Article
What should we do with all that HR data?
Human Resources departments gather lots of information and data from a variety of sources for many reasons. In some large companies there may be several employees in the HR department who do nothing more than gather, analyze and communicate data.
They gather personal information on employees such as name, address, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, compensation information, benefits data, diversity information and many other types of information. The HR department also gathers information from sources such as trade journals, industry publications and associations such as the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).
Today, these departments have complex human resource information systems (HRIS) to manage, analyze and communicate lots of information. With so many assets (computer systems, head count, etc) being devoted to gathering and storing data, it is amazing that HR departments have any time left over for productive purposes.
But why do many HR departments gather so much information? Certainly one reason is for regulatory and liability purposes. The government requires companies (particularly larger companies) to gather, maintain and report lots of information back to them. Data is also being stored in case information is needed to defend the company in legal actions that could arise at any time.
For this reason alone, companies need detailed and carefully monitored record retention policies. Sometimes maintaining very old information can cause greater liability to companies than destroying the old information. Gathering data costs money and so does storing and communicating that data. HR departments need to communicate regularly with employees and managers throughout the company to determine whether reports and other communications concerning data are still found to be useful. If the data communications are not being read, analyzed or otherwise utilized, HR departments should eliminate the creation and communication of that particular data.
This is an on-going process. HR departments need to constantly review why they are developing data. Often, HR departments create, maintain and communicate information for one simple reason – because it has always been done this way. But this cultural reasoning can cost the company a substantial amount of money. In an age of shrinking budgets and employees constantly being asked to do more with less, the process of continuous process improvement as it relates to the handling of information is vastly important. The VP of Human Resources needs to regularly evaluate the importance of gathering, monitoring, maintaining and communicating information versus the resources available to him in his annual budget.
In the past, most of this data used to be stored on paper, but today most of it is frequently held in technology-driven HRIS systems. The new technology enables this information to be much more readily available. Old information stored in banker’s boxes and stored in off-site warehouses is becoming a “thing of the past”. But this does not mean we should gather infinite amounts of information on our HRIS systems. Besides becoming somewhat difficult to find on-line as storage capacity needs increase, many HRIS systems are not powerful enough to store and manage the amount of information large company HR departments gather.
Other than regulatory required information, what information is most valuable to HR departments? Perhaps the most valuable data collected today is from employee surveys and exit interviews. This information not only helps the HR department function more effectively, it also helps departments throughout the organization. If the HR department is helping other departments by utilizing the data it has collected, the HR department becomes a more crucial and valuable department to the entire organization.
Employee surveys and exit interviews produce data (often based on opinions) that impact the entire organization. Information from these sources helps HR departments improve their HR strategies in the areas of: recruitment, selection, orientation, training, retention, performance, motivation, safety, career development and many other important functions in most large company HR departments.
If the surveys and exit interviews are established correctly, an HR department can gather information based on time (date), department, questions or problems, geography, etc., which will enable the HR department, as well as managers, to understand their employee population more thoroughly. This understanding will lead managers throughout the organization to make better decisions.
So the management of data is a continuous process. It is important to only collect data that is important to the organization. It is essential to destroy information that is unnecessary or a potential liability if still available. The process of data collection is of tremendous value to any organization. Because it is an asset, it needs to be constantly reviewed on an annual basis or even more frequently to ensure it is being utilized properly.
So what should you do now?
- Develop a record retention policy for both paper storage and HRIS systems. If you already have such a policy in place, review the policy occasionally. Then communicate the new policy with all HR department employees.
- Review all reports that are generated on a regular basis. Eliminate the production and communication of any reports that are not being utilized or hold little value to others in the organization.
- Reassess the assets of the HR department. Re-deploy employees into different functions as the need for certain types of data increases and decreases to maximize efficiency and make the most of available resources.
Finally, it is critical that HR departments utilize and share the important information they are gathering and analyzing with senior executives and other managers so that they will be seen as a valuable and indispensable resource to the entire company.
