Assignment 2: Phase II – Selecting an HRIS Application: Gladwell Stores Assessment

QUESTION

Assignment 2: Phase II – Selecting an HRIS Application

Now that you assessed the business, identified some of the inefficient HR related processes plaguing Gladwell Grocery Stores, and pinpointed a few possible solutions, it is time to choose an HRIS application that will suit the business. In this assignment, you will consider the HR function you chose in Phase I, and recommend the type of HRIS that you believe would be the most efficient for addressing this function.

To prepare for this assignment, review the Gladwell Grocery Stores case scenario, and then research potential HRIS types and HRIS vendors that may suit the needs for Mr. Bell and Gladwell Grocery Stores.

Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:

HRIS Needs Assessment

1. Prioritize the top three (3) benefits that an HRIS will offer the business, and explain your position. Next, examine the effect of automation on creating a more efficient process for the HR function chosen in Phase I.

Choose HRIS Type

1. Based on your research, select the type of HRIS that you plan to implement for your client. Analyze two (2) of the system’s offerings that you believe would be best suited to addressing your client’s needs. Then, assess two (2) ways that the selected HRIS can improve efficiency for the HR function you chose in Phase I. Defend your decisions with theory and findings from past readings and class activities.

Choose HRIS Vendor

5. Now that you know the type of HRIS you will be implementing, it is time to choose an HRIS vendor. Compare and contrast two (2) vendors, including a description of the cost, capabilities, and HR functions that the HRIS caters to. Based on your comparison, choose the HRIS vendor that you will recommend to your client, and explain the main reason why you decided to choose this vendor over the others.
6. Use at least (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
7. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
8. Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
9. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, your professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
10. Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Create an HRIS needs analysis and evaluate the acquisition process.

• Use technology and information resources to research issues in human resource information systems.
• Write clearly and concisely about human resource information systems using proper writing mechanics.

Assignment Overview

Over the course of the next several weeks, you will go through the different phases of implementing an HRIS for the hypothetical company, Gladwell Grocery Stores. Read the case scenario details for Gladwell Grocery Stores below, and refer back to the information for each phase of the implementation. The HRIS implementation is separated into the four (4) phases described in the table below.

Gladwell Grocery Stores Case Scenario

Gladwell Grocery Stores has ten (10) stores in upstate New York. They have approximately 400 – 440 employees. Most of the employees are part time, with approximately 45% of them full time. The operations manager, Tom Bell, also acts as the HR manager and travels to each location each week to take care of recruiting, scheduling, hiring, and answering questions for the employees as needed. He also takes care of payroll using Excel spreadsheets and has computer software to print payroll checks.

Mr. Bell approaches you, an independent HR consultant and owner of your own consulting firm, for a proposal. He would like to greatly reduce his travel to each location each week, due to the increase in gasoline costs. He is curious to know if there is anything you can suggest in helping him complete his HR tasks more efficiently and in a cost-effective manner. He hopes there is some way he can do part of his HR tasks from his office instead of traveling to each location every week.

ANSWER

Gladwell Stores Assessment

Introduction

Following the business assessment of Gladwell Grocery Stores done in a previous assignment, it was revealed that the business lacks a proper human resource department or manager. Gladwell Grocery Stores operations manager carries out human resource functions all by himself and does not employ any human resource information system in his performance of duties. The implementation of an HRIS at Gladwell Grocery Stores would be very beneficial to the firm and would ease the work of Mr. Bell, the firm’s operations manager, who currently manages HR operations at all the ten outlets of Gladwell Grocery Stores, having to control recruitment operations, scheduling, hiring, and answering of questions brought forward by employees.

Implementation of an HRIS would help with the managing of payroll and employee benefits. This includes the calculation of each employee’s dues and the disbursement of salaries each payday. This is one of the primary roles of an HR team in any business (Werner, DeSimone, 2011). An HRIS would take over the burden of employee recruitment and training, including receiving employee requisitions from the firm’s outlets, advertising for the available positions, explanation of how to conduct interviews and induction of new employees into the business. The information system also seeks to enhance employee relations and spell out employee improvement plans, which help employees to understand better their jobs and how to perform them correctly to meet set targets. HRIS also makes it easy to keep proper employee records and data, which can be valuable in managing employee issues and benefits (Noe, 2002).

Automation of HR functions at Gladwell Grocery Stores would assist Mr. Bell in minimising the high costs incurred in traveling to each of the firm’s stores every week to handle HR functions, especially with increasing gasoline costs. With suitable software, he can carry out many of the roles he currently travels to do, in one central office, therefore, improving service delivery and cutting business costs.

HRIS type identification and advantages

Various types of HRIS software exist, each adequately fabricated to fulfill a role identified as necessary in a firm. Examples of HRIS types include operational HRIS, tactical HRIS, strategic HRIS and comprehensive HRIS (Chauhan, Sharma, Tyagi, 2011). Each of these HRIS software types focuses on a specific HR role and is best suited to carry out that task. Considering the challenges currently affecting Gladwell Grocery Stores, the firm would mostly benefit from implementing a tactical type of HRIS. Tactical HRIS gives managers support in the allocation of resources, recruitment decisions, employee job analysis, training and development, employee benefits, payroll, and employee compensation plans. This type of software includes:

1. A job analysis and design information system. This compiles data from supervisors and workers and displays job description and guidelines. It also gives information from external sources such as labor unions, the firm’s competitors, and the government.
2. A compensation and benefits information system which gives compensation and other benefits issuance plans for the employees, and
3. Payroll and employee training and development systems. This involves information regarding employee recruitment, training, and improvement plans. It also includes an interface for generating payroll and payslips for employees.

Introduction of a tactical HRIS will improve efficiency at Gladwell Stores and unshackle Mr. Bell from the manual undertaking of duties, as the software automates employee lifecycle and also enhances workforce effectiveness. It also automates and simplifies the dexterity of employee benefits calculation and management. It will wipe out manual payroll calculations, therefore increasing business efficiency (Chauhan, Sharma, Tyagi, 2011).

Selection of HRIS vendor

An example of a firm that offers HRIS solutions is Bitrix24. Bitrix24 gives solutions like a social network, absence chart maintenance, employee calendars, and management of documents, an employee portal, employee leave requests, and workload planning. Bitrix24 offers a centralized, searchable employee directory with customizable profiles for employees, their contact information, and an instant communication platform and employee timelines. It also provides a time management portal to record clock in/clock out and employee breaks, configurable work time, supervision, personal work reports and firm efficiency reports. Applications such as Xero business software can be incorporated in Bitrix24, to manage and prepare payroll and employee benefits (Ristevska, 2015). The software comes at the cost of about $99 a month and can include a platform for an unlimited number of employees, with 100GB of cloud storage.

Another firm that offers HRIS software is the SAP. It provides solutions such as fully automating human resource activities and payroll processes, material requisitions, goods issuance from stores, enhancing information accessibility and transparency across a business organization, centralizing data to ascertain accuracy its consistency, and analyzing employee effectiveness (Targowski, Deshpande, 2001). Their software, even though very efficient, is quite sophisticated and comes at a high cost for a small business. It bests suites a large organization with an already established human resources department with qualified personnel. It would, therefore, require Mr. Bell to undergo human resource training before adoption.

Bitrix24 would be the best HRIS vendor for Gladwell Grocery Stores, as it is cheap and would be easy for Mr. Bell to use while managing employees. It is cost-efficient and provides the help that he requires at the firm.

References

Werner, J. M., & DeSimone, R. L. (2011). Human resource development. Cengage Learning.

Noe, R. A. (2002). Employee training and development.

Chauhan, A., Sharma, S. K., & Tyagi, T. (2011). Role of HRIS in improving modern HR operations. Review of Management, 1(2), 58.

Ristevska, A. (2015). KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE–NECESSARY PART  OF EACH MARKETING CAMPAIGN. IMPACT: International Journal of Research         in Business Management (IMPACT: IJRBM), 3(4), 1-6.

Targowski, A. S., & Deshpande, S. P. (2001). The Utility and Selection of an HRIS. Advances in Competitiveness Research, 9(1), 42-42.