Employee self-services: Empowered staff, less pressure on HR

Employee self-services (ESS) provide access to HR services directly from an employee’s workstation, enabling employees to access and input information themselves. Submitting requests, checking time entries, updating contact details and much more can all be done via the HR portal.

The data accessible to employees varies from system to system. Most companies tend to make three key areas of employee self-services available via apps, desktop applications or web-based software:

• Document management: Employees use the self-service system to access personal documents such as their employee eFile or their contract of employment.
• Process launch: Employees use the ESS platform to trigger approval processes—e.g., for vacation requests or other absences.
• Information availability: Employees use the ESS system to view up-to-date company information.

Hey Doxi, what are the most important functions of employee self-services?

Doxis Human Resources 14.0 has its very own employee self-service portal. It speeds up document-driven processes for both employees and HR.

Online salary statements

HR no longer has to send out a salary statement to each employee. They simply upload it to the portal instead, where it’s available for the employee to view at any time in a self-service eFile in Doxis, which only the employee can personally access.

Good to know: Doxis takes a holistic approach to document processes, seamlessly storing all salary statements in the document management system (DMS) as usual. This means Doxis securely archives older salary statements in an audit-proof system for your peace of mind.

Document-sharing

With the employee self-service portal in Doxis Human Resources, employees and HR teams can submit applications, provide certificates and references and share any number of other documents using drag and drop.

For instance, to apply for parental leave, you simply drag the document to the drop zone, select the document type “Application for parental leave” and then press save. The application lands in HR’s inbox for immediate processing.

Doxis contains a wide range of document types, such as:

• Reference
• Reporting incapacity for work
• Certificate of training
• Certificate of health
• Confirmation of participation
• Other certificates

Administrators can also customize the list of document types in line with internal processes—add new types, delete others and even set up individual lists for different countries.

Change of address

Doxis Human Resources makes administrative workflows leaner by empowering people to manage their own master data using the employee self-service portal. When their home address or other personal details change, employees can easily inform HR via the system.

Simply click on “Change of address” and replace the old address with the new one—not forgetting to add the effective date. So instead of HR receiving an email notification in their inbox, which can easily get lost among the noise and may take time to find and process, Doxis automatically updates the address in the employee’s eFile from the effective date.

Employee self-service systems must be capable of automating document-driven processes from end to end if they are to deliver genuine value for HR. Doxis does this by integrating into leading HR software such as SAP SuccessFactors (including legacy SAP HCM) and other HR systems.

How the systems interact in practice:

• HR colleagues create a separate document in the Doxis self-service portal for each use case—e.g., vacation requests, overviews of working time entries, contracts, etc.
• While an employee works in SAP SuccessFactors, Doxis sends out notifications or reminders about missing documents, deadlines and much more.
• Critically, Doxis uses roles and access rights to create a transparent information structure that ensures only authorized employees can upload, work on and view documents.

Doxis automatically syncs new data

The self-service portal not only speeds up and automates tasks for HR, it also handles the data protection and data security side of things. So, if an employee changes their name, it’s updated in SAP SuccessFactors. Doxis recognizes when new personal details are added and automatically assigns them to the employee’s eFile.

This benefits subsequent workflows, too. For instance, the next time you hold a meeting with the employee, the system automatically updates your minutes with the new name, ensuring that all data and documents in Doxis and SAP SuccessFactors are always kept up to date.

Employee self-service solutions eliminate time-consuming HR processes. How? By providing a single source of truth for knowledge and resources.

Advantages for business

For instance, companies in Germany are required to grant all employees personal access to their eFile. Doxis automates this for you. The self-service portal gives employees read-only access to the documents saved in their own eFile at any time. Any content that needs updating, like vacation requests or personal details, can be input by employees directly using the self-service function.

This takes a huge amount of pressure off numerous processes relating to HR management.

• HR no longer needs to process every request from scratch—employees lay the necessary groundwork themselves.
• HR is only required to release the application or trigger a process.
• This standardizes, streamlines and speeds up in particular administrative processes for HR, leaving more time for what's important: the personal touch.

Not only that, but employee self-services also improve data quality. HR requests such as changes of address no longer lie buried in unread emails or forgotten about in chats over the coffee machine. Employees update the information themselves—minimizing input mistakes and keeping data up to date.

Advantages for employees

Employee self-services benefit employees by shortening communication channels. Absences and other important information can be entered into the employee self-service system whenever and from wherever. And this saves employees valuable time, too.

Self-services additionally provide transparent insights—into employee eFiles, for example, which employees tend to appreciate. Greater personal responsibility ultimately signifies to employees that they are trusted by their employer, in turn nurturing employee loyalty.

Employee self-service systems aren't a cost-effective solution for every company, granted. Experts agree that the significant investment required for these systems only begins to show a return for companies with a workforce of 500 to 1,000 employees or more. This is due to the relatively high initial implementation costs. However, for larger companies, the benefits of employee self-service systems become increasingly valuable.

Self-service options have long been a staple in the workplace. While these services were once accessed through physical terminals, today's approach has shifted to employee self-service software. This modern method offers a significant advantage: employees can update their personal details anytime and from anywhere.

Solutions such as Doxis Human Resources with its employee self-service portal empower people to independently manage their own personal details and processes. Employees find precisely the information they need without having to go via HR, and keep their master data always up to date.

Ready to see this tech in action? Get in touch! Our experts will be happy to demonstrate.

FAQs on employee self-services