Digitize & Manage Employee Data Seamlessly with HR Software

Human resource professionals deal with a lot of employee data related to recruitment, onboarding, performance, career development, insurance details, and so on. Handling all these data types properly is not an easy task.

Moreover, these data types are sensitive in nature and unauthorized access to them may comprise the integrity of your employees. Therefore, it is important to manage your employee’s data effectively to keep it safe and ensure that it is easily available when required.

In this article, you will learn more about employee database management and necessary ways that can help you in handling your employee’s data.

What is Employee Data Management?

Employee database management involves the systematic organization, storage, and maintenance of information related to employees within an organization. This includes various aspects such as personal details, employment history, performance records, payroll information, benefits enrollment, and training certifications.

Benefits of Employee Database Management

Maintaining an up-to-date database of your employees can provide you with multitude of benefits like automating data entry, identifying potential issues with employee data, staying compliant with regulations, etc.

Let’s look at some more benefits of managing employee’s database.

• Efficient Record-Keeping: It allows for organized storage of employee information such as contact details, employment history, and performance evaluations.
• Streamlined HR Processes: Access to centralized data simplifies tasks like payroll processing, leave management, and performance reviews, enhancing HR efficiency.
• Compliance and Legal Requirements: Helps ensure compliance with labor laws and regulations by maintaining accurate records of employee contracts, certifications, and training.
• Improved Communication: Facilitates effective communication within the organization by providing up-to-date contact information and enabling targeted communication for announcements or policy updates.
• Enhanced Security: Access controls and encryption measures safeguard sensitive employee data, reducing the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches.
• Performance Management: Enables the tracking of employee performance metrics, facilitating performance reviews, goal setting, and career development planning.

10 Ways to Digitize and Manage Employee Database Smartly

To manage your employee’s database efficiently, you can categorize your employee’s data and encrypt it for security. Moreover, you can also need to reformulate your data handling strategies to manage the flow of employee’s data in your organization.

Here are the top ways you can consider for digitizing and managing your employee’s database:

1. Access and Audit Your Data Regularly

Access the data stored in your HR department carefully. You must ascertain what kind of data you have and how relevant it is for your organization. By understanding the data types, you will be able to organize and store them. Moreover, you can also delete the database which is not so relevant to your employees and organization.

2. Categorize Your Employees Data

It is important to categorize your data to easily organize and sort it. You can use multiple metrics to categorize data like personal info, attendance data, payroll details, etc. Categorizing different data types enables you to quickly access the data and save valuable time that would otherwise be wasted in finding out scattered files.

3. Limit Employees Data Access

Certain types of employee data such as medical records are confidential and only be accessed by an authorized person. For that reason, you need to create a proper structure to define who can access this data.

In that case, you can use HRMS software to put on the passwords and implement multi-factor authentication methods for data protection.

4. Reshape Data Handling Methods

To reshape your data handling methods or techniques, you need to first get clarity on the existing laws and regulations relating to employee’s data handling. After that, you can evaluate your data handling methods and identify whether they need to be modified or not.

Once evaluated, you can make changes in your data handling methods like changing role-based permissions, conducting regular risk assessments for data, implementing incident response plans, etc.

5. Incorporate a Employee Database Management Software

Maintaining the employee’s data records manually might lead to data errors and increase the chances of data theft. With the help of data management software, you can automatically record and track all employees’ data in one place. This makes it easier to access data from anywhere and anytime.

6. Encrypt the Employees Data

Data breaches may occur anytime due to the increase in cybercrimes, so it is important you take effective measures to protect your data. For that purpose, you can encrypt your employee’s data files, and ensure that only authorized users can access them.

7. Train the Staff to Handle Data Carefully

The HR team and all members who access the employee’s data should be trained in applicable laws, data breach outcomes, and poor data management. This will help them to safely handle the employee data.

Moreover, keep the team updated on the incumbent employment laws to maintain legal compliance on your data storage.

8. Create a Response Plan for Data Breach

It is important to develop a comprehensive incident response plan to manage data breaches and security incidents efficiently. Moreover, it will also ensure that your employees know the steps they need to follow when there is a data breach.

9. Implement Cyber Security Measures

To keep your employee’s data protected against breaches, you can use employee database management software. With this software, you can implement various cyber security measures like encryption and firewalls to keep your data protected.

10. Maintain Data Privacy Compliance

Staying updated with data privacy regulations like GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) is important to ensure that you process employee’s data as per the required regulations.

Employee database management software helps ensure that your data stays in compliance with the regulations.

Types of Data to Store in an Employee Database Management System

An employee database management system serves as a central repository for storing and managing all important employee information. The specific data stored can vary depending on the organization’s size, industry, and legal requirements.

However, some common types of data typically found in an EDMS include:

• Personnel Information: It involves basic information about an employee like resume details, background checks, termination documents, promotion records, etc.
• Payroll Information: Payroll data is sensitive and shared in a limited manner. It might include W-4 forms, W-2 forms, bank details, lender requests for employee’s verification, etc.
• Medical Information: This type of information includes an employee’s details about drug tests, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)-related data, Covid-19 data, etc.
• Demographic Information: Under demographic details, data like gender, race, age, disability status, ethnicity, etc. are recorded. This data should only be collected as needed and would tell you what type of person you have in your workforce.
• Employment Data: In this data type, the company maintains a record of an employee’s past experiences, hiring incentives, employment agreements, legal documents, etc. Employment data also includes leave policies and bank details of an employee.
• Performance Data: Most organizations evaluate their employee’s performance on a regular basis. Therefore, they store employee data based on various HR metrics to evaluate performance and set a benchmark for performance.

Tips While Handling Employee Dataset

While handling your employee’s dataset, make sure you follow the regulations and categorize your employee’s data effectively. You should also create an incident response plan to handle cases of data breach.

Here’re the tips to follow while you manage your data properly:

• Adhere to relevant data privacy regulations during data collection, storage, and usage.
• Avoid collecting excessive personal information that isn’t essential for HR functions.
• Conduct periodic audits to recognize inconsistencies or unauthorized access attempts within the dataset.
• Implement security measures like access controls, encryption, and regular backups to safeguard sensitive employee information.
• Dispose of data by following the proper data removal procedure to prevent any data leakage.

Conclusion

Managing employee data can be a complex and time-consuming task. However, by implementing robust HR software, you can transform this process into a seamless and efficient experience. With enhanced data security, accurate record-keeping, and valuable data insights, you can make informed decisions to foster a thriving and engaged workforce.

Employee Database Management: Frequently Asked Questions