Classification of HRM systems

For the beginning of 2013 it is accepted to select three levels of control automation by personnel of the company:

• payroll calculation automation,
• automation of personnel records and
• control automation by labor resources.

These levels correspond to stages of informatization of personnel management and reflect its chronological order. Really, automation at first affected routine and most labor-consuming transactions, first of all  — payroll calculation, charges and deduction and also the corresponding tax payments. At the same time, the specified transactions well give in to automation as, first, are computing, and, secondly, are accurately regulated that allows to algoritmizirovat them easily.

Automation of the first level naturally caused transition to the second as without it it was necessary to enter constantly in a system data of personnel records that caused additional labor costs, and, besides, duplicated "paper" personnel records. Thus, maintaining the staff list, registration of personnel, personnel document flow, time keeping and similar functions were also automated. That in this case business processes were automated already automation systems of personnel records in the organizational plan were more difficult, than the "settlement" systems.

Historical distinctions

Human capital management in the USSR carried social orientation and, as far as we know, was practically limited to advanced training of employees, planning of office growth of employees and formation of a talent pool (including, for replacement of the employees who went on a maternity leave and also the promoted specialists). Owing to lack as such of the competition between the enterprises in the Soviet economic system such significance, as in the western countries where their development was caused by economic need was not attached to these functions. The specified difference in accents affected also the automation equipment: the domestic systems stopped at the second level, foreign developed to the third.

"Not formal" automation

Automation of HR functions is the most difficult from the technology point of view as in this case the automated system should work with difficult formalized or in general non-formalizable parameters, a part from which in general has a direct bearing on psychology. In "a profile of employee competences", except parameters, traditional for accounting (such as education level, specialty, experience) such indicators as adaptivity, leadership skills, capability are considered to work in collective, openness of thinking and similar which cannot just be "counted", owing to the subjective nature of their treatment. Here one of leading roles is played by methodology of human resource management. By and large, HRM systems just are also the instrument of implementation of this or that methodology.

Classification of HRM systems

Depending on implementation of this or that level of automation it is possible to classify rather conditionally and directly HRM systems. So, there are solutions directed only to payroll calculation automation. It is accepted to call them the systems of the first level. More development of a system allow to calculate salary, to create and keep the staff list, to reflect the movement of the personnel  , etc. They belong to the systems of the second level. The most complete solutions allow to carry out employee assessment, to make "portraits" of specialists, to develop individual programs of their training and office promotion  , etc. These are the systems of the third level.

Solutions of the first level often represent previously configured, so-called "boxed" product. But their low functionality and impossibility of further setup significantly limit a circle of potential users. The systems of the second level even more often approach today very close solutions of the third level, and it is harder and harder to draw an accurate distinction between them. It is connected with the fact that as many experts and players of the market note, in recent years customers show the increasing attention to managerial functionality of a HRM system.

The systems of the third level, as a rule, are not independent any more, and log in as the specialized module of complex automation of the enterprises (ERP system). At the same time, there are also separate HRM systems of the third level having abilities to integrate with a number of popular ERP systems.

The is more complete, the better

Now, owing to the fact of approach of the systems of the second mentioned above to the systems of the third level, perhaps, it is more correct to speak not about the HRM system level, and completeness of its functional filling. From this point of view it is possible to classify the products existing today on: the "accounting and settlement" systems (which can also be subdivided into "settlement", "accounting" and actually "accounting and settlement" systems), HRM systems with incomplete functionality and the full-function HRM systems.

According to materials of Forrester Research, the modern integrated HRM systems contain six main functional units distributed on three technology levels unevenly. This structure can be provided as follows. As noted, now "operational" and "user" levels are worked well out practically in all solutions presented at the world market. The main technology development is observed at the "strategic" level which is implemented both suppliers of complete solutions of HCM/HRM, and developers of specialized solutions. At the same time technology leaders are not always financial market leaders at all.

In more detail the functionality of HRM systems is considered in article Functionality of HRM systems