Here's Why You Need an Integrated Employee Database

Fragmented HR can lead to roadblocks or even complete breakdown, of employee experiences. We look at how employers can inspire the workforce by simply connecting the HR dots

We are fast moving towards a world with few borders and blurred lines between verticals.

2017 saw mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships take over the global market – from the landmark deal between Amazon and Whole Foods to Paychex making inroads into HR outsourcingOpens a new window , the picture is crystal clear. The future will bring a set of global providers, with highly specialized internal functions catering to specific business needs.

It’s a world completely reimagined, in short, on the lines of SAP, Oracle, or Salesforce.

For enterprises, this means they no longer need to partner with disparate vendors, keep multiple procurement records, and count for a mounting pile of invoices. A one-stop shop would allow integrations like never before.

Employee data that’s captured by the recruitment team isn’t locked away in a corner to be reconciled at month end or during outplacement – it’s seamlessly linked to onboarding, leave and attendance management systems, payroll functions, performance assessment modules, and rewards & recognition. The whole nine yards.

Here’s how this would transform the workforce:

More transparent, more involved.

One of the fallouts of a digitalized and highly automated workspace is that employees struggle to connect on-ground work, with outcomes and compensation.

A centralized, integrated database keeps all the employee data in one, accessible source – and with a filtered ESS module, employers can reveal the information that’d be most relevant. Attendance records and hours put in, for instance, clearly suggest a person’s professional commitment levels – when that’s directly linked to benefits (also visible via ESS), it significantly boosts morale.

With effort and performance directly aligned to rewards and compensation (via channels the employee can actually access) positive behavior is reinforced.

Fewer manual processes improved productivity:

HR is one of the few business functions that’s most associated with formalities, paperwork, and red tape. To file insurance claims or to get business travel spends reimbursed, a traditional system would have the employee running from pillar to post.

Now, imagine a completely unified database where the user can enter all expenditure details, and with payroll synced, the amount is credited to the account, automatically. Further, advanced systems even have approval mechanismsOpens a new window built-in, to prevent fraud.

The end result is that employees spend less time on administrative and tertiary processes, gaining more space and hours to focus on the job at hand.

Reduced roadblocks, a jump in ESAT:

A truly enriching employee experience has several sides – beyond the actual work, compensation levels, or other socio-economic factors, how a person interacts with his organization makes a big difference.

If workplace exchanges are fraught with hiccups, misdirection, and a struggle to streamline the basics, then employee satisfaction (ESAT) would naturally see a dip.

Integrated HR offers a viable workaround. As all functions are unified via a single employee database and connected systems, an individual is secure about day to day operations and can turn his attention to work, productivity, and reach newer milestones.

The essentials, like getting leaves approved or work-from-home scenarios registered, is part of every typical workday. Unfortunately, with human dependencies still abound, employees often need to factor in interpersonal relations and biases.

An integrated system removes these inefficiencies, empowering the workforce and making each employee feel valued.

Last year, Deloitte found that 56% companiesOpens a new window are redesigning HR programs from scratch, to take advantage of emerging digital technologies. An important part of this conversation is integrating systems into one unified umbrella – after all, digitalization in silos is counterintuitive.

**Replacing a paper-based function with a digital alternative – without tapping into the full potential of tech – is only piecemeal adoption**. Employees would still have to expend time & effort in navigating these disparate channels.

ADP’s Linda Mougalian looks at early adopters and what’s yet to be achieved: “Traditionally, vendors served HR or payroll so HR practitioners had to connect those systems and didn’t have full exposure to the data they needed.”

ADP has been steadily working towards its vision for a unified HR system – partnering with leaders like ZipRecruiter, WorkMarket, and Empxtrack in just 6 months, to accelerate the process.

“Companies need access to data in a cohesive way in order to have full visibility into their workforce and make better-informed decisions. This is why we look at the landscape through a holistic HCM lens and not just payroll or HR,” Mougalian added.

Vendors like ADP are clearly melding into unified solution providers. By 2020, the top cloud vendor in the world is expected to serve half the global market, combining back office, HR, and ERP. And even as we hurtle towards a more integrated future, the bedrock is a resilient, stable, and unified employee database that can cut across verticals and cater to multiple functions.