“38% of employees would not describe the company they work for as employee-centric.” - ApplaudHRThis is one of the many reasons why employers need to offer self-service HR processes to the employees. Given an opportunity to perform tasks on their own, working professionals are found to be happier and more productive in the workplace. For this reason, employee self-service has now become one of the most common and searched-for features among the HR technologies. The scope of automation in the human resources domain is not just limited to making the operations faster and easier but also more efficient and user-friendly. Employee Self-Service is a great new way to keep the employees engaged and at the same time streamline HR activities that used to be troublesome in the past. Let’s throw some light on the 7 main ways in which the ESS feature of an HR software helps a growing business perform better and evolve:Employee EmpowermentThis is the most evident benefit of the self-service feature. Working professionals no longer need to run back and forth to their HR SPOCs or frequently visit the HR/ Admin office for every big-little affair. Be it checking schedules, raising requests, generating reports or making any changes in the system, they don’t have to keep waiting for managers, or supervisors to walk them through the entire process or do things for them. As the option allows employees to be autonomous & self-dependent, it provides them with high confidence and a sense of empowerment in the organization. When the employees become self-reliant, they tend to perform better and be satisfied with their work, thereby helping the business grow. Minimized Confusion“Too many cooks spoil the broth.” Someone rightly said that and especially when it comes to managing the multifarious HR operations, the lesser people are involved, the lesser the hassle will be. When all the tasks like time cards, accruals, schedules, and shift changes are orchestrated centrally, then the managers and their teams are on the same page, eliminating the confusion that could have occurred otherwise. Moreover, important information can be accessed by everyone at any time. ESS has turned out to be a blessing for large teams that require multi-level management to process even the smallest of requests. Reduced WorkloadImagine a single controlling power for running the multiple errands that earlier took long hours to complete! Wonderful, no? This is what ESS does to a business - reduce the workload on each employee. That fact that there are less no. of requests raised, and more operations handled by an individual eases the burden on managers and senior-level employees. As a result, they end up having extra time to focus on more important jobs such as strategic planning and decision-making for business purposes. Besides, due to the minimized workload, the employees are able to maintain a proper work-life balance. Information AccuracyWhen data is distributed among too many individuals or if it goes to multiple levels before reaching the final recipient, the risk of compromising data confidentiality and authenticity is increased. Moreover, part of the information may also get lost on the way through the intermediaries. An HRMS software with the ESS feature allows employees to validate data at each step and increase record-keeping accuracy. When the details are regularly updated, and that too from the original source, the chances of being accurate is the highest. Employee Self-Service also gives users access to vast knowledge and database of company information including policies, handbooks, and announcements, thereby reducing miscommunication.Efficient Work ProcessesWith the different benefits that come along with the ESS feature, the ultimate larger advantage that is experienced by businesses is the improved efficiency of HR processes. The human resource tasks are highly optimized as the employees begin to perform the functions on their own, making each step of the company’s workflow faster and more controlled. Thus, the outcome of every HR activity is better with the employee self-service characteristic of an HR software.Managed Time & Cost “About 50% of a human resource department’s time is spent processing employee information and answering employee questions.” - Center of Effective Organizations at USCESS brings drastic time-saving changes in many administrative areas of business such as Benefits, Payroll, Attendance, Expense Management, and Training, etc. Also, the various costs incurred on the workforce to execute processes and implement changes is curbed. With the streamlined processes and managed time, a considerable amount of money is also saved that can ultimately be used in enhancing some other area of business. Power of Mobility

Silhouette of crowd against an oversized hand holding a smartphone; image by Geralt; via Pixabay.com.

The advent of HR technology gave birth to the control of human resource operations through mobile applications. With the power of mobility, employees can perform HR-related tasks at any time and from anywhere. The fact that employees can work 24/7 using the HR app helps the business perform better and grow faster. With the snap of fingers, users are able to do multiple things using the mobile app on the go! With the recent modifications in the ESS feature that companies like HROne have made, new terms have emerged that are specific to the HR software’s user type. For example:ESS (Employee Self-Service)Lets the normal employees of the organization perform everyday tasks on their own with ease such as raising requests, marking attendance, applying for leaves, uploading documents, making changes in the information, and more.MSS (Manager Self-Service)Lets the managers or supervisors of teams instantly approve HR requests like Bulk Approvals, Open positions, Goal Reviews, Continuous Feedback, and Clearance, among others.HSS (HR Self-Service)Lets HR professionals execute functions related to human resources management such as HR Announcements, Job Openings, Letter Generation, Onboarding, Pre-boarding, Offer Approval, and more.Hence, it is quite a boon for the corporate establishments to have their employees become autonomous and take accountability for each and every function that they perform in the organization. The final outcome of implementing ESS features is that it not only promotes employee empowerment, engagement, and satisfaction levels but also boosts employee retention in the company.