A lot of HR software these days contains some kind of “employee self-service” feature. Is it something your company needs or is it an extra feature that’ll never be used?

What it is

First, some basics about what employee self-service (ESS) is: Essentially, it’s a feature that lets employees view or change information stored in the system. So for example, if an employees needs to change their contact info, they can log on and do it themselves without going through HR.

Some self-service applicants include ways for employees to enroll in benefits, request time off or fill in timesheets.

Benefits and barriers

The most obvious benefit is that it cuts down on HR’s administrative workload. Employees can benefit, too, since it makes certain processes easier and gives them more control.

But there are some factors that could limit the use a company gets out of an ESS system. One barrier is employee reluctance. Whether or not that will be a problem depends largely on how technologically comfortable the would-be end users are. That’s something you’ll have to figure out when deciding if an ESS is right for your company.

Another thing to think about is security, which should play a big role in the decision. Normally, the software will let you set very specific controls over what information can be viewed and changed by which users. Some go a step further and require HR or supervisor approval before any change becomes official.

One potential problem is employees seeing sensitive information about co-workers. Therefore, you should find out as many details about the software’s security protocols as possible before making any decisions.