Employee Self Service – What does the future hold?
3 trends you must know about Employee Self Service.
Innovation is on the rise across HR softwares and ESS applications are now becoming a standard option for an HRMS. A regular working day has ESS capabilities embedded into every other aspect of its application, be it for the employee or the management.
As quoted by Gartner, “employee self-service enables employees to perform basic HR transactions, such as updating their names and addresses or viewing a paycheck, without intervention from the HR”
Here are 3 trends where ESS applications are evolving.
- Increased Communication Channels
This trend is directly related to the speed of communication. It has been proven several times that employees have different communication needs. ESS applications are hence being leveraged to handle several communication streams for several users’ requirements. ESS systems today provide employees the option to converse, add information about hobbies, career aspirations etc. This brings engagement and connection to the HRMS package.
Additionally, employee performance management software plays a crucial role in facilitating effective communication by providing insights into individual and team performance, enabling managers to make informed decisions and foster collaboration across the organisation
- Collaboration
The ESS system must be viewed as a collaboration. An ESS system is much more than just a transaction application. Social HR technologies across the globe have switched to a mode that takes an informal approach to recruitment, learning, and performance. This evolution has also had a significant rub-off on the core HRMS.
As quoted by Goldberg, “think of all of the events, knowledge and forums for collaboration that relate to employees that are part of the value they bring to the organisation and their fellow employees. Those events, pieces of knowledge and collaborations are the future of ESS”.
- Multi-Tier Delivery
The HR Service Delivery is seeing a wave of transformation with the adoption of a multi-tier model, all for good reason. Employee Self Service combined with Manager Self Service and an HR Help Desk, can reduce the HR headcount by a rough 25 percent. Several HR transactions can be serviced using the first tier of an ESS system and this will reduce the burden on the HR staff. However, this would imply that the lowest tier of the ESS system must be built out in a way that makes it possible for all tasks/information to be completed entirely by the employee.
Conclusion
ESS systems should be implemented to enable progression to achieve more with less. The design is evolving to expand beyond simple corporate record keeping and includes personalization. It can be concluded that providing employees with only the bare minimum of what an ESS system can do, is more of a disservice to them and might place the organisation at risk of being looked over in the evolution of HR.
Moreover, integrating performance employee management software into the ESS system can further enhance its capabilities, allowing for comprehensive performance tracking, goal setting, and employee development initiatives
