What is HRM?
In short
HRM stands for human resource management: everything an organisation does around its employees, from recruitment and contracts to leave, absence, training and appraisal. HRM software records that data and those processes and lets employees and managers handle things themselves, such as requesting leave.
What does HRM software do?
- Personnel file: contracts, roles, salary data and documents per employee.
- Leave and sickness absence: requesting and approving leave, sickness and recovery notifications and the steps of the Dutch Gatekeeper Improvement Act (Wet verbetering poortwachter).
- Self-service: employees change their address or bank account themselves and download their payslip.
- Recruitment, training and reviews: in more extensive packages also an ATS, a learning environment and performance reviews.
When do you need HRM software?
With a handful of employees, a payroll administration and a shared folder are often enough. HRM software pays off when contracts, leave balances and sick reports become hard to keep track of, when managers need to approve leave themselves, or when you want changes to flow to payroll automatically.
What should you look out for?
Personnel data is sensitive. According to the Dutch Data Protection Authority, an employer may not ask about or record the nature and cause of an illness; that is for the company doctor or occupational health service. You may record how often and for how long someone is ill. An external system for that data requires a data processing agreement with the supplier. Also look at the integration with your payroll and at role-based permissions, so a manager only sees their own team. What it costs is explained in what does HRM software cost?
Which software helps with this?
HRM software is available on its own and as part of a package with payroll. Look especially at the integration with payroll, so changes are not entered twice.