IDS HR Study 855, October 2007

HR intranets

• Reports on recent trends in the design and content of HR intranets

• Discusses the role of employee and manager self-service applications in streamlining basic HR transactions

• Includes five detailed case studies, looking at how HR intranets and self-service tools have been implemented successfully in a variety of contexts.

HR intranets are playing an important part in shifting the HR focus away from administrative tasks and towards more strategic objectives. At their best, they act as a portal to an authoritative source of HR policy and guidance and to a suite of online self-service applications.

If an HR intranet is to become established as a key communication tool, it is vital that navigation around the site is intuitive and that the language used is easy to follow. Moreover, to open up the potential benefits to all employees, a company must provide universal access to PCs and may also have to consider offering training to certain staff. This HR Study offers valuable tips on how to design an effective HR intranet and looks at how companies facilitate access to these services for their entire workforce.

HR intranets often provide links to self-service applications. These enable employees and managers to carry out, or at least initiate, basic HR transactions online thereby relieving the administrative burden on HR. This Study looks in detail at the range of HR processes that are being moved online and the levels of functionality that are incorporated into self-service tools.