Free with HRM Issue 13.9
HR Technology Solutions Outsourcing Guide 2013
&
Featuring:
Latest trends in HR technology Make HR outsourcing work for you
NEWS
HR Tech & Outsourcing US
US
Midlevel managers pressed to learn “Big Data” skills With Big Data becoming increasingly critical for sound decision making, midlevel managers will be under pressure to build their analytical skills, according to a study conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). Sponsored by the American Management Association (AMA), the study examined trends in corporate use of Big Data. Among other issues, the study asked participants to assess the analytical skills of their employees by job level. Nonexistent Leader 3.7% Manager 2.5% Supervisor 9.1% Individual 10.0% contributor Functional 7.3% expert
Novice Adept Expert 22.3% 29.0% 39.4% 36.4%
50.5% 54.1% 43.7% 42.3%
23.5% 14.4% 7.8% 11.3%
19.8% 46.0% 26.9%
The study found that senior executives and, not surprisingly, functional experts are thought to have the most highly developed analytical skills and understanding of big data and its uses. However, the broad mid-levels
of today’s organisations still have a way to go. Managers and supervisors were only labelled as experts by 14.4% and 7.8% of respondents, respectively. Successful managers must be able to see the full potential of Big Data – know what questions to ask of their data, how to leverage that data to create competitive advantages, and how to work effectively with true experts and consultants. “The stakes have never been higher, and companies know they must be more analytical. It’s not so much a question of skills alone as it is an across the board culture change,” AMA’s senior vice president, Robert G. Smith, explained. “Developing analytical skills at the middle-level will pay off not only in the short term, but also as managers advance within the organisation.” The study also found that more companies plan to invest in training to ramp up the skills of their workforce rather than hiring additional analytics staff – a sign that management clearly understands the importance of all levels of the workforce holding strong analytical skills.
Telecommuting envied HR, payroll, and recruitment is one of the fastest growing areas that Australians are outsourcing, growing by
227%
in the last financial year Source: Global outsourcing company oDesk
59%
of organisations offer an HR portal to HR and employees Source: Towers Watson – 2013 HR Service Delivery and Technology Survey
US
Enterprises expanding outsourcing Half of all major enterprises intended to increase the volume of application development and maintenance outsourcing during 2013, with four-in-ten intending to increase finance and accounting outsourcing, according to new research from US audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG LLP and analyst HfS Research. The survey, “State of the Outsourcing Industry 2013”, found that achieving operational effectiveness, greater scalability of operations, and process standardisation, continue to be the primary motivations behind IT and business operations outsourcing for more than three-quarters of respondents. “It’s abundantly clear that the vast majority of enterprises are looking to expand strategic outsourcing relationships in the medium-term as economic conditions improve,” said Cliff Justice, lead partner for KPMG’s Shared Services and Advisory group. The survey also found that core areas of strategic focus when outsourcing included accessing better talent (70%), gaining access to better technology (62%) and improving analytical capabilities (62%). Outsourcing customers were found to be satisfied with cost-reduction and standard delivery from service providers (88%), but indicated service providers were falling short in strategic areas, such as improving analytical capabilities, access to talent and achieving innovation.
Most (70%) workers would rather telecommunicate than work in the office. According to a survey by enterprise software and information solutions provider Deltek, 81% of workers between the ages of 35 and 44 would prefer to work remotely, as well as 66% of those aged 18 to 24. In addition, 70% of all parents said they would rather work from home. The survey also found there was a level of jealously present in offices that do allow some staff to work remotely. Nearly 60% of respondents said that working remotely spurred jealousy among remote colleagues, with the numbers jumping to 75% for staff that earn over $100,000 per year. With major advances in social business tools and platforms, the survey reveals that many companies and workers are not taking advantage of technologies that can make working remotely more productive and collaborative. Nearly two-thirds of respondents feel that email is an effective way to communicate within a group, 20% still use “paper and pen” to keep track of group activities, and 22% keep track of everything “in their head”. “Innovation combined with the right leadership, processes and people allows businesses to be more adaptable to the needs of their teams, spurring a more productive environment — whether that’s a traditional, virtual or hybrid work setting,” said Scott DeFusco, Deltek’s vice president of product strategy and management. “Using a social collaboration platform like (Deltek’s) Kona enables team members to be more connected and engaged,” he adds. “The Social Enterprise unlocks the potential of people and businesses by being the virtual equivalent of an open office environment.” ISSUE 13.9
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PROFILE INTERNATIONAL HR
Aon Hewitt
The Pit Stop:
Outsourcing solutions to empower your HR organisation
Sujay Bhat Regional Director Business Development – SEA & INDIA Email: Sujay.bhat@aonhewitt.com Tel: +6596428932
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Three months ago, early in the morning, one of Aon Hewitt’s Asia-Pacific Leaders received a call from the CEO of a large FMCG company – the CEO was looking for help in transforming his HR function into a strategic partner to help align people strategy to business. This is and will not be unique to one organisation. Rapid growth and expansion strategies across economies, industries and domains have transformed the traditional model of HR Generalists into three key sub sets: • HR Business Partner (Business Acumen), • Center of Excellence (Deep functional domain), • HR Operations (Process Excellence and Technology Know how). HR in an organisation on a growth trajectory face a number of challenges associated with HR Operations harmonisation of HR tools & processes, vendor management, complexities associated with global workforce, compliance, workforce administration and need for smart analytics. To overcome these challenges, organisations are increasingly partnering with HR outsourcing firms with rich domain knowledge, process capability and IT Infrastructure. HR Outsourcing cuts across Strategic and Transactional components.
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Aon Hewitt today has deep seated experience in both Strategic (Design) & Transactional (Delivery) aspects of Human Resources delivery. HR Design or Redesign is an important precursor to effective HR Outsourcing/transformation. This stage starts with overall design or redesign across Policy, Process and Platform strategy review and re-engineering. Given our deep rooted HR experience, we are in a unique position to assess and redesign the future state of the HR organisation. The redesign is undertaken keeping in mind overall business goals, growth objectives, market best practices and industry benchmarks. The outcomes of the design/redesign phase could result in redesigned processes, governance frameworks, performance KPIs, SLAs, set up of COEs or Shared Services Centers via on-shore, near shore or off-shore delivery models. Aon Hewitt’s solutions in the HR Outsourcing space span the end-to-end transactional activities of Human Resources. The basic tenets of their outsourcing services revolve around flexibility and scalability. Having embraced the “leverage and invest” model to outsourcing, wherein the existing client HR technology landscape is leveraged with bolt-on Aon tools to build solutions that “complement rather than replace”. While scale is critical, “one glove fits all” may not work for all clients. Hence, we have “out of the box” solutions for SMEs and Mid-Market clients, and highly bespoke solutions for large clients with complex needs. These offer clients the flexibility to select delivery models, platforms and extent of back office support required based on their evolving needs. Companies can cherry pick unique point solutions and later on decide to strap-on or strap-off other modules as required. Aon Hewitt’s end-to-end HR Outsourcing Services cover Employee Data Management, Work force Administration, Absence Management, Time & Attendance management, Multi-Country Payroll management, Flexi Benefits, HR analytics and Statutory Compliance. We are also in a unique position to offer on-shore, near shore and off shore delivery depending on the nature of in-scope services. Analysts are extremely bullish on the growth of the HR Outsourcing Industry in Asia. Estimates have it pegged to reach around five billion USD by 2016. Outsourcing has been one of the high leverage areas to gain best practices, increase efficiency, leverage scale and drive transformation. HR Outsourcing can work for all - the key is to pick a solution that is based on innovation, scalability and flexibility.
PROFILE INTERNATIONAL HR
Quantine
The hiring process –
Reimagined Have you met a candidate that you felt was a complete waste of time? Almost all HR folk that we have spoken to are familiar with this situation. This is why Next-5.com believes in changing the way we look at candidate screening and interviews Google the words “interesting resumes” and you will find a whole lot of examples of what people are doing to stand out from the crowd. It is obvious that job seekers are trying to find new ways to get noticed. What is interesting though, is that while job seekers are changing their approach, the way companies find and engage talent remains the same. It is mostly the standard routine: Advertise the position, collect and filter resumes based on what is written, and conduct interviews. While the advertising mediums have diversified and HR practitioners become more apt at sniffing out bullshit resumes, what remains a challenge is that most interviews conducted were a waste of time. As this continues to happen, companies—most likely the HR folk—are under fire to cut recruitment costs, while trying to improving the quality of interviews and reducing their time-to-hire. This is why Next-5.com believes in changing the way we look at candidate screening and interviews. While the conventional resumes can help companies determine the KSA (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities) of candidates, they speak nothing of the one crucial component: Who is this person? This is where On-Demand Video Interviews come in. Companies can set questions, send them to candidates to answer via a video recording, and then decide if they are a potential fit. This is a tool that enables better screening of candidates based on insights of a candidate’s motivation to join the company and even technical merits. These candidate responses can also be reviewed as a team and decisions can be quickly made on who made the cut. The end result—higher quality candidate interviews with a reduction in the time and cost per successful hire. As with any process, candidate screening cannot exist in isolation. Next-5.com provides tools to 4
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support the advertising of positions (through print, online job portals, and even social media). It also allows you to manage applications and even offer tools for deploying assessments. Can one platform really achieve all of this? The answer: Yes. And the best part? This platform is cloud-based and works on a software as a service (SaaS) model. This means that you can access it anywhere and you only pay for what you use.
Visit www.next-5.com
PROFILE
UNIT4
Improving HR efficiency through HRMS: A case study In this special case study, we look at how REC in Singapore chose Prosoft HRMS as an agile, user-friendly solution to effectively manage its HR processes, meet all its local requirements and respond to ongoing business change The Need REC, the parent company of REC in Singapore, had been using the IFS ERP suite to manage its processes, including human resource management. Being the first subsidiary in South East Asia and in order to align itself with its parent company, REC in Singapore had initially adopted the same software and the financial management module, in particular. However, the HR module of IFS was not able to meet key local requirements and thus wasn’t the right tool to manage the company’s most important asset: its people.
The Solution REC in Singapore began the search for more suitable HR software by setting the key selection criteria that it must not only meet the company’s needs but also be flexible, robust and able to integrate with its existing IFS financial system. In addition, the software would need to adhere to global standards and be able to cater to the company’s upcoming expansion plans. With all these concerns in mind, the company selected UNIT4 Prosoft HRMS as a perfect match, especially since some of the employees were already experienced users of the solution.
“Prosoft HRMS has been an excellent choice for our company. It helps us to keep everybody happy: our HR teams gain a user-friendly, instantly familiar solution to help their daily tasks; our head office can depend on reliable, consistent, clear visibility of our operations and our employees can trust that they are fully rewarded for the hours they work” – PHILIP TAN, SENIOR MANAGER, HRIS OF REC IN SINGAPORE.
The Benefits Prosoft HRMS has not only enabled REC in Singapore to manage its HR processes effectively in its local operating environment, but its post-implementation agility has also allowed users to make changes to the system easily and quickly. In addition to providing useful standard reports within the system, Prosoft HRMS also allows users to select various fields and export this data to a report for analysis. The advanced SQL query writer has given REC in Singapore the ability to verify areas of data inconsistencies and discrepancies in the system, especially in the area of time attendance, where the clocking system may not reflect the actual overtime and shift allowance correctly. “I use this query writer to pull out records that have discrepancies that vary from the actual scenario. From this report, I’ll be able to check with the respective supervisor to rectify any discrepancies before processing payroll. This helps the company to make sure that employees are paid correctly – neither overcompensating nor short-changing them,” said Philip Tan, Senior Manager, HRIS, REC in Singapore.
UNIT4 Asia Pacific Tel: +65 6333 6133 Email: prosoft.sales.sgp@unit4.com Web: www.unit4apac.com ISSUE 13.9
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FEATURE
HR Technology Trends
Rising through
TECHNOLOGY
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FEATURE
New technology innovations are helping HR to do its job more quickly and efficiently. HRM looks at some key developments in this space and provides an overview of the areas and processes that could be modified for an improved HR experience By Sumathi V Selvaretnam
Employers across the globe are facing increasing pressures in delivering HR services in an efficient and timely manner. But investments in HR technologies are helping them achieve these goals, while still keeping a lid on costs. According to the Towers Watson 2013 HR Service Delivery and Technology Survey, new delivery models are now supporting more efficient ways of organising HR. The survey also found that almost one-third (29%) of organisations planned to adopt a new HR management systems in the near future. Yet, despite the adoption of new technologies, research shows that cumbersome approval processes are creating needless obstacles within many organisations. Some 56% of the 1,025 companies who participated in the Towers Watson survey require HR to approve all common HR transactions. Going further, a quarter of organisations require four levels of manager approvals for common HR transactions. This has led to calls to streamline the business process, making it the number one HR delivery issue globally. Without question, HR service delivery is in a state of change, and organisations need to embrace that change as the new constant, says Mike DiClaudio, global leader of Towers Watson’s HR Service Delivery practice. “This means they can change the game by modifying their structure, rethinking long-held processes, adopting new HR technologies, or by extending capabilities to the organisation via manager self-service and shared services.”
Managing data Master management of data is one of the top HR technology trends for 2013. This is where a unified HR management system is designed to help HR consolidate data and create a more meaningful representation of it. An effective HR management system can boost the efficiency and productivity of the workforce, says Karen
Lee, Business Development Manager in Asia-Pacific for Prosoft HRMS. “HR practitioners are going beyond the functions of performing administrative duties such as payroll and leave management. Other employee information such as appraisals details, recruitment, onboarding and exits all need to be captured. All this information are interrelated as well. If it is not stored on one platform, HR leaders have to spend time on retrieval, analysis and report generation,” she explains. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions are also gaining traction among those seeking a new HR management system. SaaS is a pay-per-use model, which means customers only pay for the services they require. This helps employers save on IT infrastructure with a scalable solution that offers flexibility in view of the company’s future growth. It also ensures data security, as internal IT staff have no access to a customer’s database, explains Lee. According to the survey by Towers Watson, among organisations seeking a new system, more than a third (35%) considered only SaaS solutions in their search. This was almost three times the percentage of those considering only an on-premises solution. HR systems are also becoming more mobile. According to Towers Watson, the majority (more than 60%) of organisations provide mobile access via smartphone to employees, while almost a quarter offer tablet access as well. 88% Yet, it is still early days for HR-enabled of organisations applications. The survey found that will look at only about one in 10 organisations software-ascurrently use mobile applications for HR a-service as a purposes. However, one-quarter of replacement for organisations planned to offer HR-enabled their existing HRMS applications over the next 18 months. Source: Towers Employee directories, and time and Watson 2013 HR attendance recording appear to be the Service Delivery and most common mobile services offered by Technology Survey ISSUE 13.9
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FEATURE
HR Tech
“HR practitioners are going beyond the functions of performing administrative duties such as payroll and leave management. Other employee information such as appraisals details, recruitment, onboarding and exits all need to be captured” – KAREN LEE, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER IN ASIA-PACIFIC FOR PROSOFT HRMS
Now’s the time to… • Re-examine HR structure. Many organisations see new opportunities to increase HR’s strategic contributions to the business and leverage resources across the function to achieve greater efficiency and contain costs • Consider new technologies. Savvy companies are investing in technologies that provide the greatest near-term innovations and advances in service delivery • Analyse and change HR processes. New technologies are only as good as the processes that guide them. To achieve high performance, HR must also take advantage of current opportunities to rethink and redesign its business processes. • Extend manager self-service. Managers are HR’s able allies in delivering and improving HR processes and expanding your company’s offerings globally. Leading organisations give managers the tools they need to support employee engagement. Source: Towers Watson 2013 HR Service Delivery and Technology Survey
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HR. About one-quarter of companies surveyed by Towers Watson also offered apps for expense management, recruiting and applicant support, and wage statement viewing.
Tech-powered recruitment Have you ever gone through a mountain of résumés, only to lose track of what it is you’re actually looking for? Recruitment is an another area in which technology innovations are helping hiring managers to zoom in on top talent. In traditional recruitment, employers receive applications and gain little understanding of the candidate except for their résumé or CVs. “So very often, they shortlist based on those paper documents and call for interviews. The result? Meeting candidates that are of poor fit. This means time wasted for interviewers and a longer recruitment cycle where the time-to-hire and cost-to-hire is increased,” Kenneth Yap, COO, Quantine. According to Yap, less tangible traits, such as character or personality that determines the fit of the candidate are most important in any recruitment. “It is an area that has been traditionally determined during the in-person interview, however it remains to be the least productive area in the recruitment process due to the time wasted on bad interviews,” he says. This is where video interviews come in – employers can set up the interview questions and send a link to candidates to “sit” for an online video interview. “The responses from the candidate can then be reviewed as a team and a decision to shortlist can be reached more easily and quickly. So, when the in-person interviews are conducted, the candidates will be of higher quality and the face time is not wasted,” Yap explains. However, wouldn’t pre-recorded video interviews run the risk of being too rehearsed? Yap disagrees. Videos interviews conducted on Quantine’s “The next-5.com” platform can only be conducted once. “The first question is flashed on the screen and candidates are given 30-seconds to read and digest. Once that time has elapsed, the webcam automatically starts recording. When the candidate is done, the recording has to be stopped by the candidate and the next question is displayed,” Yap says. This process continues until all questions are completed. Recruitment platforms such as this also enable employers to create a job post and blast the message through social media. “The word is passed around and they start receiving applications. During the application process, each candidate fills in their information and attaches all required documents. They then proceed to take an assessment, record their video introduction, and complete the video interview,” Yap says. When the applications are completed, employers have a clear understanding of their candidates: their profile and employment history as well as their character.
PROFILE
Monster.com
Connecting you to real world opportunities Monster South East Asia, the leading online career and recruitment resource, works for everyone by connecting job seekers across industry verticals, experience levels and geographies instantly with leading employers. Monster South East Asia has full-fledged offices in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com (India/Middle East/ South East Asia) tell us more in this Q&A.
You began the year with 1 enhancements in the Oil & Gas section, can you tell us more about it? It is a known fact that Asia has become “ground zero” for the growth in global energy and commodity markets. The region’s rapid economic growth is driving an enormous rise in the consumption of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Considering all this, the demand for talent in Oil & Gas industry is increasing manifolds. This led us to bring in enhancements that include industry highlights on the home page along with a separate section under industry ‘Oil/Gas/Petroleum’. Also, the new roles have been divided into: Upstream, Midstream, Downstream and Petrochemical. Along with this, we have dedicated Oil & Gas Resume Database Access (RDA) services along with the branding properties specifically for the section.
some light on 2 Throw Virtual Career Fairs
Virtual Career Fair is a one stop shop for all the hiring needs enabling employers to interact with the jobseekers on a real time basis. From web to mobile to social, Monster is the worldwide leader in successfully connecting people to job opportunities. The Virtual Career Fair has been designed to provide employers with a platform to hire the best talent across Singapore at one location. A virtual career fair is both an intuitive and interactive process that provides a unique way for employers to engage virtually with today’s connected jobseekers, reducing costs on both sides of the recruitment process. It is a cost effective method of sourcing the right talent and serves as a platform for companies to showcase their brand and attract passive candidates. The next Virtual Career Fair is scheduled from September 9-13, 2013.
is Monster’s new 3 What Job Posting Solutions Bouquet?
We understand the need of the companies to constantly attract active seekers be it permanent or contractual. We launched a contract job section at the beginning of the year to assist companies who are looking at hiring part time/ contractual workers. Our latest offering Monster Job Posting Solutions is a comprehensive bouquet of JP solutions to help companies attract the active seekers at ease and with greater flexibility. The new JP Solutions enable employers to post a ‘Full time’, ‘Contract’ or a ‘Walk-in’ Job with equal ease and flexibility. This section also has a dedicated sub-section –‘Women-onthe-go’ for women who are looking for flexible/ contractual job opportunities.
help companies build their 4 You employer brand. Can you explain how?
Monster can help an organisation in two ways; the first is with branding properties like ‘Shoshkele’, ‘Site Capture’ and ‘Video Banner’ that help employers position their organisation and build recall in the mind of jobseekers. The second is with targeted high reach options. Properties like ‘Brand Booster’ & ‘Brand Maximizer’ get noticed by just the people employers want, as we enable employers to target the most active job seekers based on their activity on Monster. Our solutions are a combination of multiple tools, that help an employer to provide jobseekers a better perspective of their organisation based on the unique needs of our clients.
Sanjay Modi Managing Director, Monster.com 100, Beach Road, #27-10/13, Shaw Tower, Singapore 189702 Web: www.monster.com.sg
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PROFILE INTERNATIONAL HR
Times Software
Award-Winning Payroll and Human Resource Integrated Solutions With the advent of the Internet and IT Technology, never before has greater emphasis been placed on work productivity and efficiency. The One that masterfully leverages these technologies, gains the most advantage in maximising greater corporate competitiveness and performance. Times Software Pte Ltd provides you with a range of products that maximise your Human Resource performance. We offer the highest quality integrated HRIS Solutions, from employee self service on-line leave applications (E-Leave) to travel claims (E-Claims), attendance tracking (E-Attendance), staff appraisal (E-Appraisal), employee training (E-Training), talent recruitment (E-Recruit), and other HR related modules. Since 1998, we have been providing the highest service quality and hotline support for our software users. We also have a dedicated implementation team to assist you in system implementation. Times Software also provides One-Stop professional HR services to assist you in payroll processing through our Payroll Outsourcing services. These are specially designed to offer clients hassle-free maintenance of their software system. You may also subscribe to our E-Solution Web Portal for our other web modules that enable employees to access self-help modules globally anytime, anywhere through the Internet. Times Software is one of the market leaders and had earned a lot of recommendations through word of mouth. Our products are proven to be easy-to-use, accurate in computation and compliant with the authority’s requirements like CPF and IRAS submission. More than 4,800 companies and organisations have benefited from our integrated solutions.
Our Mission • To provide excellent products and services that cater to customers’ needs. • To support the daily operations of the Finance and Human Resource functions. • To assist in the development of large, medium and small-sized, MNC companies amidst a rapidly changing environment and new technologies.
For more information, please visit our website at www.timesoftsg.com.sg or call us at tel: (65) 6295-1998 or write to: sales@timesoftsg.com.sg
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Our Business Times Software is an international software and consultancy company specialising in the development, implementation, support, and marketing of Times Software HRIS products. We deliver Payroll/ Human Resource solutions based on the latest leading web based technology such as: • E-Appraisal • E-Crew • E-Recruit • E-Attendance • E-HR • E-Recruit • E-Booking • E-IRAS • E-Timesheet • E-CasualLabour • E-Job • E-Training • E-Certificate • E-Leave • E-Transfer • E-Claims • E-Payroll • E-Confirmation • E-PaySlip Other Added Value Services: Payroll/ HR outsourcing and E-Portal Services
Technology Our solutions are designed with flexible architecture, which allows the system to expand according to your business growth. Our client-server programmes make product migration and deployment easier and less complicated. Our E-Modules are developed using latest Microsoft .NET technologies and are proven to be efficient in performance. Our products are compliant with the Microsoft Operating System (MS Server 2008 and 2012), both 32-bits and 64-bits. Our web based modules are compliant with Internet Explorer running on computers installed with Windows XP/ Vista/ Win7/ Win8.
FEATURE
HR Tech
HR OUTSOURCING
Talking point HR outsourcing is a strategic move to improve the quality and flexibility of one’s workforce, while improving an organisation’s ability to accommodate change and stay ahead of market forces. HRM discusses some of the many benefits of this strategy By Shalini Shukla-Pandey
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FEATURE
Outsourcing of HR functions is a reality for many companies, large and small, today. The benefits affect owners, C-suite executives, HR managers and employees, and can include cost savings, and access to highly skilled professionals and advanced technology, which can collectively result in a sustainable competitive advantage. The broad adoption of HR outsourcing across Asia-Pacific has also emerged as a key finding of regional research conducted by Talent2, a leading HR and business process outsourcing provider. The Talent2 Asia-Pacific Market Pulse Study found that across Australia, Hong Kong, China and Singapore, the majority of HR executives (80-90%) are now considering HR outsourcing as a solution to key challenges cited, including search and recruitment (64%) and employee retention (50%). Commenting on these findings, John Rawlinson, CEO of the Talent2 Group, said: “This research reinforces that ongoing skills shortages are hampering organisations across Asia from finding the people they need to drive top line business growth. What’s interesting here is that HR executives are focusing on different ways to address these challenges – namely through outsourcing, and investment in learning and development. “The fact that the overwhelming majority of HR executives are outsourcing HR functions (or are considering doing so) represents a massive shift in the industry – even compared to five years ago. Nelson Hall’s June HR Outsourcing Index backs this up with the industry reporting a 10% increase in confidence in the HRO sector over the last quarter. It clearly shows that outsourcing is now being considered as a strategic solution, rather than a cost-cutting tactic in response to the global financial crisis,” Rawlinson continued.
Across the region, all markets are seeing strong utilisation of outsourcing as a solution to many HR challenges, with 95% in China, Australia and Singapore seeing clear benefits of outsourcing. In Hong Kong, 91% are seeing clear benefits of outsourcing, while regionally 16% of HR managers are turning to outsourcing as a means of addressing skill shortage problems. Indeed, interest in HR outsourcing has increased significantly in Asia in recent years. “Recently, our outsourcing department has been getting more enquiries on outsourcing services from many companies,” says Charles Liaw, Director, Times Software. “It could be that companies find it tough to recruit new staff and retain existing staff.”
What to outsource? According to the Talent2 Asia-Pacific Market Pulse Study, 71% of HR executives across Asia outsource all or part of their search and recruitment function. This (40%) is the function most likely to be
Cloud and business process outsourcing
support business goals by reducing infrastructure costs while freeing up HR resources for strategic innovation Source: Top 10 HR Technology Trends for 2014 – Annual US Society for Human Resource Management Conference (SHRM)
Which “shore” works best? Depending on the proximity to your business location, you can outsource work to an offshore, near-shore or onshore locale. • Offshore refers to a foreign location that is far away in distance and, more importantly, far apart in time from your primary place of business. • Near-shore also refers to a foreign locale, but one that is much closer to you. • Onshore is a locale in the same country as yours. • Of the two considerations, distance and time, the latter is the most critical. All other factors being equal, it is much more effective to work with a near-shore partner that is in the same time zone as yours than it is to do it with an offshore vendor that is three or four time zones away. Source: Nearsoft
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FEATURE
HR Tech
“In Singapore, I think it has become a trend for companies to outsource their non-core activities and HR functions because it is hard to allocate a suitable candidate to do the job” – CHARLES LIAW, DIRECTOR, TIMES SOFTWARE
China-based HR managers are
49%
more likely to find benefits from the improved operational efficiency that outsourcing companies provide Source: Talent2 APAC Market Pulse Study
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considered for outsourcing, followed by employee learning and development (17%) and payroll (12%). More than 40% of executives in Singapore are already outsourcing their payroll function. Sujay Bhat, Regional Director – Business Development (SEA & India), Aon Hewitt, says that HR operations can essentially be split into tactical and critical ones, with tactical transactions being commonly outsourced. “What is outsourced and what aspects are retained depends on the governance and control mechanisms in place.” For example, performance evaluation conversations cannot be outsourced, says Bhat. “To be effective, the process needs a dialogue between the manager and the employee. However, workflows for conducting the performance review process and data gathering, can be performed via a cloud-based outsourced tool”. With recruitment outsourcing (RPO) on the other hand, HR can allow their outsourcing partners to sieve through resumes and enable the HR function to focus on a select few resumes, from which the final candidate can be chosen. While different HR functions and transactions within functions can be outsourced, some are end-to-end outsourcing while others are part outsourcing. “This is because companies can leverage on the HR expertise/ technology they already have and partner with outsourcing service providers to fill gaps,” says Bhat.
“HR Outsourcing is evolving,” he adds. “While flexibility and value are key drivers, cost optimisation is still significant; for instance, companies can decide whether to engage in onshore, offshore or near shore outsourcing models. Ultimately, the HR fraternity wants options.”
Why outsource? With outsourcing, companies are able to improve their HR functions, as service providers typically specialise in relevant fields (see Table 1). “Amongst the many benefits of HR outsourcing, some include improved efficiency and effectiveness, access to world-class capabilities that may not be available internally, and reducing business operating costs,” says Liaw. According to the Talent2 Asia-Pacific Market Pulse Study, a key benefit of outsourcing is that it enables businesses to free up resources and play to their strengths, by focusing on their core competencies (53%). Outsourcing also offers stability to many businesses, with 42% finding it to be a benefit in relation to coping with peaks and troughs in business activity.
TABLE 1
Benefits of HR Outsourcing • Reducing business operating costs to improve in company focus • Improving efficiency and effectiveness • Enhancing the corporate image of the company • Having a more flexible and adaptable organisational structure • Gain access to world-class capabilities • Free internal resources for other purposes • Accessing to resources that are not available internally • Save tangible and intangible administrative cost • Save the cost to buy the Payroll/Human Resource/eModules • Save time and cost to upgrade hardware and payroll software due to changes of government rules and regulations. • Disaster Recovery Source: Charles Liaw, Director, Times Software
FEATURE
However, there are some drawbacks also associated with outsourcing, the main risk being that external providers often lack detailed knowledge about the business (65%). Cost (48%) and a lack of consistency from outsourcing companies (47%) are also considered drawbacks by some HR executives. Interestingly, the survey found that in China, security and confidentiality issues were cited as an obstacle for considering outsourcing (44%). “In Singapore, I think it has become a trend for companies to outsource their non-core activities and HR functions because it is hard to allocate a suitable candidate to do the job (in view of the Manpower Ministry cutting quotas to hire foreign talent and difficulty to recruit locals and permanent residents),” says Liaw. “Management would prefer to allocate current manpower to improve company focus to bring in more business and revenues.” “Outsourcing is here to stay and grow,” he concludes.
HR meets IT As many as
58%
of HR executives in Asia are considering starting to outsource or increasing their commitment to outsource some HR function over the next six months Source: Talent2 APAC Market Pulse Study
According to a survey conducted by Republic Polytechnic (RP) and the Singapore HR Institute (SHRI), larger companies are more likely to use HR Information Systems (HRIS). However, less than 50% of companies, regardless of size, currently use HRIS for strategic HR operations. This leaves HR operations such as learning and development, performance management, and career development largely within manual systems, despite the survey showing that improved strategic HR management was in demand from HR practitioners. The main motivation behind implementing a new HRIS was to cut down on paper work and time spent managing operational HR functions, thereby allowing greater focus on strategic HR tasks. 79% of respondents to the study felt that HRIS systems were too costly to implement, and 58% did not know about government subsidies aimed at reducing these costs. The survey also revealed that HR practitioners using a fully integrated HRIS had the highest satisfaction rate amongst their peers. “HR information systems support organisations’ drive to increase their efficiency and productivity through better human capital and developmental management for their employees,” said Erman Tan, President, SHRI. “Through the effective use of such technology, HR managers can focus more of their attention on people relations and strategic matters, helping their organisations achieve greater efficiencies and raise productivity,” he adds.
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PROFILE
Frontier e-HR
Fostering a winning HRIS partnership In recent years, HR process automation has become more daunting that it has ever been. Some of the questions that have arisen include: Should we buy a one-off perpetual software license upfront or pay per use (license leasing)? Should the software be installed in-house or hosted? Do we operate the software ourselves or have it outsourced? Some of the buzzwords used by vendors have also made the selection process more confusing. Confusion can trigger a natural tendency to not move forward with the automation and stay in the current manual situation. Such a decision will inevitably affect business productivity and scalability. The stakeholders who evaluate, recommend and decide on the choice of HR automation solution need to develop a more holistic understanding on the key parameters of the solution being considered. With
Call Us +65
every solution option, there will always be “plus” and “minus” points in relation to one’s needs and considerations. The key to developing better understanding is to evaluate beyond just the systems and services alone and look at the people, real-life stories and experiences behind the deployment of the systems and services. Identifying the right solution partner is paramount to sustainable success. Stakeholders must be able to assess and relate to the solution provider who can share their experiences, the glorious and the miserable ones, the smooth-going and the challenging ones. Needs and expectations will evolve over time and so do technologies and capabilities. When people can develop mutual trust and grow mutually-beneficial partnerships, challenges can be overcome along the way satisfactorily.
Suwandi Ngaturi Managing Director, Frontier e-HR Email: enquiry@ frontier-ehr.com Tel: +65 6391 0921 Web: www.frontier-ehr.com
6391 0921 or Email Us enquiry@frontier-ehr.com or Visit Our Website frontier-ehr.com/enquiry
Frontier e-HR’s Software Products SCALABILITY Can start with the necessary modules first and more can be added seamlessly in the future. Proven successful co-existence with any other systems including your Regional or Global HRIS.
VERSATILITY One Software Product can be deployed in any mode to suit your needs (installed in your own-managed IT infrastructure or hosted by us).
FLEXIBILITY Whether you want to make one-time purchase of the solution or pay per use or engage
our managed-service, we are flexible to align with you to achieve long-term win-win partnership. TRENDY Our commitment and on-going investment in R&D make our products trendy such as operable from Smartphone and Tablets in parallel to PC.
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find out more at www.frontier-ehr.com
PROFILE
iqDynamics
A complete HR management solution With rapid evolutions in the business and technology space, many businesses and organisations may soon begin to outgrow basic HRMS solutions. Anticipating your business organisation’s ever-expanding needs, HRiQ Human Capital Management SolutionTM (HRiQ) is a sophisticated full-suite talent management solution that aids you every step of the way, from assessing and aligning a sustainable workforce, to augmenting continued productivity and profit. HRiQ Core offers comprehensive administrative functionalities, assisting HR managers to reduce repetitive tasks. Endless paperwork involved in managing leave, payroll, timesheets, claims and employee data can become a thing of the past. HRiQ Talent enhances your talent management requirements further with
advanced capabilities in managing performance, leadership, learning, compensation and succession. Why HRiQ? We are a complete and holistic solution, unified by robust and crossfunctional reporting capabilities and analytics. We empower you with a 360Ëš overview of every facade of your organisation, workforce and talent to let you constantly drive towards business growth and success. HRiQ is fully web-based and available both on-premise and on cloud. HRiQ is highly customisable and recommended for both enterprise-level organisations and SMEs.
About iqDynamics iqDynamics is a leading provider of enterprise application software, seeking to empower your business and ensure your success with our outstanding technology solutions and secure system. As a certified Microsoft Gold Partner in Application Development (formerly Independent Software Vendor / ISV), we take pride in our applications and in offering agility, security, scalability and performance to each and every customer. With a network of 60 business and technology professionals in Singapore and Malaysia, and business partners in Indonesia and Vietnam, iqDynamics is proud to serve close to 250 HRiQ customers in Singapore and the region.
Come see how HRiQ can help you: Tel: 6594 4151 Email: sales.sg@iqdynamics.com Web: www.iqDynamics.com
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ISSUE 13.9
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GOES DIGITAL! It’s Free. Download the new HRM Magazine App for your iPad, just search “hrm asia” in iTunes® Store
Exclusive iPad-only content & videos The latest hrm news & HR jobs delivered instantly Interactive data that you can sort the way you want
PROFILE
SG1 HRO Pte Ltd
A specialist of
Singapore work visa and immigration pass processing SG1 is a trusted external HR Shared Services partner that specialises in Singapore Work Visa and Immigration Passes Processing. Our team members are equipped with more than a decade of hands-on experience in service delivery and backed by a strong track record of more than 8,000 yearly transactions on average. SG1 has served a broad base of clients ranging from MNCs to SMEs, spanning across the magnitude of industries and cultures. As a global-level sourcing strategy, MNCs usually identify a global vendor to meet their immigration needs. However, many organisations have realised that the future state of Immigration Service Delivery lies in identifying a local specialist as a sub-vendor to obtain true strategic advantage and the highest cost effectiveness. Being one of the key service providers in the industry, SG1 will ensure our clients stay compliant by meeting the Immigration and Employment regulations. Our most efficient and costeffective solutions provide the greatest flexibility to alleviate the HR team from mundane immigration functions so that they continue to stay strategic and focus on activities that are truly competitive differentiators.
For discussion on your Immigration needs, please contact us at sales@sg1hro.com or +65 6838 0075
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PROFILE INTERNATIONAL HR
PayrollServe
Payroll has never been easier! Are you processing your payroll manually? Preparing for payday is a time-consuming and complicated process. Not only do you have to ensure that you stay compliant with employment legislations, there is also the tedious process of manual payroll calculations. The biggest headaches of manual payroll are the propensity for errors and maintaining data confidentiality. PayrollServe, a leading provider of payroll solutions, has launched a new online payroll solution called PayDay! Software as a Service (SaaS). It is designed for businesses with no more than 50 employees and is meant to close the gap for companies relying on manual entry. PayDay! SaaS is an affordable, easy-to-use web-based solution that is 100% accurate. You can manage payroll from home, at work or wherever you are using any internet enabled devices.
No payroll knowledge required PayDay! SaaS helps small business owners who have little or no technical payroll knowledge run payroll in three easy steps.
Deliver payslips directly to your employees PayDay! automatically generates employees’ itemised payslips after every payroll process and “delivers” them to the respective employees. Employees have the choice of viewing their payslips on their smartphones through the mobile apps, or any web browser.
Email reminders You will receive email reminders for the submission of bank GIRO file, release of payslips, submission of CPF contributions and work pass renewals.
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Stay 100% compliant PayDay! SaaS is developed with the objective of letting you focus on running your business while all the updates and upgrades are completed behind the scenes. You can confidently run your monthly payroll without worrying about wrong payroll deduction of CPF, SDL, Income Tax, etc.
It’s affordable. No more lock-in periods You can manage your company’s payroll for S$5 per employee per process. No purchase of special software needed. There is no sign up fee and hidden cost. You pay for only the number of employees on your payroll each month.
Ms Olivia Yeoh, Director Tel: +65 6594 7782 Email: oliviayeoh@payrollserve.com.sg Hotline: +65 6336 8686 Email: info@payday.com.sg Web:www.PayDay.com.sg
® Software as a Service (SaaS)
The Perfect Payroll Solution for Small Businesses “Manual payroll is tedious. PayDay! gives me more time to focus on my business.” Sophie Shieh, Discovery Garden Childcare Centre Sophie Shieh, Discovery Garden Childcare Centre
Never worry about fines. Ever.
No payroll knowledge is required.
Best security for your data.
Avoid paying hefty fines. Stay 100% compliant without worrying about wrong payroll deduction of CPF, SDL, Income Tax, etc. Regulatory updates are rolled out automatically behind the scenes. Never have to fiddle with messy software downloads and complicated installation processes.
PayDay! is designed for business owners with little or no technical payroll knowledge. Let PayDay! handle the nuts and bolts of processing your payroll, while you focus on running the business.
We have taken all reasonable and commercially available measures to ensure PayDay! provides the best security for your data.
It’s affordable.
No more lock-in periods.
Manage your company’s payroll for S$5 per employee per process. No purchase of special software needed.
Try it for free. No sign up fee. No hidden cost. This is a pay-as-you-use solution i.e. you pay for only the number of employees on your payroll each month.
• Secure SSL - 128-bit encryption • SSAE 16 certified data centre in Singapore
Itemized Payslips through Web Browser or Mobile Apps