How to leverage HR integrations to increase efficiency

Realizing efficiency gains is a declared objective in many organizations and across all departments. One way of increasing the efficiency of workflows and processes is to leverage automation and system integration.

In the HR department, efficiency can be increased through HRIS integration with other systems and tools that are used by the company to manage its workforce. Read on to find out how leveraging HRIS integrations can help HR departments streamline their processes and work more efficiently.

HRIS stands for Human Resources Information System. It is an HR software that helps businesses increase the efficiency of their HR processes. These efficiency gains can be maximized by integrating the HRIS with other workforce management tools. This is known as HRIS integration.

Connecting the HRIS to other workforce management tools enables seamless data flows between the different systems, which means that data is updated and synchronized simultaneously across the integrated systems. The integration process typically happens via application programming interfaces (APIs).

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HRIS can be integrated with a range of different workforce management tools. The most common HRIS integrations include:

• Applicant Tracking System (ATS),

• Benefits administration software, 

• Absence management software,

• Talent acquisition and management software,

• Collaboration and productivity tools,

• Performance management software,

• Learning & Development tools,

• Expense management software, and

• Payroll software.

Additionally, it might make sense to integrate your HRIS with the following tools: 

• Accounting,

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP),

• Project management, and

• Risk management.

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HRIS integration holds many benefits for organizations. It notably enables businesses to:

• Dissolve data silos,

• Improve data compliance,

• Prevent human errors,

• Achieve scalability of their operations,

• Create a single source of truth for employee data,

• Broaden reporting capabilities,

• Create new opportunities for the use of data analytics,

• Enhance the employee experience,

• Gain deeper insights into their workforce data,

• Maximize the capabilities of their HRIS system,

• Increase the efficiency of HR workflows, and

• Improve the quality of their data.

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Let’s illustrate the efficiency gains businesses can realize through HRIS integration with some concrete examples.

Seamless transition from ATS to HRIS

Many organizations use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) during the hiring and recruiting process to keep track of applicants, their documents, and more. By integrating the ATS with the company’s HRIS, the HR team can seamlessly move the candidate’s data to the HRIS and trigger the onboarding process.

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No double or triple data entry

If data is shared and synchronized across all the business’s workforce management systems, it only needs to be entered once when new employees join the company. This saves the HR team a lot of time and work. The freed up time and resources can then be allocated to more important tasks that create value for the organization.

Simplified collection of data for informing business decisions

Data is a valuable source of information for businesses. Having access to workforce data enables management to make strategic business decisions that are not based on assumptions but on actual facts.

If workforce management tools are not integrated, collecting data from different systems is a time-consuming and, above all, error-prone manual process. HRIS integration solves this problem by creating a shared database that consolidates data from HR, payroll, and more.

Easy adding of new hires to your payroll

A good example of how HRIS integration can simplify things in the payroll department is the process of adding new hires to your payroll. If your HRIS and your payroll software are connected, employee information which is initially entered to the central HRIS is updated automatically in the payroll software.

This means that there is no more need to manually add the employee to the payroll and enter all the necessary information, such as bank details, tax ID, and more.

More data to feed into people and payroll analytics tools

Integrating your HRIS with other tools that are related to HR enables you to unlock new opportunities for data analysis. The quality of the insights provided by data analytics increases with the amount of data that is available for analyzing.

This means that the larger the shared database between your systems, the more value you can gain from data analytics. This ultimately enables your HR team to better understand underlying patterns in your workforce and plan accordingly.

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Enhanced user experience thanks to single sign-in

Using multiple disparate systems to manage your workforce has one major drawback, which is that users need to remember different log-in details for each system and switch between different applications for different workflows.

An integrated HRIS not only offers single sign-in, but also allows each member of the HR team to work with the system he or she likes best and is most efficient with.

Simplified recruiting and HR synchronization

Connecting recruiting and HR software offers many opportunities for creating automated workflows. For instance, the online job advertisement can be removed automatically once the new employee is added to the company’s HR system.

Another example is setting up notifications for job applicants in the HRIS and having them sent out via the recruiting software during the recruitment process.

Document synchronization for new hires

HRIS integration with other HR tools not only saves the HR team time and money, but also means less work for new hires when filling out all the necessary documents to start their new role. If HR, payroll, and other systems used for managing the business’s workforce are connected, basic information only needs to be collected from the employee once.

The data can then be shared across all the systems, which saves the employee a lot of work. Instead of having to fill out various forms with the same basic information over and over again, the new hire only needs to fill out a single form.

HRIS integration is an important project that should be carefully thought through. Here are a few important aspects businesses should keep in mind before going down the route of integrating their HR systems.

• Data quality: Before integrating the different systems, the data in each system must be cleaned to avoid piling up large sets of poor-quality data.

• Integration requirements: Before launching the HRIS integration project, you should make sure that you fully understand what the requirements are for a successful integration.

• Data security: Employee information is highly sensitive. Keeping employee data safe should be a top priority when integrating HRIS and other tools and systems that store and process personal data.

• Compatibility issues: Before acquiring software and tools, check that they can be connected with each other to ensure system compatibility when you finally decide to start the integration process.

• Timing: HRIS integration is a big project that requires time and resources. That’s why it’s important to choose a good time for the project and ensure that the integration won’t interfere with other company initiatives.

• Resistance to change: As with any major transformation project, integrating HR and workforce management systems may hit on resistance on the part of some players in the HR department.