The introduction of e-HR at Customs and Excise in the autumn will see a
third of the HR team redeployed in frontline roles.
The system, which will take 12 months to implement fully, will allow the
government department’s 2,300 staff to access and fill in their personal
records, holiday, travel and expenses forms via the intranet.
Line managers will also be able to access staff data including sickness
absence records.
As a result of the move, 200 of Customs and Excise’s 530 HR staff will
transfer to frontline roles, including tax collection and customs officers. The
redeployed staff will come from regional offices that will have their HR teams
halved. A new call centre will also handle HR enquiries.
Mike Rickwood, HR director of Customs and Excise, said: "We are
embracing e-HR in a big way. The move will help us save resources and create a
smoother process.
"At the moment, staff fill out paper forms which get sent down to
personnel to be keyed into payroll. Staff will now be able to do it direct from
their desks, cutting the amount of paper used by about 70 per cent."
The organisation will also develop e-learning on the intranet. It already
has a company-wide CV database, which is a key part of its recruitment and
appraisal system.
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By devolving recruitment to line managers and harnessing the intranet,
Customs and Excise has cut average recruitment times significantly.
By Paul Nelson
