The Spreadsheet Epidemic: Where is your HR data?
written by Diana Matwichuk, CHRP Candidate

Without a Human Resources Information System (“HRIS”), organizations have increasingly been resorting to spreadsheets to fill the functionality gap. The symptoms have become increasingly common.

We have seen cases where data is painstakingly gathered from spreadsheets created at the satellite offices, only to be consolidated for executive approval of salary increases. A company's org chart is handled by the artistic marketing coordinator who is a natural with Office Visio, rather than in HR where the data is pertinent for succession planning and staffing purposes. Or a single termination results in numerous emails to the individual owners of spreadsheets tracking the return of property e.g. IT, Finance, department heads etc. In the context of HR data management, is it possible that spreadsheet use has run amok?

Effects of dispersed HR data
Widespread proficiency with office software is admirable, but in many cases – without a specific approach to data management - this has led to HR data being dispersed to the far reaches of the org chart. This can result in data redundancy, data error and excessive effort to maintain duplicate data sources.

What this means for HR is that the data is not readily available for decision support, staffing and assistance in policy-setting. The challenge is to allow for data maintenance at source, while also making it readily available to HR, or to foster a situation in which data is  maintained by HR and the information provided to the outlying departments in the form of reports or immediate access to that data. Whether the former or the latter approach is selected depends on the nature of the data and the HR function involved.

Organizations need to challenge themselves with the question as to whether efficiencies in time and effort can be gleaned from the implementation of an HR data management plan, to reign in what translates to lost time and its associated dollar value.

Business Process Overview (BPO)
Mapping of data and who maintains it, as well as the relationships to HR functions, can be a first step in stopping a runaway approach to data management in its tracks. It is important to involve all stakeholders in the BPO process, to ensure that no data is missed, and that the relevance of that data to all parties is documented. Even just the conducting of a BPO has the added benefit of facilitating cross-departmental communication regarding HR data and functions. Duplicate data sources can be uncovered and eliminated, thus introducing efficiencies.

The key components of a BPO include:
• Identification of current state processes and related data stores
• Mapping of current state data flows and owners/maintainers of that data
• Development of future state “vision”, applying business re-engineering wherever appropriate
• Facilitation of stakeholder enthusiasm and buy-in for the HR data management plan

A BPO is a prudent preface to implementing an HRIS, as it provides clarity regarding the data, the functions that rely on that data, who should be maintaining that data, what (reporting) information is required from that data, and what integration is required between that data and other software applications.

The Rx
Optimally, an organization will conduct a BPO as a precursor to implementing an HRIS, including in the process all stakeholders who maintain HR data or require HR information. This will create a roadmap for the implementation, a vision for the future state which, by way of active participation in the process, has the stakeholders' buy-in. The HR data is maintained in a single source by the appropriate stakeholder, and information in the form of reports or online real-time access is provided to those who require it, thus eliminating the need for many spreadsheets. And exports from that single data repository can be created to achieve a reliable interface with those spreadsheets or applications which still require the HR data.

Even if your organization has no plans to implement an HRIS, conducting a BPO can be a valuable undertaking to document and awareness regarding the location and maintenance of HR data. And its very positive by-product can be improvements in interdepartmental data processes.

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