The Friday Tip - Page 11

Access from a Mobile Phone.

27th November 2020

Where employees do not have easy access to a PC at work, most will have access to a smartphone. These members of staff can use their mobile phone to access the People Inc. ESS. When they log in from a phone, the ESS automatically displays information in mobile-friendly screens.

So employees who do not work at a desk can still view their shift-pattern and overtime, request leave, and access copies of their payslips (using a smartphone).

Where staff are working remotely (during lock-down for example) having access to the ESS from a mobile phone improves communication and makes it easier to keep up-to-date (for example, via the ESS news feature).

ESS Indicators

20th November 2020

The Indicators feature within the People Inc. ESS can be used to highlight outstanding tasks, provide an indication of progress on projects or activities, and give an overview how up to date the employee’s records are within the system.

Any number of Indicators can be added to the system. New Indicators can be added to cover specific needs (for example, the number of HR Policies yet to be signed-off, the number of training feedback forms yet to be completed, the number of holiday requests that need review/approval).

Notifications via e-mail.

13th November 2020

The People Inc. system can be used to manage an ongoing list of employee-related Actions. The system can generate reminder e-mail messages when Actions are due, and the completed Actions form a history that users can refer to at a later date.

Reminder e-mail can be sent to HR users, to the employee’s line-manager or to a specific member of staff (for example the person who looks after the payroll).

This approach is particularly useful during staff onboarding and induction, to flag the expiry of qualifications or training courses, or the expiry of work-permits and visas.

ESS Calendar feature

6th November 2020

The ESS Calendar feature is designed to provide employees (and line-managers) with access to information about holidays and absence, booked training courses, and other key dates (such as anniversaries).

In addition to this, integration with the People Inc. Action List ensures that important reminders for members of each team within the organisation are visible in a weekly view.

Where the organisation uses People Inc. to manage shift patterns and overtime (People Inc. time), the calendar will also show details of shift-patterns and the hours worked if required.

Staff Availability over Christmas

30th October 2020

There are several People Inc. tools designed to help staff find out who is at work between Christmas and New Year (and who is not).

Available within People Inc. and within the Employee Self-Service module, the People Inc. absence viewer provides a calendar view of holidays booked.

Furthermore, holiday bookings are usually displayed in the new ESS calendar tool. This tool can also show shift patterns (People Inc. time), details of key dates, and employee training records.

Another way to see if staff are in work on a particular day during the festive period is to check the People Inc. Employee Directory. This tool shows availability for all staff (for the current day).

Getting People Inc. time Ready for 2021.

23rd October 2020

If you have a copy of People Inc. time you need to take a few minutes to get your system set up for 2021. There are a number of things to think about...

The Staff roster may need setting up for next year. To save time, this can be done by copying roster entries from the roster for 2020.

2021 Pay Periods need to be defined (these are used for payroll exports and more generally in reports). There is a Wizard to help you do this quickly.

You also need to make sure 2021 absence allowances and 2021 bank holidays are correct within your system. If you do not have it already, the Recreate Absence Allowances wizard will help with this.

Christmas Shutdown

16th October 2020

If your organisation closes over Christmas, or perhaps gives employees a 'Christmas shopping Day', there are two different ways to record this information using People Inc.

If the days the workplace is closed need to be deducted from employees' holiday allowances, then a Wizard is provided to enable users to block-book the absence.

If the time off is given over-and-above the employees holiday allowance, then it can be added as a statutory holiday (as you would for a Bank Holiday), or as regular absence bookings using a separate absence allowance.

2021 Holiday Allowances

9th October 2020

If your holiday allowances end in December, if have not yet done so, you should be thinking about setting-up 2021 holiday allowances for employees. If you use the ESS module you also need to enable ESS requests for 2021.

The Recreate Absence Allowance wizard looks at the holiday allowances for the current year and gives you the opportunity to create similar entries for staff for the coming year. The whole exercise only takes a few moments.

On the topic of holidays and absence, before the end of the year you should also make sure you have added 2021 bank holidays to the system.

Managing Carry Over

2nd October 2020

Where staff are not able to take all of their annual leave, organisation need to be clear about the rules for carry over (and ensure that staff understand how these rules have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic). People Inc. can be set up to manage the carry-over of unused holiday.

If carry over is always allowed this can be automated within the Allowance Rules. When this is done it is common that carry-over is allowed up to a maximum number of days; this can be specified in the settings.

The system can also manage the expiry of carry-over. In some organisations, carried over leave has to be used within a specified time-frame (often within the first 3 months).

Housekeeping - Holidays

25th September 2020

For many organisations, the end of September is three-quarters of the way through the holiday-year. It is a good time to contact employees who still have a significant amount of holiday left to take. This will help to avoid a rush to take un-used holiday at the end of the year.

Some employees will have taken very little leave this year (particularly with the disruption caused by Covid-19). It is important to ensure that staff do take a break from work, but this needs to be balanced with the need to maintain staffing levels at the end of the holiday year.

Ideas and Suggestions (Covid-19)

18th September 2020

The restrictions and changes implemented as part of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic will affect the way each employee goes about their day-to-day activities at work. There are likely to be many ways in which the measures that have been put in place can be improved.

As staff return to work, feedback from employees will form an invaluable part of the review process. A simple ‘Ideas and Suggestions’ for added to the employee self-service module provides a quick and effective way to collect and process this feedback.

Available 24/7, from any PC or mobile phone, ideas can be submitted and reviewed quickly and efficiently, and the details are then made available to all staff.

Covid-19 HR Policy

11th September 2020

As more and more workplaces re-open, staff need clear guidelines detailing Covid-related changes to working practices. And these guidelines are likely to need updating as government reviews the threat posed by the virus.

The People Inc. employee self-service module provides organisations with the means to distribute policy documents, manage updates, and monitor employee sign-off on these. This ensures that the latest information on Covid-19 measures is always available to individual employees.

Automated notifications are generated via e-mail when advice changes, and a full auditable history of employee sign-off is available to ensure the entire workforce are kept up-to-date.

Return to Work Briefing (Covid-19)

4th September 2020

Whether they have been working from home, or on Furlough, on their return to the workplace, all staff will need to understand the changes the Covid pandemic will make to the way they do their job (and the changes that have been made to the way the company operates).

The training management features within People Inc. are designed to record and manage both training needs and attendance on training courses. Scheduling Return to Work briefings using these People Inc. features will ensure that appropriate information is communicated to all staff, and that full records are kept.

Where formal Covid-related training is required, this can also be scheduled and managed using the training functionality provided by the system.

Employee Return to Work (Covid-19)

28th August 2020

People Inc. provides a number of tools that can help organisations manage a safe return to the workplace for furloughed staff or for staff who have been working from home.

Employees will need to understand the changes the Covid pandemic will make to the way they do their job (and the changes that have been made to the way the company operates). Scheduling briefings and other training, and managing employee sign-off of updated policy documents can both be managed using People Inc.

Individuals can submit ideas and suggestions relating to the new procedures via a feedback screen within the People Inc. employee self-service module.

System Updates

21st August 2020

We have recently added five new features to the People Inc. system.

• The ESS Scheduler (more information)
• The Employee Directory (more information)
• The Salary Review Manager (more information)
• A new Leave Request screen (more information)
• The ESS Statistics feature (more information)

These upgrades are provided free-of-charge. If you are not using the latest version of People Inc. please contact our helpdesk to arrange your upgrade.

Preferences for Wizards and Plug-ins

14th August 2020

The People Inc. system includes around 30 different Wizards and Plug-ins. These are designed to help users manage information for groups of employees, or to display employee records in a useful and informative way.

Access to Wizards (and plug-ins) is managed in 2 ways. Firstly, it is possible to use user-security settings to grant access to specific features. In addition to this, each user can manage the list of features they see within their system using the preferences screen.

If your system does not include some of these features, they can be downloaded from our website and installed within your copy of People Inc.

Keeping Up-To-Date

31st July 2020

Here are 8 reasons to upgrade your software to the latest version.

• Benefit from enhanced functionality and improved ease of use.
• Compliance with legislation (and legislation changes).
• Gain access to the latest downloads and documentation.
• Ensure you can get technical support from our team.
• Benefit from the latest security features.
• Ensure that any issues that have been identified are addressed.
• Upgrades are provided free-of-charge.
• By arrangement, our consultants will upgrade your system for you.

If you are not using the latest version of People Inc. please contact our helpdesk to arrange your free upgrade.

Report Writing Service

24th July 2020

A comprehensive library of reports is included with the People Inc. system, and access to an online library of many many more examples caters for the vast majority of reporting needs.

The People Inc. system includes a flexible, powerful report writer. Users can create their own reports using this tool. They can also copy existing reports and modify them to suit their needs.

We also provide a report writing service. There to help clients with their reporting requirements, our consultants can help design and build powerful bespoke reports based on individual reporting requirements.

Managing Reports

17th July 2020

Reports can be defined in different places within the People Inc. system: within the Report Library or within a data-screen. Global reports should be kept in the Report Library, and reports that contain information relating to a particular record in the system should be accessible from a data-screen.

For example, an analysis of the spend on employee training (or headcount and turnover, absence percentage, etc.) should be done in a Report Library report. These can be organised within folders to make them easy to find.

A remuneration statement, details of recent sickness absence, or an overview of training courses attended, can all be run from the employee screen (and the system will filter the report automatically so that it only shows information about the current employee.