These days, you find it everywhere. Post offices, grocery stores, and even Home Depot offers self-service checkout. It is a concept that has spread into the human resource and payroll world with great acceptance.
You may ask yourself how? Its called employee self service (ESS).
Employees can be given the ability to perform functions that once demanded resources from HR staff members. Employees can track, review, and make changes to their personal information. Some ESS systems even allow employees to reprint past paycheck stubs and W-2s.
If your payroll and human resources department is buried in paperwork, it may be time to consider implementing ESS. ESS is not just for large organizations; smaller organizations can also reap the benefits. Think about the last time an employee lost their W-2, or needed their pay history in order to apply for a mortgage. With ESS, the employee can simply go to a website and reprint this information within a couple of minutes. And, not a moment lost in the payroll department to a phone call or a drop-in visit.
Characteristics of ESS such as 24/7 access are an added plus for companies that provide services to a diverse and often dispersed workforce. Moreover, the value and experience that employees gain from this interaction will pave the way for additional self-service options. ESS functionality can even open new avenues of communication for employees. Links can be created to other sites on the company intranet or the Web. Company procedural manuals, employee handbooks, health insurance benefit handbooks, plus other important company information can be made readily available to employees anywhere at any time.
ESS can streamline workflow and show significant return on investment. Some payroll companies, such as PayMaster, offer ESS to its clients for as little as .25 cents per employee per month. With ESS and 100% direct deposit acceptance, it is possible for a company to eliminate the need to distribute check stubs on payday, which is estimated to cost a company more than $1.00 per check, per pay period.
ESS solutions are a win/win proposition for employees and employers alike. Employees appreciate the convenience and ability to control personal data, which can increase productivity and retention. Within the payroll/HR department, ESS eliminates paper shuffling and removes tasks that can be handled more efficiently by the employee. Having the information stored electronically is cheaper and more efficient than filing paper documents. HR is able to focus on more strategic roles in their organizations without having to waste time on non productive tasks.
Self-service, it is not just for retail anymore.
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