Smart.HR on the Web

Absalom Systems, a local human resource software specialist company, has introduced Smart.HR Employee Self Service (ESS), a Web-based HR service that allows employees to update their personal records and communicate with their supervisors online. It eliminates the traditional paper-based system and allows managers to become more effective in responding to their employees' needs and concerns.

Smart.HR is a suite of simple but highly effective management tools that foster strategic decision-making and enables management and HR professionals to drive and improve performance. It is a technologically advanced HR software solution that has been developed to enable the effective administration and management of people.

Absalom Systems' managing director Brendon Gass says unlike many other complex HR solutions, Smart.HR is delivered as a core system with modular components like ESS. “Smart.HR is a powerful management tool developed around the principle that people management within organisations is moving to line managers. The system is usually managed centrally by the human resources function and made available to line managers and executive management.”

Through ESS, Smart.HR supports and enhances a number of HR application areas and employees can be permitted to access their personal records and other predefined areas of general organisational information. By allowing them to amend and update their personal information, it can be immediately updated on the organisation's HR database.

He says through customisable process workflows, managers or HR are automatically notified of any tasks performed by employees. “Fields can be made un-editable or invisible based on your security and procedural requirements. Employees can view and update their CVs and job history, new qualifications and professional memberships can be updated.”

Workflow for automated processes also eliminates the onerous and time-consuming trail of paperwork associated with updating employee records. These are replaced by direct updates and automatically generated e-mail notifications. The workflow for automated processes is designed to meet the company's prescribed business rules and logic. Automated e-mail notifications to the relevant authorities will occur once updates are executed by employees.

Using workflow-defined processes, leave approvals are fully automated, including automatic e-mail notifications and database updates. Leave administration processes, including rerouting and escalation procedures, can be customised using the Smart.HR workflow features. Leave applications can be submitted for approval with auto e-mail to the approving authority.

“Furthermore, employees can view their entire leave history, including a breakdown into the various leave categories. Employees can view their current leave balances for the various leave categories,” he adds.

Not only can employees view their past training history, they can review available training courses and course syllabi. Smart.HR allows employees to electronically submit applications for training courses based on training programs or on an ad-hoc basis. Approval notifications are automated as per predefined procedural workflows that comply with the company's business rules.

Gass says employees can also view past history of their own health and safety incidents. “Managers can view history of health and safety incidents of all employees within their jurisdiction. Using customisable and automated workflow processes, managers can log incidents and automatically trigger e-mail notifications to relevant parties.”

More importantly, both managers and employees can log workplace hazards and follow-up action will automatically be instigated by a customised process workflow, based upon the company's business rules. HR and occupational health and safety staff are automatically notified by e-mail of incidents and hazards logged.

He says performance appraisals can be performed within a client/server environment or Web browser within an intranet or the Internet. “ESS incorporates sophisticated and customisable e-mail workflow, including rerouting and escalation procedures based upon the company's business rules. Each evaluation is recorded and stored with a date and full description, allowing for historical evaluation of an employee's performance.”

Managers and employees can view the unlimited history of discipline, grievance and counselling events via ESS. Managers can undertake disciplinary hearings over the intranet or Internet via a Web browser, incorporating automated workflow definitions, and employees can post grievances incorporating automated e-mail workflow and events for immediate notification.

In addition, managers and employees can undertake employee counselling of both work performance and work conduct online. This includes detailed dialogue and both employee and managerial suggestions.

Smart.HR enables company documentation to be centralised for access via the intranet or the Internet. It empowers employees and managers to securely access company policies, procedures and standard documentation. It also incorporates user security and access rights to control access to documents based upon the company's security hierarchy.

It also provides organisations with a systematic process to timesheet administration; employees can submit timesheets via a Web browser over the intranet or Internet with a single click of a button, significantly increasing employee productivity. Employees and managers are always aware of the status of timesheets with sophisticated and customisable e-mail workflow.

“Smart.HR ESS introduces new productivity to the organisation via real-time staff efficiency around the clock. It transcends most of Absalom's Smart.HR suite and forms the platform upon which other ESS facilities will be continuously added,” he concludes.

For more information, contact Absalom Systems on (012) 643-0990 or visit http://www.absalomsystems.com.