SmartList Builder and Human Resources: How HR Pros Get More Value from Microsoft Dynamics GP Data

The fact is, you can have the best data stored in your human resources information system but if you can't look at it, get it out and report on it, it's pretty useless.  Likewise, if you take default reports from your HR system and discard them without finding a way to replace them, the value of your solution immediately drops.

When it comes to Microsoft Dynamics GP, HR professionals need to explore the use of SmartList and SmartList Builder, attendees of a recent GPUG session were told.  The main advantage: it removes the need to have the substantial back end database knowledge that the average HR pro won't have.

"That's why I like using SmartList and Builder," said one attendee. "Because they're user-friendly tools to help you query your data. And with very little database knowledge, if you take the time to play with it and work on it, you can get the basics that you need to provide information to managers or senior staff or federal agencies."

Attendees identified four main types of querying that fit well with SmartList Builder's capabilities. The first is to help meet auditing requirements with clean, accurate data.  A second is to help find reference materials for things that HR people are expected to know all the time like how many staff members will be having major anniversaries in any given year; another is querying the company's salary data for averages and other metrics; and the ability to answer employment questions like whether the company is set up as an employer in any given location like the state of Kansas.

"So I set up SmartLists just for reference, to look things up, to give information to our managers," one ...