Learn how HRIS self-service software will benefit employees and HR professionals at your public sector organization.
Article Highlights:
- What is employee self-service?
- The benefits of employee self-service in the public sector
- A government HR software solution: NEOGOV’s HRIS
You’ve grown increasingly frustrated with the time and resources it takes to manually enter and manage employee information across your organization. And you aren’t alone. Many public sector agencies still use manual processes for employee data management. But these outdated, laborious systems are time-consuming and inefficient, reducing your capacity to contribute to more meaningful tasks.
Manual processes are also more prone to errors and inconsistencies that can be costly to your agency. This causes confusion, frustration, and lost productivity since employees must spend time correcting mistakes instead of undertaking their day-to-day responsibilities. Over time, this negatively impacts job satisfaction across your organization.
Public sector agencies need a better system to fulfill employee and agency needs, keep employee information up-to-date, and eliminate the negative impacts of dysfunctional, manual employee data management.
That system is employee self-service. But what is employee self-service? And what makes it so helpful? In this post, we’ll define employee self-service and the benefits it can provide to your HR team and your employees.
What is Employee Self-Service (ESS)?
Employee self-service (ESS) is an online portal that employees can access to view and update critical personal data and information. Staff might use employee self-service to update their addresses, elect healthcare benefits, or change tax withholdings for their paychecks.
Your HR team can also use ESS to oversee, manage, and identify administrative processes and employee needs. For example, HR staff can view time off requests from employees, review benefit plan elections, and manage employee data. Below are the most common features of HRIS self-service systems that make these actions possible.
Administrative management
Employee self-service makes completing day-to-day administrative tasks more straightforward. Employees might log into their ESS to view their accrued time off, then submit a time-off request for an upcoming vacation. This request is automatically routed to all relevant supervisors, reducing the time managers and HR professionals spend approving or discussing administrative items.
Employee data
Staff can log in to employee self-service to input and update personal information, including their Social Security number and contact information. They can even make changes whenever needed rather than involving HR staff to complete every little update.
Payroll
Employee self-service is also beneficial for payroll. Employees can use their self-service portal to view upcoming paychecks and make changes to tax withholding or the amount they withhold for retirement contributions.
Benefits
Another common feature included in ESS is the ability for employees to select or update plans during benefits enrollment periods, such as choosing from retirement or healthcare options. If an employee has a qualifying life event, like a marriage or the birth of a child, they can easily enroll new family members into benefit plans through employee self-service.
Time and attendance
Finally, employees and their supervisors can use employee self-service to track their time and attendance. Individuals can review their timesheets to check for accuracy, allowing them to correct any mistakes before the payroll department distributes checks.
The Benefits of Employee Self-Service in the Public Sector
Employee self-service software is a win-win solution for your HR team and employees across your organization. Here’s how.
How ESS helps your HR team
Because you no longer need to be directly involved with employees enrolling in benefits, updating personal information, or requesting PTO, your HR team saves valuable time. Rather than entering data in multiple places or correcting errors, you can redirect energy to productive tasks like supporting organizational culture and cultivating professional development opportunities.
Employee self-service also streamlines the management of information, requests, and approvals, so everyone in your organization understands current human capital needs. You no longer need to field phone calls about whether or not someone’s PTO request has gone through – employees can quickly access this information in the ESS portal, all on their own.
Finally, you improve accuracy and reduce errors across your organization by giving employees direct access to their personal information. Individuals can quickly see whether or not there’s an error with their payroll or personal information, then make any relevant changes without involving HR.
How ESS helps your employees
Employee self-service benefits employees by enabling them to track and update their data independently. Instead of just hoping that someone in your HR department receives an address change request, employees can make changes on their own time. Likewise, whenever an employee wants to check on the status of their paycheck or make changes to benefit information, all they need to do is log into the portal.
Because employees can quickly take care of these administrative tasks without engaging in back-and-forth with HR or other administrative departments, they have a better overall employee experience. This improved satisfaction boosts employee engagement and improves retention, so your organization is better equipped to provide the best public services possible.
A Government HR Software Solution: NEOGOV’s HRIS
Now that you understand the benefits of employee self-service, you’re probably wondering what government software solutions are available. With more than 20 years of experience serving public sector organizations, NEOGOV offers an HRIS self-service system that provides all of the benefits and features discussed above.
This employee self-service software makes it easy for employees and HR professionals to access and update critical data. Employees can log in and gain immediate access to all personal information. Plus, NEOGOV’s workflow process automation notifies relevant staff of updates and requests, so employees and HR always stay in the loop.
Finally, NEOGOV’s HRIS self-service supports complex payroll requirements, enabling you to maintain compliance with state and federal tax laws or other rules that guide your organization. You can also fully integrate the HRIS with other solutions in the NEOGOV suite, allowing you to update information across all your HR and workforce management systems and eliminate the need for duplicate data entry.
Final Thoughts
Your public sector agency no longer needs to waste time on manual processes. HRIS self-service software allows employees and your HR team to access and make changes to their information whenever necessary, eliminating practices that reduce employee satisfaction and waste valuable resources.
Are you ready to learn more about the benefits of HRIS software? Read our article about how employee self-service software empowers employees and saves time.
