The small business workshop: HR strategies to make the most of data

A question for the HR professionals: do you feel like you’re constantly playing catch-up, facing a never-ending barrage of questions and requests?

While I can’t hear your answer through a screen, if I had to guess, I’d assume your response is: yes, please help! Make it stop! I just need five minutes to grab a cup of tea and go to the loo.

Now, this assumption isn’t just a byproduct of my imagination.

HR is currently facing its own wellbeing crisis.

This year, we’ve seen countless headlines such as ‘a third of HR professionals are considering quitting due to burnout’, and ‘more than 40% of HR teams feel overwhelmed’.  

Every business will present its own unique HR challenges, but from speaking with those in the industry, it’s become clear that data is a major pain point.

From answering questions to syncing up HR data with payroll, there are a number of issues plaguing small businesses.

Lucky for you, we’ve pulled together a dream team of HR experts in our recent webinar, offering advice and tips.

In this blog, I’ve summarised a few of the areas our speaker, Deni Williams, Lead HR Programmes Advisor, covered relating to HR data and connecting key business systems.

Making the most of your HR data

Is sickness absence increasing? What is the fiscal impact of bonuses this year? Which department has the most churn?

For HR professionals, the questions can feel never-ending.  

Good HR data can unlock rich insights into employee engagement and satisfaction.   

However, many HR professionals are struggling to keep up with managing their staff data alongside their day-to-day people management – not to mention all the requests coming in from other teams!  

Deni explains, saying: “There are many businesses that are still using paper and spreadsheets for all their HR processes – I know I certainly was when working for a smaller business.

“Juggling and keeping everything together when your data is spread out is so difficult.

“A lot of businesses are on this journey from using paper to being tech-based; an area I urge people to look at is cloud-based software, as it provides access to all your data at any point, at any time.

“You need to know the data is up-to-date and that you’re working with the latest information, which is critical for compliance but also decision-making.

“You want to be in meetings where you can have the answers in seconds, not days.

“If your data is in spreadsheets or on paper, it’s not helping you thrive; rather, it’s hardly allowing you to survive.

“I’m sure we’ve all had those last-minute requests, where people ask: can you just get me this?

“Having technology behind you and all your data in one place is really important.

“Also, along these lines, reports should be automated, not manually compiled, as it reduces errors, saves time and gives you the insights needed to make faster decisions.

“Accuracy isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s a must-have when making decisions that impact a team.”

HR software: collecting data

To get good data, you need the correct interface for collecting key information.  

For example, having a dedicated leavers screen collects key information such as leaving reasons and can feature questionnaires.  

This type of functionality can apply to a range of scenarios, from capturing information when onboarding new starters to comprehensive quarterly review processes.  

However, capturing information is only one part of the puzzle.  

You also need to easily find, display and share the relevant information – it should be simple to answer questions with your HR software.  

Perhaps you’re looking for the future leaders of your business among your staff.   

Having a wide set of people data and being able to easily pull information means you can effectively locate individuals with specific skills, traits and accomplishments.  

HR software: displaying data

Good HR software enables you to create handy dashboards in the system, providing a centralised, real-time location for all the common data areas which you’ll need throughout your day-to-day.  

These dashboards can be customised to contain any data points you need, such as cost of sickness, days lost, headcount status, etc.  

As well as the dashboards, good HR software enables you to quickly build reports within the system, which can also be scheduled, saving you from pulling the same data set again and again.  

A bonus is that the data you’re using is in real-time – should something change in the system, it’s automatically reflected in your reporting without the need for manual intervention.  

Connecting systems to improve accuracy

There is a fundamental need for HR to work better with other functional areas, such as payroll and finance. 

Disconnected systems, endless data entry and constant firefighting leave HR professionals overworked, frustrated and stretched too thin. 

Deni explained further: “One thing I’ll add is that HR systems need to play nicely with other software, such as your payroll platform.

“Integrating HR and payroll eliminates duplication, reduces manual updates and speeds up processing.

“When your systems sync up, then you get the benefit of a purpose-built solution with all the bells and whistles.

“The team that sits behind that software also benefits from fewer errors, better workflows and an improved experience.

“So many HR teams manage payroll as an extra on top of their already huge to-do list, so being able to streamline the process is massive.”

How does HR software integration work? 

An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a set of rules and protocols that allows different applications to communicate with each other.  

Think of an API as a digital bridge that enables systems to exchange information and creates a single source of truth across your tech stack. 

Example: if an employee is entitled to overtime pay, they can add hours in the HR software, which goes to approval to the line manager, the HR system then calculates the rate of pay and is then pushed into the payroll platform to be processed. 

The SME business workshop: optimise HR & payroll

Hopefully you’ve found the above useful!

The full webinar covered a wide array of other topics which may be of interest, including:

• The HR challenges impacting businesses
• Small business kit (one-stop-shop solution approach) 
• Creative solutions for attracting talent on a budget 
• Integration & add-on opportunities  
• Performance management for lean teams 
• Q&A session