SID - Another revolutionary innovation from BSG

BSG proves that innovative use of technology can and does streamline processes and increase efficiency, comments Liam Harcourt-Wood, BSG (Africa).

BSG (Africa), 2006 Proudly South African Innovator of the Year, uses technology in an innovative way to streamline company processes, increase efficiency levels and enhance employee satisfaction, growth and development.

After a careful gap analysis of companies' operating procedures, BSG identified various processes within the company that were viewed as time-intensive, cumbersome and inconsistent with contemporary environmental practices.

In order to streamline these crucial yet cumbersome internal processes to increase efficiency in, firstly, the HR department and provide staff with a more productive and user friendly HR system, BSG developed the 'Staff Information Database' (SID). Utilising the same approach BSG uses when conducting client work, BSG embarked on this innovation by first identifying the strategic objective, which is to make BSG a great place to work by eliminating unnecessary administration.

This strategic objective became a project, managed according to BSG project management principles. Resources were dedicated to analysing the business case as well as drafting and producing business requirements, functional specifications and technical specifications. SID was then developed and implemented by the BSG Software Solutions Team. Prior to the launch of SID, BSG staff participated in a competition to develop a name for the new system. Although SID is exceptionally easy to navigate and operate, training was also conducted to help BSG staff get the most out of the new system.

BSG operates in a consulting environment, which means our greatest assets are our people. As such, there are vital considerations to be taken into account when allocating people to projects and SID facilitates the process by making this data accessible. SID is a system that improves internal processes and collaboration and can even be accessed from remote locations. It contains details of staff, projects, performance, resourcing as well as other HR processes such as leave and recruitment. The system also facilitates knowledge management, allowing staff to search effectively through past project data. In short, SID serves as a portal where staff can collaborate with minimal effort.

Performance management is facilitated with online employee performance appraisals, which provide qualitative measurement through self and peer assessment based on each employee's set goals. Training needs are managed individually and, in addition to this, SID functionality includes scheduling of training courses and provides information for SETA reporting requirements and career development pathways. Leave administration is made simpler with a live leave application and approval process, recording availability details and a leave status for each individual employee.

BSG (Africa) prides itself as having a leadership philosophy that is based on care and growth of employees. It comes as no surprise then that SID comes standard with an employee morale gauge. It uses spirit levels to evaluate levels of employee satisfaction, both on particular projects and with the organisation as a whole. Staff members are always kept informed with SID's notification and knowledge sharing capabilities. These include notifications and reminders for upcoming events, dynamic to-do lists and daily news as well as integration with the BSG Wiki and the BSG Blog to help facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and information.

Having been designed with a flexible Google Web Toolkit platform, the programme has a desktop application feel while running in a Web browser. Although the easy-to-use system can be accessed from local and remote locations, it remains secure. Scalable and customised, SID not only automates the traditionally manual HR processes, but it is also resource and environmentally conscious in that it saves time and paper.

"SID is really our innovation made visible by our staff for our staff," says Liam Harcourt-Wood, "by allowing staff to spend more time on doing what they do well and less on administrative functions, we are showing the BSG team that we are consistently considerate and respectful of their needs."

Previously, applying for leave was quite labour and time-intensive in that it required an employee to print out and fill in a leave application form, which then needed to be submitted to the HR department for approval.

Once the HR representative had finished assessing the application for eligibility, the application needed to be sent to the employee's line manager for approval. Only once that was complete was the employee able to take leave.

In a consulting environment, this can be quite complex as employees and managers are often based at different locations, meaning that transferring hardcopies can become both costly and unsafe. With the introduction of SID, which can be accessed from remote locations if required, eligibility for leave is assessed online, and electronic notification is immediately sent to the employee's line manager via e-mail for approval, resulting in significant time and resource conservation.

Ian Munro, Associate Director, BSG, Jhb, says SID was born out of inefficiencies in two major areas viz performance management and resourcing issues.

Munro says SID is the scientific approach to address both these inefficiencies while still maintaining the qualitative aspects gained from one-to-one interaction with employees. Through SID, BSG is able to co-ordinate performance appraisal cycles resulting in consistency and quality. SID is also an information repository where knowledge is shared, resulting in greater transparency across BSG's projects from billing through to ownership.

SID has become a remarkable business tool and its future looks very bright, with visions of SID going into the marketplace as a support tool in service-based industries.

In summary: SID provides organisations with streamlined processes that include automated leave processes, resourcing and project management, performance appraisal processes, staff databases and address books, training as well as staff history without the paperwork. In addition to dealing with business efficiencies, the tool has a marked effect on staff well-being. Deployment of a customised SID solution creates an environment of care and growth for employees, not least because of its capacity to streamline internal communications. It also means that an organisation can use technology effectively so company staff are less burdened with paper-intensive processes and are free to concentrate on their key responsibilities.