Your HRIS software is an integral part of your HR efforts. Whether it’s managing payroll, handling benefits, tracking attendance, or kickstarting recruitment efforts, this platform has much of the employee data you need. While it’s a powerhouse for storing, managing, and using that data, it’s not necessarily the best platform for all HR functions. Performance management, for example, is best handled through a dedicated performance management platform like 15Five rather than through your HRIS.
That makes integrating your HRIS tool with the other platforms your HR team relies a priority.
In this guide, we’ll cover why integrating HRIS tools is so important and the challenges that come with it, as well as share checklists you can use to implement these integrations.
An HRIS tool is part database and part mission control for HR. It holds essential employee data, from their date of birth to the specifics of their role. It’s the launching-off point for essential HR processes, whether it’s handling payroll, managing talent, or preparing reports.
These tools were first meant to replace manual processes, pen and paper, and spreadsheets. But as HR teams transitioned from purely administrative teams to strategic partners, HRIS tools grew to handle more and more processes. That makes them an incredible resource for teams to rely on. But it can also lead them to believe it’s always the best tool for the job, which isn’t always the case.
That’s why integrating HRIS tools with the rest of your tool stack is so important. With the right integration, data can flow seamlessly between your HRIS and other platforms, allowing you to get the employee data you need in the tools that are the best fit for whatever work you need to do. Without these integrations, you either have to use ideal tools with missing data or manually ship data back and forth between them.
Some of the most popular HRIS tools out there include:
HRIS tools usually have the same broad set of features, including:
Integrating your HRIS tool with the rest of your tool stack comes with some significant benefits.
One of the most challenging parts of onboarding new employees is helping them learn all the tools they need to do their day-to-day work. With the right software integrations connecting your HRIS tool with other systems, you don’t have to train every HR team member on every system. They’ll still have all the data they need.
Data is an essential part of every HR process. As HR leaders become key strategic partners, other leaders expect clear, real-time data on HR priorities across talent management, performance management, and other processes. Integrations can turn the massive amounts of data in your HRIS system into clear reports in other tools, with real-time data, so you always have what you need when you’re making important decisions.
Without software integrations, HR teams have to find other methods to get data in and out of their HRIS system. That can involve everything from regularly exporting spreadsheets to manually copying and pasting specific data ranges from one system to another.
Beyond just being inconvenient and a massive drain on your productive time, this approach creates massive compliance and data security risks. In some industries, it’s frowned upon (or even illegal) to transfer data in this way. But even for companies that don’t have to abide by stringent regulations around data privacy, these transfers create data security vulnerabilities.
Software integrations securely send data from your HRIS tool to other systems, preventing data breaches and eliminating vulnerabilities.
Data portability between your HRIS tool and other systems might not directly lead to better employee engagement, but it trickles down to all HR priorities, improving the way you handle them.
Think of it this way. Employee engagement describes how motivated and driven employees are at work, so anything that streamlines the way they interact with your HR team, from requesting time off to inquiring about their benefits, a software integration can improve employee engagement. It makes answering questions much easier, it leads to better decisions, and it helps you tailor your strategy to what employees actually need.
Upskilling allows employees to reach for lofty goals throughout their time with your organization, and it allows you to properly plan for potential talent needs, like replacing a key role or expanding a department. But finding these upskilling opportunities can be challenging. You need a combination of regular performance reviews, a stream of performance management data, and a clear picture of your organization’s talent needs.
This all relies on data that’s spread across multiple tools, including your HRIS system. The right software integration can move this data exactly where you need it, giving you a better way to identify and work towards upskilling opportunities.
HR already bears a massive administrative burden. A constant stream of administrative tasks can easily derail your team’s ability to strategize and plan for upcoming organizational needs. When these tasks also require that you manually move data between multiple tools, the burden just increases. Integrations can not only eliminate the need for data transfer, but they can also eliminate recurring reporting tasks, as well.
Knowing you need an HRIS integration is just the first step. Properly deploying an integration that keeps your teams productive instead of swamping them with additional work.
Just like any other service your organization uses, you need to get the right vendor. When you’re looking for an integration vendor, consider the following:
Even with an integration solution designed to make administrative work easier, your teams may be naturally resistant to change. Not only that, but you will need to adapt your processes to these changes. No more exporting spreadsheets to answer an urgent request from a team lead.
That’s what change management is. It’s all about anticipating the potential impacts and obstacles of an incoming change and figuring out a strategy to address them. Before you deploy an integration solution, make sure to build a change management plan.
Integrating your HRIS tool might mean you don’t need to train your HR team on every tool you use, but you will need to account for some training around this integration. T
If they’re used to exporting spreadsheets to fulfill all their data needs, they’ll have to learn to rely on other tools. If they tend to check one tool over another for real-time data, you’ll need to help them redirect their attention to the right platform.
An HRIS integration is a definite boon to your HR processes. Despite this, finding, deploying, and using these integrations can come with some important challenges.
Resistance to change is natural. Even a positive change, like smoother data transfers between HRIS tools and other systems, can lead to some resistance. If you’re leading an integration project, you need to account for this and plan accordingly.
That starts with open, transparent communication about the change you’re making and the reasoning behind it. Then, you need to listen to concerns around that change and, potentially, plan a strategy for addressing them.
When you first connect your HRIS tool with the rest of your stack, you’ll need to migrate a significant amount of data. Think of all the records you have for every single employee, and how that data has grown and changed over the years. Now you need to get that data into every other tool you use. Most integration solutions have a way of handling this initial migration, but it can take time. It might also need to be done in phases, to ensure data gets transferred over correctly and potential mistakes are spotted early.
Ready to integrate your HRIS tool with the rest of your stack? Here are checklists for running a flawless deployment and making sure you get the most out of your integration.
Discovery & Planning (Week 1)
Technical Setup (Weeks 2-3)
Data Mapping & Configuration (Week 3-4)
Testing (Week 4-5)
Go-Live & Monitoring (Week 6)
Post-Integration (Week 7+)
Data Accuracy
System Performance
Operational Efficiency
User Experience
Compliance & Security
Business Impact
Integrating your HRIS tool with the rest of your stack turns a pile of static—but useful—data into a resource for making better decisions and working more effectively out of every tool. These integrations streamline HR workflows, improve compliance, and tighten data security.
While finding the right integration and deploying it in a timely way can be challenging, the benefits are massive, from allowing leaders to make better data-driven decisions.
Want to see how an HRIS integration can transform the way you handle performance management? Check out 15Five’s HRIS connector.