A report from Webster Buchanan Research and Computers in Personnel found 11% of employers let staff view their pay information online and 38% intend to add this function over the next 12 months.
But 78% think the difficulty of getting relevant data together undermines their reporting capability. And 46% believe that even if they had the right HR software, they lack significant skills within their department to take advantage.
Over the next year 51% of HR professionals expect to spend the same amount of money on HR software than in 2008, 14% will spend more and 35% are cutting back.
The survey also shows HR professionals are undecided as to how successful social media sites are in communicating with employees - 38% find blogs, wikis and social networking useful and a third do not. Similarly, 38% think sites such as Facebook and Twitter are a useful method in recruiting staff but 20% do not.
Chris Berry, managing director of Computers in Personnel, said: "At a time when organisations are so focused on cutting costs, established technologies such as HR and payroll self-service can generate real efficiencies while also improving the quality of HR service.
"Over time, we expect adoption of some Web 2.0 technologies to follow suit, as organisations see the value in using low-cost tools to engage with employees and job candidates."
Employers plan to increase HR software for payroll
Payroll self service is growing in popularity among HR professionals with 17% already providing electronic payslips and 42% planning to do so within the next year.
