Mar 2019
28
10 surprising benefits of an employee self-service system
The ability for employees to view and edit their own data is one of the most important advancements of HR in recent years. Providing employees with remote access to view personal information held is also a best practice recommendation of the GDPR. It's obviously true that employees have a lot to gain from a self-service system, such as BrightPay Connect. The option to view and manage their data online provides a source of independence, power and control.
But what about HR personnel, managers and everyone else involved in the payroll and HR process? They benefit too! For administrators, it's a way of delegating the workload that would otherwise be handled solely by them. Implementing an employee self-service system is a way to re-distribute various tasks and bring it to the employee’s level.
The Benefits of an Employee Self-Service
- Printing & emailing payslips - With some employee self-service systems, such as BrightPay Connect, payroll administrators no longer need to manually print or email payslips to employees. Payslips are automatically available to employees through their self-service portal either on, before or after the payday, as selected by the employer.
- Responding to payslip requests - It can be very time consuming and monotonous for payroll administrators to respond to employee requests for past or lost payslips. With an employee self-service, the employee can now access their information directly by logging onto their portal where they can view and download historic payslips.
- Responding to leave balance enquiries - Similar to payslip requests, payroll administrators often get enquiries regarding an employee’s annual leave entitlement remaining. Again, the employee can login to their self-service portal to instantly view their leave balance along with their leave entitlement for the year.
- Managing annual leave requests - Managing annual leave could be considered a full-time job in itself with the amount of paperwork and administration required. An employee self-service portal will enable employees to request annual leave electronically, with an automatic notification sent to the supervisor or manager to approve or decline the leave request. Once approved, leave will be automatically added to the employee and employer calendars, and will also synchronise back to the payroll software on the payroll administrators desktop, streamlining the entire annual leave process.
- Updating employee contact information - No longer does the HR personnel need to collect or change employee details. Instead, the responsibility is fully with the employee to ensure that their personal details are updated and correct at all times.
On the surface, an employee self-service system seems designed simply to relieve a bit of pressure on your HR department. But the benefits to the business go much deeper than that. Some employee self-service systems also have the following benefits:
- Reduce errors - Entry errors and other mistakes may be avoided by allowing employees to enter their own personal information. By eliminating the need for double entry and allowing employees to evaluate their own information, the chances of inaccurate information may be greatly decreased.
- Reduce sick days - Some businesses have noticed a reduction in sick days since implementing employee self-service systems. As sick days are much more visible on screen to both employees and their managers, this likely acts as an incentive to keep sick days to a minimum.
- Cut costs - The administrative cost of processing leave or printing out payslips should not be underestimated.
- Reduce paper - The ability for employees to access payslips and other documents online can be a time and money saver. By replacing paper documents, you are also reducing your impact on the environment.
- Keep staff up-to-date - An employee self-service system can allow you to notify employees of policy changes or company-wide announcements. Employees don’t need to access their email to view changes - they can simply login to their self-service employee app wherever they are to stay abreast of any legislative or company-wide changes that may affect them. The employer can then track which employees have viewed the notice, resource or document.
If your HR and payroll administrators spend a lot of time printing payslips, managing annual leave or responding to employee requests, consider how an employee self-service system could help your business.
When implemented successfully, a company may see immediate increases in productivity and efficiency. Managers and HR personnel will save labour hours and frustration on a daily basis, and instead have more time to concentrate on more important tasks.
Book a demo today to find out how BrightPay Connect can transform your business.
