Integration, The Heart of Your HCM Processes

If your business wants to retain an existing HR or Payroll solution due to contractual obligations, assess each process and data flow between systems. Keep in mind that most systems will not integrate seamlessly with third-party solutions that the provider does not own. In such cases, find out which provider can make data flow as easy and cost-effective as possible. Building APIs between third-party solutions can be expensive and complex, and providers are unlikely to do this without significant additional costs.

Double Processing in HR and Time Systems

HR and Time systems often overlap in areas like holiday and absence management. It’s important to decide where to process these functions to minimise integration challenges. For example:

• Holiday and sickness records are often more closely linked to Time and Attendance than HR.
• If HR and T&A systems don’t integrate, holiday records booked in HR won’t appear in T&A. This can lead to shift managers unknowingly scheduling employees on leave, requiring manual updates to the T&A system.

Similarly, Payroll relies on data from both HR and Time systems, such as benefit changes, salary changes, holidays, and sickness. If you have separate systems for HR, Time, and Payroll, you may end up producing multiple reports and merging them manually before importing them into Payroll. The ideal solution is a single system that integrates HR, Time, and Payroll. While this is rare, the next best option is:

• HR and Payroll as one system, with a Time solution that easily exports data into Payroll.
• OR Time and HR as one system, sending data to Payroll via API or a single export file.

Integration is critical, but few providers can deliver seamless end-to-end solutions. Focus on providers that can demonstrate minimal manual intervention in the key stages of your processes.