Leveraging a cloud based, cross-border HRIS Introduction As organisations grow across borders into different nations, they employ a very diverse set of people. These companies set up bases in locations with various employment legislation and cultural practices. Managing such an organisation is not only complex but time-consuming and costly. HR managers have to understand the different HR practices and cultural norms and find ways in improving efficiency throughout their global presence. There are numerous issues involved in managing a cross-border organisation. The major issues are highlighted below: Lack of central control Probably the biggest problem a multi-national organisation may face is the lack of central control. Each geographic unit operates in isolation and the higher management of the organisation loses its ability to control and influence each individual unit. Centralised control is a crucial factor in guiding organisations and thwarting unnecessary costs. It (Oxford Dictionary) could also give a means of establishing a company-wide policy. Dwindling access to Information When operations are dispersed, information is dispersed too. Accessing information becomes a barrier to the management severely impairing the decision making process. They might be receiving information compiled manually by the different geographic units but it may not be in the required format and will not be on time. Also, retrieving information on-demand is challenging. It will also take time and hence have a significant impact on the relevance of the information. Loss of data integrity and redundancy Without a proper system of organising information, cross border organisations will have lots of issues with the integrity of data. They will have the same data in more than one location, giving rise to data duplication. There are a number of consequences of data duplication no one will know which version of data is accurate, requiring time and effort to clarify it. It adds to the information storage requirements and hampers productivity all the way. Unless data is maintained centrally and properly organised for global access,
organisations will not be able to leverage on it fully. Conformance with local legislation Conforming to the various legislations present in the different countries of operation is tremendously trying for organisations that are new to the 'global organisation' phenomena. They usually have to employ several experts in the laws and customs of the localities to ensure that the processes are compliant. The most commonly localised aspects of human resource operations are attendance and payroll. Payroll computation is different in different countries. In Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) provides the framework for payroll and leave, including contributions like CPF and SDL. In Australia, the Fair Work Act (No.28, 2009) governs attendance, leave and other aspects of the employee contract while the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) provides a framework for tax computations as well as PAYG contributions in payroll. In Malaysia statutes such as the Employment Act (No. 265, 1955) and the Employment (Amended) Act (No. 7, 2012) dictate employment legislation. Complying with the gamut of HR legislation and customs across the countries of operations requires hiring people with knowledge of such laws. It is both costly, complicated and time consuming. Information consolidated management reporting Managers in cross-border organisations will tend to get information distinctly from their numerous localities. This information is in isolation to other geographic branches. The management has no way of obtaining consolidated information that reflects the entire operation. Globally relevant decision making is The varying regulations and frameworks in different countries Australia: Fair Work Act (No.28, 2009) governs attendance, leave and other aspects of the employee contract. Australian Taxation Office (ATO) provides a framework for tax computations and PAYG contributions in payroll. Singapore: Ministry of Manpower (MOM) provides the framework for payroll and leave, including contributions like CPF, SDL etc. Malaysia: Employment Act (No. 265, 1955) and the Employment (Amended) Act (No. 7, 2012) dictate employment legislation. only possible with the availability of such holistic information. If managers have to wait a long time to get consolidated information whose accuracy cannot be confirmed then the decisions they make will not be the best. There would be a noticeable impact on the management of Human Resources. Cloud Technology to as a means to unify a workforce The best way to bring together a geographically distributed workforce is through technology. Using technology, communication is faster than sound and geographical barriers have been shattered. The increasing ubiquity of online social media has made being social a trend, and it has opened up gates for the empowerment of local citizens in a global context. It is through technology that the word has become a global village. In the same way, enterprise technology can connect up the workforce of multi-national organisations and build a sense of identity within them. A singular system across all borders could give them a much needed alignment of strategic
objectives. The resulting cohesion will add to employee contentment and engagement; resulting in sustainable growth and profitability. How PeoplesHR and the cloud architecture works Cloud technology is soon emerging to be the platform of choice for enterprise solutions; it is by The cloud architecture is distinctive from the design relevant to dynamic, multi-location and traditional on-premise architecture in several multi-cultural organisations. Cloud technology is ways. The primary of these is the location the when a system is centrally hosted on servers system runs at. The on-premise deployment, as configured for high efficiency, access-speeds and the name suggests involves deploying the system low maintenance to provide a cost advantage. and its associated hardware in a location internal to the organisation. Hence naturally both the Employees from anywhere in the world could hardware and software will be bought by the access and use a Cloud system via the internet, the client organisation. The responsibility of functionality and experience would be the same maintaining the hardware, and any risks regardless of the employee's location. associated will also lie with the client. Since the system lies within the internal network of one An on-premise solution on the other hand can location, it could be accessed only from that only be accessed from within the corporate location. Unless the organisation has a VPN or network and must be specially configured for other way of connecting up their internal external access. Accessing an on-premise networks, it would require considerable effort in solution from outside the corporate network is accessing the system outside the network. often slow and insecure.
Conversely, PeoplesHR is not hosted on any of the clients' locations but on premium servers designed to extreme speeds, lowest access delays and the highest efficiency. These servers support the latest industry grade security systems and protocols like SAS-70 ensuring the highest standards of security. Using such a setup, the system can be accessed from anywhere in the w o r l d a f t e r u s e r n a m e a n d p a s s w o r d authentication. The experience of using the system from anywhere in the world would be the same regardless of the location the user is in. Rather than having complex internal network structures, with multiple bridges to access the system and paying for costly VPN services, cloud technology is every organisations preferred option. PeoplesHR The perfect HRIS for cross-border organisations Cloud technology provides the ideal platform for consolidation. It could provide for cultural and jurisdictive diversity through multiple perspectives of localisation whilst fusing all aggregated information and controls into a centralised access point. This means that a crossborder enterprise could utilize cloud HRIS like PeoplesHR uses a single instance to separately consider the HR operations in individual geographic locations and bridge them together in the view point of a single entity. PeoplesHR supports a multi-country, multicurrency payroll. The payrolls of workplaces in different countries could be distinctly processed in their respective currencies and legal frameworks. Custom reports can then be utilised to provide simplistic visualisations of complex data originating from multiple geographic endpoints. PeoplesHR makes it very easy for financial and ERP applications to interface with these individual payrolls easing the process of payroll consolidation. A global payroll is an essential element of any cross-border organisation. An independent payroll solution in each of the individual geographical operations will not give the management enough insight into the global payroll structure of the organisation. It adds limitations to the control of all operations as a whole and reduces flexibility. Having a singular payroll deployment for all regions will not be able to cater to the individual distinct practices and legislature at each deployment. This will require costly and time consuming adjustments at every region. With peopleshr's locally Processed, centrally managed payroll solutions, the best of both scenarios are taken. It provides managers with insight and control as well as localisation to all geographic areas. PeoplesHR could incorporate all international holidays in its leave and attendance module. Hence, the organization that is using the software is able set holidays and organise leave depending on the country they are operating in. Managers who supervise subordinates in other holiday regimes may find these features quite useful. Attendance tracking across the organisation's entire global presence can be captured and the data visualised centrally. Global attendance analytics could also be performed in PeoplesHR, something especially useful for dynamic project based organisations. This would assist global workforce based decision making. People usually have the opinion that performance management across the globe is carried out the same way. But certain cultures sometime have various preferences in conducting performance appraisals. Some cultures would have a very formal performance management structure while some cultures would not even consider performance appraisals. Multinational companies in today's dynamic business environment have to be flexible. An operation consisting of multiple global locations will require a lot of labour flexibility, varying with
global demand. Allowing for your workforce to grow and shrink as and when necessary gives a competitive advantage in both cost and talent. Having a system that is adaptable to the changing talent needs of an organisation will help build flexibility. Flexibility is a special feature of cloud HRIS. Organisations do not pay a lump sum for a cloud HRIS, they only pay per employee per months and will have to pay much less during slack situations when the employee count is minimized. About PeoplesHR PeoplesHR is a holistic HRIS that contains many features including an HR Dashboard, reporting and analytics tools which automates the analytics process and makes very good use of human resource information. It also has operational and strategic modules which help streamline the dayto-day function of the HR department and assist with HR planning. The system runs on the cloud, giving the benefits of significantly lower up-front cost, which brings a faster return on investment. The cloud architecture also eases maintenance and provides flexibility, supporting future organizational growth. PeoplesHR is a cloud-based HR solution that solves all issues that arise with Global Organisations. It is a solution that can be localised to many distinct legislations yet managed from a global perspective. PeoplesHR gives insight and perspective for both managers at a macro perspective as well as individual employees at a micro level. It will satisfy their requirements and make it easier for them to interface with HR- related operations. PeoplesHR is Asia's fastest growing cloud-based HR system and has been successfully localised for over 18 industries across 30 countries. It is the official partner and HR solutions provider for the Melbourne Stars. Log on to PeoplesHR.com or contact us on the email below for a free web demo followed by an exclusive online trial. Contact Us Log on to our website to find a partner in your region or send us a mail for more information. info@peopleshr.com www.peopleshr.com