I am currently working for a company who are in the process of creating a online personnel system aimed at small - medium sized businesses and am looking at areas in which to make our package stand out. The package will run as a basic personnel system - detailing employee details, holidays, appraisals, absence etc. - one of the things I am trying to do is make it as user friendly as possible, as I have noticed that a number of the packages are quite confusing in terms of layout and also poorly presented. I feel that many of the companies that we will be aiming for will not hold their own IT support, so a package that anybody can pick and use is essential.

What I am looking to find out from anybody is if there is anything that your current system doesn't have? Or if you don't actually have a personnel system, what you would like to see in a online system? There are so many personnel packages out there but I feel that there is a market for a more user friendly / adaptable package for todays HR needs.

One of the problems I have found is what is good for HR users is no good for other users and vice versa.  In my last company my IT Director did nothing but complain about the HR system as it was to complex.  The main users (HR) had no problems with it.   If the systems is going to be used by more that one group i.e. managers and HR it almost needs to be two systems in one.

Areas that many systems current lack are effective workflow processes and CPD reporting.

For some reason when looking at Next of Kin Data or  Emergency Contact many systems only have one telephone field.  Most people these days work so two fields are needed, as it a notes field for information like “work telephone number term time only”

A decent set of predefined and working reports which can report by company, by department, by grade, race, gender etc are essential

Something that is really useful for reporting is “point in time reporting”

Many systems can’t cope with more than one address I have come across many people who have an address during the week and an alternative address for weekends.The biggest problem I have found with many so called HR systems is that they are what IT thinks HR needs and have had little if no input from HR.

We are currently looking into the reporting system with the software, as we realise how important it is to have a system that has the pre-defined reports but also the ability to cater for individual needs.

As in terms of different styles of users on the system, we aim to make a package that is straight forward for anybody to use. IT departments, I feel, would deal little with this process, as any queries over the online package will be brought to ourselves. Full training will also be planned at the beginning to get staff introduced to the system.

One of the key areas we want to work on is the whole Self Service side. We want employees to be able to update their own details, request their time off, see their job descriptions - including training needs and skill sets with all personal documentation to be attached. What I want to find out is what should staff be able to update, as I realise there are some areas they shouldn't have changable access to?

Also, what do people feel in terms of variance for company branding? Is this essential to the package?

Finally, if anybody else is within a small/ medium business and use e-HR, what package do you use and why? It seems to me that a lot of companies go with certain packages not out of choice but through lack of options.