Making The Case For ESS And Onboarding

Hagel and Company have put together an excellent article on how to build a business case for buying HR software. The arguments they make are designed to convince executives to invest in HR technology such as ESS even when the economy is taking a beating. Here are their arguments and some thoughts about how implementing an ESS and Onboarding at the same time might be an even smarter move.


HR Software Must Align With Business Goals

Pretty much all businesses want to increase productivity while lowering costs, so that’s a good goal to align your HR software purchase with. Reducing or eliminating paper forms is one way an ESS can help achieve this goal. It also means each employee is responsible for making updates to his/her own data directly in the database, saving HR the trouble of rekeying data into the HRMS.

Sound familiar? Yes, Universal Onboarding does the same thing from day one when most employee paperwork is typically generated. When you use automated onboarding, new hires will naturally adopt use of the ESS as well. It promotes a DIY culture that can minimize routine employee queries to HR. Interfacing onboarding directly with an ESS portal means no extra work for HR in setting the new employee up in the system.

Stop Wasting Time

Hagel and Company point out that 80% of HR’s time is spent on low value, routine processes. They don’t mention where they got that statistic, but even if your organization only spends 50% of HR’s labor hours on repetitive admin, that’s too much. Automating the transfer of ESS and onboarding data into an HRMS or other back end systems saves HR time and reduces errors. The time saved can be used to mine data from these applications to be used in developing better HCM strategies.

Positive Framing is Essential

Check out the full article for how the author suggests framing your business proposal. It involves steps like identifying the functional requirements for the system, explaining the shortcomings of your current system, and more. One step that differs is the ROI calculation. The author mentions the costs being loaded at the front end. That’s true for traditionally licensed software. With SaaS, the costs remain constant (and affordable) over time.

Combine Your Efforts

With either approach, there will be a time investment with IT and HR to implement the onboarding software. The time commitment varies depending on the number of integrations required. Assessing onboarding and ESS at the same time makes it possible to ensure the systems are compatible (Universal Onboarding is compatible with most ESS portals). Plus, rolling the two projects into one might make it easier to get IT to collaborate.

HR Software Metrics

Now more than ever, HR is looking at hard numbers to make decisions about HCM strategies. This is becoming easier since HR software vendors are incorporating better tools for analysis and reporting into their products. These days it’s possible to measure in detail how a wide spectrum of workforce related decisions impact business outcomes. But evaluating the past in light of the present is just one way to look at the data. It can also be used for predictive purposes. Workforce.com has put together an article outlining how some companies are using workforce metrics for forecasting and planning – the latest strategic implementation of HR technology for employers who want an edge on the competition.


Adequate Staffing Requires Foresight

Predicting the need for and availability of labor is the most obvious type of HR analysis. Recruiters need to understand how a combination of factors such as future growth and potential attrition of key existing employees will impact staffing requirements and capabilities. This makes it possible to create retention and succession strategies targeting positions that are at the highest risk. Appropriate use of predictive HR metrics could also lead to better choices during recessions. Too many employers have found out the hard way that they laid off the wrong people over the last few years. Now, there’s a critical shortage in areas like development and middle management where employees are not easily replaced.

What Could Change for HR?

The emphasis on forecasting may lead to a greater demand for HR statisticians. The ideal candidate would be someone who understands software (like an HRIS analyst) so the best tools are implemented for capturing the right kind of data. This statistician would also have to understand how concepts like employee engagement intersect with hard numbers.

Onboarding is Ripe for Further Analysis

One area that is being studied for its ability to predict turnover is onboarding. According to information compiled by the Aberdeen Group, companies that have a well developed acculturation onboarding strategy fare better than their counterparts in retention of talent. Onboarding software plays an important role in ensuring new hires are fully equipped and engaged. Applications such as our Universal Onboarding and Acculturation Portal provide analytic tools to help HR measure outcomes and identify ways to increase efficiency in onboarding.

Oracle Brings Fusion To HR Software

In the field of HR software, Oracle is one of the most readily recognized names. As a market leader, it’s long been the company employers watch to see which way the wind is blowing with advancements in HR technology. However, for a number of years Oracle’s response to the development of SaaS as a delivery model has lagged behind smaller, more agile contenders.


Perhaps the software giant didn’t want to acknowledge any advantages of SaaS because it would make their own licensing model look less desirable. Here’s an example of an article lambasting Oracle president Charles Phillips for spreading what the author describes as misconceptions about SaaS. These include several erroneous beliefs about what customers supposedly “want”. As the past few years have demonstrated pretty conclusively, Phillips was wrong on several counts. Customers want flexibility, cost efficiency, and vendor accountability – three features that are often lacking with traditional licensing but that are a core part of SaaS.

Oracle Announces Fusion Solution

Now, Oracle is finally catching up with the competition. The company is preparing to roll out a whole suite of HCM applications that will be available via SaaS as well as on-premise licensing. The Fusion elements will include 15 HR modules ranging from existing products like payroll management to brand new talent management apps. Some of the Fusion features were gained through acquisition of smaller HR software companies; others have been custom built specifically for the Fusion line. One primary focus is on promoting a user-friendly, highly visual experience for HR administrators and managers.

A possible effect of having a SaaS version of Oracle HR software available may be a shift in the customer base. If the pricing is right, smaller businesses that could not previously afford Oracle’s license fees might be able to try these web-delivered services at a lower cost. It remains to be seen whether Oracle will be able to evolve its software at the pace seen with other HR vendors who have been using the SaaS model for many years. Typically, the philosophy and strategy behind agile application development is something that the largest HR software companies struggle to grasp.

While these companies often have a comprehensive product base, they don’t necessarily have the Best of Breed solution in many areas. That’s certainly true of onboarding. Right now, there’s still no solution that even comes close to Emerald Software’s Universal Onboarding for speeding new hires to productivity while ensuring full HR compliance.

What Are The Benefits Of HRMS?

Why is it that a company that is willing to spend big bucks on Enterprise Resource Planning software is sometimes reluctant to make a significant investment in a Human Resource Management System? There are usually several reasons:


• HR processes often receive serious attention only when things go wrong. Executives are used to taking a reactive approach rather than a proactive approach for handling needs and requirements in this department.

• Historically, HR has been given only limited access to the “strategy table” where long term business goals are discussed. Many HR professionals lack experience gathering objective data on HR processes, developing a strategy for improvement, and communicating this information to executives in a compelling way.

• Employers are well versed in outside market factors that can influence profitability but unaware of internal compliance issues that greatly increase financial risk.

A business that wouldn’t dream of using outdated technology to track customer orders or inventory may still be using a legacy system for HR. If an employer believes that HR needs only a database to store information on employees, this mindset makes a certain amount of sense. However, the functionality necessary to retain, distribute, analyze, audit, and leverage data to effectively manage a workforce is only available in an actual HRMS. A Human Resources department cannot reach its full potential without this tool.

HRMS Components & Benefits

Payroll, benefits administration, workforce management, and time/attendance are the four basic components Clay Scroggin lists in his excellent article on HRMS. Each one of these plays a role in allowing an employer to track and control costs. More sophisticated workforce management systems that incorporate applicant tracking, employee development, and succession planning features offer much more. They can be used to fully realize the potential of each worker and of the employee base as a whole. These programs may also include ESS and MSS portals that further reduce HR labor while increasing end user satisfaction.

The fact that more processes can be automated using an HRMS is one thing that makes it attractive to executive decision makers. This is an area that HR should focus on when making a business case to acquire an HRMS. Another important characteristic of a well designed system is that it increases compliance. For example, few employers know all the rules for retention of various types of workplace documents. At Emerald Software, compliance is our #1 focus. Our Universal Onboarding application is an example of a module that can be added to any existing HRMS system to decrease the risk of fines, penalties, and litigation.

More HR Tech Best Practices

Last week we looked at a couple of items from Workforce Management’s latest technology whitepaper (go here to get your free copy). This time, let’s explore a few more concepts from the paper’s contributors and how they relate to onboarding practices and HR software.


Virtual Learning for Leadership

John Ambrose from Skillsoft points to the benefits of using online training to develop new leaders within an organization. The lower cost and higher convenience level of web-based education make this a popular option for many employers. It’s a particularly helpful technology for newly hired managers who need to get up to speed quickly without spending too much time away from the workplace.

From the perspective of social support, virtual interaction can be helpful in mentoring employees at every level to encourage leadership growth. Online training and skills testing implemented during acculturation onboarding can also make it easier for employers to identify high-potential employees early on. Emerald Software’s products support integration with virtual training vendors and internal social networking platforms to help achieve these objectives.

HR and Employees Benefit from Tech Trends

Sumtotal Systems offers a roundup of 6 trends that can dramatically increase strategic performance for HR. The move toward software that captures information for analysis is one of the most interesting. HR needs solid business intelligence data to boost productivity and decrease operation costs. In onboarding, this type of data can be collected and used to measure the average time to productivity for new hires and areas for HR process improvement.

Another trend is the implementation of employee self service portals. Putting an onboarding module in place is the logical first step for organizations that want to make workers more self-sufficient and ease the burden on HR. A well designed onboarding application can be set up to automatically distribute error and omission free new hire data to an ESS platform. From there, it can be updated by the worker as changes occur over time.

HR Tech Best Practices

Workforce.com has a new whitepaper available on Best Practices in HR Technology. It’s free (registration required), so make sure to request a copy. The paper covers different aspects of technology selection and implementation with contributions from major players like SAP, Ultimate Software and Workday. The first segment is about questions HR should ask potential vendors. Not surprisingly, 2 of the 7 questions are about SaaS. Customers expect 24/7 accessibility and selecting a web-based application is one of the easiest ways to ensure this.

Ultimate Software also talks about the latest HR technology buzzword “unified”. So, you can expect to see more discussions comparing pros and cons of unification vs. integration – just like the current discussions about integrating vs. interfacing. Of course, as a suite software provider Ultimate Software has a vested interest in highlighting any problems with integrating applications from multiple vendors. There’s a balance to be struck between the ease of using a unified system and the strategic benefits of selecting and integrating Best of Breed modules. Chuck Ros talks about precisely this topic in his ere.net article here.

A Payroll Provide Weighs In

Perquest offers some interesting insights about the complexity of HR. According to a recent research study, human capital management at many mid-sized companies is as complex as it is for large organizations. The belief that the challenges faced by HR are directly tied to the size of the workforce is widespread but just doesn’t hold true. So, mid-sized employers may be allocating less money than they should to strategic technology initiatives for HR. This can have serious repercussions.

The fact is that a mid-sized company must meet the same standards as a large company for labor law compliance. The actual risks associated with non-compliance in HR may actually be higher for mid-sized businesses than for large businesses. A single costly incident can disproportionately impact an organization with less capital and fewer high-priced lawyers on speed dial.

Perquest noted that the complexity of compliance is one reason employers often outsource various HR and Payroll functions. However, there are some processes such as onboarding that can’t be effectively outsourced (since using a PEO doesn’t necessarily protect against non-compliance penalties). So, HR may want to use a blend of outsourcing and internal process improvements to achieve their compliance objectives. Implementing Universal Onboarding is a good place to start for mid-sized businesses since the costs are low, ROI is swift, and the benefits are easy to communicate to upper management.

What Is Your HRIS Input?

HR software expert Clay Scroggin has an interesting perspective on one aspect of HRIS that some clients don’t think about until after they’ve bought a product – how much input will be required? He breaks down the topic into several different categories. First, there’s the data you will have to transfer as a one-time effort. This could include importing from other existing programs such as from a simple employee database into a full service suite. He points out that benefits data is often not directly transferrable and has to be typed in painstakingly by hand (although this is changing in the age of SaaS applications which often have a high level of built-in interoperability).


Then, there’s the data that needs to be updated on a regular basis. An interface can allow this to happen electronically; but there’s often still some human action required to set the process off. Even if it’s as simple as pushing a button to run the importing function once a week, that’s still something that HR has to remember to do - or IT has to set up a script to run the transfer of data automatically. There will always be differences in content between HRIS and other systems (such as Payroll) in terms of real time data unless they are actually fully integrated with one another. There’s a third type of input, but you’ll have to read Scroggin’s article to find out what it is.

What’s the Input for Universal Onboarding Software?

An onboarding module requires input just like any other aspect of HRIS. The first set of data is input by the new hire. Some of this information may actually be imported from a recruiting module if one is interfaced with the onboarding system – but either way that part of data entry is done by the job candidate or new hire rather than by HR staff. Once the new hire’s part is done, the forms are forwarded to the hiring manager and/or I9 administrator for review and final signatures. Input of information into e-Verify may be required at this time. The distribution of data to other back end systems can be carried out automatically based on internally determined rules. HR may also need to add new forms or update old ones from time to time (e.g. company policies). However, all government forms are kept current in the Universal Onboarding library by Emerald Software Group so HR doesn’t have to worry about that particular input.