What can you do to get the best from PeopleSoft 9.2?

Following our recent blog ‘7 reasons why you should upgrade to PeopleSoft v9.2’, in this blog Doug Crane explores 7 ways to get the most from the platform if you’ve already upgraded.

1. Process improvements with WorkCenters

The recently improved WorkCenters allow users to complete all of the work that is needed for a transaction with an enhanced user interface that reduces the need for navigation.

This means that you can improve your processes, improve efficiency and improve productivity by consolidating all information into one location. Users can see all tasks and transact data throughout the entire process with less navigation, thus preventing distracting interruptions. Additionally, security risk and overhead is reduced with users not having to have access to the traditional menu-based navigation of the system ‘back end’.

The Global Payroll WorkCenter is an excellent example of a Payroll Manager having everything they need within a single page: reports, queries, links to earnings and deduction pages and gross-to-net analytics can all be displayed in a WorkCenter.

2. Systemise paper forms and manual processes

Forms and Approval Builder is a fully configurable tool that will allow administrators to consolidate manual procedures and paper forms into a single step-based online transaction along with approval workflows and controls.

The added ability to audit forms provides the potential to eliminate paper flow and document attachments.

This process of consistency and control provides assurance, as the process steps and the order they are required to be performed in are provided to the user. Leveraging the fluid ‘look and feel’ – which incorporates modern aesthetics and simplified design – makes for a great user experience too, driving improved engagement.

Useful tip: the forms and approval toolset provides great added value as a widget for creating on-line mock-ups of new functionality!

3. Smart HR

PeopleSoft v9.2 makes excellent improvements upon Smart HR, previously known as SmartHire or template-based hire.

Enhancements in v9.2 enable more robust templates and validation for personal, job and profile transactions, vastly improving the richness and quality of data submitted by the template user. In the fast-moving world of retail, this means that day-to-day employee-related transactions can be completed by managers who are on the frontline instead of central HR teams, allowing business needs to be met in real time.

For HR teams, dashboard-based pivot grids can be accessed from the self-service, enabling business-critical information and insights such as headcount reports and staff turnover to be immediately available from a homepage instead of traditional menu-based navigation.

4. User help

You may already be using the help link in the navigation bar, which opens a new window to access page specific documentation. But are you using the new embedded help icon? This new tool makes it much easier for users to find the help they need.

The embedded help icon causes a pop-up message to appear enabling you to provide detailed specific help relevant to the functionality of the scroll area, grid, or group box that contains the embedded help icon. Embedded help pop-up pages can also contain active links to access documentation, or any internal or external URL. When you have finished reading the information on the pop-up page, click the close button on the pop-up page to dismiss it.

Useful tip: Other usability features of v9.2 are configurable announcements and notifications that can be sent to a user’s home page once activated.

5. Deliver paper forms to end-users online

With the Self-Service Reporting Framework, administrators can enable employees to access reports as and when required in a self-service environment. In the UK, this enables users to access important statutory reports such as P60 and P45 forms, simply at the click of a button from their homepage.

Furthermore, the ePay module enables users to enjoy the benefits of accessing payslips online, which saves paper, vastly reduces the administrative overhead and cost of printing payslips and sending to home or work addresses, and can often be a more secure way to deliver these sensitive documents.

6. Simplified access to data

Pivot Grids are being enhanced all of the time. They help to provide the business intelligence needed to make informed decisions, visually display real-time data and organise it by pivoting and filtering data results.

Most of the recently delivered pivot grids relate to compensation:

• Salary analysis – comparing compensation by position, location and department
• Compensation distribution – current employee salary information by range e.g. minimum, maximum and midpoint
• Salary increase by performance – average proposed salary increases given to employees by performance rating

7. Onboarding and offboarding

The new Activity Guide Composer allows administrators to create and publish step-based transactions using the very latest technology and design tools – all through configuration. Sequencing, dependencies, embedded videos, custom business rules or validation and even checkbox-based acknowledgements can all be incorporated into a single streamlined online activity.

Onboarding and offboarding provide great use cases for this exciting new functionality: managing recruitment through Candidate Gateway to hire or perhaps provide users with a more robust exit experience through address, bank details validation and exit surveys.

These are just 7 of the areas that you can be taking advantage of in PeopleSoft v9.2. If you’d like to discuss these in more detail, or any other aspects of PeopleSoft, please get in touch.