FAQ's - (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is a Human Resources Management System (HRMS)?
A Human Resources Management System (HRMS) is a software application that combines many human resources and payroll functions into one package. It is an automated system designed to store, track and utilize employee demographic, position, salary and payroll data, allowing for a reduction in manual, paper heavy processes.
Why should the County invest in HRMS now?
The County believes that it is important to take a long-term view and invest in technology to support process improvements, increase efficiency and reduce costs. This project was initiated in 2000 after an internal review showed that existing systems and processes were unable to support the County’s goals.
Some of the existing systems that will be replaced by the HRMS are:
- The County’s payroll system, Geac, which was installed in 1975. The system has been adapted over the years to ensure accurate and on time payroll processing, but the system is showing its age. Updates and changes have become more and more difficult, time-consuming and labor intensive.
- The online application for viewing payroll data on the Mainframe.
- WinDE, used by payroll clerks to enter new employee information and change of status information for payroll.
- Department specific programs which are being maintained to address basic needs. It is estimated that there are at least 40 stand-alone programs being maintained by departments. These systems result in duplication of effort, increase the risk of errors and delays, and do not provide the County with an integrated, comprehensive database to support strategic decision-making.
- Many spreadsheets and databases internal to the Human Resources Department currently being used to track current and historical data. Some examples include; historical training database, the Mainframe position control application, employee history database, and the staff development benefit database.
What are the key features of our Human Resources Management System?
Human Resources
Position Control; Job Classification; Personnel Actions; Performance Evaluations, Grievance Tracking; Safety & Health; Leave Management
Payroll
Salary Administration; Payroll Processing; Interface to Time Saver; Interface to Financial Systems
Benefits Administration
Employee Eligibility; Open Enrollment; Forecasting & Reporting; Plan Administration
Employee Self Service
Access to personal information, employee history, benefit elections, training records, wage statements
Manager Self Service
Approve personnel actions, performance appraisals, leave requests; View and update employee information
What are the HRMS Steering Committee’s goals related to the project?
- Establish accessible and centralized repository of employee data
- Establish effective position control
- Support automated data exchange with fringe benefit providers
- Enable a performance management strategy
- Track and effectively utilize information on employee skills
- Decommission older technology systems
- Deliver flexible payroll processing
- Provide user-friendly reporting tools that allow easy access to system data
- Provide comprehensive self-service capabilities
- Implement a uniform HR/Payroll system for all County departments with minimal customizations
When will the system be implemented?
- Spring/Summer 2010 - Core HR and Payroll functionality
- Fall/Winter 2010 - Remaining functionality including employee and manager self-service
It was mentioned previously in the FAQ’s that some systems will go away after the HRMS implementation. Which of the County’s current systems will remain?
The main systems that will remain are CORS, TimeSaver, FAMIS and the Budget System.
CORS – The County will continue to use CORS for course management, course registration and wait list management. The existing interface of employee demographic information to CORS will remain and a new interface will be developed to transfer course completion data from CORS into our HRMS (ePersonality), which will allow for better tracking of courses completed and courses required in one location.
TimeSaver (Kronos) – The County will continue to use TimeSaver for time recording. Time data will be sent from TimeSaver to ePersonality at the end of each pay period for payroll processing (similar to the way time data is currently sent from TimeSaver to the existing payroll system). The updated accrual balances will be loaded back into TimeSaver from ePersonality after each final payroll processing is completed. New interfaces will be developed to populate TimeSaver with new employee information as well as updating employee information when the data is modified in ePersonality.
FAMIS – This is the County’s financial/general ledger system, and it will remain. There will be an interface from ePersonality to FAMIS for the posting of employee labor costs for each pay period, similar to the interface that exists today between the current payroll system and FAMIS.
The Budget System – There will be an interface which will populate the Budget system position data with data from ePersonality, although it is too early in the project to be able to know to what extent this will be changed from how the current process works.
When will training begin?
End-user training is tentatively scheduled to begin in February for the modules that will go-live in April. The detailed training plan is currently being developed by the project team. We will provide you with the specific dates and times of those trainings by October.
Will there be specific types of training depending on the user group?
Yes, our training plan focuses on the groups that will be impacted by the HRMS. The content of the training will be customized for the specific audiences. Training will be tied to the work processes of those receiving the training.
Will there be different types of training formats used?
We anticipate using classroom style training in addition to user guides and computer based training. The format used will depend on the level of complexity and specific functionality being taught.
The HRMS team would love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact us for more information or to provide feedback.