Much of the benefit from using a human resources software application will be derived from data you can pull from the system. In determining needs with prospects, I have seen statements related to report writing more often than any other. The purpose of this article is to define how you should view the human resources software you will evaluate as it relates to report writing capabilities.

Standard Reports - Any human resources software system you evaluate will offer some type of standard reports. You will hear that one company offers one hundred and fifty reports and another offers three hundred but this does not matter. All that matters is that the reports that you are most likely to need are included in the sample reports. Here is a list of a few standard reports you should expect to be included with any HRIS application:

Turnover statistics Turnover Log New Hire Log Birthday Report Anniversary Reports Benefits Reports Reviews Due Training Due Employee Training Attendance balances Attendance history Salary Grade Range Exceptions Government compliance reporting for OSHA COBRA EEO

With the standard reports, you will have the ability to customize how you want the reports sorted or grouped. You will likely also have the ability to export data to Excel or Word. This is helpful in that it may be the only way you can customize these reports. This is also the biggest issue with standard reports. They are not typically customizable. You get what you get. With some systems, these reports may also be included within a report writer where you can alter the reports but this is not typically the case from my experience.

Custom Report Writing - As you evaluate various human resources software systems, you will find that they have many similar capabilities, features and options. Where you will see some major differences, however, is within the report writing capabilities. Thus, you want to evaluate in detail the report writing options you are presented.

Everyone wants a human resources software report writer that is easy to use and comprehensive in its functionality. From my experience, however, I have seen that these two needs have an inverse relationship. The easier the report writer is to us, the less comprehensive the functionality and, of course, the inverse would be true as well. The important thing when evaluating report writers is to determine how significant your report writing needs are. I have seen many companies, for example, never create a custom report. The standard reports meet their needs. I have seen other companies with high comprehensive report writing needs not have a report writer that can meet those needs.

The important thing when determining your needs before beginning your evaluation of systems, is to write out exactly which reports you will need and make certain that the system you select meets this need. Make sure if custom report writing is necessary, that it is included in the scope of the engagement.

Page 1 of 2 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 | Next