Solutions Manual for Human Resource Information Systems 6th Edition by Johnson
ISBN: 9781071922163
Case Notes
Chapter 1: Position Description and Specification for an HRIS Administrator
Case Summary
This case examines an actual job description for an HRIS Administrator. One way to assess the nature and importance of a particular function or position in an organization is to examine the job description and job specifications for this position, as they tell us what activities, duties, and tasks are involved in the job as well as what knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) are required to perform the job. This is an edited version of an actual job description on Indeed that can be analyzed to show the alignment between the strategy of an organization and the important role that HRIS plays within organizations. Reviewing an actual job description in the field benefits the students by giving them real-world sightlines into how the HRIS function is deployed and how the role fits into the broader context of an organization.
Answers to Case Questions
1. How might this position help the HR function become a strategic partner of the organization? There are multiple aspects of this position description that help the HR function become a strategic partner. You can pick almost any one of the responsibilities from the list and indicate that this responsibility would not be part of the job description if HR was simply a service function and not a strategic partner within the firm. A “caretaker” is a passive role whereas a strategic partner is a much more active role. Below we provide three potential answers using specific job responsibilities from the job description.
● The HRIS Administrator will be the functional expert for the organization's HRIS system and will ensure data integrity and accuracy for all HRIS systems.
o Without data integrity, there would be no way to measure the contribution of the firm’s human capital to the “bottom line,” which is a critical part of strategic planning.
● Ensures smooth process flow within HR by working closely with various departments including: the Compensation Manager, CHRO, Finance, Legal/Compliance and IT.
● Responsibility: Assists in the administration of fixed and variable pay programs.
● Responsibility: May assist with the auditing of salary activity for accuracy including input of organizational or hospital-wide rate changes, market range adjustments, annual review adjustments, promotions, and wage changes as per Union contracts.
o Together, these three responsibilities demonstrate how the HRIS administrator will be working with multiple departments in the firm helping them achieve their goals. This illustrates how these external departments depend upon HR information to accomplish their tasks and the importance of
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HR’s ability to be able to understand the strategic context in which these departments are operating and what data can help them succeed.
● Supports HR by researching and resolving HRIS problems, unexpected results or process flaws and performing scheduled activities.
● Ensures smooth process flow within HR by working closely with various departments including: the Compensation Manager, CHRO, Finance, Legal/Compliance and IT.
o Together, these illustrate the idea of a partnership between HR and the operationalization of the strategic plan of the company. Feedback from these partnerships could have major effects on the strategic planning process.
2. From the position description, identify the traditional, transactional, and transformational HR activities that this position is involved with.
Students should draw from the description and categorize example job responsibilities into traditional, transactional, and transformational. Examples answers are:
Transactional
● Responsible for assuring the accurate entry, maintenance, expansion, and ongoing audit of employee data.
● Supports Human Resources by researching and resolving HRIS problems, unexpected results or process flaws and performing scheduled activities.
● Creates ad hoc reports using a HRIS system, excel, and conducts report analysis.
● TheHRIS Administratorwill bethefunctional expertfortheorganization's HRIS system and will ensure data integrity and accuracy for all HRIS system configurations, transactions, procedures, and report writing.
Traditional
● Assists in the annual common review merit process. Assists in administering merit program communications formanagement,as well as assistingin educating managers on program details and use of merit database.
● Extracts relevant data from both internal and external information systems to support compensation analysis.
● Assists in the review, testing and implementation of system upgrades.
Transformational
● May assist with the auditing of salary activity for accuracy including input of organizational or hospital-wide rate changes, market range adjustments, annual review adjustments, promotions, and wage changes as per Union contracts.
● Ensures smooth process flow within HR by working closely with various departments including: the Compensation Manager, CHRO, Finance, Legal/Compliance and IT.
● Assists in planning and conducting end to end analysis including data gathering and validation.
3. Using the key responsibilities identified for this position, explain with which key stakeholders in the organization the HRIS administrator would work with and the different data needs that each may have.
The goal of this question is to have students think about the importance of having students consider how the HRIS supports multiple internal HR and external organizational stakeholders and supporting their data needs. There are several potential answers. For example, students could suggest:
Compensation Manager:
The HRIS Administrator would need to work closely with the Compensation Manager to ensure that the data needed to make compensation decisions are accurate and that any reports contain the information needed for the company to make both a strong compensation program as well as effective individual compensation decisions. data entry and reporting in support of compensation programs.
The data needs could include salary data, compensation structures, merit increase policies, bonus information, external data on compensation, and performance metrics.
Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO):
The HRIS Administrator would need to work closely with the CHRO to provide comprehensive reports and analysis to support strategic HR decision-making.
The data needs would include employee demographics, turnover rates, time-to-hire, workforce planning data, and other key HR metrics that drive strategic decision-making.
Line Managers:
The third example we provide is that of line managers. For students it may be challenging to see the connection between the HRIS Administrators role and those in different functional areas of the business, but with the ever-increasing connections between HR and the broader business, HR is increasingly supplying data to managers outside of HR to support their decision-making. For example, the HRIS Administrator could provide line managers with access to employee data and support them in using the HRIS system for performance management and employee development.
Linemanagerswouldneedaccess to employeeperformancedata, timeand attendancedata, training information, and more.
Although we list three potential example answers to this question, there are a myriad of other external stakeholders with which the HRIS Administrator would work. These could include finance, accounting, legal/compliance, the C-suite members, etc. The answers provided should look similar to those listed above.
4. Of the required knowledge, skills, aptitudes, and experiences, which do you think might be most critical for success in this position? Why?
There are a number of key skills that students might provide. This could be technical skills, HR skills, or broad business skills. As students answer the question, focus on the evidence that they provide that supports the “why” of their answer. For example, students should suggest that the HRIS Administrator should have a deep understanding of HRIS systems, including configuration, data management, reporting, and integration with other systems.
Students might also suggest that the ability to know which data are important and how to generate reports that support executive, managerial, and HR decisions is important. Further, given that the role is a more technical role, students may point out the importance oftechnicalskillsandknowledgeofboththeHRISinuseaswellasgeneral ITmanagement skills. Finally, although many undergraduate students may not identify business acumen as an important skillset, oneofthemost important skills thatanHRIS Administratorcanbring to the job is an understanding of how the data and processes of HR relate to the broader strategic goals and daily operations of the firm. This list of potential answers is not meant to be exhaustive, but instead illustrative of the skill sets which students might identify as critical to a new hire’s success.
5. Are there any additional attributes or experiences that you think might be important for success in this position that are not listed?
There are a number of interesting answers that students might provide, each of which could lead to interesting conversations. For example, HR students might focus on the importance of knowledge of HR functions such as recruitment, selection, training, compensation, etc., and suggest that they are missing. Other students may choose to focus on more IT focused skills such as data visualization or project management skills. The answers that students provide can lead to an interesting discussion about the relative importance of functional HR knowledge and IT skills and how they work together. Further, the instructor may even be able to discuss the different mix of employee skills needed as HRIS professionals advance in their careers.