Professionals who practice personnel management are responsible for seeing that all employees under their supervision perform their duties effectively, efficiently and safely. In a business office, for instance, a professional who is responsible for personnel management might write schedules, perform employee evaluations and collect and analyze important statistics. Personnel management software essentially is any computer program that helps managers track important and sometimes sensitive employee data in a way that might save time and money. Some of the most common kinds of personnel management software are programs that enable managers to schedule employees; store and organize contact and personal data; and keep track of tasks, skills, certifications and other information that is required for effectively running an operation.
Personnel management software often varies by industry. In the medical or healthcare industry, for example, this kind of software enables managers to see with which patients their staff members are working, for which shifts their staff members are scheduled and which duties the staff members performed on their shifts. For instance, medical personnel management software might allow a manager to see which treatments were administered during a shift and which patients might need special treatment.
When a fleet manager uses personnel management software, on the other hand, it normally is to track the location of his or her fleet vehicles. This kind of manager might also use a global positioning system (GPS) to learn where employees are traveling with their fleet vehicles. If a driver is lost or taking a route that might make him or her late or which might result in extra fuel costs, a manager can use personnel management software to contact the driver.
Professionals such as human resource managers might use personnel management software to store and organize employee data. They might use these programs to form employee profiles or accounts, which can include documents such as applications, résumés, cover letters, letters of reference and academic transcripts. Human resource managers also can use this software to keep track of employee records, such as meetings, complaints and awards.
Individuals who use personnel management software tend to use either software that they purchase and install into their computers and business network systems or software that they use as a service. When they buy and install software, they normally have information technology (IT) departments that are responsible for performing performance and security upgrades. Professionals who use software as a service (SaaS), on the other hand, usually pay a subscription fee to a software host that is responsible for updating programs. When professionals use software as a service, they often have access to it from almost any computer or device that has an Internet connection.