HR Technology: Your HRIS as a source of truth

Question:

Our organisation is currently reviewing our HRIS and other business systems. It has been suggested that we should implement systems that support 'single source of truth'. Could you explain what this means and the benefits it may offer our company?

Answer:

The usability of data often relates to its accuracy. In many organisations the same information may be stored in disparate systems in varying formats. As the information ages, updates do not always occur in every location where it is stored. For example, if you use disparate systems, when a candidate applies for a position within your organisation their details are stored in the Recruitment application. Once employed, personnel details are entered into your payroll system. If HR is not integrated, on-boarding details are input and are manually passed to IT who need to input the information again in order to set up system access! Every time the information is entered it takes time and is prone to errors. Employees are likely to keep payroll updated with current information, which ensures their payroll details are correct. But as time goes on, the information in the other systems may become outdated.

As the term 'single source of truth' suggests, the information is input and stored once for different applications to access. It can relate to just one system or across the enterprise. Referring to the previous example, employee information is input and stored once, then accessed by Recruitment, Payroll, HR and IT, etc. This approach provides productivity savings and ensures consistency across data. To fully harness single source of truth many organisations are adopting Identity Management which allows employees to have one log-in and password across enterprise applications - this approach streamlines on-boarding procedures and reduces help desk requests for lost passwords. Today's collaborative work environments are particularly well suited to single source of truth - it integrates information across the enterprise, protects data integrity and unites stakeholders.

Due to the growing demand for information-based decision-making in large organisations, single source of truth is rapidly becoming best-practice enterprise data management and an important consideration when changing systems. It is essential to review and understand your business processes when implementing single source of truth, ensuring full understanding and compliance in terms of data storage methodologies. For example, there are many ways a name can be stored, so understanding the needs of all stakeholders when capturing and storing information will ensure the viability for core and adjacent business services.

Business Intelligence systems often refer to single source of truth, and your HRIS is an excellent platform to build upon. Much of the information required by management relates to the workforce, and Payroll usually contains the most up-to-date information on employees and their movements. Most payroll systems offer web-based employee self-service systems that provide access for employees to maintain their own information, which further ensures its accuracy. To ensure consistency with workforce data it is important that your HRIS only stores employee data once across Payroll, HR, Recruitment, Performance Management, Learning and Development, as well as OH&S.

While your HRIS is a great place to drive your single source of truth initiatives, integration with other systems facilitates organisation-wide adoption and allows you to leverage this data for other systems (time and attendance, mail and security, etc). An open system architecture that supports integration with your other lines of business applications will ease enterprise-wide adoption of single source of truth.

Identity Management and the use of Single Sign On or Same Sign On technology are key benefits to be achieved from these initiatives. Extensive time and productivity savings can be obtained by including system and building access requirements into your on-boarding procedures, ensuring nothing is overlooked when your new employees arrive for their first day of work.

Payroll is often the first to know when employees terminate. Single source of truth together with integrated systems will ensure that employee access to key enterprise data and facilities is terminated on the day their employment ceases.

While there are many benefits to integrated systems, their true power can be harnessed when integration or interfaces occur automatically. The ability to schedule the many processes that bring your internal systems together will save time and utilise your system resources more effectively when scheduled during non-busy times (usually overnight).

Lastly, the primary benefit that single source of truth will provide to your organisation is accurate information to support business decisions and optimise your investment in corporate data. It is imperative that your reporting tool is easy to use for managers, which will allow them to effortlessly access and utilise the data. When changing report writers, look for a drag and drop tool that is easy to learn and use. This will ensure they can easily locate and use the data they need.

About the author

Nick Southcombe is general manager of Frontier Software. For more information phone 03 9639 0777 or visit www.frontiersoftware.com

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