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MassHR Newsletter - June/July 2012 |  |
“It Always Seems Impossible Until It Is Done”
Today over 700 employees across the Commonwealth enter their time and attendance weekly via the new Self-Service Time and Attendance (SS TA) application which was launched in April. What’s more exciting is that Rollout #2 is on schedule to launch July 18, 2012. The implementation of Rollout #2 will provide an additional 10,000 employees across 54 departments with the ability to enter time and attendance online, as well as, view and manage their leave balances in ‘real time’. The seemingly impossible is being accomplished with hard work and perseverance.
The successful rollout of self-service time and attendance has been due in large part to preparation, the execution of sound agency readiness strategy, and participation throughout each agency’s organization. Just as in rollout #1, the MassHR Project Team has planned and is executing multiple readiness activities in Rollout #2 to facilitate a smooth transition to SS TA. We are partnering with agency MassHR Liaisons to deliver ePostcards to employees that provide information about Self- Service Time and Attendance - how to prepare for the implementation, and what to expect after Go Live. In addition, we are providing demonstrations of the SS TA application to employees, managers and supervisors as a supplement to online learning courses and job aids. The MassHR Project team has completed extensive testing to ensure assistive technology requirements are in place, and employees using JAWS, ZoomText, and Dragon software are able to access the SS TA application.
As we complete preparations for the Rollout #2 SS TA implementation, we are broadening the scope of our attention to include rollout #3. The third and final implementation of SS TA will include over 45,000 employees across agencies and departments that have complex time and attendance time reporting needs. To assure the success of this rollout, we will again employ our proven model of preparation, sound agency readiness and partnership.
Thank you to all of our colleagues across the Executive Departments, Independent Agencies and Constitutional Offices for your partnership and continued support.
As always, our goal is to get the right information to you at the right time. To be successful, we need to hear from you. All feedback is welcome! If you have questions, comments, or an idea for an article, please send an email to masshrinfo@massmail.state.ma.us.
Have a great day,
MassHR Communications Team
MassHR AT-A-GLANCE
- Implementation – SS TA Rollout #2.
“Go-live” July 18, 2012
- Change Management Approach Rollout #2
Communications - Started 4/30 (ESC & Non-ESC specific)
- Weekly ePostcards (In process)
- MassHR Website updates (ongoing)
Readiness - Agency Engagement
- Liaison Meetings (Started 3/1 Thru Go Live)
- Project Team Delivered Approver Transition Meetings (Complete)
- Agency Delivered EE Transition Meetings (Started 6/4 – In process)
- Agency/College Delivered Transition meetings (Started 6/4 – In process)
Training – ESC & Non ESC specific
- Online Learning (Launched June 2012)
- Presenter Training for Employee Transition Meetings (Complete)
- HR/Payroll Staff Training (Complete)
In this issue…
HLN, HOL, HWC: Managing the Holiday TRC Time Reporting Blues
MassHR Employee Service Center: Performance Indicators and Metrics
MassHR Project Team Gears Up for Final Self-Service Time and Attendance (Rollout #3)
MassHR Introduces Workforce Enhancement Programs
CONTACTS & FEEDBACK
MassHR Communications Lead
Deidre Travis Brown
617-878-9896
Tell us what you think…
masshrinfo@massmail.state.ma.us.
HLN, HOL, HWC: Managing the Holiday TRC Time Reporting Blues
Memorial Day marked the unofficial start of summer. This year, the Memorial Day holiday also marked the first holiday time reporting event for the Self-Service Time and Attendance users who participated in the first rollout (April 2012). For many SS TA users, time reporting codes are an unknown. Following the Memorial Day Holiday, the MassHR Employee Service Center (ESC) reported a spike in the incorrect use of the holiday time reporting codes.
Before the launch of SS TA, agency TRC experts, e.g. Timekeepers and Payroll staff, entered the correct codes in HR/CMS on behalf of the employee. The knowledge and expertise about time reporting has been limited to a very seasoned and specialized group of people. The launch of SS TA, however, has decentralized the time reporting process. Knowledge sharing is critical to ensure employees understand the definitions and application of commonly used TRCs.
Today it is important that agency HR and Payroll experts partner with the MassHR ESC to educate all employees and time approvers, whether current or future users of self-service time and attendance, about common time reporting codes such as VAC (Vacation Leave-Paid) and PER (Personal Leave-Paid). To make the knowledge sharing process easier, the MassHR ESC has developed a SS TA Holiday Time Reporting Definitions and Quick Tips reference tool. Click here to access the tool. This reference tool can be shared with all employees to provide quick tips on using TRCs correctly.
Current SS TA employee users are encouraged to call or email the MassHR ESC as their first point of contact for questions related to self service time and attendance.
User Tips and Guides: PREPARING SS TA EMPLOYEES FOR HOLIDAY TIME REPORTING
- HLN - used when an employee is not required to work on the holiday that falls on a regularly scheduled workday.
- HWC - used when an employee is required to work on the holiday and will earn compensatory time in lieu of holiday pay.
- HLP - used in the rare situation where the appointing authority at the Agency has authorized the employee to receive both REGULAR pay and HOLIDAY pay in lieu of comp time for the holiday worked, or to receive additional pay when the holiday falls on an employee’s scheduled day off.
- HOL - used in the case of police officers, firefighters, and correction officers when an employee works the holiday and the appointing authority at the Agency has authorized the employee to receive both REGULAR pay and HOLIDAY pay while working on the holiday.
MassHR Employee Service Center: Performance Indicators and Metrics
Since its launch on Wednesday, April 25th, the MassHR Employee Service Center (ESC) has been busy answering calls and providing customer service to employees with questions concerning Self-Service Time and Attendance (SS TA). The ESC serves as a central point of contact to assist employees in the 10 agencies that began using SS TA in April, and is gearing up to support approximately 8,000 additional employees in agencies that will go live with SS TA this summer.
To date, the majority (63%) of calls coming in to the ESC have been general inquiries about time and attendance. An additional 21% of inquiries have been SS TA password re-set requests. The remaining inquiries include time entry requests, prior period adjustment requests, and other more specific questions.
The MassHR ESC is committed to providing excellent customer service and has employed the latest in telephony technology and other tools to monitor their performance and work to continuously improve the service they deliver. Among several metrics, the ESC tracks the number of calls they receive, caller wait time, and length of time to problem resolution. Nearly 75% of employee inquiries are resolved during the first contact with the ESC, with 90% resolved within 4 hours, and all inquiries resolved within 3 days. User feedback has been extremely positive. To date, 95% of customers rate the service they have received as very good or excellent.
Lana Jerome, Director of the MassHR Employee Service Center, comments on the importance of data. She explained, “Metrics are the cornerstone of our organization. We use data in a variety of ways - to internally manage the ESC, to report out to our Customers, and to review business processes with an eye towards continuous improvement - all of which support the primary goal of better understanding and responding to our customer’s needs.”
MassHR Project Team Gears Up for Final Self-Service Time and Attendance Rollout - #3
As the MassHR Team works to finalize preparations for Rollout #2 of Self Service Time and Attendance, scheduled to be available Wednesday, July 18th, we are expanding our focus to include SS TA Rollout #3. The third and final rollout of SS TA will include Executive Departments, Independent Agencies, Constitutional Offices, State Universities, and Community Colleges and will begin in the Fall. Rollout #3 will be deployed in segments. New functionality will feature time entry using Time Collection Devices (TCDs) e.g., swipe cards or biometric readers; labor distribution time entry by employee, and 24x7 time reporting rules including but not limited to shift and weekend differentials. Go/No Go meetings will continue to ensure that all readiness milestones are checked off before the first segment of Rollout #3 is launched. Following is a list of departments that will participate in Self-Service Time and Attendance Rollout #3.
Executive Department Agencies
Administration and Finance
BSB - Bureau of State Buildings
DCP - Capital Asset Management & Maintenance Division
Education
DOE - Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
Labor and Workforce Development
EOL - Department of Workforce Development
Energy and Environmental Affairs
DCR - Department Conservation and Recreation
DPU - Department of Public Utilities
EQE - Department of Environmental Protection
ENV - Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
FWE - Department of Fish and Game
SRB - State Reclamation Board
Health and Human Services
CHE - Soldiers' Home in Massachusetts
DMH - Department of Mental Health
DMR - Department of Developmental Services
DPH - Department of Public Health
DYS - Department of Youth Services
EHS - Executive Office of Health and Human Services
HLY - Soldiers' Home in Holyoke
Housing and Economic Development
OCD - Department of Housing and Community Development
Public Safety and Security
CDA - Emergency Management Agency
CJT - Municipal Police Training Committee
CME - Chief Medical Examiner
DFS - Department of Fire Services
DOC - Department of Corrections
DPS - Department of Pubic Safety
EPS - Executive Office of Public Safety & Homeland Security
MIL - Military Division
Independent Agencies/Constitutional Offices
LOT - Lottery Commission & Gaming Commission
HSD - Sheriff Department Hampshire
SDB - Sheriff Department Berkshire
SDF - Sheriff Department Franklin
SDM - Sheriff Department Middlesex
SDS - Sheriff Department Suffolk
Community Colleges/ State Universities
BCC - Berkshire Community College
BHC - Bunker Hill Community College
BRC - Bristol Community College
BSC - Bridgewater State University
CCC - Cape Cod Community College
FRC - Framingham State University
FSC - Fitchburg State University
GCC - Greenfield Community College
HCC - Holyoke Community College
MAS - Massasoit Community College
MBC - Mass Bay Community College
MCA - Massachusetts College of Art and Design
MCC - Middlesex Community College
MMA - Massachusetts Maritime Academy
MWC - Mt Wachusett Community College
NAC - Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
NEC - Northern Essex Community College
NSC - North Shore Community College
QCC - Quinsigamond Community College
RCC - Roxbury Community College
SSA - Salem State University
STC - Springfield Tech Community College
WOR - Worcester State University
WSC – Westfield State University
MassHR Introduces Workforce Enhancement Programs (WEPS)
While several members of the MassHR Project Team work to complete rollout #2 of self-service time and attendance, the HR Service Delivery and Talent Management arm of the project team is focusing on another of our strategic goals: providing enhanced training and professional development opportunities to all of our employees in the Executive Branch.
MassHR has created a five year plan of professional development activities known as the Workforce Enhancement Roadmap. The Roadmap includes 20 training programs to be delivered over the course of the next few years to meet employee needs. Our long term plan is to build a sustainable training model for delivering training across the Executive Branch. In the meantime, we are looking to develop a cross Secretariat “Training Co-operative” to deliver the training, as well as to contribute to the development of some programs.
In July, the MassHR team will conduct a survey to identify your training focus area (e.g., agency specific vs. general skill training), your content interest areas, and your expertise across various training activities. The information gleaned from the survey will be an input into the Training Co-operative proposal, as well as to the formation of a trainer’s practice community where knowledge and skills can be shared across trainers. The proposal will be presented to the HR Advisory Council, Secretariat Chiefs of Staff, and Secretariat CFOs for feedback in July. Our goal is to gain agency approval for the Training Co-Operative by late August, and to begin offering these training programs in October.
First 10 WEPS
- Effective Goal Setting and Follow Through
- Building & Maintaining Results Oriented Culture
- Business Process Redesign
- Workforce Analytics
- Project Management Skills for Non-Project Managers
- Coaching, Evaluating and Delivering Constructive Feedback
- Problem Solving Strategies
- Becoming an HR Business Partner
- Leadership Excellence for Senior Management
- Strategic workforce Planning and Succession Planning
CONTACT THE MASSHR EMPLOYEE SERVICE CENTER:
MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
BETWEEN 8:30 A.M. AND 5:30 P.M.
617-979-8500 | TOLL FREE: 1-855-4HR-SPPT (1-855-447-7778) | TTY: 617-248-0546