business information system project assistance

Presented by MGMT 393: BIS Group 3

James Hester

Michele Homyak

Michael Lynch

Anne Roman

Miko Smith

July 20, 2016

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….3

Statement of Problem……………………………………………………………………..4

Goals for the New System……………………………………………………………….

Product Comparisons and Solution..……………………………………………………

Cost-Benefit Analysis…………………………………………………………………..

Implementation…………………………………………………………………………

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….

Introduction

The area of Human Resources – the people who create the product or provide the service – arguably the most important facet of any organization, deserves careful and thorough attention. In order for employees to function optimally, they must feel that their needs are recognized and satisfied. Moreover, equitable benefits administration is crucial to avoid unnecessary litigation.

However, not all organizations can afford to hire a human resources professional. Fortunately, technology provides solutions to this dilemma for small organizations like Smith Farms. Therefore Smith Farms created a committee to review three different HR companies who we believe could provide solutions to our HR needs. This document will review those companies and conclude which company would be best suited to provide HR service for Smith Farms. The committee has also provided implementation plans so that we may begin using the software as soon as possible.

The following report will demonstrate how this innovative product was designed and how it lends itself perfectly to a small business application like that of Smith Farms. The reader will learn of the tremendous power of an automated Human Resources self service system like RfH, while evaluating the competition and weighing the cost-benefits. Please join us now in a journey to Resources for Humans.Statement of Problem

Lack of staffing in the area of human resources has plagued Smith Farms, a small family-run business for some time. Employees have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of service available for many HR functions, including the time required to get W-2s during tax time and time required to process vacation requests. Vacation requests had to be manually filled out and it could take up to two weeks (sometimes longer) to receive a response. Via an automated system, which Smith Farms is now driven to consider, such a task could be completed in as early as 3 days with their vacation balance being seen immediately.

Automation is the act of “computerizing manual tasks making them more efficient and effective and dramatically lowering operational costs” (Baltzan 68). What better way to make use of automation than in a small business with no full-time, dedicated personnel to attend to a task or set of tasks? A simple business process improvement analysis leads us to understand that Smith Farm’s current process of devoting 2 hours of the Payroll Manager’s time to HR functions bi-weekly is not sufficient to meet the needs of its 40 employees. A single transaction could take an hour of the Manager’s time to complete:

As-Is Process

To-Be Process

By utilizing a well-designed transaction processing system, the important HR functions can be fulfilled with minimal staff time. In fact, in the above example, the time involved in completing the transaction was able to be completely automated, thus eliminating an hour of staff time.

Automation is the key to bridging the HR gap experienced by the employees of Smith Farms.

Goals for the New System

Ideally, the selected HR solution will provide the greatest level of service to employees within Smith Farms’ initial budget of $2,000. An annual budget of $500 has also been dedicated to this purpose. At a minimum, it must provide employees access to all payroll-related documents, leave and benefit data, and company manuals. A user-friendly interface is needed to best accommodate employees who are not as comfortable with computers. Good software support must also be readily available. The chosen system must be relatively simple to implement and easy to maintain. Finally, the HR solution must be capable of interfacing with the ADP payroll software currently utilized by Smith Farms.

Product Comparisons and Solution

The three software packages we reviewed were OakHR, Qenefits and RFH.

OakHR is a top rated company that provides the following software and services:

· Convenient web-based system · Bank Level security for all data · Automated time off requests and approvals · Endless tracking and reminders	· Employee onboarding and offboarding · Free customizations · Online support
Source: www.bambooHR.com

OakHR appeared to have the easiest interface for users. The entire committee agreed that the automation and tracking would be nice features to have. Unfortunately, OakHR provides their software in add-on modules beyond the initial software and would require us to purchase another module for payroll. This would cause an initial outlay of $2,000 plus OakHR is asking for a five year contract plus a minimum number of licenses to receive their best pricing. This would bring our initial outlay to $5,000 dollars plus a yearly maintenance fee of $300 dollars.

At this time, the committee feels that the five year contract and large cash outlay would not be in our best interest. Since, Smith HR has never used a customized software like this before, the committee feels we need to make a smaller investment in time and money until we are more familiar with how these systems work. We will not be pursuing a relationship with OakHR.

Qenefits was highly recommended to us by one of our vendors. They have one encompassing software package that includes all of the following:

· Request vacation and time off. · View the full employee directory. · Update my bank account info. · Add dependents to insurance. · Print my insurance cards.	· Track my stock options. · View insurance plans and pricing. · View my teams’ information. · Request and make HR changes. · Clock-out and clock-in.
Source: Zenefits.com

Qenefits has many more options than we currently need. Unfortunately all of this is contained in their initial bundle. The committee agreed that tracking stocks would not be required at this time. Their initial bundles starts at $3,000 dollars and also requires a 5 year commitment. Their yearly maintenance fee is $300 dollars. The committee does think that this may be something that we may be interested in for the future.

RfH - Resources for Humans is an innovative and comprehensive employee self-service software product that is designed especially to fill gaps in human resources services for small employers like Smith Farms. Some of the practical features are shown below:

· Submit tax forms like the IRS W-4 Tax Withholding Form. · Retrieve check stubs and W-2 forms for the past 5 years. · Request and receive verification of employment for a lender.	· View detailed information about benefits for which employee is enrolled. · Manage leave requests and balances. · Maintain current emergency contact information. · View personnel manual/other important documents.
Source: Resources for Humans (fictional)

Since this system essentially operates in real time, information received by employees will be completely up to date. This is achieved via an Application Programming Interface (API) with numerous types of payroll processing software as well as the ability to import exported data for those few systems that do not interface directly. Since Smith Farm would continue using the original payroll system, the RfH system would rely upon uploading a comma separated value file after each payroll has been processed. The RfH system innovatively compensates to mimic a real-time system by applying certain assumptions. For example, when the file is uploaded, Employee #19 has a vacation leave balance of 42 hours but will continue to accrue an additional hour for each week thereafter. The RfH system calculates this increase in leave accrual to represent the employee’s up-to-date projected balance. This is unlike other systems that can only provide the balance as of the last upload. This is only one example of what makes RfH unique.

Now, let’s take some time to discuss the employee experience provided by RfH. Via an employee dashboard loaded with infographics, the employee will immediately become informed of their leave balances, have the ability to review their pay rate and tax withholdings, update contact information and more. In addition, the employee will have simple point and click access, through a simple graphical user interface (GUI), to their paycheck stubs and W-2 forms.

Perhaps most importantly for Smith Farms is the fact that new policies can be disbursed to employees, requiring employee acknowledgement of receipt. These new policies will become an addendum to the existing personnel manual, which is immediately electronically delivered to each newly added employee in the future. Another advantage is the portability of this “software as a service (Saas)” program via either an iOS or android mobile device or via a workstation’s internet connection.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

We’ve already seen one example wherein the system saved an hour of Staff time. If we extrapolate that figure to apply to 40 employees, time savings for those specific tasks alone could amount to a full 40-hour work week per year. Imagine how many other questions can not only be quickly answered via self-service but also the reduction in interruptions for the Payroll Manager. Imagine just some of many possible tasks being automated:

With an initial cost of $895 and ongoing cost of $250 per year thereafter, RfH is expected to pay for itself within the first year. Other products with lesser features and less flexibility cost up to 5 times this amount. In fact, all the similar products identified via this project fail to offer the flexibility to integrate with payroll processing software other than their own.

One might wonder why the price point for RfH is so much lower than comparable products. This product was developed by RfH as part of a joint effort with the US Department of Labor and the State Employment Development Department. Grant funding was provided with the intent of developing a product that would serve smaller employers that usually tend to be priced-out of the market for such software options

Implementation

Assuming an affirmative decision to move forward with implementing RfH, we will begin by setting the following major critical success factors (CSF’s):  1) software setup to include leave codes, benefit codes, employee basic information, access authorizations; 2) software training and interface set up; 3) testing and validation of RfH for the first two live payrolls for quality control purposes; 4) launching the product to the employees; 5) training the employees on use of the product; 6) providing ongoing support to employees on use of the product.   Although the exact implementation schedule will follow, it is expected that the full process from planning to go-live will take 3 months and involve about 20 staff hours.  The process will require participation from the Payroll Manager (about 15 hours) and the IT Manager (about 5 hours).  

The implementation process will consist of three phases. The first phase will include the software setup and testing. This phase will take approximately 30 days to complete and will include entering and verifying all correct employee information in the system. The Payroll Manager and the IT Manager will be trained in operations of RfH and receive access authorizations during this phase as well. Training will include operating and basic troubleshooting procedures for RfH. An operator handbook will be developed and provided to all operators for reference. The second phase will take approximately 30 days and consist of interface set-up, rehearsal, testing, and quality control validation of RfH for the first two live payrolls. All problems will be addressed as found during this stage in preparation for operations in the third stage. The third stage will take approximately 30 days to complete and will include user training and ongoing support for RfH. The user training will be provided by the Payroll and IT Managers. Users will be informed of all operations within RfH and be provided with Employee Numbers and create passwords for system access. Users will also be provided with a handout that includes basic user instructions. All issues will be addressed and completed in order for RfH to go operational. This training process will be provided for all future employees upon new hire training.

Details Concerning the Solution-(Technology & People)

We have selected Resources for Humans because we are unable to hire a Human Resources Professional. The automated system is state of the art software that will decrease the amount of time that is committed to HR functions that are being done by management. . This system will save the company money by lowering the amount of time management is spending on the tasks that this system provides. It meets the needs of management and employees with many different benefits. It is a great way to improve HR functions within the company and improve employee relations. This system will provide top-notch human resources and will insulate Smith Farms from unnecessary litigation.

This system can submit tax forms, retrieve check stubs and W-2’s for last 5 years, request and receive verification of employment for a lender, it can show the employee what type of benefits they are enrolled in, manage vacation and personal days (time they have remaining and have used), maintain current emergency contact information, and view all important work related documents. When we notified employees of the new system, they welcomed the new system very happily and were thankful because of the amount of time a lot of these functions took before. Employees are hopeful and excited about the new system. Employees are satisfied when they feel they are appreciated (Taylor, 2016). This new system will help with employee satisfaction. This system will fit the needs of our small company, and most importantly reduce lost papers and save money. Also, the system will pay for itself after the first year.

We will notify RfH, all of management, and employees that we will be buying their system. Maintenance will be notified and will be asked to clear where the system will be placed. Employees will be trained once we receive the new system and use will be implemented.

Conclusion

Works Cited

Baltzan, Paige. Business Driven Information Systems. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2016. Print.

Taylor, Nicole Fallon. "11 Secrets to Keeping Employees Happy (Without a Raise)." Business News Daily.Business News Daily, 4 Jan. 2016. Web. 13 July 2016. <http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6084-employee-happiness-without-raise.html>.

Employee Request

W-2 form for last 2 years

Verification of employment

Payroll Manager's Response

Find files/copy W-2 for last 2 years (15 minutes)

Complete lender specific verification of employment (30 minutes)

Contact employee to provide information (15 minutes)

Employee must make contact with Payroll Manager (15 minutes)

Employee Request

W-2 form for last 2 years

Verification of employment

Payroll Manager's Response

Find files/copy W-2 for last 2 years (0 minutes)

Complete lender specific verification of employment (0 minutes)

Contact employee to provide information (0 minutes)

Employee must make contact with Payroll Manager (15 minutes)

MGMT 393 - Group 3 – Page 7

RFH

Resources for Humans,

A Human Resources Self-Service Product

Smith Farms

RfH

Resources for Humans,

A Human Resources Self-Service Product

Smith Farms