"BrightStar involved our Human Resources department from the very beginning in all decision making aspects of the implementation and configuration of our HR/Payroll portal. BrightStar accomplished this by taking us through a detailed preparation phase in which we laid out our requirements and at each of the later phases of the implementation we participated in testing, which verified that our requirements were being met. In situations where those requirements involved significant customization, we discussed alternatives and came to a decision based on input from all sides. BrightStar worked closely with the HR staff and as a result of this teamwork approach we have had a very successful implementation."
Mike Meredith
SBC Director,HRIMS

Challenge

Southwestern Bell Corporation, as a major force in the highly competitive telecommunications market, needed to identify and implement cost reduction strategies to maintain their competitive advantage in the market place. All departments were under intense pressure to reduce costs and increase operating efficiencies. The Human Resources (HR) department knew they had a very labor intensive, inefficient, and costly process to manage all 114,000 employees' personnel benefits. They needed to drive their costs down and increase staff productivity while at the same time increasing customer (employee) satisfaction.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Overview

SBC has a geographically dispersed workforce operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The HR department thought that taking advantage of the internet could provide ways of streamlining some of their internal processes for managing employee benefits. BrightStar played a key role in the implementation of their SAP HR/Payroll systems. Having established a very thorough understanding of SBC's HR processes and capabilities through intense planning sessions, we began discussions as to what might be the best method to automate these processes. Together, BrightStar and SBC began identifying those processes that could be automated and that would produce the desired results SBC was looking for; a reduction in operating costs, improved operations, and greater customer satisfaction.

The BrightStar and SBC project team identified five areas, that if the processes could be automated, the HR department could substantially reduce their costs, improve productivity and increase employee satisfaction. Those areas were; updating personal information, updating personal benefits requirements, verification, scheduling, and approval of vacation and time off, notification and scheduling of continuing education classes, and ordering of regularly used office items. An easy to use web-based system seemed to provide the best chance for success.

Solution

BrightStar worked with key personnel from SBC to plan, develop and implement a web-based business system that enabled Southwestern Bell's 114,000+ employees to review and update their personnel information. SBC had recently implemented SAP's HR/Payroll system and ideally wanted to leverage their investment in this solution. The BrightStar and SBC project team began looking at both solutions within the SAP product offerings and other COTS products. A number of COTS products were identified as well as an SAP product that would meet SBC's requirements. Together, the BrightStar and SBC team developed a scoring system that would provide the team with a way to evaluate each product and its solution from both a technical approach and an overall value perceptive. As the evaluation proceeded, the team began to realize that while most of the COTS products could meet the technical requirements, there was a higher degree of risk associated with the integration of these products into the SAP environment. In addition, the potential interface maintenance costs in the future could possibly eliminate any cost savings they would achieve by automating those processes that had been identified.

The team selected SAP's Employee Self Service Module (ESS) as the most cost effective solution to deploy. The ESS module offered the built in integration capabilities across the HR and Materials Management Modules that SBC desired. In addition, the cost to acquire the ESS module was nominal. There were, however, some limitations identified within the ESS product that posed a potential problem with achieving the level of success SBC desired. Some custom modifications would be necessary. As part of the team, a Sr. SAP programmer was brought in from BrightStar that was experienced with both the ESS module and the HR/Payroll module. This consultant determined that the changes needed could be done in such a way that they would not interfere with future upgrades nor impact the costs associated with system maintenance. The project team developed the processes and user screens required to allow employees to change their personal information, update personal benefits such as adding dependents to the medical plan, verify, schedule, and receive approval for time off, and schedule continuing education classes. The team mapped all the data that needed to be integrated into the different modules that would facilitate seamless data flow. As part of the review team, end users were brought in at key intervals to provide feedback on screen layouts and ease of use. These inputs were crucial to the final outcome and success of the project. The solution that the BrightStar and SBC team came up with allows SBC's 114,000 employees to review and make changes to their personal benefits from either their desk top computer at work, at kiosks strategically located at all SBC locations for employees that do not have a desk top, or from the convenience of home via the internet.

During the project, key SBC personnel were identified that would be responsible for the ongoing maintenance and site updates after the BrightStar team left. SBC was provided complete documentation that would serve as both a technical resource as well a technical training manual. BrightStar provided both technical and train the trainer training. As part of the factors that determined success, SBC's ability to maintain the site was critical, as was a complete transfer of knowledge to their personnel. BrightStar and the SBC team, from the onset of the project, identified those SBC individuals that would be tasked with maintaining the system. These people participated in all aspects of the technical development.

Results

The project incorporates SAP's HR & Payroll functionality, IBM mainframe-based applications, and external systems from third party providers, such as pension administrators and 401(k) plan administrators. Frequently used supplies can be ordered and approved directly, interfacing with their SAP System. Expense reports are completed offline in a customized Excel spread sheet and directly interfaced with the SAP system. The ESS module implementation increases information access to 24x7, saves $12-20 per transaction, eliminates multiple paper distribution of most HR documents, and increases Human Resources administrative functionality. By implementing this system, SBC was able to achieve the cost reductions and productivity gains they desired and their employees have an improved way of maintaining their personal benefits. BrightStar provided complete support and training for SBC personnel to fully utilize and assume maintenance of the system.

Benefits

- The SAP Employee Self Service (ESS) module was installed initially to one operating division, then ultimately extended to all of the SBC operating companies. Rolling out the ESS capabilities to all the operating divisions significantly reduced the amount of paperwork the human resources department had to process allowing them to focus on more critical issues, thus increasing productivity. Errors associated with entering data from the hand printed forms into the Human Resource (HR) system were greatly reduced, thereby increasing the accuracy of the information resident in the HR system.

- Employees are able to access information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Prior to implementing the on-line system, the only way for the 114,000 employees to access their personnel data, make changes, or make inquiries about vacation time, was to submit a written request to the HR department and then wait for written response, which could take up to 10 business days. Now SBC employees can access their personnel records from home or at work from their desks. For those employees who do not have a desk such as linemen, SBC strategically set up kiosks throughout their offices around the country, providing computer access for those employees. By setting up the kiosks and allowing their employees to access their personnel files from home, changes and inquiries can be made when it is convenient for the employees to do so.

- All human resources information is available on-line and is continuously updated on an "as needed" basis. Prior to the roll out to all operating locations, the HR department made the information available in multiple paper documents. This new online system greatly reduced the need for paper distribution of these multiple documents with the added benefit of reducing their publishing costs.

- With the on-line Employee Self Service system, employees are now able to update their personnel files directly. This reduces errors associated with the manual entry of data from hand printed forms. This also increases efficiencies by eliminating the need to enter data from forms and then cross check those forms with the employee to determine if the changes were correct. In addition, it reduces cost by reducing the number of clerical people needed to enter data and by greatly reducing the need for printed HR documents that are now posted on the web site.

- This on-line system also included the ability for employees to order certain highly used items, such as Maintenance, Repair and Operation (MR&O) items, on-line. Prior to implementing the on-line ordering system, employees would complete a requisition form for the supplies they required. They would then have it signed off by their immediate supervisor, and walk it to purchasing. Purchasing would then enter the order into the purchasing system and create a purchase order to send to the vendor. The purchase order would then be given to the finance department and they would enter the information into the finance system. With the on-line system, employees enter the order directly into the materials management system and if all the business rules are met, the order is electronically sent to the appropriate vendor and the information automatically entered into the finance system. In the event the business rules are not met the request is e-mailed to the immediate supervisor for review. A number of steps were removed from the process that greatly reduced the time and personnel required to process the order. The end result is that the employees receive the supplies they need in a more timely manner and SBC has improved the overall operating efficiencies by reducing the number of steps it take to complete the process.

- SBC has estimated that the implemented solution saves them between $12 and $20 per transaction.

Lessons Learned

Teamwork was key to the successful outcome of the project. BrightStar and SBC needed to develop an objective method to evaluate the different options available and arrive at a consensus about which products would be deployed. In addition, receiving end-user feedback on the look and feel of the screens proved to be invaluable when it came to employee acceptance, they knew they played a critical role in the development of the system that they would be using.