The importance of knowing your HRIS audience

Engaging your workforce has never been more ‘on the map’ than it is right now.  This past year has seen an unprecedented shift in working lifestyle, and with that comes the need to address the company’s communication style to harness both employee engagement and to continue good company cultures.

The HR System used by employers has come under scrutiny for its agility and as one of the leading tools for HR to connect with employees. And that can be in any area of employment—Absence, Training, Pay and Benefits, etc. But the current and recent focus has been on the wellbeing support it can link into.  It has never been more important to ensure that your HR System is launched with credibility, and that the features it can provide are used to their maximum effect.

There are several very good white papers out there for companies to use in the formation of a new HR System evaluation, or even to apply to the existing solution. But planning and understanding the culture of communication maturity is vital in selecting the right system. Understanding the size, complexity and reporting needs should be a large part of the decision process. Equally importantly is the workforce culture and maturity. For example, the employees of a BIG 4 accountancy firm will have a high level of system maturity and understanding and therefore will look for a sophisticated HRIS that can provide complicated reporting and configuration to accommodate the large business structure. Whereas a smaller company may not have the complexity or size to warrant such an involved system, and therefore a simpler and more concise system maybe the better option. One enticing feature of any system is the ability to configure it to the business brand. This has increasing importance with engaging the benefit of loyalty to the business, but also however small, providing a sense of belonging which in current remote working climate is a growing consideration for employee wellbeing and engagement.

Understanding what your employees expect to get out of a HR System and what provides them with a satisfactory experience, allows companies to proactively anticipate the user requirements they will need to provide through their HR System.  Using these approaches also enables an employer to tap into the under used areas of a system that, however small, provides an additional service or function, which ultimately makes the employees life easier. Who hasn’t enjoyed coming across a nifty new widget in a system and thought, ‘Well that was easier to use than I thought it would be!’, or ‘What a useful new function, I’ll take another look at that!’?

This brings us to the communications with employees, and how important and high impact these can be to meeting the expectations and satisfaction perceptions mentioned earlier.  To many notifications and the messages become litter; too few and the momentum is lost; poorly written, presented or with broken links, and your employee engagement is lost. Keeping your work force informed of changes in the business, or improvements to the employment offering, and updates on how to use and access any new functionality is crucial in the commitment from a business to their employees.

Communication planning for HR has become more topical then ever; getting your system to manage this is a great way to achieving timely connections with employees. Simple notification email messages that provide a quick link to any action required. It all makes life easier and provides a positive experience and improved employee engagement.  With AI having been top of the HR discussion boards for many months prior to the pandemic; utilising some of this functionality within your system immediately eases the administrative bulk for HR teams, enabling the realisation of HR strategic requirements.  Using this method also enables the company branding, support campaigns and the culture to be consistently applied across the communications issued from a systems automation.  There is always the stakeholder to please in relation to return on investment, and more so now as some companies feel the pinch, however with overheads reducing for many, this is an ideal opportunity to invest in your HR System communication tools that will enhance and engage the work force now working remotely.

Another useful engaging tool on some HR Systems is the ability to tailor the different screens with topical and targeted notifications allowing a business to show key HR information, links or employee benefit promotions relevant to the screen being viewed. Along with a well-planned home/landing page with easy linked reminders scheduled to relevant dates, this provides that ease of use and again.

Engaged employees have repeatedly demonstrated their value to a business with their increased productivity and with engagement come loyalty, producing a lower attrition rate and reduced recruitment costs as a result.

Businesses need to continue looking for ways to support, develop and engage with their employees and when this is in such easy reach for a business with a HR System the question handing in the air is:

What can you do to increase your HR System audience engagement?

This article has been authored by Susan Martin, HRIS Technical Support Consultant for Tugela People. With over 15 years’ experience in HR and previous experience of implementing and using Sage People, Susan is responsible for supporting the growth of our Managed Services division, as we take on new clients and offer additional services.

For more information on any of the issues raised in this article or to engage with our Managed Services division,

For more information on any of the issues raised in this article or to engage with our Managed Services team, please call +44 (0) 1908 030368 or email: info@tugelapeople.com. Alternatively complete the Get in Touch  form and a member of our team will be in contact.