3RAI Tom Court

Recording, Analysing and using Human Resources Information

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Introduction
Why organisations need to collect HR data
Methods of storing records
Legislation covering HR records
Conclusion and recommendations

1.Introduction
This report is about the importance of understanding why organisations collect data and how
that information can be used to support HR functions. It will cover how information or data
should be recorded, managed and stored correctly in line with legislation. We will discuss how
HR information can be analysed to identify trends and how it can be used to inform decision
making.
2. Why organisations need to collect HR Data
Organisations need to collect data from and on their employees for many different reasons
some of these include:
Referencing new employees This is an important source of data as it
corroborates the employment history of an employee as stated on their CV or
application. Upon receipt of completed reference form, the HR department will
contact the listed referees usually by post. It is normal for companies to request
more than one reference to gain a rounder picture of an individual. The most
important facts from the references are dates of employment, job role, reason for
leaving and if there were any live warnings at the end of employment.
References can also be sent to a character referee who will be asked questions
on the employees honesty, integrity and personality. When a reference response
is received it is kept in the employees file as evidence that the check has taken
place.
Sickness records On a monthly basis, department mangers submit a log of all
sickness in their department. Using these records we update our HR system with
the relevant information. It is important that these details are recorded and input
accurately as individual sickness levels are monitored and can have an impact
on pay if the levels are unacceptable, medical notes issued by a doctor are
scanned and emailed to payroll. In addition we ask the managers to complete a
return to work interview to determine the reason for the absence and if there is
anything that can be put in place to prevent it happening again. These interview
notes are held on the employee staff file.
3. Methods of storing records
The two main methods of storage used in our HR function are manual and electronic. There
are positives and negatives to each which is why we use a mixture of these methods to keep
our records up to date.
Manual Storage

Positives
Can be found easily (if filed correctly).
Can be scanned to produce digital or
electronic copies.
No questions of legitimacy.
Easier to read than digital/on screen
copies.

Electronic Storage
Positives
Easily shared between parties.

Negatives
It can take time to find documents.
Easy to mis-file information.
Time taken to file documents.
Physical space is required.

Can

Negatives
take time to

find

correct

Databases are quick to search.

Takes up no physical space.
No loss of physical integrity.

document if there are multiple files.

Cost of electronic storage.
Scans cannot be indexed by keywords.

4. Legislation covering HR records

Recruitment and Selection - When a CV is submitted for consideration, we must follow strict
guidelines of what information we record and how its recorded. We maintain a candidate
database (Microsoft Access) that is completed with each submission. We must work through
each item in the order it arrives, we record:
Name
Date of application
Role(s) applied for
Action to be taken (Reject, hold, interview)
Once recorded, we assess the candidate against our open vacancies. Where a candidate is
invited for interview, we will hold interview notes on file for 6 months before destroying if a
candidate is unsuccessful. The notes are destroyed inline with the fifth principle of the Data
Protection Act Data should not kept longer than necessary. If an employment offer is made
we will keep the interview notes on the employees file.
Email privacy - We dont monitor staff business email accounts, we set out the rules at the
beginning of their employment. As part of the offer completed by all staff, a declaration must
be signed to confirm that all the polices have been read, this covers the use of email. If a
member of staff were to be off work their line manager may need access to their inbox to
check business related emails. Before a request is granted, it must be authorised by HR, who
will confirm that the request is granted to view business emails. If we had no signed
declaration, this would be in violation of The Human Rights Act, in relation to their privacy as
we would have no evidence that they were previously informed. The declaration is stored in
the employees file which would not be signed off as complete with this paperwork missing.
5. Conclusion and recommendations
This report has shown there are different ways of storing HR documents and depending on the
kind of information, some methods work better than others. Where applicants are recorded on
an electronic database, it quick and easy to search for people with a necessary skill or
qualification, this would be much more time consuming with a paper filing system. On the
other hand storing an employees contract in their staff file makes it simple to have all of their
information in one place.
I believe this demonstrates that using different methods to store information is beneficial in
saving time, space and maximising efficiency.
Activity 2
As part of our monthly reporting procedures a log of the overtime hours each month is
collated and displayed on a graph as demonstrated below. The information that is gathered by
HR for payroll is shared with different functions around the business.

A payroll spreadsheet is completed with the staff names and number of hours worked in
a month, this is submitted to the payroll team for processing.
The spreadsheet also updates the hours log which is used by the finance team to check
that the number of hours work are within the budgeted amount set.
The business managers compare the number of hours worked to the volume of work
that has been processed and will request additional hours if deemed necessary.

Without the collation of this information, it would be difficult for HR to understand the needs
of the business, I believe this shows that a push on training our staff to work smarter would

reduce the number of hours that need to be worked outside of normal business hours. It
would also be harder for the finance function to see the seasonal trends where the workload
peaks.