Success Story: Implementing an HR Management System in Rwanda

Rwanda is well known for a national-level commitment to technology and, as part of their Vision 2020 Plan, aims to establish itself as the technology hub of central Africa. This initiative has inspired government ministries to take a leadership role in strengthening government services through the appropriate use of technology. Beginning in 2005, the Capacity Project partnered with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to address human resources for health issues, including the development of a system to support accurate, up-to-date data collection for the management of staff and use of available data in decision making.

When we began work in Rwanda, the MOH did not have a consolidated source of electronic or paper records on the country's health workers. The Ministry needed an information system for managing health personnel that could quickly provide current HR reports.

To effectively implement an information system, we worked with the Ministry to address gaps, including a lack of consistent data, no trained data collection personnel, and very little hardware and networking infrastructure. In a little over a year since the project began, we developed and installed iHRIS Manage, an HR management system designed to meet the immediate HR data collection needs for the MOH. We partnered with Columbia University on a $100,000 project to upgrade the Ministry's infrastructure to support the system. These upgrades not only improved user equipment but strengthened the entire network, including connectivity, email systems, backup and security. We trained and seconded an HRIS administrator to the Ministry to manage the information systems and server. We created a standard data collection form for use at the district level. The Ministry is now entering data into the iHRIS Manage system, which was officially launched in early 2007.

To effectively implement such an information system, we worked with the Ministry to address gaps, including a lack of consistent data, no trained data collection personnel, and very little hardware and networking infrastructure. Based on the Ministry's feedback we developed and installed iHRIS Manage, an HR management system that enables an organization to design and manage a comprehensive HR strategy. The Project partnered with Columbia University to upgrade the Ministry's infrastructure to support the system, improving equipment and strengthening the entire network, including connectivity, email, backup and security. The Project trained and seconded an HRIS administrator to the Ministry to manage the system. To gather data at the district level, Project staff helped create a standard data collection form and trained data collectors. The Project also provided support for data entry into iHRIS Manage and the development of routine reports for regular use by decision-makers.

All of Rwanda's districts received online access to the iHRIS Manage system, enabling HR data updates in real time. Districts were then able to use the system to:

Identify the exact number of staff in the district

Analyze staffing gaps

Identify job applicants that have illegally left positions at other facilities

Determine which staff members received additional trainings-important for staff morale, as it helps ensure that staff have equal opportunity to receive additional short course trainings

At the central level, the software was used to conduct quarterly skills audits and has motivated the integration of a number of HR information reports.

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