designing and developing hrms

Copywrite C 1999 PMi www.pmihrm.com

Chapter 5

Designing and Developing a New HRMS


Human Resources Management Systems: A Practical Approach By Glenn M. Rampton, Ian J. Turnbull, J.

Allen Doran

ISBN 0-459-56370-X

Carswell


Introduction

The design of any HRMS software system requires both functional and technical decisions

These decisions should be predicated on the uses to which the system will be put


Security

System security addresses concerns re: system control and privacy

System control addressed through audit trails

In provincial and federal jurisdictions privacy is a legislated right of persons whose personal data resides on an HRMS


Analysis of Business Process

To often systems are developed based on existing requirements

Automation of inefficient or unnecessary work flows may simply produce the wrong result more quickly


Business Process Reengineering

Hammer and Champy (1993) in their book Reengineering the Corporation, Reengineering the Corporation, have argued that American corporations had to radically change the way they did business, or go out of business.


Phases in Process Reengineering Analysis Phase

–identify what tasks are being done–determine why those tasks are being done–analyze how they are being done–identify who is doing them

Problem-Solving Phase–determine what should be done and why it should–determine how tasks should be done–determine who should do the tasks, along with where and when they should be done


Conducting Reengineeringdevelop a strategy, scope, and for the re-engineering plan; ensure that management at all levels are convinced of the value of project, and are committed to supporting it;chart process flows, and analyse current high or low level tasks;consider what supporting application software you will require;conduct Value for Money Audits to ensure that you can justify your project in dollars and cents terms (see Chapter 3);


Conducting Reengineering (cont’d)

develop benchmarks for the projects to be used as standards to be met (or exceeded) by the project;develop new effective and efficient tasks and processes;prepare an implementation plan (see Chapter 6);implement the plan; and,develop a plan for maintaining the system.


Once one has decided that the human resources processes in the organization are the “right ones to automate” one can then turn one’s attention to designing the HRMS to automate the processes in the “right way”.


Steps in Designing a New HRMSdesign a database with the capacity to handle the relevant populations. label each field and each data element to create a complete data dictionary.create tables of values which can be drawn on by data fields as appropriate.establish data relationships, including all algorithms and routines, to optimize editing and validation of fields.create menus and screens to assist users in navigating through the HRMS.


Steps in Designing a New HRMS (Con’t) create operator messages that specify action options.

build in error-checking routines.

build in data security, including audit trails.

define standard reports. include a tutorial module to assist new users.


Benchmarking

Bench marking is a systematic andcontinuous measurement process; aprocess of continuously measuring andcomparing an organization's businessprocesses against business processleaders anywhere in the world to gaininformation which will help theorganization take action to improveits performance (American Productivity& Quality Centre, 1993)


MeasurementFitz-enz (1995) wrote: A mythology has developed around personnel work. It has to do with the nature and purpose of the work. More important, it deals with the outcomes or results of the labour. The fundamental belief was that the true and full value of personnel's work could only be judged by those who perform it. There was a belief that business-type measures could not be applied to this function (p. 7).


Performance Measurement Principles

The productivity and effectiveness of any function can be measured by some combination of cost, time, quantity, or quality indices:A measurement system promotes productivity by focusing attention on the important issues, tasks, and objectives.Professional and knowledge workers are best measured as a group.Managers can be measured by the efficiency and effectiveness of the units they manage.The ultimate measurement is not efficiency, but effectiveness.


Build or Buy?

Not a simple question, but:Organizations must understand that the strategic advantage of good information systems comes, not from building some unique tool, but by ensuring that the tool has all the capabilities that the organization requires, and by using these capabilities well.


Screening and Selecting Software

The traditional approach to software includes:definition of user requirements.development of a request for information (RFI) or request for proposal (RFP), which is then sent to appropriate software suppliers. assessment of supplier responses, screening out systems or suppliers which do not match sufficient criteria. demonstrations of short-listed products to see the "look and feel" and to confirm that stated capability does exist.assessment of vendor and software reliability.


Definition of Requirements

Requirements are generally defined in three ways: functional, system operations, and technical.


Attributes of User-Friendly Systemseasy to establish contact with software (sign-on process; security)uses icons, menus, or both to guide user choices (no need to use code or learn mnemonics)software easy to learn and use (windows, scrolling, and other features)users are guided through various processes; help to correct mistakes is easily available;all error messages are fully explanatorythe data dictionary is available on‑linesoftware has edit checks to verify syntax, semantics, and overall data integrity (e.g., down loads/uploads to/from PC products such as word processors, spreadsheetseffective use of graphics.


Screening and Selecting Software (cont’d)

Development of an RFI/RFP Assessment of Vendor Responses Demonstrations Supplier and Product

Reliability


Development of an RFI/RFP

A request for information (RFI) orrequest for proposal (RFP) cancontain very similar information.The primary distinction isconsidered to be that a softwaresupplier's response to a RFI isnot binding, but a response to aRFP forms part of the informationwhich the parties may use as thebasis of a subsequent contractualarrangement


RFI/RFP (cont’d)Developing an RFI/RFP is a complex task. The RFI/RFP should be designed in a way which will facilitate comparative analysis of several software supplier's responses. Open ended questions invite open-ended answers which are very hard to compare. As much as possible, questions should be specific. One method of achieving this is to offer multiple choice responses followed by a "comments" section for the software supplier to elaborate as required, thus providing both comparative data and allowing for the explanation of variances


Assessment of Vendor Responses

With a well designed RFI/RFP, the analysis of results should be easy, although often detailed and time-consuming. The purpose of the analysis is to weed out systems or suppliers which are unsuitable, leaving only the best options for further review.


DemonstrationsPotential suppliers should be asked to provide demonstrations of their products. Demonstrations of a software product can be as short as one hour, or as long as a week or more. Many software selection processes include at least two phases; a short (one to three hours), general initial demonstration, followed by a more detailed and focused demonstration.


Supplier and Product Reliability

Buying a software package, particularly an HRMS, should mean that you are buying not just the current software version, but future versions as well. This investment in a product and its supplier can be a marriage of five, ten, or even more years. It should only be made if the buyer is sure that the supplier and the product are reliable, i.e., that both are a good investment.


Question 1Suppose you were given the responsibility for designing and developing a new HRMS in a financial institution with 15,000. employees headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but with branches across Canada. What are some of the global (high level) design issues which you feel should be considered? Are there some issues which you believe should take precedence over others? Discuss.


Question 2

List three methods by which an organization can verify vendor claims about an HRMS product. Which are most important, and why?


Question 3Why is it important to examine what human resources business processes one in automating when one sets out to design and develop a new HRMS? Given that the “powers that be” agree to conduct a business process re-engineering (or engineering, if prefers) study of the organization’s Human Resources Function, who do you think should be involved in such a study. Who should lead it? Should it contain representatives from outside of Human Resources. What should be the role of Management Information Specialists?

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