CIPD Foundation Certificate and Diploma in Human Resource Practice 9/18/2018

RECORDING, ANALYSING AND USING HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION Nature & sources of HR information/storing & presenting information

Nature & sources of HR information/storing & presenting information Information is a critical component of any organisation. What does information allow you to do? Plot trends Analyse customer requirements Assess how well other organisations are doing (act as a comparator) Make better informed decisions Evaluate performance Operate within the law Update policies and peocedures

Nature & sources of HR information/storing & presenting information ‘Information about employees is an essential requirement for the successful operation of any business. Managements need to know what is happening to the human resources available to them, just as much as to the financial and material resources’ Cole, G.A. (1997) Put simply, information facilitates planning, monitoring and decision making in the organisation and to meet external requirements such as the provision of statistics to Government agencies. (Adapted from Cole, G.A. 1997)

Nature & sources of HR information/storing & presenting information From your own experience of working in a personnel/HR department identify what sorts of information you keep, and what uses this information has? Types of internal records kept: Personal history records Application forms Job descriptions Wage/salary records Staff appraisal records Absence records Training records Accident books (Source: Cole, G.A. 1997)

Nature & sources of HR information/storing & presenting information Internal uses of information include the following: Human resource planning Maintaining an inventory of employee skills Employee recruitment Monitoring workforce composition Monitoring employee performance Work planning/scheduling Wage and salary administration Assessing labour costs Employee training and development

Nature & sources of HR information/storing & presenting information External uses include: Provision of statistical data relating to: Earnings Employment levels Sickness rates Equal opportunity legislation Accident rates (Adapted from Cole, G.A. 1997)

Nature & sources of HR information/storing & presenting information Activity What are the benefits of a computerised personnel record-keeping system? What are the drawbacks? What are the benefits of a manual filing system? Drawbacks? Speed of access to individual files Speed of compiling relevant labour statistics Ease of analysing trends Ability to make comparative studies (e.g. of employee performance) It requires existing manual records to be transferred onto the computer The costs of the hardware need to be taken into account The software may tend to be expensive, especially where it is custom-designed Staff will need to be trained to use the new system Potentially such a system may be less secure than a manual system (Source: Cole, G.A. 1997) Ability to maintain a large number of records in a small space Ability to incorporate other micro-electronic systems, such as word-processes

Data Protection Activity Research the key requirements under the Data Protection Act 1998 Identify examples of good practice used in your organisation to help comply with the legislation? – this can be around how you handle personnel records, R+S, monitoring or the keeping of health records

Data Protection The Data Protection Act is the Law that governs the processing of information held on living, identifiable individuals (Source: Business Link website) Generally – storing, retrieving and use of information In the workplace the Data Protection Act applies to: Personnel records kept about an individual Recruitment and selection The monitoring of individuals in the workplace Information about workers’ health (Source: Information Commissioner’s Office)

Data Protection – 8 key principles Processed fairly and lawfully Processed only for one or more specified and lawful purpose Adequate, relevant and not excessive for those purposes Accurate and kept up-to-date Kept for no longer than is necessary for the purposes it is being processed Processed in line with the rights of individuals Is kept securely Not transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (Adapted from Business Link website)

Presenting information What methods do you / might you use to present information to the following Senior managers Line Managers Employees External bodies HSE HMRC

Bibliography Cole, G. (1997) Personnel Management. Letts 9/18/2018 www.darlington.ac.uk