Why Assigning Employee Codes Matters: Insights for NGOs on Their Benefits

Hello all, I want to know the importance of an Employee Code or ID. I am currently working for an NGO, and we are in the process of allotting employee numbers. Before assigning an employee code, I want to understand its importance and how it can be helpful for us.

Hi Mehvish, Employee number is very important in an organization. When an employee joins an organization, he/she will be allotted a unique reference number that should be used for all future correspondence with HR, finance, etc.

Regards,
Vikas Jain

Hello All, We are about to start assigning employee IDs for our staff. Is there anything, in particular, to keep in mind while deciding on the format? We have considered using an alpha-numeric code, for example, NCDR01 where NC is an abbreviation for the company's name, DR represents the designation, and 01 indicates the employee's number in the organization. Could anyone assist me in correcting any mistakes or pointing out anything important that I may have missed?

Looking forward to your valuable input.

Regards,
Padmashree

Hi Ali, I suggest that the code should include "the period (year) of appointment" of the employee to the company or organization. For example, (NCDR01 - 02) where '02' represents the year 2002. This is optional but vital.

Ronald

I agree with what Padma quoted. However, tracking the designation of the staff wouldn't be necessary since it is not permanent information. We have another option called Position Number. There are instances where promotions are applicable, and in such cases, the designation will change.

Do we need to revise the staff ID upon promotion? It's not possible, right?

It would always be better to capture only the permanent details such as:

- Year of joining/Date of joining
- Location
- Etc.

Ensure that the number generation is in sequential order and follows alphabetical order in case multiple persons join on the same date; this would be ideal.

Please consider using only numbers for employee IDs. Other information about the employee may be stored under other fields.

Mapping of information and MIS becomes very simple. In case you work with MS Excel extensively with employee data, you will appreciate the usage of numbers for employee IDs, as most ERPs throw data in MS Excel format.

Hi all, I am working in a software organization. In my opinion, we assign the employee ID card in the following format: company name, joining month, joining year, 001nth number...
For example: AST1006012.

If one employee has resigned, can we assign that employee number to a new joiner?

Regards,
shah81

Keeping Employee Numbers Simple

Employee numbers (IDs) should be kept simple. In our organization, we start the employee numbers in ascending order based on joining dates, such as 0098, to facilitate easy record-keeping. Other details like designation and department can be easily sorted from Management Information Systems (MIS) and personnel files, so it is advisable to keep it simple.

Hi, this is Shaik. Please suggest how to allot employee numbers. In our company, we have a head office, workshop, and site offices. Can it be given like H001 for HO, W002 for the workshop, and S003 for site office employees? Please advise.

Thanks & regards,
Shaik

Employee Numbering System

1) I think employee numbers should remain numerical except in the case of organizations with different business units. If the organization doesn't have any business units, just one constant prefix of alphabet characters (maximum 3) should be fine. If the organization has business units, then three characters from each business unit should be the prefix for an employee number.

Example:

- An organization called Sutra Services Pvt Ltd (with NO business units): SU
- If the same organization has multiple business units, say, SutraHR, SutraLite, and sumHR:
- SHR
- SLI
- SUM

2) Post the prefix, everything should be numeric/numbers. I think the best way to do this is to follow the order: "Year-Month-Date-Number".

Example:

- SU130617001
- SHR130617001

3) I have seen companies also trying to include Level/Grade within the employee number. However, I don't see any real reason why it would be useful to keep grades within the number. The number is unique enough with the above format, and for assigning a grade, you can include a separate column in the spreadsheet or, if you're using software, it should be able to give you another extra field for employee data.

4) Final point, no two employees should ever have the same employee ID/Number. The whole concept of an employee number/ID is a unique identity. This identity will be useful not only when the employee is working in your organization but also in the future when he/she may not be with you. So all records, history, and data will be linked with the same ID for life in your organization. Any mix-up will cause unnecessary confusion and loss of data.

Can we have the employee number in this format?

[Employee Number Format]

- <Employee number> <Dept code>
- R1190 (A)

‘R’ is the beginning letter of our company, <1190> is the employee number in serial format, and <(A)> is the department code.

Can we have different starting employee numbers for each category? For example, Staff could start with S001 and Workers with W201.