When booking a trip. When scanning your groceries in the supermarket. When you do your banking on your mobile or when you check in at the health center. Different forms of self -service is something that surrounds us everywhere in our private lives. So why would it really be any different in your workplace?
The concept of self -service, is a clearly growing trend - and the HR area is far from an exception. But what does self-service in HR really mean? How does it work in concrete terms? And what are the benefits of letting employees and managers into (parts of the) HR system? Together with Linda Tesell, Product Manager for HR system Flex HRM Employee, we dive deep into the subject of self-service in HR.
What do we really mean when we talk about self-service in HR?
– In short, it is about giving employees the opportunity to perform tasks on their own or find information that concerns them - quickly and easily and without anyone else having to act as an intermediary. In most modern HR systems, employees can, for example, access and update addresses, telephone numbers, who should be the next of kin and so on, says Linda Tesell and adds:
– Self-service, however, covers much more than that and can be used for a variety of things that have traditionally been reserved for salary and HR. It is also not just for employees, but it can also be aimed at managers and team leaders.
What are the specific uses of self-service in HR?
Investing in self-service and flexible digital flows is something the employer can gain a lot from day one when you welcome a new employee, says Linda.
– As an employer, you can, for example, make sure to handle employment agreements, instructions, policies, introductory plans, and more, directly in the HR system where all parties can easily access them. In this way, you both streamline the process and give the new employee a professional first impression. Then, you can continue on this path throughout the employee journey, for example, by letting the employees participate in all aspects of the employee interview and things that belong to updating skills/courses and following up on competence goals.
The managers' work with KPIs and key figures are other areas that are well suited for self-service, says Linda:
– You can let managers have access to staff turnover, sick leave and other KPI:s that they need to monitor, for example in a dashboard directly in the HR system. For example, if you are presenting important key figures during a meeting with the management team later the same day, you do not need to ask the HR department to email them to you. In this way, you save the administrators a lot of extra work and you can always rest assured that the figures are updated and correct, as you avoid all intermediaries and lead times.
What are the benefits of self-service in HR?
To sum up, self-service is a way to save administrative time for managers and the HR department - time that can instead be spent on things that make a difference for the company. It can also be a positive experience for employees in the form of an increased sense of participation and commitment to their own development at the company.
Last but not least, since self-service goes hand in hand with digital interfaces that remove many manual steps, there are also major security benefits.
Linda Tesell:
– A clear example is when signing the employment contract. In a system support with self-service, the manager, or in some cases the employee himself, can easily fill in the personal information and send it for e-signing via the system. Everything is then gathered in one place from the start (so-called master data), which increases the data quality. No sensitive information needs to be emailed between the manager and HR, no paperwork needs to be archived and nothing risks getting lost. Instead, everything is handled in a secure digital workflow.
A growing trend?
– In my experience, there has long been some resistance to self-service and a thought that "the more we let into the system, the less control we have". However, this does not seem to be the case anymore, but now it has almost become normal for managers to be let into what used to be the area of payroll and HR staff, says Linda, and she adds that she believes in a similar development in the future when it comes to self-service for employees.
– Of course, it’s important to remember having a well-thought-out structure, so that everyone has access to the things they should access, and nothing else. But if you have a modern HR system, it is built to allow you to tailor the permissions in a very waterproof way and thus work safely and securely.
Self-service in HR – something for your company?
Are you and your colleagues struggling with paperwork, manual routines and data that is scattered in several different places? Do you want to reduce the workload for your administrators and make it easy for employees to keep track of information that is relevant to them? Contact us and we are happy to tell you more about how Flex HRM Employee can contribute to a more pleasant and efficient working day - no matter what role you have in the organization.
5 benefits of self-service in HR work
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Reduces the workload for managers and administrators
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All data collected in a digital flow in one place = increased data quality
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GDPR compliant
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Helps the company to be an attractive employer at the forefront of modern technology
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Helps to make employees more engaged and involved in the individual and company development
