Program & Semester: MBA (3rd semester)

Subject name: Employee Relations Management

Subject Code: MU0012
Important Question and Answer
MU0012: Question- Briefly explain the employee relations management tools and benefits of
implementing these tools.
MU0012: Answer- Technology can be used to help manage employee relationships in the most efficient
manner. Automated employee relationship management tools help employees do their tasks in a better
way. The following are the different employee relations management tools existing in organisations:

HR Information Systems: Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is used to manage employee
information, leave details and to administer benefits. HRIS handles payroll and other company
financial software and accounting systems. These are used by companies for the following reasons:
Employees receive timely and correct wages
Employees apply for leave on their own
Training programmes for employees can be automated and streamlined.

Performance Management Systems (PMS): PMS helps to monitor the performance of employees
and link it with their salary increments and bonus payments. With PMS, managers keep track of
training activities and deadlines, maintain employee activity logs, which are used for evaluation and
planning. There are software tools which aid performance appraisals like those from HRdirect,
Halogen Software, Cornerstone Performance and so on.

Work Flow Systems (WFM): These tools help in scheduling, organising and co-ordinating the work
of employees. Teleopti CCC and SAP HR are some examples of WFM software that are used in the
workplace to manage, involve and improve the workforce.

Knowledge Management Systems: These help employees identify, create and share their
knowledge. Search and retrieval tools enable easy access of content. According to their role in the
organisation, employees view content that is relevant to their work. A single software solution
cannot be used for these systems. Knowledge management systems use document management
tools, e-learning software, knowledge repositories (databases), collaborative technologies
(groupware) and social software (wikis).

Project Management Systems: These help in managing and monitoring project activities and in
scheduling resources. Project management systems facilitate creation and approval of project
estimates. They define resources and tasks. They also create project milestones and enable easy
execution of projects. Project reports are generated easily. Gantt charts help in scheduling projects.
Critical path analysis (CPA) and Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) charts help in
project planning. Log frames can be used for project monitoring. Software tools like Microsoft
Project and SourceForge help in project management.

Employee Feedback Systems: Surveys enable employees to voice their opinion about routine tasks,
management attitude, current procedures and ethics. Many software tools are available to help in
employee surveys like those from HR-Survey, and Benchpoint.

Employee Self-service Systems: These systems enable employees to update their personal details.
This system enables the employees to file their expenses, billing and time reports, raise purchase
requests and keep track of their project-related activities, retrieve human resource-related
documents, update their tax-related information and view their salary details. They can also update
their bank information to enable direct salary deposits and reimbursements. The system enables
leave application and view leave balances. An open forum is provided for employees to present their
views, exchange ideas through e-mails and bulletin boards, create and share calendars for better
functioning. Tools are provided to employees to perform routine tasks easily and thus focus on
other important tasks. Oracles PeopleSoft Enterprise Employee Self-Service is an example of an
employee self-service tool.

The benefits of implementing these tools are as follows:

It strengthens corporate culture.

It enhances communication through the use of e-mails, blogs, bulletin boards, shared folders and ecalendars.

It educates employees about the products, customers and services of the company through
enterprise portals.

It facilitates project management.

It reduces training costs as employees can be provided online and needs-based training.

It makes HR management work easier.

It facilitates work-flow management and increases productivity.

It enhances performance management.

It manages resources efficiently.

It helps retain and provide career growth to talented employees.

It enables easy retrieval of information

It ensures compliance with government requirements.

It obtains feedback from employees and enables organisations to make appropriate corrections

It assures job satisfaction and helps in retaining employees

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