Lateral
thinking suggests that ‘time-to-productivity’ is a process ripe for
cost-cutting via rigorous examination and automation of some HR processes. Two
software companies, Business Layers and Authoria HR, offer radical and
complementary solutions. Howard Popeck investigates
Business
layer’ day one
Day
One automates the critical, time-sensitive process of provisioning people
throughout the organisation. Every employee can access what they need according
to their profile – a group of attributes created for each individual. Their
digital identify stays with them as they move through the company. Changes to
names, locations, status and more are automatically recorded and provisioned
resources are dynamically updated. The entire provisioning history is recorded
to help uncover bottlenecks.
An
individual’s change in status is typically registered via PeopleSoft, SAP-HR,
or Oracle. Day One ties together an employer’s directories, databases and
‘people centric’ applications such as HR, resource planning systems and network
management systems through a browser-based application centred on forms and
forms processing.
If
(or when) people leave, they are simply ‘de-provisioned’ by Day One and are
securely and systematically disconnected from all resources, thereby creating
an added level of security.
As
the line between the HR function and the supporting IT infrastructure continues
to blur, ‘e-provisioning’ will become increasingly crucial to business
prosperity. The ultimate objective is that personnel will always be connected –
seamlessly and securely – anywhere around the world, at any time, to all the
systems that affect business operations.
The
Day One designers have done an excellent job of building a very intuitive
interface that is extremely easy to work with. Taking into account the savings
in efficiency – thereby freeing up expensively trained HR personnel to focus on
the challenging issues, not the routine mundane ones – it seems assured of
expanding its market penetration.
Authoria
HR – personalised answers
Inductee
regret, whereby a new recruit experiences feelings of concern, sometimes to the
extent of panic both before joining and organisation and for a period
thereafter, is a reality. A bit like your first day at a new school. Obviously
it has an negative impact on productivity. Frustration in obtaining basic
information from hard-pressed HR staff doesn’t help!
While
the Day One software described above ensures the new employee is properly
provisioned with the hardware and digital tools necessary to carry out their
job, Authoria HR seeks to reassure them by providing accurate, timely HR
information on demand.
Authoria
HR delivers intelligent, personalised, web-based answers to thousands of global
benefits and HR policy questions. It instantly and dynamically generates
answers to employee questions based on their individual needs. The range of
self-service benefit subjects are comprehensive and expanding. Â
This
out-of-the-box content gives HR managers a head start in creating scheme
information online. Designed to handle even the most complex schemes, it
captures information by walking the user through a series of questions before
organising and producing the information online.
The
scheme data is stored as content in a knowledgebase containing thousands of
rules and variables to help manage changes and updates. So when a benefit level
changes, it is changed in one place and the benefit level is updated across the
entire scheme. And it’s personalised to each of the employees. A static-text
website can’t do this – Authoria HR can.
A
web browser is all you need and integration tools with PeopleSoft and SAP are
available. The statistics log ensures management knows who accessed what and
when.
The
benefits include improved service to employees and managers, increased
perception of benefits’ value, reduced HR admin costs, improved focus on
strategic HR objectives rather than mundane admin functions and a streamlined
process with employee self-service and real-time, personalised information.
In
summary, Authoria HR ensures all your HR knowledge is accessible to employees
anytime, anywhere – and it is simple to use, despite the underlying
technological sophistication.
Organisational
security risks:
The
Financial Times at http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3EFWYZJZC
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A
full list of Authoria self-service benefit subjects and other information
www.authoria.com
