Understanding Position Management & Why it Matters

For many HR and Finance leaders, position management is still a relatively new concept. However, understanding what position management is and what possibilities it makes available can help you better manage your workforce and achieve more within and throughout your organization. 

What is Position Management?

Position management is used to define and manage the positions that make up your organization. If you think about a specific role within your organization, say an HR generalist, this role is associated with specific attributes. Other organizations may have this same position of HR generalist, but it may be associated with different attributes. For example, the requirements to fill the position may be slightly different or it may be associated with a higher or lower pay range. How you define each position for your organization helps define the organization as a whole. Position management is a system of defining the attributes as they pertain to your organization.

Position Attributes

There are numerous attributes that can be associated with a position to help define it from a position management perspective. Some of the most common position attributes that organizations use include: 

• Job code – This is the number associated with the position versus the title of the position itself.
• Pay range – Organizations can set minimum and maximum pay for each position, which can help with budgeting.
• Department – Attributes like department, direct reports, and who the position reports to define the hierarchy and structure of the positions throughout the organization.
• Credentials – For human services organizations especially, credential management is extremely important. Front line staff must have the appropriate licenses, certificates, and education to fill a position for compliance purposes.

There are plenty of other attributes that can be tied to the position itself, and this depends on the individual organization’s needs. For example, while for-profit corporations may not have use for funding source, a nonprofit organization may find that attributing a funding source to each position is necessary for compliance and reporting requirements. 

Position Management as Part of HCM Software

Most HR professionals are familiar with employee-based HCM (human capital management) software for managing the people side of the organization. This is the traditional HR system that many organizations still rely on today. However, your workforce is dynamic, with employees moving into, out of, and through your organization at any given time. These constant shifts and changes can make it difficult to create a clear picture of your workforce for budgeting and reporting purposes. 

To address these challenges, many HR and Payroll companies have added a position management element to their software. This separate module gives organizations the ability to look at the positions themselves, rather than trying to capture an image of your workforce by employees. However, all of this data is still based on a platform made up of the individual employees – and is therefore subject to all of the same problems and limitations of an employee-based system.

Position Control Offers More Robust Capabilities

As an alternative to position management, Position Control offers a similar but more robust solution for human services organizations. While position management is drawn from employee-based systems, Position Control turns things around entirely and uses positions as the foundation of the HCM system, rather than the employee.

What Can Position Control Do for Your Organization?

With a position-based system in place, organizations are better able to manage their workforce in terms of budgeting, reporting, and visibility. Position Control allows leaders to compare budgeted versus actual costs, ensures an unbroken chain of command even as employees move positions, and prevents over-hiring since positions must be approved to fill before posting. Position Control also enables better visibility into the organization, an must-have for organizations that need to be able to report back to funders and justify costs.

Where to Get Position Control

Position Control is the basis of the HR and Payroll solution offered by DATIS. Our unified solution provides nonprofits with a single source of truth for organizing and managing their workforce. Designed specifically to meet the needs of health and human services organizations, the DATIS solution can help empower your employees, engage your teams, and evolve your organization.

See Position Control in Action

If you’d like to see the power of Position Control in action, contact us today. We’ll be happy to show you the new possibilities that our system enables for health and human services organizations.