Benefits of Employee Self Service

Growing numbers of companies are adopting employee self-service applications that reduce human resources paperwork and workload. This enables human resources staff to focus more on strategy and planning. In the small business realm, where owners and certain key employees wear multiple hats, shifting certain functions to workers through self-service applications can enable these key individuals to devote more of their energies to the company’s core business.

How Does Employee Self-Service Work?

At its basic level, employee self-service uses technology to permit employees to perform tasks that previously were handled by a company’s human resources department, benefits management or administrative staffers.

Employee self-service applications are generally available through the company’s or a vendor’s Web site, which employees easily access at work or from home, or via a company’s intranet. Of course, not all employees work at computers. In that case, employers may wish to set up kiosks or computer terminals in lunchrooms or spare offices for employee access.

Benefits of Employee Self-Service

The potential advantages of adopting employee self-service are wide ranging.

· Reduced paperwork for human resources departments, benefit administrators and employees.

· Fewer mundane, clerical-type tasks for human resources/benefits staffers, both management and administrative, which frees them up for planning, strategy, communications development, etc.

· Potential for reducing administrative staff headcount.

· Increased transaction accuracy, due to reduced paperwork and the ability of self-service systems to recognize catch certain types of data entry errors.

·  Possibility of employee education and communications, by directing employees to definitions of terms, overviews of plan provisions, and associated learning resources.

· Opportunity for employee engagement.

Advantages Are Playing Out for Companies That Utilize Employee Self Service

Survey data shows that these advantages truly are materializing for organizations using employee self-service tools. The use of employee self-service has had an appreciable impact on human resource service delivery and a tangible return on the investment in applications and technology.

As more aspects of everyday life turn to self-service (think gas pumps and grocery store check-out lines), we’ve grown accustomed to doing tasks for ourselves. Workers, therefore, are accepting, even welcoming, the ability to control numerous benefits tasks that previously was done by others. Seeing that this move has efficiency and financial advantages for business, it’s likely that employee self-service applications will continue to grow.