19 Mar How HCM software improves your home office experience?
- How HCM software improves your home office experience? - 19 March 2020
Home office experience vs. HCM system
I honestly think that the best way an employer can handle current situation with the coronavirus pandemic is by being open to you working from home (if that is a possibility, of course). Today I would like to speak some more on the subject.
I have spoiled a lot by the title, so I assume you are willing to find out more about Human Capital Management software. It has become one of the professional interests of mine. Some time ago I have been appointed a New Product Representative for MintHCM at eVolpe. As we partnered up with the software house behind it, I have learned how much could be automized and it honestly blew my mind.
I was not here for the “before the HCM” times at eVolpe, but I do have some experience working for other companies where there was not much more than a simple attendance list to sign, daily. Let’s face it, not many of us remembered…
Lately, I have been reading about other ides to keep track of who is working, when and for how long from their homes. As we practice social distancing, for our own good, we should also have proper tools to stay on course while working remotely.
Without further due, here is what I propose.
Time tracking & time management
HCM is one of the youngest types of business software. It organizes the processes of the soft approach to Human Capital Management.
It is safe to say its most important feature is the time tracking module.
Time tracking lets you follow man hours spent on given tasks, analyze productivity of the whole organization and accordingly schedule your upcoming meetings (or teleconferences). By hooking it up with a venture management or issue tracking tool you can also effectively appoint employees to work on particular projects. In the times of intensified remote activities – all this comes very handy.
The advantages of time management module speak particularly to those practicing the Time & Material approach. When you charge customers for the hours and assets spent on the project you need to be very clear about what is going on and who gets involved. This practice is pretty common in most of the software houses and other IT related organizations, and I am sure they have found a solution to provide such transparency over the years. To those to whom the home office concept comes as a novelty and to those who are currently in need of online time tracking application I confidently recommend a HCM system. Its features will definitely support your efforts in staying up to date and involved, even from afar as social distancing is without a doubt necessary.
I am talking about something more than just a simple clock-in/clock-out mechanism, too. A time tracking module within a proper HCM system allows for tasks scheduling, attendance tracking and efficient remote decision-making. You will easily notice the next available spot for a teleconference or a phone call. You will be able to efficiently put a team together for a project. You will also correctly estimate the time necessary to finish all of current endeavors.
Currently, I am writing this article from home myself. To be honest, I was not aware of the extent of daily distractions at my own apartment. Giving up on the stay at home responsibilities which would normally be my main concern around here – is a challenge I did not see coming. It is difficult to put yourself in that state of mind where suddenly your private space becomes an office. If you have enough space for a desk and a possibility of working behind closed door – use it. I think young parents will understand the challenges of multitasking in current situation best. We do owe each other some credit in this challenging situation, I cannot blame my boss for expecting the job to be done either. So how could we communicate about my availability? I find HCM software a perfect solution for that.
Please do not get me wrong. Everyone needs a break, no matter if in the office or while working from home. Time tracking will serve you as an additional motivation to simply deliver results.
Are you a manger and you just told your employees to work from home? Thanks to the feature in question you will stay up to date without excessive surveillance. The user declares time necessary to finish a task and then logs the actual hours spent on it. That way you are able to estimate probable project termination and react in case of any efficiency issues. The tool holds information about overtime and possible shortages in the workload.
Remote recruitment procedures
Were you just planning on enhancing your sales team? It would be much safer if we all gave up face to face job interviews for a while. It does not mean that all your recruitment efforts should be entirely postponed though. I might just have the right solution for the time being.
Thanks to a HCM software there is a way to get at least half the way before the pandemic ends. No one really knows how long this isolation will last. Catching up on some work before we are all free to go back to the office will speed things up after the quarantine. So, what is there to do?
Start by making the competence model for the new position. Together with coming up with the job offer, publishing the advertisement, collecting applications and verifying resumes – it might just take you exactly the time we need for taming this virus.
Worse case scenario, you can also attempt recruiting people via teleconference. It works for many IT-related jobs. I see it work also for other organizations in current situation. If you add about 3 months of notice period the new employee might need before leaving their company… I do not see a reason to wait with the whole process for too long.
If you are considering hiring people right now, HCM system has all the features necessary. Keeping everything in one place helps fighting communication issues. By putting details of the ongoing recruitment into a web application that can be entered from any device with good enough service, you ensure the proper flow of information between decision makers and the HR team. You can set a proper status of the candidature, evaluate recruitment tasks, create that competence model and inform each other about the progress. You do not need to share the space to do any of that.
Leave management
I have said a lot about time tracking already. There is something more to it though. A separate calendar just to acknowledge who is not in the office on a given day. You can imagine how convenient that is even during rather calm months. It is how I check if the person I need to talk to will be available. We forget but our colleagues take vacations and sometimes even get sick. Here is a feature that serves well as a reminder.
Leave management is a separate module which organizes information about everyone’s availability. Based on such knowledge you can more accurately plan future events, schedule meetings (also the remote ones) and oversee absences within certain project teams. In the current situation of coronavirus threat, information about someone’s illness may also contribute to the safety of the entire staff. I recommend you get it.
A fresh way to do HR
Do you see how mentioned features could help in your company? I have an affordable and functional solution for you. Check out MintHCM.
There is no licensing fee for using the system. This means that the current situation does not generate an additional, unforeseen cost associated with obtaining the tool. You can download MintHCM from the Internet and install it on your own servers, entirely for free.
If you are still reading this and are not searching the Internet for installation instructions – I will, lastly, add one more thing.
If required, it is possible to freely extend the code of MintHCM and adapt it to non-standard needs of your organization. eVolpe also offers you hosting and full technical support. Such services are paid but also remove the necessity of maintaining your own server infrastructure or development team.
Do you see how HCM software could help you work from home?
Let’s talk about MintHCM!
Fill out the form. I will reach out within 24 hours.
- How HCM software improves your home office experience? - 19 March 2020
