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Corporate Intranets
Include Automated Time & Attendance in your "HR Self-Service" Offering







CrossWind Technologies,LLC.
http://www.crosswind.com






Copyright (c) 1998 CrossWind Technologies, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means, written, electronic, photocopying, recording, smoke signal, mechanical or otherwise, without the written permission of CrossWind Technologies,LLC.






Table of Contents

Introduction: The HRIS "Self-Service" Market Opportunity
Payroll in "Self-service" HRIS
The Payroll User Perspective
The Payroll Vendor Perspect
Time and Attendance Survey






Introduction

THE HRIS "SELF-SERVICE" MARKET OPPORTUNITY

CrossWind based this Time and Attendance white paper on both primary and secondary market research assessing the needs of our target OEM customer, the Payroll Application vendor, and our customers' customer, the enterprise Payroll user.

The Payroll User Perspective

QUICK STATS:
  • The routine transaction processing activities involved with Finance, Human Resources and Procurement often cost enterprises as much as 10% of their annual revenues.1
  • Through 2001, only 30% of HR departments will successfully make the transition from a transaction-processing management focus to a human capital management focus.2


The implementation of many strategic HR functions, such as attracting and retaining a high quality workforce involve resource-consuming administrative functions. Often the resources required to deal with the volume of administrative processes come at the expense of the more strategic endeavors. At a recent presentation, Elizabeth Malis of the Gartner Group, spoke of the need for meaningful HR automation to continue:

"Finance, human resources (HR) and procurement-we define them as administrative activities. Others call them staff functions and still others call them 'back office.' For centuries wars have been won by those with superior materials, capital backing and labor. Yet in today's enterprise, the traditional 'custodians' of these strategic resources find themselves mired in routine transaction processing activities-often costing their enterprises as much as 10 percent of their annual revenues. The challenge for most enterprises is not to just reduce the amount of time these resources spend on low-value activities, but also to leverage their unique talents to competitive advantage."3

Many HR organizations are turning to self-service systems to remove a large portion of the administrative burden from their organization. Time and Attendance Automation is an important self-service solution with a very short ROI cycle. From the corporate perspective, the costs of a payroll cycle go well beyond the actual processing done by the Payroll Department.

From an enterprise resource view point, the time costs of a paper-based Time & Attendance system might include: The estimated costs for the above listed steps range from minutes to hours per employee, per paycheck. For any sizable company this can translate to hundreds of thousands of dollars each year of paid time spent on this process-time that would be better spent on line of business activities.

  • the employee filling out the timecard
  • routing it for manager approval
  • manager review
  • photocopying and filing signed timecards for archive
  • routing to payroll
  • keying in paper timecards
  • payroll admin. reminding managers/employees about delinquent timecards
  • input error checking
  • processing manual checks resulting form errors or delinquent timecards
  • processing requests for reports (e.g., overtime reports by department)
  • archiving master timecards and reports



Payroll Vendor Perspective
QUICK STATS:
  • The client/server administrative application market will experience a shakeout through 2000 that will remover one-half of the players from the market or from serious contention in it (0.7 probability)4
  • Administration application vendors' long-term viability will depend on the ability to develop product extension.5

Payroll vendors are facing and increasingly competitive and changing market. In the past, payroll applications were designed for use by the Payroll Department only-without any employee interaction. Today's "best practices." business requirements are demanding that applications such as Payroll extend beyond transaction processing and departmental bounds to become part of the enterprise intranet. Many IT departments, driven by increasingly higher ROI objectives, are evaluating ways to cost-effectively increase performance on current technology against the increasingly popular outsourcing option.

According to a publication by ADP, these are the situational analysis questions a payroll department might look when determining the cost of payroll with manual Time & Attendance:

  • How long does it take to total employee timecards or timesheets?
  • How many hours or days are devoted to payroll preparation each time period?
  • How many manual checks need to be issued to correct pay errors?
  • What is your payroll error factor?
  • Are your incentive pay rules being applied accurately and fairly?
  • Is there costly double entry of records?
  • Is data keypunched into the payroll system? How long does it take?
  • How many payroll people are involved in making corrections? How many supervisors?
  • Are you receiving accurate vacation and sick time reporting from exempt employees?
  • How do your people feel about your system?

The payroll processing time spent using a manual Time and Attendance solution represents a significant subset of the total processing time taken in the earlier enterprise scenario. Because this entire process is associated with the payroll solution, any improvements gained through automating Time and Attendance would reflect favorably on the most visible technology solution provider-the payroll vendor.

1 "Administrative Application Strategies (AAS) Scenario," presented by Elizabeth Malis, VP, Gartner Group, March 18, 1998.
2 ibid.
3 ibid.
4 ibid
5 ibid.

CrossWind Technologies, LLC

Payroll Professional Questionnaire - Survey Results

Below are results from a research survey given to twenty-five Human Resource and Payroll professionals employed by Fortune 1,000 companies, Educational Institutions and U.S. Government Agencies. The survey was conducted by CrossWind Technologies in May 1998.

Notes:

  1. Individual answers are given throughout this report, those numbered answers correspond to the same respondent.
  2. Surveys were conducted by telephone and via email.



What does your company do?

  1. Consumer retail
  2. Retirement center
  3. Computer hardware, software, services
  4. Professional Services Firm
  5. Community banking
  6. Primary and specialty healthcare provider
  7. Major financial holding
  8. Entertainment industry
  9. Computer peripherals
  10. Investment Banking Firm
  11. Computer peripherals
  12. PC Manufacturer
  13. Brewing company
  14. University
  15. Mining company
  16. Govt. Research Labs
  17. HMO
  18. Manufactures high tech measuring devices
  19. Telecommunications
  20. Cars and Trucks.
  21. Manufacturer of air moving equipment.
  22. Law Firm.
  23. Electric & Gas Utility.
  24. Higher Education.
  25. Manufacturing


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What employees are the most difficult to serve, exempt or non-exempt? Why?
  1. Non-exempt: There are more of them. They forget to clock in and out as well as forget to submit vacation requests. Because of this they get shorted on their paycheck and then want to know why.
  2. Non-exempt: Dealing with overtime and shift differentials is more work.
  3. No preference.
  4. NA
  5. Exempt - power and political issues.
  6. Non-exempt. The turnover rate is higher, the are less stable, have more needs and more problems.
  7. Non-exempt - More demands, need more time.
  8. Exempt, because they are highly compensated and there are many details to figuring out compensation
  9. Non-exempt, their hrs require more detailed information and data entry
  10. Both are equally difficult.
  11. Exempt because they have fancier benefit features
  12. Non-exempt because they report hours.
  13. Non-exempt because there are more details in processing their payroll
  14. Both are equally difficult.
  15. Non-exempt, because they have more paperwork.
  16. Non-exempt, because of union contract issues.
  17. Exempt are more demanding, but non-exempt are harder to process because of overtime, etc.
  18. Non-exempt because more types of reports are required, project tracking, overtime, etc.
  19. No opinion.
  20. The exempt is more difficult, because of the Union relationship.
  21. Hourly-Usually requires greater assistance and asks more questions.
  22. No difference.
  23. Non-exempt (complicated pay practices for both union and non-union, grandfathered pay practices).
  24. Exempt because there are many exceptions that are negotiated for faculty.
  25. Non-exempt, more of them and less educated.


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How do you receive information from employees regarding time cards and notify them of sick leave and vacation status? E.g., via paper time cards, electronically?
  1. Non-exempt uses the swipe card system to clock in and out. For exempt, they assume straight 40 hours and use the honor system.
  2. Electronically: The time clock is connected to the computer dB. Managers are papers based. They place their information in an Excel spreadsheet, print them out and then sign them. These are then manually input into the system. Errors are a common problem when dealing with manual input. Automating timesheets for exempt employees is something that has been missing from the industry and is non-existent.
  3. They only record exceptions for sick time. Holiday info is between you and your manager.
  4. Two ways: Manually (this is not really used anymore, and electronic time sheets. These time sheets are not integrated into their system so they then must be manually input. The hours and billing rate are input into the system.
  5. Paper time cards. These are consolidated by supervisors who in turn submit a summary via Excel and the Excel info is manually input to ADP payroll system.
  6. The non-exempt punches in with time cards. At the end of the week, the supervisors get a summary. Every two weeks, they create a time sheet on each employee and send to HR who then passes it to payroll. Exempt folks would submit their own time sheets to payroll every two weeks. Employees found out about sick and vacation status by looking at their pay voucher that came with the paychecks.
  7. They fill out time sheets and submit to their manager for a signature. The manager then submits them to an Admin in payroll to be input into their proprietary payroll system.
  8. Don't track.
  9. All use paper timecards, exempt report exceptions only.
  10. He wouldn't answer clearly.
  11. Paper timecards, small punchclock population
  12. Electronically through punchclock for factory and paper for exempts reporting exceptions only.
  13. Employees enter time on PC through Maint./Proj tracking s/w that has been modified to track time & 1200 employees use paper timecard
  14. Minority = paper/manually; Majority = auto payment with exception reporting
  15. Hourly use timeclocks, some use computer system, Exempt = autopay
  16. Electronically through homegrown web application
  17. Some paper and some electronically.
  18. Paper timecards.
  19. Paper timecards.
  20. Via paper notifications, letters or memo.
  21. Hourly employees punch time clock daily and turn in their cards daily. Non-exempts write their times in on a weekly card and turn it in on Monday morning.
  22. We receive information through attendance keepers on each floor of our office. We notify employees of their status via a memo on their paystub.
  23. In-house developed corporate labor system, almost all employees enter their own time (some centralized field entry for lineman/plant workers who use time sheets), system is designed to handle complicated pay practices and activity based costing.
  24. 95%% of timecards for temporary workers is received electronically via a web-based system developed in-house. Sick leave and vacation for regular employees is recorded on manual sheets and submitted to our office every six months. Any unpaid leave is processed via a personnel action form.
  25. Mainframe labor and work order systems include vacation and sick hours available from HRIS.


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Do you request this information directly from the employees or from the employees' managers (both exempt and non-exempt)?
  1. The employee fills out form and gets approval from supervisor then employee brings to HR in order to get paid.
  2. For exempt, the timesheet goes through their supervisor and then directly to payroll. For non-exempt info goes directly to dB from the timecard system.
  3. Neither.
  4. Directly from employees, no approval required.
  5. From supervisors.
  6. Supervisors are asked for both theirs and non-exempt people for which they were responsible.
  7. Manger must sign and then submit to payroll admin.
  8. From the employees but they are responsible for getting the approval of their supervisors.
  9. From managers for both.
  10. Users log into secure s/w with password and SS#, log hours, mgr. approves, applies electronic signature and submits to payroll.
  11. Through the employee's manager.
  12. Through the manager. for everyone
  13. Through the manager. for everyone.
  14. Through the employee's manager.
  15. Through the employee's manager.
  16. Employee enters in web app, mgr. approves, all online including signature loops
  17. Through mgrs. (California law requires approval.)
  18. Through the employee's manager.
  19. Through the employee's manager.
  20. Directly from the employee.
  21. Non-exempt fill out his or her own time card which is signed by the supervisor.
  22. BOTH from the employees and their managers (the same for exempt & non-exempt).
  23. Employees are responsible for entering their own time... if they forget and the system generated time for them, they need to determine whether a prior pay period adjustment is warranted. We have NO approval process... the reporting features are very robust and the system is open to everyone... it is built on a tremendous amount of trust. Workgroups are responsible for managing their budgets. Rampant overtime sticks out like a sore thumb...
  24. Employees submit sick and vacation every six months to their supervisors who verify/approve them before sending the records to us.
  25. Employees enter time, supervisors approve time on-line.


How is this information consolidated?
  1. The Kronos system compiles the information into the computer and this info is then downloaded into PeopleSoft.
  2. For exempt: employee > supervisor > payroll > manual input. For non-exempt it goes directly to dB or paper sheet is manually input for holiday and sick time.
  3. Not consolidated.
  4. Electronically in their proprietary system.
  5. Manually input into ADP system.
  6. HR secretary would receive all timesheets and then bring it to payroll.
  7. Input into proprietary payroll system.
  8. N/A, Don't track.
  9. Consolidated by dept, entered in system by payroll.
  10. It gets passed electronically to payroll automatically.
  11. Everyone is keyed in for 80hrs per pay period. Exceptions are entered into ProBusiness by payroll
  12. Paper info is data entered to Kronos.
  13. By hand in payroll.
  14. Recap to a roster, then sent to data entry firm, get info back, verify manually, feed into payroll s/w
  15. Entered into mainframe
  16. Automatically goes into PeopleSoft
  17. Internal time collection system that interfaces with payroll (PeopleSoft)
  18. Audit paper timesheet by payroll staff, send timesheet to keying vendor, then returned in format to import to ADP.
  19. Keyed into payroll system.
  20. It goes to the personal file and in our local system.
  21. Time cards figured by payroll clerk, data entered into spreadsheet daily. Every Monday each employee's total hours (from spreadsheet) is entered into ADP payroll system and transmitted to ADP.
  22. Via a manual timekeeper person.
  23. Every two weeks, only the information that is needed is fed to PeopleSoft payroll for calculation of pay.an in-house labor distribution system then spreads the pay over the processes worked and a journal entry is created for GL. The data goes into a "drill-down" database that can be accessed via the PeopleSoft GL Nvision reporting tool.
  24. Info is not consolidated; rather the forms are filed in our office. We hope that when we capture this info electronically, we will upload it to our HR system and have the info printed on paychecks.
  25. Exported from mainframe to Ceridian HRIS software.


What time and attendance system do you use to collect this information?
  1. Kronos and PeopleSoft.
  2. Abra for Windows is their HRIS system and Excel spreadsheet info that is manually input to Abra.
  3. For her division they go in weekly to put in how many hours to bill a customer. They can not log off or on to Profs unless they provide this information.
  4. Proprietary project based system.
  5. Time cards, time sheets, Excel, ADP Payroll system.
  6. Time cards, time sheets. The clock was tied into the computer so you could get statistics from the computer.
  7. Time sheets and proprietary payroll system.
  8. N/A, Don't track.
  9. ProBusiness, just converted from ADP
  10. Kronos
  11. ProBusiness, it's Fox based and is converting to MS Windows
  12. Kronos.
  13. In house s/w, an IT/Maintenance Tracking application that has been modified and paper timecards.
  14. Just manual.
  15. EAS Technologies timeclock application and CYBORG
  16. PeopleSoft
  17. Paper timecard is keyed into a table that loads into PeopleSoft
  18. Outsourced to ADP
  19. PeopleSoft.
  20. Employee send as notes to Personnel Administration Office the information.
  21. Manual
  22. Manual and ABRA for Windows.
  23. In-house developed Powerbuilder application.
  24. Manual
  25. Customized mainframe labor and work order system.

What do you and don't you like about this system?
  1. There are no problems with this system, the Windows based version of Kronos and PeopleSoft are easy to use.
  2. It is simple and not complex. Wishes that Excel could be integrated but concerned about signatures and hardcopies. Manual input creates errors.
  3. It is simple, you just put in the hours. You do not have to shake people to get this information. From a business perspective, it is good because information is current and accurate.
  4. Don't like that you can not access info in the main system easily.
  5. Did not interface with the entire system. With manual input there is a lot of chance for errors.
  6. It worked well to track legal requirements. It took too much time. If supervisors could send info directly to payroll, it would take the burden from HR having to collect and forward to payroll.
  7. HR is not involved which is good. It does not provide automatic reporting to see how people are doing against their expectations. There are errors in manual input.
  8. N/A, Don't track.
  9. Really likes the new system.
  10. It's new. He loves it.
  11. Likes it a lot. Used to use ADP and Ceridian.
  12. Kronos is very old, DOS, would like PC application that is easier to work with.
  13. Electronic system works well, paper timecards don't.
  14. Would like automation, like swipe cards
  15. Doesn't like how it handles holidays
  16. Would like more reports and security (payroll clerks can modify their own pay rates)
  17. Neutral. Has it's good and bad points. Table = good legal record.
  18. Paper portion is a drag. Wants to go paperless.
  19. Loves the whole enchilada!
  20. I do not like because it is manual.
  21. Takes hours, plus too much of a chance for errors, calculate hours on time card, enter info into spreadsheet, print out spreadsheet totals and enter into ADP system.
  22. ABRA is not very user friendly and/or powerful in this area.
  23. Easy to use, employees have accepted it very well... they see the value in collecting the data to use in making business decisions. Sometimes it doesn't run very well in some of our more remote locations, our infrastructure problem.
  24. Manual and time consuming and employees do not have it readily available on their paychecks.
  25. Customized mainframe labor and work order system.


How would you improve the functionality of this system?

  1. PeopleSoft is so new still and they are still of a learning curve but so far it does all they will need.
  2. Integrate Excel into payroll dB to help with the manual input errors. Allow for electronic signatures.
  3. Would not change the system.
  4. Have easy access to people time sheets.
  5. A good system would need a report writer and allow supervisor to review input before sent to payroll. Prefers to have the whole system networked and automated with stops along the way for supervisor approval.
  6. Automate and have supervisors send directly to payroll. Have the fields accessible to supervisors so they could make changes to the info.
  7. Includes reports
  8. N/A, Don't track.
  9. Make manual check adjustments easier.
  10. No improvements.
  11. No improvements.
  12. Less key strokes. Better GUI
  13. Process paper timecards electronically.
  14. Easier to merge info
  15. Would like to make changes himself, needs a programmer to change anything
  16. More reports and add security
  17. Get an intranet timecard.
  18. Go paperless. Would like it to be electronic. Keying in data is cheap, not an issue.
  19. No improvements.
  20. With a self-service request and input system where the employee can consult or submit his/her information.
  21. N/A.
  22. Have it more automated in some manner.
  23. Continue to upgrade the infrastructure...and continue to try to influence the compensation design group and the labor relations group to design and negotiate for less complicated pay practices!
  24. Automate it and change it to monthly reporting.
  25. Make it more user friendly


Which HR applications do you currently use for your job?
  1. PeopleSoft and Kronos.
  2. Abra
  3. IBM proprietary systems
  4. Proprietary legacy system. They are converting to PeopleSoft soon.
  5. ADP payroll, Knowledge point, Labor Law.
  6. No formal applications. Time clock software.
  7. PeopleSoft being installed, internal proprietary system.
  8. Had Genesis, going with PeopleSoft. Do not use any other applications.
  9. Just ProBusiness
  10. Kronos and ADP
  11. SAP and ProBusiness
  12. ADP, PayNet Plus, Personnel Plus
  13. ADP and in-house s/w
  14. Homegrown app
  15. EAS, Cyborg, mainframe stuff
  16. PeopleSoft
  17. PeopleSoft, Kronos in some locations, but going away. Going to Web/Intranet solutions.
  18. ADP, css:HRizon (based on PeopleSoft, ADP bought PS license and modified the app) not going to timeclocks, manufacturing employees have kiosks with computer access, in 2 months, will push time data into payroll system with turnkey s/w payroll solution, web app internally piggybacking on something that ADP provides
  19. PeopleSoft, Crystal
  20. We are migrating to People Soft.
  21. Currently installing BAAN software company-wide with the exception of payroll/HR, which will be HR Perspective.
  22. ABRA for Windows.
  23. PeopleSoft.
  24. SCT's HRS.
  25. Ceridian Integrated HR/Payroll System.