HR departments want more IT systems

HR departments, like most users, want more and better IT systems but need more training to use them well.

According to a University of Sheffield study for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), most UK HR departments have had IT systems for a relatively short time and a substantial majority - about 40 per cent - are planning to upgrade with a heavily increased budget.

But around the same percentage are unhappy with their systems and/or suppliers. Duncan Brown, assistant director-general of the CIPD, suggests that part of the problem is in the HR department or its parent organisation.

He said in a statement accompanying the research: "It is still the case that too many organisations are failing to adhere to best change management practice. If more organisations were to train more of their staff in project management skills as well as conduct checks like piloting or evaluating the system after its implementation, the number of organisations reporting problems with suppliers and timescales would reduce radically."

And the 500 respondents to the survey would appear to agree with him. In 70 per cent of the cases, the HR department chose the HRIS (Human Resources Information System).

However, 39 per cent of the HR professionals surveyed said they found their own organisation's management of the design and implementation of the HRIS less than acceptable (33 per cent 'not so good' and six per cent 'very poor').

Implementing the system was a problem for the third of respondents who found that it did not come in on time. But only 15 per cent of the systems were over budget.

Outside of these problems, the HR managers who were dissatisfied and thought that their system was inappropriate felt that it was due to: rushed set-up, a set-up that was badly done in the first place or the fact that a supplier didn't understand their needs.

With the benefit of hindsight, the 40 per cent who are expecting to upgrade - with a whopping 47 per cent increase in budget - have a clear wish list of things that they would do differently.

Top of the list (72 per cent) is that they will more clearly specify the levels of service with the supplier. Shortly behind (64 per cent) is the need to integrate the HRIS more fully into the organisation's other IT systems.

At 59 per cent, there is the aim of giving more training to the users before implementation and 54 per cent would go for more integration of the separate HR IT systems.

Brown exhorts his members to get it right. He said: "The demand for and upgrading of systems is integral to the image of the profession as the trend moves towards strategic HR planning and away from being an administrative function."