3RAI

Activity 1

Introduction

Data management is vital to any business as this is a key tool to an organisations business improvement, as you can refer back to data, and compare them against benchmarks. Analysing data can provide evidence for possible future structure such as identify trends, as well as indicate where improvements can be made. However there are strict procedures to be followed when collecting and storing data.

Why Collect HR Data

Organisations are required to keep data to meet legislative and regulatory law, such as pay records to supply to HMRC for tax and NI contributions and records of training given to staff to confirm with Health and Safety Act and Fire regulations.

Another key reason to keep data is to support management, as business cannot operate if management do not know what is going on in the company, this could be suppling metric data, or analysing reasons for staff leaving.

Types of Data Collection

There are various types of data to be collected and analysed I will briefly mention just 2 of them.

By collecting data on absences from work, you may be able to identify trends within certain individual or departments. Habitual absentees for minor reasons may need to be interviewed to ascertain reasons for absence or if groups of people are absent for the same reason, then working conditions may need reviewing to decrease the level of absenteeism.

Collecting training records for members of staff is also key, as it will be easy to identify if the organisation are meeting legislative criteria in regards to First Aid trained, Health and Safety trained and Fire safety trained personnel. Keeping these records will also help to identify areas where staff can further develop themselves which will improve morale and increase productivity.

Methods of storing Data

There are 2 main methods of storing information