Please print, complete, sign and fax...

I heard these same words three times this week and all in very different settings. The words were clear as day and were inserted into the conversation like it wasn't a big deal. In all three cases, the person saying them simply put it out there like it didn't mean anything. They said, "To make a data change in the HRIS system, you need to find the job action form on the HR intranet, print it, complete all the required information, sign it, and fax it to HR." In each case, this statement was followed by a lengthy description of all the things that were wrong with the HR data including incorrect or stale reporting relationships, incorrect organization structures, outdated personal demographic information, etc. When we got to the topic of reporting, the tale of woe continued with stories that described the inability to report even basic data and extreme efforts to piece together even basic metrics and analytics.

While working with enterprise clients, I am continually amazed when I hear the statement above especially because employee and manager self-service (or direct access as we call it at KI) is not a new concept. This technology has been around for a long time and is the cornerstone to successful HR service delivery. Enabling users to perform their own transactions and access their own data is a foundational item that makes strategic HR possible. Without clean data and solid processes to keep it that way, strategic HR just can't happen. Without it, employee data will continue to be corrupt and HR will be stuck chasing down paperwork and going through human heroics to report something as basic as head count.

As you plan your HR Service Delivery or HR Transformation projects, be sure to start with the foundation and make sure that the employee data is clean and you have technology enabled solutions in place to help manage it. Putting these transactions in the hands of the people that are closest to the data is a sure fire way to take a big step forward in making HR more strategic. It takes the HR Generalist out of the role of chasing down paperwork and will offer them the time to focus on more strategic activities like workforce planning and workforce development. It also removes a lot of the human heroics necesary to report data and offers reporting teams the time to analyze data and develop KPIs and not just piece together Excel spreadsheets. Consider employee and manager self-service as the price of admission to strategic HR.