In New Jersey, there are no self-service petroleum stations as a law passed in 1949 prohibits them; primarily over concerns at the time of the safety of consumers pumping petroleum themselves.
Today, in this digital age, more and more we are moving to self service, particularly when providing services via online interface, or portal. And human resources departments are leading the charge – engaging employees in new and innovative ways through HR Shared Services Portals.
To quote just a few of the resources that can be found that speak of the evolution (and revolution) of HR towards Shared Services delivery:
- “The delivery of the human resource function has undergone considerable changes in recent years, especially with large multinational corporations.” (Modeling an HR Shared Services Center)
- “Shared services are an increasingly common organizational response to creating more efficient service delivery.” (Institute for Employment Studies)
- “As today’s organizations rise to meet the competitive and structural demands of rapid globalization, the human resources function is challenged to support the business through this transition.” (HR Shared Services: Determining the Scope, Scale & Structure)
Employee-centric, personalized HR portal interfaces are being leveraged by organizations around the globe for cost-effective, efficient HR service delivery. The key here though for employee engagement is to make portal usage a personalized experience. When one logs into their HR portal, the information presented should pertain directly to them – showing a personal interest in each employee by the company. Displaying content based upon an individual’s unique data-driven profile goes a long way towards improving employee engagement and job satisfaction.
Giving employees easy and immediate access to HR forms, policies and answers online greatly reduces the number of new cases for the department. HR professionals spend an inordinate amount of time processing paperwork that can easily be handled via a self-service HR portal using digital forms. Electronic forms also help enhance the HR experience by processing employee data directly into the shared services knowledge base system – further personalizing the portal experience.
Providing personalized content however, is more than just answering specific questions. Content is anything that is displayed within the portal such as corporate communications, announcements, transactions and other news – some of which may be general in nature – but a lot of this may be customized to individual users and groups. When an employee enters a portal, he or she should have the sense that it’s there just for them.
A well-designed portal makes it easy for the employee to get the information they need. The navigation should be intuitive – providing the right answer easily and efficiently. Keeping processes simple, and the steps to accomplish them easy to follow, makes for a “feel good” experience for employees.
An HR portal should be the “go to” place for employees to find out what’s going on within an organization. It should be the repository for all answers, policies, processes and resources needed to enhance their work experience at the company. Implementing and leveraging an HR Shared Services Portal that meets employee’s individual needs, serves a company, and its employees, well.