K.L. Wong
Vice President of Research and Development
Workbrain
klwong@workbrain.com
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Taking Employee and Manager Self-Service To The Next Level
Various types of employee and manager self-service solutions have become available in the past decade. Companies have invested in these solutions to reduce costs and lessen the administrative burden on HR and managers. For employees, self-service has given them more control over managing their work-life balance.
However, these solutions have been mostly limited to very basic HR transactions, such as benefits enrollment, personal information changes, and uniform procurement. The payback they provide is limited.
Now we have reached a crossroads. More advanced self-service applications are available, and these solutions enable companies to automate and streamline the more complex, operational aspects of their business. These applications provide a quicker, more compelling return on investment (ROI) because they address the most difficult, time-consuming processes related to managing a large workforce.
These solutions have been referred to
in many ways-employee relationship management (ERM), human capital management (HCM), employee logistics, etc. The most common name for this type of platform, ERM, plays off of the CRM moniker. Analogous to customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, which reduce the cost of servicing customers while improving service levels, ERM solutions automate interactions between a company and its employees, reducing the cost of doing business, while at the same time improving employee productivity.
Should companies invest in these more advanced self-service applications? The answer is yes; the challenging part is determining what they need, the goals they want to achieve, and what vendor and solutions to select.
Advanced manager and employee self-service applications in action
These applications enable a company to operate more efficiently and control costs by automating the processes around such important tasks as performance and incentive management,
scheduling, shift bidding and trading, skills and training management. Employees and supervisors can take a more active role in managing their roles and responsibilities, and gain valuable insight into workplace information.
Let's look at an example of how these applications can transform a typical employee process.
Imagine an hourly employee at a large manufacturer who wishes to trade his shift so that he can attend a family function. To do this today, he will have to:
- Find a co-worker with the right skills to cover his shift
- Ask a supervisor for permission to have the co-worker cover his shift
- Remind his supervisor to update his schedule
- Review his paycheck carefully to make sure he is paid properly
This manual process involves significant processing costs, is time-consuming, inefficient and inaccurate. Silos of information about employee availability, employee skills, employee schedules, time reporting and
payroll records further complicate this process. As a result, organizations suffer from many unplanned absences due to poor record keeping, high overtime costs to cover unplanned absences, and multiple pay corrections to correct inaccurate pay records.
With the new breed of advanced self-service applications, the worker can post his shift to an online job board, have a qualified co-worker elect to cover the shift and trust that schedules and pay will be automatically updated, in real-time. This process eliminates information silos in the organization so that he would not spend unproductive time tracking down the information needed to organize his schedule. More importantly, automating shift trades saves the employer significant costs by reducing unplanned absences, decreasing overtime costs related to unplanned absences, reducing retroactive pay adjustments and increasing manager and supervisor focus on strategic activities.
Evaluate your needs
Before
rushing into anything, decide what you want to accomplish with self-service solutions. Determine what is valuable for your company and its employees.
Depending on the company, the goal is usually a combination of reducing costs, increasing the productivity of employees, improving decision-making, and boosting employee satisfaction. All of these needs can be met with self-service, but many companies are also considering the bigger picture.
Many processes are still administered manually and inefficiently, but there is no way to address everything at once. Where should you start? What are the key considerations?
- First, determine what applications will best support your overall project goals.
- Second, think about what processes are the most frequent, complex and inefficient. The automation of these processes will bring the most bang for the buck.
- Third, think about what types of solutions are apt to get buy-in
and funding from company executives.
- Finally, what systems are already in place? It is important to consider how these systems will interact with what you plan to add-on.
Outlining goals is critical, but just as important is setting metrics for success. This requires a process for measuring the outcome of an implementation. These could include determining the amount of money saved by eliminating paper forms, or tabulating the average increase in productivity for all workers on the retail assembly line.
Review the offerings
So, now you know your project goals, where the inefficiencies lie, and are ready to do something about it. Review your options with the following key capabilities/questions in mind to help you make a sound decision about the right solution for your company:
Ease of use: Select a system that is intuitive and requires minimal training, otherwise you risk cost overruns and employee backlash against the system.
Stickiness: Can the applications be linked to employee time and labor data? This is an advantage because it drives adoption - employees have to track time and be scheduled so there is a built-in reason to use it.
Speed of implementation: How fast can your vendor get it up and running? Look for a pure Web-based solution that can be installed quickly so your company can begin reaping the benefits.
Scalability: Can it be easily implemented in large-scale enterprises? Does it have a stable, robust architecture? Be sure you have a highly scalable system that can easily be rolled out to multiple locations.
Flexibility: Does it allow for multiple approvals and notifications, can it handle complex security models? Look for a system with proprietary authoring tools that can easily configure forms, workflows, and reports, as well comprehensive team and functional security.
Integration: Make sure the solution
easily integrates with your existing systems, including HRMS, payroll systems, time clocks, portals and ERP systems. This allows you to protect your investment and eliminates the need for costly customization.
Following these tips will help you ensure that whatever solution or platform you choose does what you want it to do. Whether it is reducing costs, improving efficiency or increasing employee satisfaction, advanced self-service solutions can be very powerful tools.
K.L. Wong is Vice President of Research and Development for Workbrain, Inc., a leading provider of employee relationship management (ERM) solutions. He is responsible for all aspects of product development at Workbrain, including program management, development, quality assurance and release management.
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