Are HR Spreadsheets Stunting Business Growth?

Digital spreadsheets have been used in the HR industry for a long time. But down the line, most organizations eventually find that spreadsheets complicate HR workflows. Maintaining crucial data points via spreadsheets becomes time-consuming and labor-intensive as business scales. 

Working with a multitude of spreadsheets in the HR department, there are chances of audit trail error that can stunt organizational growth. HR teams plagued by poorly managed data may result in communication gaps and employee disengagement, impacting high employee turnover. And there, the HRMS solution comes into the scenario. 

In the current era, the business has shifted from complicated processes of manual tracking and employee managing data via spreadsheet to automation and adopting agile methodologies. With that shift, HR software has become preferable for streamlining human resource tasks. 

Are you shuffling between the 'spreadsheet juggle' and it is stifling growth in your company? If so,  let's explore how spreadsheets can hinder HR teams from focusing on strategic initiatives and how you can get out of this rut.

How is Using Spreadsheets in HR Tasks Inefficient?

Spreadsheets are practical and standard tools, but their use for HR processes often needs to be more appropriate and precise. Consider the following example: A small organization is looking to improve its hiring process. The team has created a spreadsheet that tracks all new hire activities, from the application process to job offers and exit interviews.

This approach has several problems: 

• It's difficult to make changes to the tracking spreadsheet, as each change requires updating all existing records. A better approach is to use a project management tool that can be used for tracking and tracking changes. 
• The application, interview, and job offer processes are separate steps in the hiring process; each needs its own tracking system. Using one spreadsheet for all three is not efficiently workable and convenient. 

Every employee in the HR team may have a copy of the hiring spreadsheet, meaning every employee can create duplicate records without authorization or oversight. It undermines accountability and transparency and can lead to data inconsistencies and inaccuracies. 

Keeping track of work progress is difficult in this environment, as each employee might be working on a separate task with their own ideas about how it should be done. It can lead to delays in project completion.

Spreadsheets Stunting Your Business Growth (Time to Change)

HR teams using spreadsheets to manage employees are killing their business growth and making their organization less effective.

There are several reasons why spreadsheets are a lousy choice for HR teams to manage employees:

Spreadsheets are a pain to collaborate with. HR teams must work with the rest of the company to make changes, and it can be challenging to make all parties happy. Ultimately, HR teams can't make all the changes they want because it will require input from the employee and manager. Maintaining a feedback loop in a spreadsheet is time-consuming and error-prone; mistakes can happen due to accidental data entry or copying/pasting.

They are challenging to maintain. Data changes in spreadsheets can be complicated because of how formulas work and how they update cells across the sheet. If users change the format or look of data in a spreadsheet, it is often difficult to fix those changes later on.

How Spreadsheets Increase the Workload?

There is no doubt that a spreadsheet can increase the workload resulting in increased employee counts. However, there are several things that you need to consider if you have a spreadsheet-based HR system.

First, a spreadsheet-based HR system is not as flexible as a traditional one. You will have to deal with more administrative tasks, such as creating unique usernames and passwords for each employee. In addition, the amount of data stored in a spreadsheet is limited compared to an HRMS database. 

As a result, you will need to ensure that the data entered into the system is accurate and up-to-date. It increases the workload, and manual data entry is a massive task, especially when your organization scales. 

Spreadsheets Maximize the Human Error

But lost time is not the only problem HR spreadsheets can cause. Also, using spreadsheets can lead to mistakes that spiral out of control. Manually entering data into cells makes the probability of making human errors. Issues associated with using HR spreadsheets can lead to financial loss, penalties or fines via data breaches, and even missed talent or can use a slow recruitment process.

HR Spreadsheets are entirely inefficient to use, but they can make the business process slower and slower, as when your business starts to expand to avoid any costly mistake, it is a wise choice to shift to HRMS software. And in the current era, even for a new business, having dedicated HR software is a better practice.  

Why Upgrade to an HR Software for 360 Management?

With technological advancement, the HR software market has changed considerably. Agile and waterfall technology are at the forefront, and organizations are now choosing to start their business using cloud-based HR software. HRMS such as Lanteria makes the HR tasks streamlined when the organization is affordable, fast, and even easier to set up compared to the HR spreadsheets.

HR software systems track the attended performance management system and calculate the payroll correctly. The best cloud-based payroll software easily integrates with other systems and ensures a smooth data flow.  

With HRMS such as Lanteria software, employees can access information like leaves, salary slips, and attendance for the top executive and managers to view and approve requests from anywhere.  

HRMS processes an automated system of records, and employment data helps in organization structure management. Also, the software provides employee and manager self-service portals and helps with document management.

Conclusion

HRMS systems can cut down on all the unnecessary processes helping offer a central place where all HR information is. Spreadsheet-based data systems are time-consuming. Whereas HRMS streamlines this whole process, significantly cutting down on admin time and allowing HR to concentrate on the more value-adding aspects of its role.

Spreadsheets also can be less accessible due to the confidential nature of the data in them. Even for requirements such as PTO balances, managers must go through HR, which may create employee frustration. But upgrading to HRMS can run like clockwork with proper technology to support and makes human resource workflow easier.