HRMS Support Models: David vs. Goliath

While HR processes are often similar across various companies and industries, and HRMS vendors offer solutions for customers of all sizes, what do you think about staffing an HRMS team? Does size make a difference? Having been on both sides of the fence, my immediate thought is “Yes, absolutely!”

Small Business HRMS Support: A Little Bit of Anything and Everything

Small companies often have a limited HRMS team, or a dual function analyst who supports the HRMS along with performing a business role, such as in compensation. As a result, small business HRMS support staff need to know a little about everything in any HR process. These members of your HRMS team will have to be jack of all trades, HR systems generalists who are able to dive deeply into small business HRMS functionality when designing processes or troubleshooting.

Big Business HRMS Support: Niche Specialization

Larger companies often have the luxury of bigger HRMS teams as they have multiple systems to support or large employee populations, many locations, or a global presence. In such environments, it is impossible for one person to know about every HR system and process. A current trend in these businesses is to build Centers of Excellence (COEs). These comprise HRMS staff who have specialized in an HRMS process, so you have HRMS support staff who focus their careers in HR systems related to recruiting, compensation or learning management. While these staff may not have a large breadth of experience across HR functions, they provide hubs of knowledge which can lead to more targetted support for your workforce.

Which Is Better?

So which skillset or experience is better to have in your HRMS support staff? In a perfect world, an HRMS support staff would have experienced both models, and could take the positive skills from each area. While the large company model offers the experience to partner closely with the business and become an expert, the small company model enables a support team to experience many different areas of HR systems. For an HRMS Manager, it’s a matter of personality fit—do their support staff like to dabble in many topics in a small team environment or do the larger and often more structured environments excite them?