Posted by Liz Alflen on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 @ 02:33 PM
One unfortunate morning a few years ago, I got an early call at home from my boss informing me that my 1st floor office had been broken into and my computer was stolen. It so happened that I had left my laptop on my desk, hooked to an external monitor, a VOIP phone and a printer. When the burglar alarm/noise-intrusion sensor went off, scaring the intruders into a more heightened sense of urgency, they made a quick grab for my laptop, but ended up dragging along the monitor, the phone and the printer. Pieces of my printer (the paper tray, paper, little broken plastic pieces) were strewn across the parking lot. By the time the police arrived on the scene, the intruders were long gone, miscellaneous plastic parts left behind, and they were likely on the highway headed out of town.
Not surprisingly, I panicked at this news. What about all my information? My reports? My data? What would I do? How painful would this be?
The local police made note of all the pertinent information but offered little hope for recovery. Our IT department made available an alternate computer for my use while ordering me a new one; I received the usual talking-to about backing-up my data. When I finally got back to work, I quickly found that I wasn’t in too much trouble.
I still had access to our EnterpriseIQ ERP system! They couldn’t take that away from me. I can access the system from anywhere, log in, run a report, review documents, respond to workflows - from anywhere.
Until that day, I hadn’t realized that the bulk of any day’s work was not dependent on my personal computer, my stored information or my reports. Most of any day’s work could be completed by accessing information in EnterpriseIQ, views or reports.
For my purposes related to both Administration and HR, areas I access on any given day include:
And on and on. It was almost disappointing. My data isn’t even really special (although my particular role is); I’m replaceable by someone else (or perhaps multiple individuals) who is (are) trained in the system, can access the same information, and plan equivalent courses of action. One of the tremendous values in having a comprehensive ERP system is in the ease with which I can fulfill my responsibilities, independent of specific hardware or location, as well as the ease with which a “backup” could do the same.
I still try to remember to back-up the data on my personal computer, but I’m confident that most of the information I need at work will be available to me when I need it. It’s nice to NOT worry about something!
Posted by Liz Alflen on Wed, Jun 23, 2010 @ 09:46 AM
Remember "hand-shake" deals? Or where a person was "only as good as their word"? Today, we "document, document, document." In business, where we're short on telepathy and long on increasing employee turn-over and failing memories, good documentation is imperative.
Documentation is both a life-saver and a burden in business, but either way it's certainly a necessity as we endlessly tap into the enterprise information flow. Information is vital, and shared information is key to daily decision-making. The good news is that the "paper trail" is now largely an "information trail". Documents don't necessarily mean paperwork! And information is more accessible than ever before.
As business models have evolved with information and communication technology we can now take advantage of electronic libraries, as opposed to stacks and stacks of three-ring binders and rooms of file drawers. How many of your departments require documentation?
For those of us attempting to answer questions, such as, "what is in the offer letter?", "what did we agree to for the customer?" or "what is on the setup sheet for this job?", it's easy to click on the database record and view a reference document.
In addition, it has always been amusing to note "paperwork reduction act" on any six-page form which has to be completed and signed. In a commercial enterprise, there are a myriad of forms to complete, sign, file, store, and reference. We have forms for employees, partners, vendors, part specifications, machine setup, safety compliance, audit trails, contracts, material data, and the list is seemingly endless.
But now even some requisite government forms can now be completed electronically and signed with an electronic signature.
Thankfully, Document Control was incorporated into our EnterpriseIQ ERP system years ago as part of our Quality Management System. This system encompasses any kind of internal and external documents, including drawings, and is available for any department. Controlled documents are easily accessed for viewing, by library, secured or shared, from any module in the system. Documents can also be checked out, and revisions can be submitted, reviewed, and authorized via a workflow system, routed sequentially or broadcast, for team members. They're even color-coded for quick visual reference, with revisions listed, and effective dates and expiration dates.
In HR, where we have required documentation for recruitment, hiring, job descriptions, personnel records, skills tracking, and certifications, secure document libraries are a life-saver and so much easier to use than 3-ring binders and file drawers. I'm a fan of documentation, and I encourage the use of electronic documents. It certainly reduces workplace injury from paper-cuts and falling stacks of files!
Posted by Liz Alflen on Mon, Apr 26, 2010 @ 09:45 AM
Advancements in ERP system technology provide us with tremendous visibility into our operations, and the 2.0 world is embracing transparency in all matters. Information is accessible about all aspects of our work and our lives: the scheduling of our manufacturing operations, the dimensions of the parts we make, the financial viability of our customers and suppliers, and details – personal as well as professional - about our employees and partners.
In HR we’re familiar with “don’t ask , don’t tell”: don’t ask if a candidate is married, don’t tell if an employee has a medical condition. Our ERP system provides access to the HR information we need: workforce (payroll and benefits) information, skills, training and certification; applicant tracking, job descriptions, work-related injury and illnesses. Social media (in the 2.0 world) has brought additional information about all our employees and applicants to our desktops, via any number of social and professional media sites.
We have visibility, but how much transparency is appropriate from an HR perspective?
HR professionals are hard-pressed to provide guidance on these topics. We have to consider:
- Employee media usage (do we want employees “tweeting” at work? how much so?
- Recruiting policies (to use or not to use information about candidates gained via the web?)
- Just what information can be told to the hiring managers (if it’s posted on the web, can we ask about it?)
Old rules don’t apply and new rules are vague; just a few months ago most pundits recommended great caution when doing an internet search for information about a candidate and to “not friend” employees. It was believed that information gleaned via these sources was unreliable, not intended for the HR audience, or subject to interpretation (an employee calls in to work “sick” and subsequently posts to their social media site that they are out and about).
A few years ago a hiring manager informed me that she had “Googled” a candidate and discarded this candidate based on the public information they had posted to their social media website. In another example, an executive was reviewing posts linked to the company name when he spotted a link to an employee who had posted information about a personal legal matter. It came up because the employee was linked to both the company name and the information they had posted, perhaps imprudently, about their legal problems. At the time, I cautioned both against sharing the fact that they had accessed this information at all.
Now, however, experts promote transparency, to accept this free-flowing of information and relationships as part of the new model, much like enterprise management systems allow visibility into every aspect of business operations. Participants (executives, employees, candidates) must be tacitly aware that information is available on a public forum, and they have a choice of whether to post information “publicly”, or more privately to “friends”. An individual can establish a “personal brand”, being personal and professional at the same time, allowing professional colleagues glimpses into a personal life, such as the music listened to or the books read, in order to build deeper relationships with business associates. According to Mitch Joel (“Six Pixels of Separation”), “the best connections are real and authentic”. In order to grow your business, “you are going to need a way to understand more about the individuals you are connecting to.” This philosophy promotes validity; participants are accountable for the information they post, about themselves, their company, and the products they represent. This requires a great deal of trust, diligence, and a degree of caution.
The growth of issues such as this in HR mirrors the growth of the enterprise-wide perspective. The more inclusive and integrated the perspective, the more all of our relationships promote ourselves as well as the enterprise.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you “friend” colleagues and business associates? Do you ever skip work and post on your social media that you went to the beach? On second thought, don’t answer that… Your HR manager doesn’t want to know.
Posted by Tina Jolicoeur on Wed, Apr 21, 2010 @ 04:13 PM
Any employer knows it takes a lot of time out of every week to manage their employees' Human Resources and Payroll needs, and every year with new laws and tax changes it seems to take even more time. Some companies have entire departments devoted to HR and Payroll while many others, the majority it seems, have their managers, supervisors and employees wearing many hats, only one of them being HR/Payroll. Wouldn't it be great to free up some of that time to devote yourselves to turning a profit rather than answering the same questions over and over again?
How much vacation time do I have left to take? Did you enter my address change? When does my training certification expire? What is my deduction for my 401K? My boyfriend and I are back together and he says if I really love him I will make him my emergency contact, can I change it, again? Wouldn't it be great to be able to share this information with the employee requesting it without any involvement from you?
This is where the new EnterpriseIQ Employee Portal steps in and assists both Human Resources and employees by allowing the employee to view and even edit some of their employment information.
Through the Employee Portal employees may view their employment information such as their date of hire, job title, etc. They may view and edit their mailing address. They may also view human resources information such as birth date, marital status, etc. The employees can even view their dependents and beneficiary information and edit their beneficiaries. And yes, they can view their emergency contact and edit when necessary without any HR involvement.
Employees may also view the tax codes currently applied to their paychecks along with any additional taxes deducted from each paycheck and the marital status for the tax codes. They can view their deductions, like 401K, and they can change their beneficiary for the deductions. They can ensure their training certifications are up to date and plan on getting retraining before their certification and training items expire.
And finally employees may view their vacation accrual status, including hours accrued, hours taken and hours available per year.
All of this is available to IQMS customers as an enhancement to the Payroll and/or Workforce modules. It requires an Apache connection that many customers already use for WMSIQ and WebDirect. The information is secure, the users log in with their EnterpriseIQ user name and password. The data from the Payroll and/or Workforce modules is accessed in real time, and if the employee modifies data, it's written immediately to the database without any Human Resources or Payroll involvement. Alerts can be set up if HR or Payroll would like to be notified when a record has been modified.
Regardless of the number of employees you have dedicated to Human Resources and Payroll, the EnterpriseIQ Employee Portal is a time saver.
How are existing manufacturing facilities handling employee changes now? Is your manufacturing ERP system helping in this area?