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Lecture Outline
Chapter 3: Systems Considerations in the Design of a Human Resource
Information System: Planning for Implementations
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After completing this chapter, you should be able to do the following:
❖ Understand the different types of users or customers of the implemented HRIS
and their different data needs
INTRODUCTION
● Successful implementation is the central goal of every HRIS project, and it begins
with a comprehensive design for the system.
● Only by understanding the users or customers of the HRIS, the technical possibilities,
the software solution parameters, and the systems implementation process can we
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Kavanagh and Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions, 4e
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the decisions that will be made.
o Everything about HRM is a system of processes designed to support the
achievement of strategic organizational goals. The HRIS, in turn, supports
HRIS Customers/Users: Data Importance
● Individuals who will be using the HRIS can be split into two general groups: employees
and nonemployees.
Employees
● Managers. The managers referred to within this section may have a variety of titles:
manager, director, vice president, and even CEO.
● Their primary HRIS need is to have real-time access to accurate data that
facilitate decision making with regard to their people (Miller, 1998).
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● Analyst (Power User). The analyst or power user is perhaps the most demanding user of
the HRIS.
● The primary role of the analyst is to acquire as much relevant data as possible,
examine it, and provide reasonable alternatives with appropriate supporting
● Technician (HRIS Expert). HRIS experts straddle the boundary of two functions. Their
role is to ensure that appropriate HR members have all the access, information, and tools
necessary to do their jobs.
● HRIS experts do this by understanding what is needed from an HR process
● Clerical Employee. Much like power users, these employees also spend a significant
portion of their day interacting with the HRIS. The difference is that of depth.
● The clerical employee must understand the process required to enter information
Organizational Employees
● All the employees in the organization may interface with the HRIS through a self-
service Web portal or secure employee kiosk, removing the necessity of an HR clerk
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Adamson, 2001).
● Typical self-service applications are accessible most of the day throughout the
week. Employees log on to the system, where their identity is authenticated and
Nonemployees
● Job Seekers. Online recruiting tends to attract individuals who are well educated,
Internet savvy, and searching for higher-level positions (McManus & Ferguson, 2003).
● A successful recruitment website needs to be user-friendly and easy to navigate
while attracting candidates to apply to an organization by clearly communicating
Important Data
● Each discussed customer or user of the HRIS has slightly different needs with regard to
what information he or she will be using. Specific data from the HRIS database fit into
three categories:
● 1. Information about people, such as biographical information and competencies
HRIS Architecture
The HRIS Dinosaur
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● The HRIS “Dinosaur.” In the early days of HR applications (in the 1970s), large
Client-Server (Two-Tier) Architecture
● Two-Tier Architecture (Client-Server). During the 1980s, it was discovered that many
typical HR functions (such as employee benefits and recruiting) did not require the high-
powered and expensive processing available on the mainframe computers.
● The ease of using the GUI compared with the traditional command-based interface was a
major factor that enabled individuals with limited technology experience to use these PC-
based applications. This two-tiered architecture meant that the HR software application
technology could be divorced from the database technology. This separation simplified
the HR application and allowed enterprises to select the most appropriate database
management system (DBMS) for their needs.
Three-Tier Architecture
● Three-Tier Architecture. Throughout the 1990s and into the current decade, this
division of processing activity expanded from two-tier to three-tier and, finally, to N-tier
architectures.
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● With a three-tier architecture, the servers have two roles—as a database (DBMS)
server and as an application server (see Figure 3.2).
● With the development of the two-tier and three-tier systems, the HRIS professional still
managed the user interface, but more demanding processing occurred in the middle, in
● To overcome some of these shortcomings and to support broader employee access to
employee self-service applications (or portals) (ESS), organizations utilized the Web
browser. The browser provides a “thin client” and is a relatively small piece of software
requiring fairly small client computing resources made possible by the three-tier
computing model. A “thick client” would require a significant-sized software product
and computing power at the client location (as necessitated by the two-tier model).
● N-Tier Architecture
● N-Tier Architecture. Instead of just limiting ourselves to a four-tier label, this
architecture has been labeled N-tier for the following reasons:
● N-Tier Architecture with Enterprise Resource Planning. The architecture diagram
becomes even more complicated when other ERP components are added.
● HRIS do not exist in a vacuum. They interact with other business operations within the
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Microsoft. Therefore, GL transactions must be interfaced between payroll and these
systems. So additional application servers and databases enter the picture, depicted in
Figure 3.3.
● There exist many variations on this diagram. In some cases, databases can be shared (in
this situation, HRIS is subsumed within the enterprise resource planning [ERP] system);
in other cases, Internet technologies, such as XML and Web services, are used to
Cloud Computing—Back to the Future!?
● Cloud computing is a computing architecture that uses the Internet and central remote
servers to maintain data and applications. To achieve this, a “server cloud,” or group of
computers, is operated off-site, and hosted services are then delivered over the Internet to
the client organization.
● Cloud computing can be sold on demand, by the minute or the hour, and is elastic—
meaning that an enterprise can consume as much or as little of a service as it wants at any
given time.
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Security Challenges
● Security ranks as a top priority for any HRIS. Security needs to be addressed to handle
many different situations (e.g., exposure of sensitive payroll and benefits data among
employees or loss of sensitive personnel data outside the enterprise [such as the Social
Security number]).
● All enterprise-level HRIS implement their own level of security on top of those of the
operating system and DBMS. Security can limit or allow to each user role through
column- and row-level security.
Best of Breed
● An HRIS, as discussed in the previous section, exists as one of the main parts of an
overall ERP software solution for the company. There exist alternative software
applications that solve specific HR business problems. In general, an architecture that
combines products from multiple vendors is called best of breed (BOB).
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● If the above conditions are met, HRIS applications should be able to interoperate with
many point solutions. Examples of best-of-breed solutions for some of the HR functions
are as follows:
● Recruitment. The business process to recruit new employees for a company has
many BOB opportunities. Large HRIS applications tend to focus on the internal
● Time Collection. Most companies require employees to submit time-keeping data
each pay period. For hourly employees, this typically means using a punch card
● Payroll. In some cases, the entire payroll process may be outsourced to another
vendor, such as ADP. This choice of using an outside provider is conceptually the
reverse of the typical BOB motivation. The enterprise is not looking for the best
● BOB solutions introduce additional complexity into the software architecture. A cost–
benefit analysis should be performed by the HR function to determine whether the BOB
alternative is to be used.
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Planning for System Implementation
Points to remember as this section is examined are as follows: (1) this is a process that
will take a team of individuals anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 years to complete; (2) a
variety of ways to manage this process may be attempted, so long as the key issues are
● Project Manager. The choice of project manager deserves some serious thought.
● There are really three good options for project manager: hire a consultant to be the
● Steering Committee/Project Charter. While project managers are responsible for the
project, they are often assisted with the planning and implementation process by a team
of individuals known as the steering committee.
● The steering committee has three key purposes. First, this group works under the
● Project Charter: The steering committee may develop a document known as the project
charter, which will help maintain the guidelines on how the project should function.
● The project charter helps keep the entire team focused on the goals for the project
by forcing the team to agree on what is critical.
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● Implementation Team: The implementation team works with the project manager to
complete the actual software implementation.
● A good configuration for the implementation team includes both functional and
technical personnel. Functional personnel are usually drawn from the ranks of the
● Project scope is defined as those portions of the information system that need to be
completely operational to satisfy the needs of the various customers, employees, and
senior management. This definition of the scope of the project is absolutely critical to
success.
● Project creep occurs when decisions are made to implement additional functionality
● Management sponsorship of the implementation project is crucial. Senior management
has the ability to add or remove budget dollars and other resources as needed, move
political hurdles out of the way, and facilitate the change management process through
publicly demonstrated support for the project.
● Process mapping is the systematic documentation of organizational processes that
directly relate to the ongoing project. To facilitate that change, the team must understand
an existing process before starting any implementation.
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● Software Implementation: Once the planning process is reasonably complete, the
process-mapping process is nearly complete, and the implementation team has received
most of its training, the actual software implementation can begin.
● This software implementation involves eight steps. Some of the steps go on
concurrently while some work in sequence.
● Customization: One of the most difficult decisions that many steering committees face is
whether to customize—especially since modern HR software comes with ample
opportunity and excellent tools for customization.
● The main downside to customization is that there will be significant maintenance
costs, as every tiny change has to be customized all over again with each software
upgrade.
● Change management focuses on the most difficult part of the implementation process—
the interaction between the user and the software. The introduction of this new system
will typically encounter strong resistance from the employees. Failure to develop a
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● “Go Live!” There are two possible ways that the new software can be put to use. Option
1 is to do a direct conversion; the old software is turned off, and the new software is
turned on. The second option is a parallel conversion. This option turns the new software
Potential Pitfalls
● Some of the most common pitfalls occur in the above steps:
o Poor planning
o Incomplete steering committee or steering committee without top-management