Reports and the dashboards they populate empower businesses to make informed, data-driven decisions that propel them forward. For this reason, they are critical to success and growth. Insights gleaned from reports can be powerful if the data you are working from is clean and you know how to extract and manipulate it accurately.

We checked in with two Wise Consulting by RSM reporting aces, UKG Pro certified consultant Kristy Karns Argo, human resource information professional (HRIP), and Dayforce-certified consultant Chris Pappas, to explore the importance of reporting in business, find out how COVID-19 changed reporting requirements and get a better understanding of what to expect in the future.

How have reporting trends changed since COVID? 

During the pandemic, employers were closely watching employee leave usage. While usage varied drastically depending on the industry, company policies, new rules and regulations cropping up in response to COVID-19, and the nature of work, it increased in many cases as employees used their time off to manage their illness or the illness of family members.

“Businesses started tracking vaccinations and testing results and reporting off of those, and it seemed like there was a bit of an uptick in DEI reporting (diversity, equity and inclusion),” says Karns Argo regarding the reporting requests she received during the pandemic.

Pappas shared a similar sentiment. “Yes, they (businesses) were really focusing on what type of absences were being taken. Was it COVID-19-related? Were people taking vacation or using time not associated with COVID-19 but maybe because of being out related to COVID-19? Since then, it’s shifted back to looking at turnover.”

Managing turnover and overtime

Now that the world is back to work, it seems businesses are looking to set up more dashboards. Thankfully, human capital management (HCM) software has kept up to speed with this demand, incorporating higher-level dashboards and reporting tools that give employers the information they need. 

Pappas says that this can also make using the reporting capabilities more intimidating for human resources (HR) teams. “You want to get it done quickly, and you want to get it done accurately. This means a full-time analyst on hand rather than a specialist who normally does payroll. You can’t expect someone to know every part of the system when they often don’t have visibility into all of its parts. If you can’t find that HRIS analyst, you really need an outside firm like us.”

While it’s positive that reporting features in HCM systems are trying to keep up with the demand for more complex data manipulation, they are still limited. Not all companies have the budget to hire a full-time human resources information system (HRIS) analyst, so could a leaner team learn how to achieve that higher reporting complexity?

Why is creating custom reports so complicated?

In some cases, the most effective way to solve more complex, custom reports is to pull data from the HCM system into a business intelligence tool. “You can create the report in Dayforce and pull it into Power BI. Outside of Dayforce, you can pull in multiple reports manipulated to produce more complex analytics that may not be possible within Dayforce,” explains Pappas. 

However, this can create issues as the skills to take this extra step might not be available within HR. Pappas provides an example, “You may have someone in IT who knows Power BI, but they’re not part of HR. They may not be privy to HR data and may not understand HR’s needs. The skill set required for these advanced analytics is often difficult to find in an HR or payroll resource.”

At Wise, we are fortunate to have consultants possessing HR, HCM, workforce management and payroll experience who are also proficient in Microsoft Power BI. They know how to help track and analyze various aspects of your business to generate comprehensive reports that offer valuable insights. This means a world of reporting possibilities beyond the standard reports built into your HCM system’s functionality. Our consultants can also spot poor data management hygiene and resolve those issues. This allows you to bypass wrestling with complicated interfaces and custom software that requires extensive training. We do the heavy lifting so that you can use these custom reports to make data-driven decisions, streamline operations and optimize budget allocations.

Staff development: Tap into reporting training

But what if you want to develop in-house custom reporting capabilities? Karns Argo says that lately, she has seen demand rise for report development training. “I’m seeing more of a trend toward knowledge transfer. A lot of our clients have new people in their HR departments, so they are starting from scratch.”

She suggests that if you know you’ll have an ongoing need for custom reporting, it makes sense to build a relationship with a trusted consultant and empower staff to learn hands-on as you complete projects. ”You really need someone that you know and trust who can take the time to learn a little bit about your company, what your needs are, and they then have that knowledge to be able to make recommendations and guide you,” says Karns Argo. “I try to add knowledge transfer value everywhere I can when I’m working with clients because it helps them understand so much better, and reporting can be so intimidating.”

Reach out to a Wise consultant for your reporting needs

Accurate, real-time information is the key to better managing your organization and making wise, actionable management decisions. Wise Consulting by RSM consultants, works with you to understand your reporting needs and to unlock your system data to provide your management team with vital information. Together, we review specific goals to create new reports, modify or combine existing reports, and provide you with experience in overall report writing functionality.

To learn more about the benefits of getting experienced Wise reporting consultants on your side, click here. Or get in touch with a Wise consultant by contacting us today.

This document contains general information, may be based on authorities that are subject to change and is not a substitute for professional advice or services. This document does not constitute audit, tax, consulting, business, financial, investment, legal or other professional advice, and you should consult a qualified professional advisor before taking any action based on the information herein. Wise Consulting Associates, LLC, its affiliates and related entities are not responsible for any loss resulting from or relating to reliance on this document by any person. Internal Revenue Service rules require us to inform you that this communication may be deemed a solicitation to provide tax services. This communication is being sent to individuals who have subscribed to receive it or who we believe would have an interest in the topics discussed.

Wise Consulting Associates, LLC, is a wholly-owned independent operating subsidiary of RSM US LLP. Wise provides system and operations expertise in human capital management, workforce management and payroll management technology and compliance.