What is an employee e-Record and why do I need it?
All Human resource managers know how difficult it is to find those files, and once you have the file, finding what you need in the file is even worse. Our biggest fear is a Department of labor representative walking into reception saying that they are here for a spot audit.
You ask yourself: “Will I have that contract, that warning letter, what about his or her loan account acceptance agreement… I hope someone filled it like I asked them!” This is the fear every HR manager faces. Even more so when you are a small business owner and you need to do all this yourself.
In today’s world of Human resources, we are expected to store more and more employee details every day. As legislation changes, we need to adapt, and usually that means adding another divider to the paper based HR file. So why does it need to be so difficult? Why can’t technology just make things easier?
In comes the Human Resources Employee e-Record.
So, what is a HR Employee e-Record?
In today’s world of online SaaS (Software as a Service) we are spoiled by things like online Storage solutions that we can log into and save our data, files, documents, etc. When you need that document, you can access it from anywhere at any time. Those days of waiting until we get to the office, the next day, to get access has become replaced with access from anywhere. So, the question begs:” Why in today’s age of online connectivity and storage are we still using paper-based files in Human Resources?”
Why not move to an online always connected storage solution? In comes the HR Employee e-Record. An Employee record that has the basic HR data structure, but also contains the ability to attach all these extra items we would add to a file in the office. Why not? That would make work so much simpler, easier and faster!
An Employee e-Record should be able to adapt to what legislation or regulation requires from us as HR professionals.
A place where we can store that entire HR File in the cloud and be sure it is always available when you need it. An Electronic file, this is not a new concept, but why have so little HR solutions out there adopted this approach?
A HR Employee e-Record should be like an online Storage drive that allows for secure access, and most of all, easy to use and structured, so you can quickly find what you need.
You still need a HR solution, but the key is that it needs to have a e-Record for your employee data.
But what we should not forget is that the e-Record needs to live at the core of any HR solution, it cannot be added later or be external to your HR Solution. Although Integration between systems can achieve miracles these days, its not a replacement for a system that has the e-Record at the core of the HR system.
In my opinion an HR Employee e-Record needs to have the following:
One place where everything is stored per employee, and easy to find. When that dreaded audit happens, you are comfortable and know where to find what. The auditor needs a copy, no problem, give them copies in seconds. Click, Click done! Simplified.
So, if I have a e-Record for all my employees, will this solve my problems?
Well in short, no, you still need the processes around that e-Record. Leave processing affects your e-Record since it updates your leave balance. Claim processes for overtime, and expenses, affects your remuneration, and so on.
