Importance of Social Control in Business | Required Skills for Social Controller

Social Control Officer | Social Controller:- Functioning midway between finance and human resources, the social control officer collects, analyzes and summarizes information and social data that will enable the company to optimize human resources policy and its financial costs. Social Control Officer also known as Social Controller, HR Specialist and Social Data Manager.

Why Social Control Officer is Important for Business

Below are few important things, which remind the importance of social control officer for business. As a business student, especially social control officer, you need to remember them all.

Collection and Analysis of Social Data

• Create indicators concerning payroll, turnover, absenteeism, recruitment, internal climate, strikes, time management, mobility, etc.)
• Collect, analyze and synthesize quantitative social information and data.
• Control the consistency and reliability of social data.

Surveys and Statistical Studies

• Respond to ad hoc requests for information.
• Ensure monthly reporting of data: creation of monthly dashboards on several social indicators (number of employees, age pyramid, seniority, turnover …).
• Conducting specific studies (professional equality, work-linked training, monitoring of indicators, costs of HR projects, absenteeism, payroll …).
• Fulfilling legal obligations: social report, NAO, social report, gender equality, DOETH (mandatory annual declaration of employment of disabled workers)

HR Consulting

• Alerting human resources to possible abuses (eg increase in absenteeism, deterioration of the social climate, etc.), setting up specific indicators.
• Propose action plans to improve human resource management
• Measure and anticipate the financial costs of the Group’s HR management and policy.

Social and regulatory monitoring

Monitoring compensation levels and regulatory developments

Possible Activities of Social Control Officer

The social management controller may have the parameters, control and monitoring of the HRIS tools within its scope of activity. It can be in charge of setting up computer tools allowing the sharing of social data within the company.

Variability of Activities

• Not all companies have a Social Management Controller position. This function can be entrusted to the compensation and benefits manager, the HRIS manager or the payroll and personnel administration manager.
• Depending on the sector of activity of the company and the characteristics of the employees, indicators to be set up and analyzes of social control may differ.
• The title of Social Controller is recent. This function was previously carried out by different HR managers or could exist under the name of HR manager with broader missions.
• An HR manager can be exclusively specialized according to the company or its profile on qualitative or quantitative studies.
• Studies qualitative HR: it is to collect and analyze rich and complex information expressed in interviews face to face or in a group. The main HR themes are related to HR development, the degree of attachment of employees to the company, the social climate
• Quantitative HR studies: the data used are exclusively encrypted and often take the form of databases. The main HR themes focus on the consolidation of social data, the global social panorama, the remuneration studies

Required Skills for the Job of Social Control | Social Controller

Technical Skills

• Mastery of specific IT tools related to the company’s HR information systems (SAP, PeopleSoft …) or sufficient computer skills to understand them quickly.
• Good culture in finance and management.
• Statistical skills.
• Culture in human resources to make strategic recommendations and understand the issues involved in a study.
• Perfect mastery of common office tools (especially Excel and Access), or even some statistical tools for the most technical posts (SPAD, SPSS, SAS).
• Professional English according to the scope of the company and the international interlocutors.

Personal Qualities

Taste for numbers, because quantitative information often represents an important part of the work.

• Rigor in the manipulation of data.
• Relational good to get the necessary data and communicate the results.
• Ability to synthesize and analyze data, to develop comprehensible and relevant tables.
• Autonomy because the social management controller is often alone on his activity.
• Adaptability to the regular questions of the different interlocutors.

Factors in the Evolution of the profession of Social Control Officer

The profession of social management controller has appeared in companies for a decade and has developed in particular face the cost pressure, accentuated by the crisis. The emergence of this function is linked to the introduction of the notion of profitability and steering human capital within the HR function. The social management controller must enable the company to better understand the changes in the wage bill.

This function tends to become more professional and we are seeing the creation of training specific to social management control.

Finally, we note that the themes on which management controllers work evolve: in recent years, for example, the management of companies is asking for quantified analyzes on subjects such as diversity, sustainable development