HR subsystems

HR subsystems are the division of sector activities. Many companies do not pay attention to this need, but fragmentation influences all organizational success.

Those who work with Human Resources are well aware that the area deals with several activities, but perhaps they have not yet realized the dimension that exists behind the concept of HR, and it is even necessary to divide it into strategic parts.

These parts are called HR subsystems and, although they deal with different functions, they are interconnected.

HR subsystems is the definition of the division of tasks in the sector , which are diverse.

That is, when one hears about HR systems and subsystems, one can understand that Human Resources is a main umbrella (the system), subdivided into strategic actions aimed at managing people (its subsystems).

It was not by chance that the expression emerged, after all, when it comes to people, the most valuable and complex resource of any company, several issues must be considered.

Aware of this, the writer and professor Idalberto Chiavenato created this concept with the aim of promoting improvements for employees and institutions. Continue and learn more!

• What are the HR subsystems and their functions
• How the organization by subsystems can be advantageous for the company
• Tips for integrating HR subsystems in your company

What are the HR subsystems and their functions

So many activities related to people management could not be gathered in a single scope, according to Chiavenato.

From the process of finding the professional to occupy a position to the termination, everything must be thought out strategically.

This would only be possible if the activities were separated into 5 complementary pillars, which are:

1. Provision of people

The provision of human resources is the first subsystem and represents the search for professionals to occupy positions in the company.

It is the act of “providing”, finding people to be part of the team. But this is only successfully done when the HR sector understands what the needs of each area are and what the desired profile is so that hiring is as effective as possible.

This category is responsible for designing the recruitment and selection processes and for thinking about how each stage will develop.

At this stage, it is essential that HR understand the reality of the sector, identify and map the profile of the ideal employee and, from that, be able to outline the most appropriate format to start the selection process.

In this case, questions like the following should be taken into account so that the R&S procedures are smarter, more strategic and the contracting is not in vain:

• is there any employee internally who meets this profile?;
• should we look for talent externally?
• what will be the cost of this new position?
• What skills and technical qualifications should the new professional have?
• what is the ideal format for the first interview: video, group dynamics?
• What does the sector looking for the professional expect from HR?

This is the main phase and it must be well structured so that the others can follow with the same quality standard, after all, it is in the recruitment that the company and the employee have the first contact.

From it, the development of applying or allocating the professional follows follows.

2. Application of people

The application is the second type of subsystem, as it represents the phase in which the new employee enters the company.

At this point, it should be clear to him all the information about his role in the company, what his functions will be, where his work position will be, his salary, benefits, among others.

In addition, the phase of setting , getting to know the team and integrating it into the organizational culture takes place at this stage.

We can say that this stage is like the first impression that both parties will have when the work actually starts.

Therefore, it is very important to motivate the employee and show the advantages of being part of the team so that he is already engaged in the company.

Many companies invest in setting training or presentation dynamics at this time.

Another HR activity during the application is to assess whether the employee is adapting to the institution’s processes and functioning in general.

It is essential to understand how his initial performance is doing, promote an open dialogue for feedback and inform that the sector is available to assist him whenever necessary.

To learn more about this subject and to follow up well in this initial period of the employee in the company, be sure to check out our material with the best techniques for people management .

3. Maintenance of people

This is the talent retention phase , very important to reduce the company’s turnover percentages .

Here, it is worth understanding: we identify the best professional; it has been inserted and is showing good results.

Now is the time to retain this employee in the organization and in order to keep him, it is necessary to offer the means to do so.

For the worker, the company must continue to be attractive and competitive, otherwise, the chances of him becoming discouraged and looking for another opportunity are great.

To measure employee satisfaction, HR can develop climate surveys and invest in team building practice .

This strategy aims to unify teams, promote an environment for exchanging experiences and improve the relationship of trust between employees through various interactive activities.

By keeping motivation high, the company is certainly reducing the chances of its workers looking for other offers.

Know that organizational culture has been one of the main points most valued by professionals in the job market, even ahead of salaries and benefits.

In addition, it is possible to invest in other tools for valuing and engaging in order to maintain your talents:

• develop career plans;
• offer attractive benefits packages ;
• bonuses for productivity, achievement of goals or attendance ;
• propose salary readjustment according to time in the company;
• grant scholarships for specializations or technical training.

4. People development

To keep professionals satisfied and productive, it is also necessary to develop them. Thus, both employees and the organization benefit, as they will be able to take advantage of important qualifications for the development of work on a daily basis.

Qualified teams increase the company’s development potential and make it more competitive in the job market and, mainly, in its segment.

Therefore, at this stage, HR’s job is to identify which skills are necessary for the growth of the worker, what are the existing gaps and how to solve them.

Qualifications, in this case, are not just about hard skills, which are technical skills.

Soft skills , behavioral skills, can also be offered as a form of professional improvement.

Examples of this are training to awaken a sense of leadership and the ability to deal with emotions in the corporate environment.

5. Control (or monitoring) of people

This is the crucial phase for the company to know exactly what the profiles of the people who work there are .

And how can she do that? Through the organization, control and monitoring of information from its employees via database.

In this sense, it is worth ordering resumes, time bank , personal documents, among others.

A well-managed management by this subsystem optimizes the work of other areas, facilitates access to employee information — even when requested by their direct manager — and allows for a more integrated work throughout the company.

In addition to cataloging data, another very important point at this stage is the control of the results of each employee.

Here, understand the following: was the employee well integrated, were the necessary motivation and training offered for their development? Yea! And is he producing more, less or what was expected of him?

However, this type of metric can only be done efficiently if the company correctly invests in resources and tools such as People Analytics , performance monitoring systems, performance evaluations and other digital HR strategies that facilitate the measurement of results for the sector.

How the organization by subsystems can be advantageous for the company 

The disintegration of HR subsystems affects the smooth running of the entire HR area and, consequently, the entire company.

This is because Human Resources is considered one of the sectors that most directly influence its results. It may seem obvious to see it this way, but in practice it is not.

Many companies do not pay attention to this need or do not understand that processes can be structured and divided intelligently.

Thus, most of these companies tend to implement the steps in parts, without taking into account that one subsystem must be integrated with the other and all of them must be complementary.

When the activities of the great system that is HR are fragmented and talk to each other, the organization is able to take advantage of advantages such as:

• more strategic people management and smarter actions;
• decrease in diseases caused by work overload, due to the fact that tasks are better distributed ;
• recruitment and selection processes more focused on the objectives of each department and aligned with the company’s needs;
• more agility and less bureaucracy in hiring personnel;
• more team engagement ;
• more productive employees ;
• increased feeling of belonging among employees in relation to the company;
• better monitoring of worker performance;
• reduced turnover;
• decrease in the absenteeism rate ;
• more efficient control of the profile of the collaborators.

Tips for integrating HR subsystems in your company

When an HR is integrated, the result of one process enhances the result of the other or allows the next stage to be carried out more efficiently. Technology is the best tool to optimize these activities.

Currently, it is impossible to think about growing and expanding a business without taking into account the relevance that technology has for companies and how it streamlines all tasks.

It is present in all HR subsystems. Imagine how feasible it would be, in the provisioning phase, to have an online meeting with candidates?

Or promote more focused training , in the people development phase, and also, monitor the results, in the last stage.

It would be complicated if we didn’t have innovation on our side, right? Unleash the full potential of smart features!

In addition, for the HR department to be able to successfully carry out its tasks, it is necessary to have a fundamental organization base so that each person who works in the sector is able to develop their processes in an interconnected way with the others.

In this case, it is essential that each professional understands what their activities are, what the company expects of them, the importance of the role of those who perform a certain function, how the work of one impacts the work of the other and have clear and accessible communication. 

As an example, imagine that an employee in the area is concerned about an activity that is already being developed by another employee.

This happened because there was no clear definition of their tasks and, in the end, both people invested time to perform the same activity.

This kind of wasted time could be avoided with a simple and transparent dialogue between industry members.

Did you realize how Human Resources is really a system and how fundamental it is for the company to work with the HR subsystems?

Keep in mind that the way the company organizes its teams has a direct impact on the way people are managed . That is, it may or may not be effective.

Therefore, understanding how this division takes place — and which, at the same time, represents a necessary integration between the works — is essential to be able to define strategies correctly to promote the company’s success.