Human Resources despite all the talk around Artificial Intelligence and Robotics continues to be the most important resource an organization can ever have! And it’s rightly so given the fact that it is finally the human element which prevails over everything else, and is also the central reason for the existence of an organization.
It’s precisely for this reason so that the HR department works at its optimum, that HR Management software in India these days is such a hit! With a population that rivals that of any continent, India is just the place where HR software including cloud HR software get maximum exposure given that these get tested thread bare from every angle, and end up making the HR department that much more responsive and sensitive to employee needs.
That said, what are the key features that HR management software in India ought to have at any given time?
Besides others, HR software in India, be it stand-alone or cloud-based ought to have the following features:
- Recruitment and onboarding
HR Software without a doubt ought to have the entire system for recruiting a selected candidate, right from the time the person first applies to the time a formal letter of appointment is sent across. They should include every means of recording and saving essential documents, be it of experience, testimonials, educational qualifications or specific interests. In doing so besides others it helps the company cross-check information furnished by candidates and increases their worth all the time.
The features don’t end simply at recruitment and should ideally extend to onboarding which should start the moment the incumbent is on board. Besides affording a self-help dash-board the HR software in India should try and have extensive details of the recruits’ likes, dislikes, interest and aspiration basis which a future path of growth can be established
2. Judging performance
HR software providers in India till now have been happy providing very basic HR-related practices and information on they systems. They recorded the information to the extent possible and the same also came in handy to calculate details in financial terms, but on a larger scale what is really called for is judging performance in the larger context, and not necessarily on performance v expectation matrix. These days, performance could have many additional parameters including cultural sensitivity, group dynamism, ability to function as a team, leading a team, complementing a team etc. The HR software in India these days and hereon should have such subjective information too in adequate details.
3. Administrative functions
HR software in India ideally ought to record all the administrative functions of an organization and not leave it to another software. It would simply add to the complexity and costs without any justifiable reasoning. For that admin functions like upkeep and maintenance of HR department, canteens, security etc can ideally be included in the HR software itself.
4. Actual attendance and leave records
One of the most important features which remains central to the existence and use of HR software in India is the presence of attendance and leave records. An employee is supposed to spend a fixed number of hours in the employment of an organization. These days, with the work-from-home feature being central due to the pandemic, and which may become a norm with certain industries, the issue of how many hours an employee has logged is of great importance both in terms of calculating productivity and remuneration. For this reason, the HR software in the Indian context ought to have detailed information about attendance and leave records.
5. Emoluments and remuneration records
Salary structures in India across industries and verticals have taken different forms for the last decade. Exigencies and prudence are likely to make it increasingly flexible with presently unheard-of options likely in the offing. That being the case, details re emoluments and remuneration may have to be records in all its different forms, be it under the present Indian legal system or newer systems like payment using cryptos, shares, contractual and other forms.
6. Training and development
Indian industry today faces threats to existence in various forms, least of all from its peers. One example in the field of manufacturing is that of 3D printers which threatens to wipe out entire industries as we know them. At the same time by being at the right place at the right time, the same set of industries can also take advantage of this same technology to survive and grow and provided clients with a basket of varied products. How does an organization make a friend out of an enemy? By training itself to accept the latest much before competition does so by training its employees and developing their competencies. This ought to be reflected strongly in the company’s HR software suite from its very beginning so that trainings and their outcomes can be recorded with exceptional details and precison.
7. Document management
Human Resource in India and similar places, is all about maintaining a required set of documents be it of the employees (full time, part-time or contractual) or for the sake of legal compliances. Those time when organizations had file full of documents is all but gone. The HR system in India now demands that everything be online, preferably cloud-based so that they be made available automatically when called for, and remain easy to update. For this reason, HR software in India should have detailed document management systems which record, store and serialize documents for easy recovery and storage.