Expert: Shahid - 11/30/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hello Shahid,

My name is Issa Mahshi - I am the managing partner of Berlitz Language Center in Jordan. We currently teach 12 languages in Jordan (however may add others in the future).

I will explain a bit of the requirements I'm looking for in a software and hope that you can assist in selecting such a software.

(1) The software i'm looking for is for the instructor's payroll.

(2) All instructors are on a part-time basis; however, there is a possibility of adding full time instructors at a later stage.

(3) There are 4 types of payments that the instructors can recieve, which are:
(a) JOD amount based on the number of teaching hours
(b) JOD amount based on the travel charge
(c) JOD amount based on the supervision an instructor gives
(d) JOD amount when an instructor provides an instructo'rs training.

(4)Summary Sheets will be required as follows:
(a) Total number of hours per instructor per month
(b) Total JOD amount of teaching hours (All instructors & broken down per language)

(c) Total JOD amount of travel charge per instructor per month (All instructors & broken down per language)

(d) Total JOD amount of supervision per instructor per month(All instructors & broken down per language)

(e) Total JOD amount of Instructor's train the trainer (per instructor, per month (All instructors & broken down per language)

(5) I would like to also add or remove instructor's names easily and when that is done, the name is alinked to all summary sheets.
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I have actually completed such a "program" on MS Excel; however, as we are growing and constantly adding/removing instructors, I find that we need a more advanced usage of Excel or perhaps another software.

What do you recommend? If you would like, I can call you to discuss further or please feel free to ask me any questions for your clarification.

Thank you,

Issa Mahshi

tel: 0096279-7190637




ANSWER: Assalamu Alaikum Issa. First, thanks for performing the good step of detailing your requirements. I'll try to give you some directions in terms of choosing your further course of action, although this may take 2-3 follow-ups.

When most companies look for a HRIS or Payroll package they have a broader scope in mind and thus look to purchase some software. In addition to the basic functionality of keeping track of their resources and their salary, they need to handle other complex items such as taxes and TDS (Tax deducted at Source), depending on the country/state, attendance and integration with biometrics, bonus and commission, etc. Such software are also capable of handling 100+ employees.

In your case, you seem to have a very narrow set of requirements and I would classify it more under a Time Tracking tool. There are sometings you need to consider before I can suggest something:

1) How many instructors do you need to manage?
2) Who and how many people will enter information?
3) Will there be any tools assisting data entry, such as biometrics, barcode scanners, etc?
4) Are you or someone you know tech savvy enough to design your own software?
5) How much can you spend in buying a software or having on custom designed for you?
6) Will you need to maintain and access your data across many centres in different locations or only in a central location?
7) Do you want an instructor portal where they can perform HR related actions?
8) And more questions that I don't want to confuse you with at the moment.

You should ideally not use Excel at all for such a purpose. It is not scaleable and may be a roadblock for your in the future, even if you can satisfy all your current requirements. If you have access to MS Office, then MS Access would be a better option since it is a basic database and is scaleable - you can upgrade easily in the future.

If cost is a consideration, you can design a basic time tracking and HR system according to your needs in Access yourself, or being an educational institution, you can possibly buy one at a discount. The only problem with buying a software is, it is not your property and you are restricted to the features that the vendor develops.

To end, you really need to know what you want and the above questions will help you to some extent. As and when you use or evaluate the selected software you will get more ideas for features and requirements, although it's better to think of these before you buy your software. Do give this a thought and get back to me.

If I have left you in a much clearer position that before, I have done a good job. If you are actually further confused, then I have done a better one. Do let me know what your thoughts are at the moment and I promise you will be much clearer in the next reply.

Regards,

Shahid Thaika

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: WOW - Your response is a lot better than I expected Shahid... Thank you so much.

Here are answers to your questions:

1) How many instructors do you need to manage?
ANSWER:It varies but I will need to manage between 20 - 70 within the next 3-4 years.

2) Who and how many people will enter information?
ANSWER:We could have the software on a shared folder; or what's better is having each administrative assitant fill it themeself. (i.e. Will have up to 5 people enter the info)

3) Will there be any tools assisting data entry, such as biometrics, barcode scanners, etc?
ANSWER: I don't know what biometrics is but I do know that there is no information such as barcodes or such that will be used. (Our business is mainly "hours" and "money" only)

4) Are you or someone you know tech savvy enough to design your own software?
ANSWER: NO - We will need to have this done for us. (I am only a "good" user of MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint only.

5) How much can you spend in buying a software or having on custom designed for you?
ANSWER: I have not given this question much thought and I have no idea how much something like this would cost - Your guidance would be appreciated. :-)

6) Will you need to maintain and access your data across many centres in different locations or only in a central location?
ANSWER: No, we can have the 1 software per center. (So each center will have its own)

7) Do you want an instructor portal where they can perform HR related actions?
ANSWER: Ideally that would be nice but it is not very necessary. (And ofcourse if that doesn't increase the price so much)

8) And more questions that I don't want to confuse you with at the moment.
ANSWER: Ask and I'll answer :-)

Thanks again and awaiting your next response.

Best regards,

Issa Mahshi

Answer
Hi Issa,

You should really have a good idea of your budget to begin with since this greatly influences futher course of action. In my opinion, current HR packages may have more features than what you may need and this can be good or bad. Good in that, when your organization grows and you start being more systematic, you can just start using what you don't use already. Bad in that, if you don't like your software then not only have you wasted money on something you don't like, but will also have paid for something you didn't use. Note, already built HR packages may be more expensive.

While you only have 20-70 for the time being, you may want to consider employee/instructor growth in the future and may want to buy a software that is scaleable. It should not hamper your administration. Five admins for 20-70 people is a bit much in my opinion, and a good software should reduce data typing and retrieval needs.

Since you don't know Access developing a software on your own is out of the question, although I'd reckon it would take the average IT person about 50 Man hours to execute your needs. You may need this info to negotiate with a custom software developer.

Note: All five users may not be able to access the DB at the same time, if you are going with Access. Advantage with Access is that it is simple and doesn't need a server unlike more professional Databases.

Biometrics are basically finger print readers that help in attendance. Usually organizations have this or punch cards to assist the software in data entry (in-time / out-time).

If you have more than one centre, then you may want to consolidate all your information in one server, since among other things the instructors may teach in more than one centre. You can also run consolidated across the centre reports for your organization. If you are going to go with this setup, you'll need network or internet connection. You'd definitely need some network setup if you want more than one person to access the software at the same time.

Personally I think an HR portal is an overkill at this time too.

You may want to consider the following services/software. Go through their offerings and let me know if you need further clarifications. When you choose one that you think fits your organization, I'll raise some things you may want to consider.

http://databases.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=databases&cdn=compute&tm=9
(Above is an Access template that you can start with)

http://people.zoho.com/jsp/iamlogin.jsp (a web based tool you can access from anywhere using internet)
http://www.hrdatamanager.com/ (a more advnaced HRIS)
http://www.easyfreeware.com/find.php?q=access+time+tracking (choose one that fits)

Shahid