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HR Glossary

Human resource
information system (HRIS)

HR technology
What is an HRIS?

A human resource information system (HRIS) is the system of record for employee data: personal and job details, contracts, leave, documents and the reports HR runs on them. It usually links to payroll. It tells you who works for you and on what terms, not how they work or what they need next.

What an HRIS covers

The common core is employee records (personal details, position, manager, pay rate, employment type), leave balances and requests, document storage for contracts and policies, employee self-service, and reporting on headcount and turnover. Many include onboarding checklists and performance review forms, and most connect to a payroll system or include one. HRIS, human resource management system (HRMS) and human capital management (HCM) are often used interchangeably; HCM usually signals a broader suite.

What it does not do

An HRIS is excellent at process: getting the record right and keeping it right. It is not built to answer the questions that drive the expensive people decisions. Will this candidate thrive in this team? Why is this team disengaged when the one next door is not? Does this person have the capability their role now needs? That is people insight risk, and it sits outside the system of record.

How it fits with the rest of the stack

Most organisations end up with an HRIS at the centre and specialist tools around it: an applicant tracking system (ATS) for hiring, a learning management system (LMS) for training, and a survey or culture tool for engagement. The test of a good stack is whether the people data adds up to insight, not just whether the records sync.

Where
Compono fits.

Compono is a talent intelligence platform: an applicant tracking system and an employee engagement platform built on the same people data.

Keep your HRIS for the records, and see what it was never built to show: how each person works and what they need to learn next.

See how it works

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HR technology

HR technology (HR tech) is the software organisations use to hire, manage, pay, train and engage their people: a human resource information system (HRIS), payroll, an applicant tracking system (ATS), a learning management system (LMS), engagement surveys and analytics.

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Applicant tracking system (ATS)

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software that runs the hiring process from job ad to offer: it posts roles, collects applications, moves candidates through stages and keeps the record of every decision.

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Learning management system (LMS)

A learning management system (LMS) is software that delivers training to employees, tracks who completed what and reports on it.

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People analytics

People analytics is the practice of using workforce data to understand and improve how an organisation hires, engages, develops and retains people, and to make people decisions that can be defended with evidence rather than instinct.

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All terms

Every definition, with the local rules, rates and thresholds attached.

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Common questions

Is an HRIS the same as payroll software?

No. Payroll calculates and pays wages, tax and super. An HRIS holds the employee record that payroll draws on. Some products do both; many organisations run them separately and connect them.

When does a business need an HRIS?

Usually once spreadsheets stop being reliable: when leave, contracts and employee changes are tracked in several places and nobody is sure which version is right. Headcount matters less than how many people touch the records.

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with the official source for your jurisdiction or your own adviser. Last reviewed October 2026.