Riordan Manufacturering Human Resources Information System Upgrade Proposal

Riordan Manufacturering Human Resources Information System Upgrade Proposal

Kerry L. Stevens

BSA/375

September 27, 2010

Anjit Bose, Facilitator

Riordan Manufacturering Human Resources Information System Upgrade Proposal

Introduction

For a company to be as successful it requires good business systems. Many companies use systems compatible with required work functions, making it imperative that each company stay up to date with most of the latest technology and software systems. Good business management practices and processes alone can make any company successful. However, a legacy company that takes the extra steps required to upgrade and maintain the latest system operations hardware and software, often reaches company success at an accelerated rate. Riordan Manufacturing, Inc., a worldwide industry leader in plastic injection molding, employs approximately 550 individuals in its USA and China manufacturing facilities. Company products include plastic beverage containers produced at its plant in Albany, Georgia, custom plastic parts produced at its plant in Pontiac, Michigan, and plastic fan parts produced at the Hangzhou, China manufacturering facility. Riordan Manufacturing is a successful and profitable company but has a issue with the Human Resources Department and could greatly improve efficiency and effectiveness, if the Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) is upgraded.

Riordan Manufacturing -- Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS).

Current System - Practices and Methodologies:

Riordan Manufacturing utilizes a system that is 17 years old, developed around a 17 year old version of Microsoft Excel or early spreadsheet technology, which makes this system extremely outdated, and it is unclear if an upgrade to a current version of the baseline Excel software would bring the current system crashing into the Abyss. The HRIS user methodologies rely on hand written or manually typed submissions, and there is no system checks and balances or error correction on data being entered into the system, which makes the system prone to erroneous data being manipulated. Additionally, all of the data change request are submitted in writing, which is not an efficient or effective method for handling change request. Quit often this process takes days or weeks to complete the updating process.

Another significant issue with personnel data management in the HRIS, is the fact that there are many different identified data entry points throughout the entire company. There are multiple individuals and departments responsible for updating the HRIS with any new activity such as application updates or job position posting, resume reviews and routing, and security of this data is not clearly defined, so is considered unsecure by most standards. It is not clear there is any kind of secure data backup plan or directives, or if copies are made and kept at different locations in case of destruction of the original files or any catastrophic system failure. Not having a backup system or catastrophic failure recovery plan, puts the company business model, employee information and all files associated with the HRIS at a huge risk. Riordan Manufacturing officials are currently aware of this situation and are looking for an immediate, effective short term solution.

Another specific and unique problem identified is that the original employee information/ employment history file is stored with each unit's individual managers; there is no central location for all of the employees information. The managers are responsible for filing important documents like leave of absences forms, payroll request, employee status or ranking and/or ADA requirements/accommodations. Employee compensation is kept by and outside vendor where the information is kept on that vendor files/records. However, a compensation manager does keep an Excel file of "results of job analyses, salary surveys and individual compensation decisions" (Apollo Group, 2007). Company relations specialists are responsible for keeping track of "information about complaints, grievances, harassment complaints, etc. in locked files in their offices" (Apollo Group, 2007). There is a greater margin for errors due to the fact that all vital information is scattered and kept by different individual and even outside vendors. And in doing so it allows for more errors, loss of data and no central location to keep all vital employee information. Another concern is the security levels implemented if any to keep such information private and accessible only by need to know only individuals.

Proposed New HRIS System:

Recording and Filing employee information such as personal information, pay rate,