Top 8 HCM Modules
You'd think that in the throes of an economic recession, companies would be more concerned with reducing headcount than managing their work force. Yet the opposite is true as studies indicate that some 74 percent of organizations — and 83 percent of large enterprises — believe that integrated talent management is mission-critical.
Enter HCM (Human Capital Management). The right HCM product can identify skills gaps, analyze work-force strengths, provide a holistic view of the work force, help HR professionals hire and retain the best talent, as well as groom existing employees for future opportunities.
Although not all HCM solutions are created equal, companies should look for these essential modules when reviewing their options:
1. Work Force Analytics: The right analytics component can collect, analyze and interpret data to reveal important patterns and key relationships associated with your work force. Such real-time insight into a work force not only lets an organization better leverage HR programs, but also lets it gauge employees' contributions to the bottom line.
2. Process Management: Rather than manage multiple silos of data, a process management module integrates information ranging from benefits and payroll to compliance measures and employee administration. The result is a unified view of work force-related processes using a single technology platform.
3. Talent Management: Managing your work force is about more than simply filling office chairs with qualified candidates. Talent management helps HR professionals strengthen employee skill sets, identify skills gaps, retain top performers, groom employees for future opportunities, execute detailed performance reviews, create competency-based employee development programs, and align employee goals with corporate objectives for a major competitive advantage.
4. Payroll Administration: Properly and promptly paid employees are happy employees. This mission-critical module helps companies integrate time and attendance data, calculate pay, generate paychecks, track the progress of payroll cycles and significantly reduce the number of human errors that can occur with manual processing.
5. Benefits Administration: Overseeing benefits enrollment, payroll deductions, plan updates and regulatory reporting is a time-consuming and complex process for even the most seasoned HR manager. Fortunately, a benefits administration module can automate these tasks, ensuring that different groups of employees can access benefits plans and related information with minimal HR department assistance.
6. Time and Attendance: There's nothing simple about keeping tabs on employees' comings and goings. A time and attendance module, however, can gather availability and leave requests, automatically generate schedules, process payroll rules and reconcile hours worked against a schedule with the click of a mouse. Not only does this ensure that the right people are in the right places at the right time, but it also can increase employee productivity and flag unnecessary labor costs.
7. Learning Management: These days, there's no shortage of ways to educate employees. E-learning, classroom training, collaborative learning, one-on-one coaching — they're all approaches companies are taking to transfer knowledge and improve employees' skills. By implementing a learning management module, companies can deliver, track, plan and analyze the impact of its educational programs.
8. Succession Management: With mounting job losses and today's baby boomers on the brink of retirement, companies are looking for ways to identify and track high-potential employees. Succession management technology can help by identifying untapped talent and preparing candidates for future leadership roles.
