When you run a small company, managing your workforce is pretty easy. You know every employee by name, you know their strengths and weaknesses, and you can manage schedules and holidays easily. If someone wants a day off, they can just walk to the next cubicle and ask their colleague if they’d be willing to cover that shift.
Unfortunately, that kind of HR doesn’t scale very well past a dozen or so employees. As your company gets bigger, you will find that you need a more robust way to handle training, payroll, attendance, and scheduling. That’s what human capital management software can do.
Human Capital Management is a large field, and there are numerous vendors that offer solutions for various parts of the human capital management problem. Some software is more complex than others. Workday, for example, offers a sophisticated application that handles everything from hiring and performance management to training, benefits management, scheduling, and career development planning. Rather than treating employees like statistics, Workday offers individual plans and assistance to each and every employee, ensuring that they all get the attention they deserve.
Another popular vendor in the world of Human Capital Management is SAP ERP Human Capital Management. SAP provide applications for every part of business, from CRM to inventory and accounting. Their HCM software handles everything from payroll to time management. If you’re interested in learning more about SAP products, then there are many SAP events that offer information and training to business owners.
How HCM Can Increase Productivity
When you have a large number of employees, it can be difficult to make sure that you’re treating them all equally and fairly. Favoritism (whether actual or percieved), can have a huge negative impact on morale.
HCM can be used to ensure that everyone gets equal treatment. Many HCM applications have career development modules which can be used to keep a record of the performance of your employees. You can use this to ensure that every employee gets performance reviews after a set period of time, and that training and career development opportunities are offered fairly to employees based on performance and time served.
In addition, HCM can be employed to make sure that employees are challenged, but not overworked. Unpredictable workloads can be a problem in some companies, especially in hospitality and service industries. HCM software, combined with software designed for predicting workloads and seasonal volumes within your vertical, can be useful for reducing problems in this area.
Learning More About HCM
The applications of HCM are varied, and it’s up to each company to decide what parts of HCM are applicable to them. However, you can learn a lot if you attend SAP events, as well as events run by SAS and other HCM specialists. It’s well worth sending your team leaders and human resources managers to industry events. They may be expensive in the short term, but the tips and tricks that those employees will pick up at the conferences could save you a fortune, and greatly increase morale and productivity in the long term.
This article was written by Crispin Jones on behalf of UK & Ireland SAP User Group, organisers of SAP events. For more information on SAP events, please click here.
