The Friday Tip - page 7
Once a week we highlight some unique and useful feature provided by the People Inc. system in our 'Friday Tip'. These tips are often based on a support call that we took during the week. Our aim is to help customers get more from using their People Inc. system. If you do not receive these tips but would like to, please contact the People Inc. help desk and ask to be added to the mailing list.
Assigning Actions to Others
1st July 2022
Some process require help from staff working elsewhere in the organisation; this could be a specialist team member (health & safety staff, a recruiter or trainer), or a line manager. Actions can be assigned to these people.
These users can be given access to the Action List (via a custom access profile so that they only see the information they need to see). Notification e-mails can also be generated automatically for these users if required.
As tasks are completed, colleagues are kept up-to-date via the Action List screen within the People Inc. system. This makes it very easy to monitor progress and ensure actions are completed on time.
Click here for more information on Managing Tasks and Activities.
Using Checklist
24th June 2022
The People Inc. Action List reminder feature can be used to generate checklists. These can be used to manage multi-step processes such as onboarding, setting up a vacancy or running a training course. If fact, checklists can be set up for virtually any HR-related process.
Where different people are assigned individual tasks within a process, these can be pre-defined within the checklist. For example, during the onboarding process, while HR might look after employment contracts and HR policy sign-off, a line manage is likely to arrange induction training and run the end-of-probation review for new employees.
Notifications and Reminders
17th June 2022
When automated Action List entries are used, the user can also specify that notification e-mail messages are sent. Notification e-mails are generated with a user-specified notice period (for example, a week before the expiry date, or a month before the contract end date).
Notification e-mails can be sent to a system user, an ESS Group manager (departmental manager), or to the person an employee reports to.
Follow up reminder e-mails can also be created if required (these are ‘nag’ e-mails sent by the system if the associated Action List entry is not cleared).
Click here for more on Managing Tasks and Activities using Actions.
System Generated Actions
10th June 2022
The People Inc. system can be configured to automatically generate actions that are linked to key dates recorded within the system. Examples of this are the End of Probation reminders, Contract End Date reminders, Training Course Expiry reminders, and Appraisals Due Date reminders.
The actions the system generates automatically are managed in a settings screen. Users can specify who each action is for, and the notice period required. The system will then add the appropriate actions when employee records are added.
Click here for more on Managing Tasks and Activities using Actions.
Display Current Actions on Start-up
3rd June 2022
The actions assigned to a user can be displayed automatically when they log in to People Inc. This is achieved by starting the Action List screen automatically and applying a filter (to list the correct Action List entries).
Users often choose to list this weeks actions, together with any outstanding actions from last week (when they start the system). It is however possible to view any selection of actions when the screen is opened.
Getting screens to open at log-in time and setting default filters are user-preferences. As individual users change the way screens are set-up, their user preferences are automatically saved.
Employee History
27th May 2022
The Action List is used to manage employee-related tasks and activities, but it also provides an effective way to keep track of contact with employees. As actions are completed, they then become part of an historical record of interaction with each member of staff.
Historical records in the Action List usually includes details of any correspondence. Action List entries can be generated automatically when letters are sent to employees using the system. This provides a record of the fact a letter has been sent, but it is also possible to schedule a follow up activity at the same time.
Click here for more information on Managing Tasks and Activities.
Using the Action List
20th May 2022
A fully integrated HR to-do list, the People Inc. Action List can be used to manage a wide variety of personnel related tasks and activities. Generated automatically by the system, or added by the users, Action List entries are often linked to individual employee records.
The Action List can be used in other areas of the system too. For example, to help manage a vacancy, or a training course, or linked to a company vehicle.
Entries can be categorised, assigned, prioritised, and then given a target date. Users can view a list of actions for an employee, a course, a vacancy, an applicant, or view this week’s (or this month’s) actions in a global list.
ESS Out-of-Service Feature
13th May 2022
The Out-of-Service feature in People Inc. is designed to provide access to information in the system for employees both before they join the organisation, and after they leave. An out-of-service access-profile is used to enable organisations to specify an appropriate level of access for these users.
Often used to enable new starters to complete pre-employment forms and access documentation, this feature provides time-restricted access to online records for leavers too (so that they can download copies of payslips and other information after they leave).
Access Profiles
6th May 2022
Users are granted access to different areas of the People Inc. system via customisable Access Profiles. Access Profiles are used to control access to individual system features, to screens, data-items, and reports. The level of access granted to ESS users is managed in exactly the same way.
Any number of different access profiles can be used within the system. A profile might be set up for users who manage staff training and development, and another might be used to control access to recruitment functionality. A number of different access profiles can be assigned to a single user-account if necessary.
Single Sign-on
29th April 2022
We all have to remember an ever-growing list of user-credentials for the systems we access via phone or computer. People Inc. can add to this: a username and password are normally required when logging into the People Inc. Employee Self-Service module.
If the People Inc. ESS is configured to use the Single Sign-on feature, when an employee tries to access the system, it will log them in using their Windows credentials (if they are logged into Windows already, it will open the ESS without asking the user to log in). This means that employees no longer need to remember account details specifically for the ESS.
Password Policies
22nd April 2022
Password policies can be used within People Inc. to control the way users access the system. Password policies can include rules to control:
- The number of characters required in password
- The mix of upper/lower case characters, and numbers
- The use of special characters in passwords
- Password expiry (and re-use of historical passwords)
- Access to accounts following a number of failed login attempts
- Multi-factor authentication
A Single Sign-on feature is also available so that system access can be managed using Active directory
Software T&A Clocks
15th April 2022
Employee Self-Service can be configured to enable staff to clock in and clock out on a PC or via a mobile phone. If needed, they can also access their shift-pattern, a summary of the hours they have worked (including overtime), and copies of their pay slips.
Clocking in from a mobile phone is a useful feature if staff are not based at a particular site (for example, field staff). Software clocks also provide an effective back-up for hardware clock terminals.
Click here for more information on Attendance information via the ESS.
Attendance Reporting
8th April 2022
Several plug-in based reports designed to extract employee attendance information are provided with the People Inc. time. system. These allow users to specify a range of departments and select one or more pay periods, and extract the hours employees work, together with details of any overtime, leave and unplanned absence.
Users can also build attendance reports using the People Inc. report writer. Common examples are information reports (for example, a shift plan for the coming week), exceptions reports (a list of late-arrivals, etc.), and analysis reports (a breakdown of time lost by location). Examples are available in the online report library (via the People Inc. Report Browser tool).
Click here for some example Time & Attendance reports.
Navigating April Fools' Day
1st April 2022
The tradition of playing practical jokes on each other on April 1st can prove to be a real challenge at work. April Fools' pranks can be taken too far very easily, and there is always the chance that those on the receiving end will find the experience uncomfortable or difficult to deal with (or worse).
When things do go wrong it is important to ensure that there is an appropriate response from HR. Staff may raise allegations of bullying and harassment, or even discrimination. Then of course, it's no laughing matter.
Job Costing
25th March 2022
People Inc. provided two different options for managing the costs associated with projects or clients: the ESS timesheets feature or the T&A module.
The timesheet feature can be used to record a table of activities undertaken on a particular day (or during a week or month). Each entry can be assigned a job code (or project code or cost centre) and these can be used in reports to provide totals (or a breakdown of time spent).
A similar approach can be taken using People Inc. time (our T&A module) but when taking this approach, when employees move from one activity to the next they do so using one of the system clocks.
Access Control
18th March 2022
Time and Attendance, and Access Control often use very similar concepts (and can use the same technology).
People Inc. provides a fully integrated access control feature. Access to buildings (and through internal doors) can be controlled using swipe-cards (or tags) or biometric sensors. Different groups of employees can be granted access to different areas of the premises using group-level access profiles.
Access for visitors (for example, engineers and cleaners) can also be managed using the access control features. The system keeps records of the doors used by individuals (each with a timestamp).
Attendance-related Alerts
11th March 2022
If you record attendance using People Inc. time, you can configure your system to provide e-mail alerts when staff arrive late. The system can also generate a notification e-mail when an employee first returns to work after a period of absence.
A comprehensive list of exceptions is automatically recorded within the system as staff arrive and leave. This feature can be used to identify trends and highlight attendance-related problems. The exceptions can be filtered, for example to show all the employees who worked fewer hours than scheduled on a particular day. This information can also be extracted and analysed using reports.
Resource Planning
4th March 2022
Maintaining staffing levels in line with the expected workload is often a real challenge. Even more so, where cover is required for extended hours, or where the resource needed varies at different times of the day.
The People Inc. Roster Planning feature is used to assign shifts to individual employees and provides an overview of staff availability over a week.
If more detail is needed, People Inc. also includes a resource planning tool that breaks a day down into hourly slots and shows the number of staff available in a particular area, hour-by-hour.
Click here for more information on Resource Planning.
Online Calendar - Shift Patterns
25th February 2022
Shift patterns can be published using the calendar tool within the People Inc. ESS. This makes roster details readily available to employees. Individuals can see details of their own shifts, and the shifts their colleagues are working from their PC or mobile phone.
Designed to improve communication and minimise the number of queries HR receive from staff, the Employee Self-Service module is available 24/7 (365 days a year). The ESS also provides access to employee information (including payslips) and electronic forms for holiday booking, sickness registration, etc.
Staff Availability
18th February 2022
The People Inc. Employee Directory can be used to provide information about staff availability. This can work in one of two ways:
- Where work-patterns are used to record the hours that staff work, the system uses a combination of these records and any absence bookings to indicate the availability of individual members of staff.
- Where employees clock-in as they arrive at work, the system updates the Employee Directory with their availability as they do so.
Note that employees can change their status themselves (if they are working off-site, from home, or simply unavailable because they are in a meeting).
Especially for You
11th February 2022
Did you know that you can change the theme the used by the People Inc. screens? Choosing a new theme alters the look and feel of the screens. You can choose a new theme using one of the mini-icons at the very top of the People Inc. system screen.
The system includes themes for Halloween, Christmas, Spring and Summer, and there is a special Valentine's Day theme. The Valentine's theme includes a new screen background, and uses hearts for items on the screen itself.
If you are a People Inc. time user you get a bonus image on the screen when you select a new theme. On Valentine's Day this is an image of Cupid.
Managing Flexible Working
4th February 2022
People Inc. includes features that can be used to help manage flexible working arrangements available to members of staff. For example functionality is provided that will:
- Allow employees to register any additional hours worked (authorised by their line-manager), and then book time off in lieu against these.
- Record attendance information that can be used to manage flexible working (based on an employees contractual hours).
- Provide employees with the means to buy or sell holiday (up to a pre-set limit per year) and generate adjustments to leave allowances and to salary payments.
Click here for more information on Managing Flexible Working.
Variable Work Patterns
28th January 2022
The People Inc. HR module uses a 7-day work pattern (perfect for staff who work the same hours each week). When employees are marked as absent their work-pattern is used to calculate the time lost. This is usually recorded as a number of days, but it is also possible to manage absence in hours.
Where work-patterns vary from week to week (staff on zero-hours contracts, part-time working variable hours, and staff who have a work pattern that repeats over a longer period) the Roster Planning feature can be used to record this information.
Click here for more information on Managing Variable Work-Patterns.
Managing Overtime
21st January 2022
The hours worked by staff are often recorded by their supervisor or manager using a form or an Excel spreadsheet. Typically, this information is then sent by e-mail and has to be processed manually by payroll staff. But managers can also use People Inc. to record the hours (and the overtime) worked by employees in their team (and then submit this for processing).
Using People Inc. to manage timesheets streamlines the data-collection process and makes it much easier to record and review the information (and identify missing records). Using an integrated system also speeds the process up, while providing a full audit-trail to help resolve queries.
Click here to see more information about Departmental Timesheets.
Employee Timesheets
14th January 2022
Available via the People Inc. ESS module, employee timesheets provide a simple way to capture working hours.
Easy to use and readily accessible, individual employees can complete and submit timesheets from their PC or mobile phone. Timesheet information is stored centrally and can be used to monitor attendance, to feed payroll, and to assist with compliance and reporting.
Timesheets can be completed by staff working from home, and are automatically routed to line managers for review and approval.
Use this link to view more information on Employee Timesheets
Closing last year's Holiday Allowances
7th January 2022
At the end of the holiday year it is important to reconcile and then close old holiday allowances, however, users need to wait until all of last year’s holiday bookings have been added to the system before they do this. Closing holiday allowances locks the records and ensures that the year-end figures cannot then change at a later date.
People Inc. includes a Wizard that can be used to close all of last year's allowances at the same time. Years should be closed in order (the oldest year first) this ensures that any carry over figures are calculated correctly.
More details on the steps taken at absence year-end are provided in this guide: Absence Year End
