A Painful Dozen: 12 Common HRIS Problems

The efficiency of your HRIS determines how well you perform core HR functions such as payroll, onboarding, and benefits administration. The better you perform these functions, the more efficient your HR team will be, the better the employee experience will be, and the better your leaders will be able to meet business deliverables. 

Even the most basic HRIS can increase efficiency by automating tasks, tracking activities, and providing insights. Your HRIS also can improve the employee experience by giving workers access to information they need to do their jobs and live their lives, like company policies procedures and their personal benefits.

Core HRIS solutions “help HR to both understand their workforce and effectively communicate with employees,” according to the Sierra-Cedar 2019–2020 HR Systems Survey White Paper. Major HR transformation efforts often include an HRIS replacement, thereby “signifying the central role this technology plays in User Experience and the flow of critical data.”

Three out of every 10 companies surveyed by Sierra-Cedar were either evaluating their options or planning to replace their HRIS within two years. An HRIS platform typically includes applications for Recruiting, Onboarding, Attendance and Time Tracking, Personnel Tracking, Payroll, and Benefits Administration. 

Problems in one or more of these areas may indicate that you need to improve or replace your HRIS. So, watch out for these common issues.

1. Taxes are not paid correctly.
2. The time that employees work isn’t recorded right.
3. Information is often entered manually instead of automatically.
4. Data is duplicated in HR and payroll systems.
5. Payroll mistakes lead to employees being overpaid or underpaid.
6. Workers can’t find information like paid-leave policies without contacting an HR representative.
7. Job applicants say that other companies make it easier to apply for open positions and that they are more interested in working there as a result.
8. New employees waste time completing paper forms.
9. Outdated employee records include old phone numbers and addresses.
10. You have been fined for violating employment regulations.
11. Managers don’t have accurate, up-to-date information to make decisions.
12. Confidential employee information has been compromised.

Each of these common HRIS problems has a different cause and a different solution. But you often will find that your pain is  resulted from “poor or rushed implementation, failure to improve inefficient systems before adapting the systems to the new technology, inadequate training, disparity between business and HRIS, or a failure to devote adequate resources to system adoption,” according to an HR Payroll Systems blog post on troubleshooting and solving HRIS issues.

Don’t build your HR technology upon a weak foundation. Increase efficiency, improve the employee experience, and transform your organization by ensuring that you have an effective HRIS.