Automating HR - Yeah!

I am all about first impressions.

So, can you imagine my delight when I listened to speaker after speaker at our organization's HR Cluster Meeting last week and saw articulate, well-dressed, dynamic and engaging women at the forefront of the organization making things happen. VA put it's best foot forward in Kansas City last week.

Our workforce challenges mirror those of the health care industry as a whole with workforce planning at the top of the list. At the conference, we discussed workforce analysis and planning, innovative retention strategies, national recruitment/media marketing strategies, financial incentives for recruitment and retention and streamlining the hiring process. We are embarking on a national wide system redesign of our hiring systems at the local, regional and national levels. 

About 18 months ago we heard that change is coming soon to an HR Department by you.  VA was embarking on a multi-year effort to automate its personnel system. Automation is absolutely necessary to provide the services, information and resources our organizations need. The message from leadership then was that the support is there – not only to the tune of millions of dollars but also to the commitment to provide us with the tools and resources we have said that we need.

The message from leadership now is that the change is here. You need not go any further than my calendar to see.  Next week we meet with the contractor to prepare to manifest our 1300 personnel files for shipment to a facility where they will be converted to electronic files. By the end of the year, we will be utilizing e-Class, an automated position classification system; USAJobs, an applicant tracking system; and WebHR, a system that will automate our requests for personnel action and provide personnel data at the touch of a button.  We continue with e-QIP, the electronic submission of background investigations and look forward to benefiting from enhanced functionality.

I didn't need to go to Kansas City to know that change is here but I did need to go to meet the people behind the changes in HR. The face of HR is changing.

Maren Hogan said, "If you can't do it with rudimentary tools, you can't do it at all." Excel spreadsheets and No.2 pencils? Been there, done that, ready to move on and embrace the change!

Comments

[Wally Bock]

Wonderful post, Lisa. Rudimentary tools are much like the good old days, they aren't quite as wonderful as we like to remember. On the other hand, though, the core judgment functions of HR or any other discipline are human and can, indeed be done with rudimentary tools.

So what should "automation" or "technology" do? When it's done right, it shifts the work for a practitioner from the clerical to the professional.

Some years ago when I was writing my book, Net Income, I interviewed a gentleman from Cummins Engine. At the time his company was automating its sales information. He describe the result this way: "Before, I used to spend three weeks gathering information for a major sales call and about an hour analyzing it. Now I spend about an hour gathering data. I can still spend an hour analyzing it, or two or three if I need it. I have time to go get more information. Or I can do other productive things."

I just spoke to a Federal agency where we talked about using technology and other tools to deal with the potential knowledge loss from Boomer retirements. The role of technology there can be similar. Make information and knowledge available so people can find it quickly. Embed best practices in software. Structure reporting so it actually helps. That's what I wish for you.

[HR Maven]

I had a colleague who used a 'yellow legal pad.' That became our benchmark for as low as you can go. :) We have installed ImageNow for our paperless workflow and it's a dream. Goodbye filing cabinets! Hope it goes smoothly for you.

[Lisa Rosendahl]

Wally, I can see a post in my future, "Beyond Automation to Modernization" and as we upload, utilized and wonder at our new automation I will definitely be keeping an eye on making info and knowledge available to others and take a fresh look at just what it is we are doing. There are process changes we have considered even absent the technology and these upcoming changes may just be the springboard we need to get them going.

Hr Maven, my No. 2 is your yellow legal pad. I can get that, completely!