HR workloads unchanged despite move to online employee self-service.
At the same time HR departments eliminate tasks through online employee self-service, new tasks pop up.
A new study shows companies across the continent continue with an “aggressive approach to automating HR service delivery.” However, the growth in HR self-service has not significantly decreased the workloads in HR departments.
Just as it was always claimed, human resource management systems and corporate intranets with employee self-service capability remove many of the prosaic, transactional duties from the plates of HR professionals, according to the survey conducted by Towers Perrin.
However, some of those gains are effectively cancelled by an increase in calls by employees unsure about how to use the self-service tools correctly. Similarly, HR finds itself handling more complex questions and queries from a workforce better informed due to information provided on the intranet.
In the past, most employees knew very little about their pension plans.
But once they are given access to a good HRMS, with tools that allow them to do retirement modeling, for example, they quickly develop a much better understanding of the basics of the plan and soon the HR department is receiving more complex, challenging questions, explained Minaz Lalani, Towers Perrin’s Canadian leader on e-business.
The survey shows a dramatic increase in the number of companies that allow employees to register for benefits online; by the end of the year, 60 per cent of respondents to the Towers survey will have this process in place, more than double last year’s number. Similarly, 58 per cent more companies provide employees access to the company HR Web site from home.
However, Lalani believes that while the survey included Canadian companies the numbers are slightly skewed to represent the United States.
The trends are very similar, he said, but Canada typically runs about a year behind. If 60 per cent of companies are offering benefit enrolment online, it’s likely in Canada that number is closer to about 30 or 40 per cent, he said.
Most respondents to the survey said fewer than 10 per cent of inquiries are handled on the HR intranet, confirming most employees are still more comfortable calling the service centre rather than serving themselves online.
“You are never going to go completely self-service,” said Lalani. “The reason being that there are certain complexities that need the human touch.”
He also said some processes or policies are so complex that the costs of programming the system means it isn’t worth while and it’s better to continue to let people administer it.
While the impact on workloads for HR service centres was generally minimal, in some areas like enrolment in training courses respondents reported a substantial reduction in workload (see chart). And a larger number of respondents said HR information was more accurate.
A new study shows companies across the continent continue with an “aggressive approach to automating HR service delivery.” However, the growth in HR self-service has not significantly decreased the workloads in HR departments.
Just as it was always claimed, human resource management systems and corporate intranets with employee self-service capability remove many of the prosaic, transactional duties from the plates of HR professionals, according to the survey conducted by Towers Perrin.
However, some of those gains are effectively cancelled by an increase in calls by employees unsure about how to use the self-service tools correctly. Similarly, HR finds itself handling more complex questions and queries from a workforce better informed due to information provided on the intranet.
In the past, most employees knew very little about their pension plans.
But once they are given access to a good HRMS, with tools that allow them to do retirement modeling, for example, they quickly develop a much better understanding of the basics of the plan and soon the HR department is receiving more complex, challenging questions, explained Minaz Lalani, Towers Perrin’s Canadian leader on e-business.
The survey shows a dramatic increase in the number of companies that allow employees to register for benefits online; by the end of the year, 60 per cent of respondents to the Towers survey will have this process in place, more than double last year’s number. Similarly, 58 per cent more companies provide employees access to the company HR Web site from home.
However, Lalani believes that while the survey included Canadian companies the numbers are slightly skewed to represent the United States.
The trends are very similar, he said, but Canada typically runs about a year behind. If 60 per cent of companies are offering benefit enrolment online, it’s likely in Canada that number is closer to about 30 or 40 per cent, he said.
Most respondents to the survey said fewer than 10 per cent of inquiries are handled on the HR intranet, confirming most employees are still more comfortable calling the service centre rather than serving themselves online.
“You are never going to go completely self-service,” said Lalani. “The reason being that there are certain complexities that need the human touch.”
He also said some processes or policies are so complex that the costs of programming the system means it isn’t worth while and it’s better to continue to let people administer it.
While the impact on workloads for HR service centres was generally minimal, in some areas like enrolment in training courses respondents reported a substantial reduction in workload (see chart). And a larger number of respondents said HR information was more accurate.
