Modest yet powerful, assertive yet endlessly helpful… have you met self-service yet?
Let me do a quick introduction here: Self-service, or ESS in HR parlance, is a power-packed information suite built for the employee.
A one-stop-shop for all her HR information needs, if you like.
Why should you care, you ask? I’ll cut straight to the chase. Here’s why:
- Experience a sharp reduction in time and effort spent in directing queries to HR
- Spending time chasing emails becomes a thing of the past
- Employees experience higher satisfaction with HR processes
- Employee engagement and productivity rises
All this, with one simple move - adoption of cloud HR software.
Here’s a closer look at how employee self-service can result in higher employee efficiency and productivity.
Queries to HR reduce sharply
Employee self-service affords you the luxury of allocating your HR team for more strategic tasks.
How does it achieve this?
By distributing the administrative tasks relating to employee information, leave requests or approvals, attendance tracking and correction, payroll, etc., among the employees themselves.
With ESS in place, employees can edit their own information, view their real-time attendance and leave data and access a plethora of detailed information relating to payroll.
Managers can focus on business-critical tasks
ESS calls for minimal intervention from managers to handle their teams.
The ready availability of information to employees and managers alike means more clarity and less confusion in several areas of functioning including leave and attendance.
No longer do managers have to chase old emails or base their judgment on subjective takes on critical matters such as leaves taken and the like.
Higher employee efficiency
With the implementation of ESS, the efficiency of employees is seen to rise.
This is brought about by a combination of automation and data availability.
Less time is spent populating data on several fronts thanks to the automation of the task and the ready availability of data means no more time spent chasing the HR team for information.
Delays are avoided
Modern cloud HR and payroll software, such as greytHR, offer anytime, anywhere access to employee information through a mobile app.
This aids in avoiding unnecessary delays to urgent leave requests, attendance regularizations, and the like. Critical documents, such as payslips which are often required for loan applications and the like, are readily available to the employee.
Moreover, such ready access means better informed and happier, more productive employees.
RELATED: A taste of life with employee self-service
Process automation brings in efficiencies
The typical ESS portal automates tasks such as income tax declaration, reimbursement claims, issue logging and response, etc.
Built-in limits are set by the system and even tips are provided to employees based on their needs.
Also, the system triggers mail alerts when process deadlines are approaching and the like. Such automation thus reduces the time spent on these tasks by a huge margin.
Thus, employee self-service improves organizational efficiency and productivity through a combination of automation, the ready availability of information and an intuitive user interface.
