
if you want the impact and benefits of your HRMS to go any further than the HR department
and boardroom.
It may be as simple as each employee being able to submit requests for paid time off. Or go as
far as a full HR portal with an individualized dashboard for each worker, giving them access to a
variety of HR services, from selecting benefits options to booking (and virtually attending) the
latest training and development.
It is important to note that some of the above modules and features will probably overlap in
terms of processes or category. For example, benefits management might fall under the payroll
banner; and indeed, payroll itself might be ‘filed’ under the broader heading of compensation
management, taking in the wider reward and recognition packages.
Furthermore, there are other HRMS features and functions available (artificial intelligence and
HR chatbots, anyone?) and there is also enormous variation in how the above features might be
executed – e.g., one recruitment module might parse applicants’ resumes, another might put
them through a series of gamified tests as the first round of assessment.
In other words, there are a seemingly infinite variety of combinations, each emphasizing
different elements. The key lies in the project planning phase before you even dive into the
(often bewildering) world of HRMS. It’s important to do your research and analysis, and to talk
to key stakeholders about what a new HRMS needs to facilitate – what functions do they need,
and what must those functions do?
It is crucial to start the HRMS selection process with these kinds of fundamental questions that
focus on you and your business so as not to lose your way and be seduced by the latest industry
‘must-have’. Equipped with the answers, you’re ready to start searching for the ideal HRMS for
you.
