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Contact Us: 01908 265111
A number of powerful system tools are included as part of the People Inc. system. These tools are used to add custom features, and to add to the information that can be recorded within the system. They also manage user-access, and can be used to automate HR processes.
Information managed using People Inc. can be used to generate reports. Reports can be used for formal management reporting to a quick queries to review particular information.
Correspondence can be sent to individuals as paper documents (via the post) or delivered via e-mail. Copies of letters are automatically stored against employee records.
A centralised Action List to record and manage employee-related activities, generate notifications and reminders, and provide an historical record of notes and events.
Add new data screens, or adapt existing screens using the screen designer. Screens have an alternate layout for when a user connects using their mobile phone.
Access Profiles are used to control which areas of the system are made available to users. Any number of access profiles can be added to the People Inc. system.
A comprehensive range of options on infrastructure and hosting ensures that People Inc. users have the flexibility they need when accessing the People Inc. system.
The People Inc. system includes a comprehensive library of pre-defined report templates. These are categorised by system area (employee reports, recruitment reports, training reports, etc.) and cover all aspects of HR. All of the data held within the People Inc. system can be used to generate reports.
Reports generated using People Inc. might be used to help manage an office process, resolve a query, or reports could be bound together to form part of the (monthly, quarterly, annual) HR management report.
Reports are formatted in a variety of different ways. This includes simple list reports, multi-column reports, grouped reports, and cross-tab reports. Different fonts, colours and images can be used in reports to provide a personalised feel. Reports can include calculations and graphs and logos.
The information included in a report is managed using filters. Any number of filters can be used within a report. Reports can include records from specific locations or departments, specific periods of time, or just selected employees. Reports can be automatically filtered for different users (for example when reports are made available to ESS users, they automatically filter for the correct team or department).
Reports can be viewed on-screen, printed, or generated as a PDF file or MS Excel spreadsheet (and sent via e-mail). Reports can be accessed from the main People Inc. system, or from a web browser, or mobile phone. A number of additional tools are also included with People Inc. to extract data in MS Excel format (for example for use in payroll processing)
Users can modify the standard report templates if required; they can also create new report templates themselves. The People Inc. Report Library Browser plug-in provides access to hundreds of report template downloads. New report templates are added to this library regularly.
For those who prefer to focus on other things, the People Inc. help-desk provides a report-writing service. Users can specify the reports they need and our team will produce the report templates for you.
The People Inc. system includes a comprehensive library of letter templates that can be merged with information held within the system to generate letters or e-mail. These letters can cover a range of HR activities: recruitment letters, letters to referees, employee contracts, training course correspondence, pay review letters, disciplinary letters, etc.
Employee details are merged into the templates to produce batches of letters or e-mail. When sending letters, users can select individual employees, groups of employees, or the entire organisation (or they can simply choose recipients from a list).
While most letters are sent to employees, it is also possible to create letters for applicants, referees and other contacts. Letters can contain data from any of the fields in the system, including custom fields that have been added with the Screen Designer. Copies of letters are automatically stored against the appropriate record within the system.
Letter templates (and e-mail templates) are created using MS Word. Users can modify existing letter templates or add their own letter templates as required. Users can also generate free-form letters or send one-off e-mail messages using the system.
Letters generated from the system can be sent to individuals as paper documents (via the post) or delivered via e-mail. Employees can also be asked to read electronic copies of letters attached to their record within the system (using the Employee Self-Service module).
The system can generate e-mail automatically (as part of a workflow-process, or as a notification message) and tools are provided to monitor the flow of e-mail sent in this way.
The People Inc. Action List feature is designed to schedule and monitor employee-related activities, while at the same time recording a full history of contact and interaction with individual employees. The Action List might include details of their induction (on-boarding) steps, review meetings (including the end of probation), any unplanned contact, etc.
Entries can be added to the Action list automatically by the system (for example a reminder that the end of an employee’s probation is approaching, or when their visa expires), or added manually by a user. For actions added at some point in the future, the system can generate notifications and reminders (via e-mail) a number of days (or weeks) before action is required.
The list of Actions can be filtered by the People Inc. user (all the actions for a particular user), by employee (all the actions relating to an employee), by area of HR (all recruitment actions for example), by status (have they been completed?), or by date range (all actions that need addressing in the coming week). A selection of actions can be displayed automatically when a user starts the system, or the Actions can be displayed in a calendar (via the ESS module).
Actions can be assigned to an individual user (perhaps the employee’s line-manager, or somebody in payroll, or IT), and the Action List can be made available via the ESS (on a PC or mobile phone) using the Employee Self-Service module.
While the standard configuration of People Inc. provides a comprehensive set of screens to use to manage information, organisations can add new data-screens or adapt any of the existing screens using the People Inc. Screen Designer.
Users may need a new field on a particular screen, or a new pick-list to use; they may want to record a full history of records relating to a particular topic. All of this can be accommodated using the Screen Designer. If users currently manage some information in an Excel spreadsheet, they can build a screen to accommodate this information within People Inc.
Having HR information recorded within the system rather than in spreadsheets and other files can help organisations to benefit from the features People Inc. then offers in terms of centralised data, security, distribution, and reporting. Information added via new field or screen is made available in the report writing tool, the letter generation feature and the security (access-profile) tools.
As an organisation’s needs evolve, the information managed using the People Inc. system can be updated to reflect the changes. Custom screens can be made available via the ESS module. When accessed through the ESS, screens have a different layout for when a user connects via their mobile phone.
Using triggers defined within each screen, users can add automation (validation, calculations) and even provide workflow functionality (request forms, routing, notification e-mails). The Screen Designer also enables users to re-design their ESS home page (a different view for each user-group, and a different view when using a PC or a mobile phone.
People Inc. Access Profiles can be used to manage the information that is made available to different users when they log in. Control is provided over access to all of the information in the system and user-accounts can be added for specific roles (for example to enable staff to manage recruitment, or training, or add sickness details). Confidential information such as remuneration details and disciplinary details can be protected in this way.
Users can create and manage any number of user accounts and these can be set up to use one or more access profiles. Access profiles can restrict access at field level or at screen level and can specify full access, read-only access or no access. It is also possible to restrict access to individual reports and letters (or folders containing these), to file attachments, to system features and to selections of data. This includes custom fields, screens, reports and letters.
A record of user-access is kept by the system, and when changes are made to data, the system records details of the user and the time and date the change was made.
Password policies can be applied to user-accounts to ensure that users have ‘strong’ passwords. Passwords can be set to expire and a history of passwords retained (to stop individuals re-using passwords). User-accounts can be set to auto-expire after a period of time has passed.
A range of options on infrastructure ensures that People Inc. users have the flexibility they need when accessing the system.
People Inc. is a multi-tier application that is designed to work effectively over both wide and local area networks. The fully featured Windows desktop app with powerful data management tools uses an encrypted connection to communicate with the application servers over a local network; organisations can further enhance this in built security for remote working using their own VPN infrastructure.
A flexible and powerful web client provides lighter weight desktop and mobile access to the system on the go; delivered through a Microsoft IIS website and backed by the Microsoft .Net framework.
In conjunction with inbuilt access profiles and a modular design, levels of access to system components and data are managed and controlled centrally. Brought together through the self-service module employees are able to securely access the limited range of system functions and data necessary for their activities only. An optional Single Sign-on feature enables organisations to simplify user control further by using existing user authentication.
The system’s application server and desktop app are designed to be compatible with the Microsoft Windows family of products. This means that the software can be installed on any service provider who supports the Windows platform (such as Azure, Amazon Web Services or a local (virtual) machine).
The systems databases are compatible with Microsoft SQL server. This platform is fully featured database management system providing organisations a dependable foundation for their data management needs.
Using simple system architecture, well-known and familiar platforms as well as standard tools People Inc. HR solutions deliver an easy to manage, powerful and accessible platform.
Call P&A Software on 01908 265111 for some helpful advice or visit our Solutions page.
