6 Benefits of Human Resource Planning

Wikipedia defines human resource planning as “a process that identifies current and future human resource needs for an organization to achieve its goals.” So, basically, organizations need HR planning to ensure that the HR requirements are pinpointed in advance and strategies are brought in to meet those requirements. It covers everything from building a good employer brand to retaining good talent and preventing attrition. It is also required for the digitization of the HR functions in the most optimum way, including the investment in effective HR Management software – such as Digital HRMS & BeehiveHR – to increase the efficiency of the department. Planning things way in advance can bring a lot of benefits for the HR department and this article talks about 6 of the key ones.

1] Human Resource planning ensures that your HR department is well aware of the future recruitment needs of the organization and is able to anticipate the type of manpower that would be required and the vacancies that are likely to come up in the near future. Every organization has employees of different skill sets and experience. HR planning, if done effectively, can help the organization maintain a ready pool of the required number of resources with specific skillsets.

2] HR planning, if done well, can prove to be really cost-effective for the organization. This is because at any given time, there would be a much-needed balance in the number of employees in the organization, without the possibility of a surplus number of resources working on projects. Too many employees – more than the number required to get the job done – can be touch to manage and can also turn out to be expensive.

3] Human resource planning ensures that the functioning of the organization and its various processes is never hindered by the lack of availability of the resources at the right time. With the prior knowledge of the kind of resources that would be required, it becomes easier for the HR team of an organization to manage the recruitment process in such a way that the right resources are brought on board before a certain process starts. Plaining in advance also makes it possible to conduct internal job postings to fetch resources from other teams within the organization, if new resources with the required skill set are not available at the time.

4] HR planning helps address the issue of large scale vacancies resulting from the expansion and diversification of the organization. In the absence of proper planning, getting skilled resources in large numbers can prove to be quite challenging and might result in unnecessary delay in the recruitment process. However, having a plan in hand makes it easy to ensure a smooth expansion process for the organization and have some of the best talents on board.

In other words, it ensures that the organization is never short of employees with the skills and know-how required to manage the challenges arising out of a major change, such as expansion or diversification.

5] Human resource planning helps the HR department to foresee the skill sets that would be expected from the employees in order to successfully accomplish the tasks in the future. This way, they can plan training and development sessions for the employees to make them learn and master the required skills well ahead of time. So, even if the organization is expected to need highly skilled resources for a project, HR planning gives ample time to train the current employees instead of hiring talent at the last moment. This also contributes to employee skill development and boosts employee morale.

6] With the increasing demand for skilled resources, it can be difficult to find the best talent as employees today have many options. In such a scenario, an organization needs some meticulous HR planning to get the best talent on board. This allows the organization the privilege of having the time to scout for talents and build a team that comprises of some truly brilliant minds.

So, you see that there are multiple ways in which your organization can benefit from effective human resource planning. Right from saving costs to helping you bring in the best talent on board, there are many reasons for you to consider it. Does your organization practice HR planning? Share your insights in the comment box below.

4 Key Modules of HR Software

The human resources department has an important role to play in every organization, whether it’s a small, medium or large enterprise. How efficient the human resources department is, can go a long way in determining the efficiency of employee management in the organization, as well as the employee experience. Right from day one, it is the role of the HR department that determines the experience of the employee in the organization, and this lasts well into the last day too. Hence, what this department of the modern organization needs is an automated HR software that streamlines all the tasks and eliminates the time and efforts required as well as the errors caused due to the manual process.

A human resource management software is a software that redefines the way the HR department conducts its day-to-day activities in the organization. It is a platform that automates every activity of the department and hence, increases its efficiency and productivity. The new age HR software are designed as modular platforms, and some examples of such modular software include Digital HRMS, Zoho People, and Beehive. These platforms are designed to offer multiple modules which makes it possible for the enterprise to pick and choose the modules that best cater to their requirements. While the modules are many, there are a few of them that are key to the successful operations of the HR department. This article looks into them and why they are so important.

1] Onboarding

Research shows that a seamless onboarding process is a key factor which determines whether the employee would continue with the company for a long period. Hence, it should be a priority for organizations to offer the employees a systematic onboarding process, in order to benefit from that all important first impression. Contrary to what many organizations believe, onboarding is more than just handing over the offer letter. It should make it easy for the employees to know their responsibilities, the team mates, as well as the workplace policies. An automated HR software makes all this easy and stress-free.

2] Leave Management

Management of employee leaves is one of the highly important tasks performed by the HR department, because the calculation of leaves is what affects the calculation of the payroll. Using a manual system for leave management, especially when there are hundreds of employees, can be difficult and is likely to lead to errors. AN automated leave management module that modern HRMS software offers is the solution.

3] Time & Attendance

Another very important HR software module that no organization can do away with, is the time and attendance module. With so many employees in organizations today, managing the attendance can end up being a mammoth task that is best managed with an automated system. It comes as little surprise that enterprises today are recognizing the need for investing in the time & attendance module.

4] Benefits Management

Employee benefits is something that every organization offers to its employees and the management of the benefits for every employee is something that calls for an automated HR software module. Not just that, this module also allows employees to keep a tab on their benefits and the status of processing. This module makes it easy for the organization to streamline the allocation of benefits like healthcare, insurance policies, pension or welfare benefits, and more.

There are many other modules that an automated HR software offers but the ones mentioned above are the most important ones. When an organization decides to invest in a HRMS software, it is recommended that they learn about all the modules and their functionalities, and then choose the ones that they require the most.

Small Business Guide: How Can Cloud Pave a Path For the Future

Technological developments are taking place rapidly and we all need to keep up to survive in the competitive industry. Small businesses can feel a large amount of pressure to learn and adapt to the evolving landscape. But we have the cloud to help us with the transformation. With the cloud, one can work through the hindrances and adapt to the new technology with ease. Smart alternatives like QuickBooks cloud hosting make handling finances a much easier chore.

The cloud is already popular among business of all sizes for various work processes. The cloud has been entitled as the top trend in small businesses for digital transformation. With its many benefits and convenience of use, the cloud is the backbone of small-to-medium sized businesses enabling them to take full advantage of new technologies like artificial intelligence and Block-chain.

The cloud has become the driving factor for small businesses as it is providing what they need to stay ahead in the competition. The cloud is flexible, remotely accessible and extremely affordable as compared to a traditional setup, which is why it becomes an ideal choice.

The Cloud and the Data

A huge amount of data is collected by companies, but is that data being put to the right use? Data, when analyzed properly, can give you a clear strategic advantage and valuable business intel. But how can the cloud help?

The cloud and cloud-hosted applications, like cloud-based QuickBooks, give SMBs an affordable way to use advanced tools on aggregate data and apply algorithms to find out important information that can be applied for better growth of the organization.

You do not need to research and learn about new software or technology, you can integrate them to the applications you use every day and which already have access to your business data. Thus the cloud helps in increasing the efficiency and reducing the efforts you put in to give a simplified solution that helps to boost business.

The Cloud and Data Security

Cloud is the future, and it will soon become a basic that cannot be ignored. According to a study, 78% of businesses will be using cloud technology in some way by the year 2020. Now that you are on the cloud, you need to secure it well to use it wisely and avoid any kind of data breaches.

Data security is of utmost priority. Thus, it is important to create a well-thought security plan around the cloud. The infrastructure will have to be modified according to the hierarchy of access to successfully keep authorization in check.

If you opt for a third party cloud provider, it is their responsibility to secure the virtual server for QuickBooks hosting and to keep sensitive business data for being compromised. Almost all the companies that have embraced the cloud report that their security worries have decreased as the cloud platform is more secure.

The cloud is a technology that will benefit SMBs for years to come. And thus we should embrace this new technology and let it help our work processes to enhance business productivity and to thrive in the future.