How to Adapt Your Training Methods for Next-Generation HRMS

I’m sure you’re as excited as I am about the new HRMS systems and functionality that have been hitting the market in recent years. These new technologies offer so many options to HR users, employees and managers that were previously unavailable. As well, many of these HR systems feature high in ease of use; HRMS training for the current generation of products on the market is as easy as using a standard webpage like Facebook or Google…or is it?

I am amazed and impressed with manager self-service technology; we now expect managers to initiate job requisitions, start the hiring process, kick off employee promotions and pay increases and even start a termination process, all through the HRMS! Gone are the days where managers had to approach HR to initiate such processes, or to go through a paper form. Not that we don’t need HR Partners, but with these advanced systems they are embedded into the process as approvers and advisers, with managers being firmly in the driver’s seat.

Guardrails & Guidance

So where does that leave us with HRMS training then? With such easy systems can we remove the need for a training department and documentation? Actually, we’re finding that as we roll out more functionality to a broader audience, we need the training professionals more, just in a different capacity. The current systems and technology are easier from a user perspective, but that’s precisely what makes them so dangerous! While we can build some guardrails and guidance into the HRMS, we need to make a greater effort on the HR process side, to give a manager more visibility into the HR perspective of how HR data functions.

If a manager is suddenly given the power to change a grade, without understanding the underlying data structure, the manager is potentially causing a future issue, through lack of understanding.

As an example, most companies have a strategy within HR or Compensation, about pay bands, or grades and steps, and these vary per company. An HR Professional, however, knows how an employee fits into this structure, as well as how quickly an employee should be progressing to the next level, based on performance. If a manager is suddenly given the power to change a grade (perhaps while trying to increase a salary), without understanding the underlying data structure or a holistic view of how this employee fits into it, the manager is potentially causing a future issue, through lack of understanding. Here is precisely the type of education we need to provide if we are going to provide new functionality, an understanding of the core HR data components and how they fit together.