Management Information System Setting Up Any Record example essay topic

INTRODUCTION All organisations, large or small, need to keep certain records, some because the law requires them, and some for the company's use. Personnel management depends on the gathering, processing and communication of information. Information is gathered from within the organisation (e.g. about workforce size and structure, about labour turnover, accidents etc) and from its environment (e.g. demographics, legislation and regulation etc). Both private and public organisations need to have policies and procedures to enable them to remain competitive and provide good service to their customers. Good records can help managers make decisions based on fact rather than guesswork, know what staff resources are available to meet service / production requirements, more accurately assess levels of performance and productivity and to know what is happening with absence levels, labour turnover, sickness, accidents, lateness, discipline etc. and take appropriate and timely action. Personnel records are necessary for developing procedures and policies for recruitment, training etc.

For example, personnel records, and the statistics they provide, are important in helping to develop policies free from any bias on grounds of sex, race, age or disability. Accurate records help ensure that workers receive their correct pay, holidays, pension and other benefits and entitlements. They can be used to monitor fair and consistent treatment of staff and for worker development purposes. Every organisation should keep information about individual employees - for example: . personal details - name, address, date of birth, sex, education and qualifications, tax code, national insurance number, . employment history with the organisation - date employment commenced, promotions, present job, job title. Details of terms and conditions - pay, hours of work, holiday entitlement, any other benefits... Absence details - lateness, sickness, any other authorised or unauthorised absence.

Details of any accidents connected with work, including on way to and from work... Details of training / further education undertaken with the organisation whether internal or external... Details of disciplinary action... Details of termination of employment. Many organisations will also want their record system to provide data for wider analysis, for example total wage / salary costs, staffing levels needed for optimum service / production provision. Statutory records Records required by law include: . working hours: hours, breaks and overtime - for most workers it is advisable to keep records of individual hours worked to enable averaging over a period to meet the requirements of the Working Time Regulations 1998. holidays, again for the Working Time Regulations 1998. pay, to ensure the requirements of the Minimum Wage Act 1998 are being met, and to meet the statutory requirement that workers are issued with pay statements. disabled employees: names of registered disabled persons. sickness (more than four days) and Statutory Sick Pay paid.

PAYE records, under the jurisdiction of the Inland Revenue: details of gross pay, taxable pay, tax due, tax deducted, National Insurance contributions, statutory sick pay and maternity pay... Accidents, injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences - records and dates of first aiders' qualifications and training, records of first aid treatment given. Personnel Returns Personnel returns may be required in the UK by: . The Health and Safety Executive - health and safety statistics; .

Department of Employment or employers' associations - manpower and earning statistics; . Industrial training boards - training statistics; . The Department of Social Security and Inland Revenue - manpower, earnings, pension and other benefit statistics. Organisational records Data on organisational activities may be required by external stakeholders in the organisation (shareholders, creditors, customers and suppliers), outside agencies who require it for their own activities (such as the Department of Trade and Industry and Inland Revenue) and regulatory bodies who monitor organisational practices (such as the Health and Safety Executive or Training Commission). In addition to these statutory requirements, the organisation will want to keep other records including: o recruitment and selection procedures and results o induction o training and career development for individuals o sick pay / sick absence o other absence, lateness and labour turnover o discipline, including dismissals, and grievance o termination of employment o equal opportunities issues (gender, race, age, disabilities). All these records will help with the overall planning of human resource needs for the organisation.

Monitoring these records enables personnel to amend or reformulate policies and procedures. Most organisations will have a record of workers from their original application forms, individual appraisal records and record of progressive employment history (giving details of experience, skills, qualifications gained before and since joining the organisation), which can then be used to asses the individual training, promotion and transfer needs and suitability. Other records kept about the individual employee include the Statutory Sick Pay, absence, details of overtime worked and disciplinary records. Any termination of employment, whatever the reason, should also be properly documented.

Requests for references (and copies of those given), should be kept as, subject to the Data Protection Act 1998, ex-workers may ask for details. Any employment tribunal would also expect the organisation to hold some record of any termination - at the very least to show what monies may have been paid (e.g. redundancy pay, notice pay, outstanding holiday pay, pension entitlements etc). Documentation about dismissal is essential to answer any question of unfair procedure or discrimination. It is a good idea to keep a record of exit interviews. These can provide useful information, and analysis can help employers address problems of high turnover of staff, effectiveness of recruitment and induction, equal opportunities issues and supervision.

All organisations should be free from discrimination in employment. Good personnel records help in this by providing the information necessary both to monitor compliance with legislation and develop equal opportunity policies. Workers and prospective workers can be asked to provide voluntary information on sex, ethnic origin and disability. This enables the information to be used only to monitor equality of selection / development. Workers must be told why the information is sought and for what reason.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM - SETTING UP Any record keeping system, whether developed within the organisation or 'bought in', needs to fulfill certain criteria. It must be: o accurate, reliable and consistent o confidential with regard to personal details o adaptable, so that it can cater for future developments and changes o economical in its introduction, use and maintenance. Before deciding on the type of system the organisation must also have considered: o whether the records will be kept manually, computerised, or in some combination of systems o where the records are going to be located (how much space will be required for secure storage) o how the design of documents affects the type of system, and vice versa o which staff should have access to which records o procedures to comply both with organisational security and data protection requirements. In order to re-evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation's current management information system, or to design a new one, the personnel manager will have to: Define (or redefine) the purpose and objectives of the personnel record system, and its subsystems (individual records, returns, manpower planning, statistics etc) Specify the type and range of records necessary to achieve these objectives; and Assess the procedures, tasks and costs involved in establishing and maintaining these records by various alternative methods. Computer or manual? Computerised record keeping has now become the norm in many organisations, and there is a range of commercial personnel systems available.

However smaller organisations may only need to keep a card index system, perhaps with simple forms to keep absence or sickness details. Such forms can be kept in envelopes filed to match the card index. The advantage of computers is that they are fast and accurate at storing, retrieving, transmitting, formatting and manipulating data. They can generate tailor-made management information in a wide variety of formats, and can store huge amounts of information in a very small space and with easy accessibility.

The main uses for computers in personnel administration and management are: . Keeping records - accessible, space-saving storage of all the personnel records e.g. personal details of employees, Statutory Sick, Maternity leave etc... Preparation of management information - Computer programs can be used to provide statistics, lists, analyses, ratios, trends, forecasts and models. This will enable raw data in records to be interpreted and organised for manpower, succession and development planning... Analysis and comparison of different records - for recruitment, selection, job evaluation, employee appraisal, planning of workflow on the basis of workload contribution. Comparison of relevant details for different jobs, applicants and employees can be made accurately and almost instantaneously...

Calculation - e.g. of pay-roll costs and ratios, the effect of alterations to the structure or payments on the overall pay system and levels, budgets or weightings or job evaluation factors. Computers are fast and accurate (given accurate input) in calculation... Routine paperwork - such as standard letters. Word processing facilities can be used to merge new text and name / address files with standard skeleton documents.

Time spent on typing and editing tasks will be reduced and output quality enhanced... Graphics facilities - used in the design of forms and documents where these still have to be used. Alongside staff information held on computer or in an index, many organisations maintain personnel files, which might hold the individual's application form, any particular career or training notes, references received and so on. These files can become bulky, and may take up a lot of space. Storage must be secure but accessible to authorised users. Organisations also need suitable secure storage for those records kept long term, for instance tax records need to be kept for six years.

As the workforce grows, different demands are made of personnel systems that manual systems might find difficult to meet - for instance from personnel, training, wages, pensions or production control. Duplication of records can lead to breakdowns in security, difficulties in keeping up-to-date, and problems with accuracy. A centrally administered computerised system should avoid these problems, and access by different users can be better controlled. Using a computerised system The commonplace use of computers in business generally means that those responsible for keeping personnel records are likely to have access to one, even if not solely for personnel use.

Computerization of records can help management by: o increasing the flexibility of the information available - for instance, monitoring equal opportunity issues becomes easier when personnel records can be sorted by age, sex, job, grade, pay rates and so on o speeding up the provision of information o producing cost benefits through administrative savings - staff time can be reduced on routine tasks o increasing efficiency, particularly with changes to records, routine forms and letters, print-outs for checking and so on. Computer record systems set up after 24 October 1998 are fully covered by the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. As with any system, personnel records should be reviewed from time to time to check their effectiveness. Include the users and operators of the system in the review as they will know the strengths and weaknesses of the system, for instance a new manager may be unaware of the job descriptions for the workers in their area of responsibility. LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND Data Protection Act 1998 The Data Protection Act 1998 replaces the 1984 Data Protection Act. The Act is an attempt to afford some measure of protection to the individual.

The terms of the Act cover data about individuals - not corporate bodies - and data which are processed mechanically. There are eight principles governing the processing of personal data: . fairly and lawfully processed; . processed for limited purposes; . adequate, relevant and not excessive; . accurate; . not kept longer than necessary; . processed in accordance with the data subject's rights; . secure; . not transferred to countries without adequate protection. Personal data covers both facts and opinions about the individual. It also includes information regarding the intentions of the data controller towards the individual, although in some limited circumstances exemptions will apply. With processing, the definition is far wider than before.

For example, it incorporates the concepts of 'obtaining', holding' and 'disclosing'. The 1998 Act introduces new restrictions on the holding and processing of what is termed 'sensitive personal data', such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or other beliefs, whether a member of a trade union, physical or mental health, sexual life, and any court record, or allegations of such. Conclusion Accurate personnel records will help the organisation in many ways - increasing the efficiency of recruitment, training and development, and promotion. They can also provide the raw data to monitor equal opportunities issues and the legal requirements placed on all organisations. Keeping records of individual skills and competencies should help the organisation pinpoint any particular opportunities to improve skills to match requirements. Personnel records are about people, and it is therefore in everybody's interests that the records are accurate and secure.

Knowledge of this will contribute to better working relationships - workers and their representatives will know what information is kept and why. It should promote fair and consistent treatment. In developing, installing and maintaining a personnel records system the requirements of the organisation and its workforce are paramount. Consultation with the staff and their representatives, who are both to use the system and figure in it, will help the organisation to work towards the best system for their needs..