The arrival of e-HR technology – automated admin, integrated databases and Self Service access for all – can equal cost-savings and precious time-savings for HR teams, freeing up more time for strategic activities.
The missing part of the equation here – and the most important part – is the involvement of people. For the benefits to materialise, organisations will need to ensure their workforce understand, appreciate and take part in the e-HR revolution. Charles Gunn, Practice Manager at RebusHR outlines the areas that organisations need to consider while implementing a new Self Service system.
Access
It’s important to have a clear profile of the range of employees in mind. What kinds of people will have access to a PC on their desktop, do you have staff who are going to be on the road for most of the time, or do you have staff with no access to a PC, perhaps in a factory environment. If only half your workforce can get access to the self service system, then what happens to the other half? If you still have to provide a paper-based service for them, the inherent cost savings of a self service platform may be eroded by the cost of continuing to maintain the ‘old’ process.
The solution to this situation may be the use of kiosks, PCs that are made available where people are actually working, on the factory shopfloor, in the canteen or in a back office. Another option could be ‘administrator self service’, where employees can call an administrator who does have access to the system, similar to a telephone banking service.
Usability
Familiarity with user interfaces is becoming less and less of a problem. In fact, more the reverse. People are used to booking flights, holidays, and shopping online, and are beginning to expect to be able to have the same convenience at work. But still, there may be some people who have never used a PC, who don’t have English as their first language, or have a disability affecting their access to the system.
If it’s going to be a true service for everyone, the system needs to be usable by all, which will mean ensuring kiosks are accessible , people are trained to use them and special needs are catered for. As an example, access for partially-sighted staff , may be enabled by using commercially available voice recognition software.
Resistance
There will inevitably be resistance from some people to changes in daily work routines. This usually comes from those who see admin as strictly an HR job, or feel their time is too precious to the organisation to be spent on admin tasks. This can be overcome by designing the process to ensure it takes as little time as possible, and less time than the paper-based tasks that would have been done anyway. The benefits of accurate data need to be explained, not least for managers who can base decision-making on accessible, timely report data. Managers themselves will need to be involved in ensuring the accuracy of data. If good data is important to them, they will take responsibility for ensuring their staff are using the system regularly.
Communications
Self Service can’t be rammed down people’s throats. Every opportunity needs to be taken to communicate, and the job needs to be started as early as possible. Besides using the standard routes for delivering company information, noticeboards, newsletters and the intranet, organisations have used giveaways such as mousemats with details on accessing the system, and prize draws, to generate interest and a preparation for change.
You’ll always have one group who aren’t really interested in what’s happening, and another who’ll be questioning what it is and what it’s actually going to be used for. The latter are the ideal people to act as a consultative group, to make suggestions on content and to pilot the initial systems.
For workforces not used to dealing with IT systems, time will need to be made for providing training during worktime, or if more appropriate to your organisation, self learning sessions over lunchtimes or after work and each department should be assigned a representative with good knowledge of the system to deal with queries.
Self Service systems should be set up to monitor usage, and in this way HR can identify those people who need further encouragement and an explanation of what it can do for them. Ongoing communications are needed to keep employees informed of new services. Again, the benefit of a well designed Self Service system is that it will log when the user has last logged on and can provide an update on new features since that point. The system can be used to automatically guide people through relevant screens at appropriate times. For example, the first time people log on, a ‘wizard’ or menu-driven screens will allow people to change the information held on them, and each year the system would take them through the same process to keep the data fresh.
Technical support
Self Service needs to be a 24/7 system, as many employees will want to get access at home, particularly if it’s providing payroll or flexible benefits information. It is unlikely to be successful if it’s only available, or only has technical support during normal working hours. Self Service in some ways is an ambassador for the company as whole, and if you’re putting effort into promoting its benefits and importance for the working of the company, it must not be unreliable. For this reason, Self Service must be based on a stable and proven platform. Think carefully about building an in-house system, and keep in mind that constant support may well be needed.
Benefits
The ‘what’s in it for me?’ is probaly the most important factor . The clearer the benefits to each individual employee the more powerful a tool the Self Service system will be for capturing information for the business. Organisations need to find the so-called ‘killer application’, the feature that makes everyone automatically want to log on. For some people this could be something like making expenses claims, a process that might have been painful in the past, involving forms and getting approval from more than one member of staff. Other examples could be online timesheets, holiday booking or for managers, simply access to valuable HR information.
By adding in ‘non work’ content, perhaps social activities, noticeboards, access to the internet and work/life balance topics, the employee may realise other benefits and again be encouraged to use the system more often. Offer users the opprotunities to suggest enhancements or extra services for future phases and try and build these into your rollout plans. If you can reach the stage where your users demand and define the future requirements you will know the system is becoming successful.
