Improve HR Efficiency With These 5 Enterprise Tools What model will you choose for your enterprise resource planning software suite?

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) has consistently opened up new doors for businesses around the globe. We are now living at a point in time where finance, logistics, customer relationships and human resources are all tied into a simple platform.

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That platform extrapolates all related data and organizes it in a way that lets each department make decisions that play well into a number of particular strategies. Though ERP has all these intriguing applications, let's narrow our focus here to human resources.

By using the latest technology in human capital management (HCM, a component of ERP), organizations can plan and execute strategies that can raise productivity through proper "management" of employees, if ever such a thing were imaginable.

By coming as close as possible to quantifying the amount of knowledge, talent, experience, training and skill an employee has, ERP makes it easier to more expertly assign roles and responsibilities to the right people and make better hiring decisions to fill these areas' gaps.

Now that you have an idea of ERP's relevance and significance on the human resources scene, next consider the five major tools that help implement and apply HCM.

1. Microsoft Dynamics AX

Microsoft's tradition of acquiring other companies for their intellectual property led to its acquisition of Dynamics AX. Originally known as "Axapta," Dynamics AX has added many different modules on top of the software that allows it to function in almost any mid-market-to-large-tier business setting. Human resources was among the core functionalities found in Axapta 2.5 (the last version of the software) that it has kept and improved drastically.

As part of the software, you get an interface that allows you to quickly sift through employment histories, medical information, certificates, courses and equipment on loan. Employees can also "self-service" by registering for courses and tracking their own performance.

2. Workday HCM

There are many companies out there operating on tight margins and massive overhead within their supply chains. But wherever there exists little room for improvement, the talent behind the operation makes all the difference. Any firm working in the consumer products segment knows that trimming inefficiency in its workforce is probably the only way to squeeze out a bit more productivity when there is no other solution in sight.

Workday's HCM software makes the effort of sorting out workforce issues much easier, with its human resources-oriented ERP package. Workday offers platforms for talent management, recruiting, payroll, time management and workforce planning, with complete metrics.

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3. Epicor HCM

Epicor's platform takes employee management to a level that seems to take the pages of an HR handbook and say, "Let's plop some software on it to make it simpler." Employees can request time off, manage their own goals and maintain competency profiles. Employers can track absences and hours worked and modify policies and budget from a single interface.

4. Infor HCM

For those operating within the United States and Canada, Infor offers a suite of applications that not only provides effective payroll management, scheduling and more complex HR solutions, but also ensures compliance with a variety of regulations, including those governing tips.

Enterprises operating outside these countries can benefit from a global HR module that comes with the added benefit of implementation through either a managed services infrastructure (for those who wish to forego the added cost of having a dedicated IT staff) or the decision to run Amazon's EC2 under an IaaS.

5. SAP HCM with Panaya's Automation

There can be no discussion about ERP without mentioning SAP, the mothership of ERPs that all other platforms secretly admire. According to that company's benchmarks, its HR solutions result in an average 32 percent reduction of employees while increasing revenue per worker by up to 20 percent.

In addition to providing all of the workforce planning, talent management, task management and payroll software that a company needs to empower its employees, SAP's upgrade process is fully automated.

Enterprise automation solutions like the one Panaya offers for SAP testing make it much easier to change the structure of the system without running the risk of breaking the platform. In a way, it is the cruise control of ERP maintenance, and a must-have for businesses that need the most up-to-date modules.

By leaving all the tedious work of bug tracking and code cleansing to the magic of automation, there will be plenty of capital lying around to focus on more critical endeavors.

The choices are endless, but a few are worthy.

When the time comes to make a decision on a proper HR deployment, nothing is more frustrating than sticking to a piece of software that doesn't agree with the way things are done in your neck of the woods. In the end, the choice you make has to match your business model, as opposed to the model matching the ERP suite.

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