5 Reasons Why Employee Self-Service Portals are Essential for your Business

Dealing with people is not an easy task because human behavior is unpredictable and constantly changing. HR executives have their hands full ensuring that an organization runs smoothly.

With an employee self-service portal, redundant tasks can be eliminated and efficiencies gained.

This is supported by the fact that the global knowledge management software market is expected to reach $1.1 trillion by 2026!

What is an employee self-service (ESS) system?

An employee self-service (ESS) system is an online self-service portal wherein employees can perform HR-related tasks and job-related tasks themselves without needing to file paperwork or contact administrative staff.

Any employee with access to an internet-connected device can log into the employee self-service portal using their login information.

Employee self-service portals allow people to do various tasks such as:

• 1. Apply for leaves and reimbursement
• 2. View schedules and submit shift change requests
• 3. Access payroll information
• 4. Update personal information - emergency contact number, address, banking details
• 5. Enroll for benefits
• 6. Receive alerts and notifications - birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, shift changes
• 7. Receive job-related training

Managers can use the same portal (manager self-service - MSS) to approve leaves and reimbursement requests, send updates, review timesheets, and check other employee requests without requiring HR assistance.

Since the portal eliminates the need for manual work and paperwork, HR staff and payroll staff are free to focus on strategic, value-added tasks.

Why is employee self-service important?

Small businesses are realizing the importance of streamlining and automating transactional tasks using employee self-service portals.

Why pay people to spend hours locating, gathering, updating, and verifying information when you have an efficient and scalable system to do it?

The cost and time efficiencies alone should convince you to switch.

Employee self-service portals are also being optimized for mobile, allowing people to access information from anywhere.

Employee self-service apps are especially useful during the COVID-19 pandemic because many organizations are significantly reducing touchpoints and working remotely as far as possible.

Benefits of employee self-service portals

The use of employee self-service portals has several advantages:

1. Better resource allocation and cost savings

Employee self-service portals save HR time and effort that can be better utilized in strategic planning and employee wellness programs. Thus, administrative costs are reduced and processes become more efficient.

A reduction in errors due to the elimination of manual data entry also contributes to lowered costs.

2. Faster service

Employees can quickly update their personal information such as emergency contact numbers and addresses without requiring the assistance of HR.

For instance, the types of information that employees can access are:

• • Leave requests and pending leave balance
• • Check-in and check-out time sheets
• • Performance appraisal reports
• • Payslip information and tax deductions
• • Updates on HR inquiries

Managers can approve such leave requests, shift change requests, or other requests through the same portal.

Transparency of information also ensures data compliance and makes it easier to conduct audits.

Key company updates on compensation, policies, and benefits can be quickly communicated to the entire workforce.

3. Improved employee engagement

Employees feel empowered when they have open access to their information and can actively engage with the organization. This boosts employee satisfaction and employee engagement, which, in turn, improves productivity and loyalty.

Loyal employees are less likely to look for greener pastures, thus improving retention rates.

4. Streamlined systems

Earlier, there were separate departments to handle HR tasks, payroll, revenue, and so on.

An employee self-service portal connects all these processes and acts as a central repository of information. Such streamlined systems ensure that tasks are executed efficiently and errors are eliminated.

5. Streamlined systems

Data security and data integrity are both under threat when manual processes are used since the chance of human error cannot be eliminated.

A cloud-based, secure portal can protect sensitive data from theft or loss by restricting access to it.

Conclusion

Employee self-service portals improve workplace efficiency, streamline systems, and boost employee engagement.

Perk Payroll offers an ESS system that can handle leave management, payroll management, reimbursements, and other processes that keep your small business running smoothly. Employees can also access an ESS app for all their job-related informational needs and transactional tasks.