Webinar 1: Digital for the Unconnected Employee

During the live webinar, participants asked a number of very interesting question. We’ve published them below together with answers by our presenters, Chantelle Brand Larsen, Senior Digital Solution and Engagement Lead, Capgemini’s Business Services, and Warren Gouws, Director of Solution Architects, SumTotal, Skillsoft.

Watch the recording!

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Does this solution really have an impact on Terrence’s life, and does it really create awareness of being digitally savvy for him?

Where this has been implemented it makes a real difference, as people have different drivers and needs—especially on the level of being able to communicate and engage in a way that makes a difference to him on devices he is using anyway. For example, the ability to trade shifts and train to get higher paid shifts that give him more money in his pocket. To reward and engage him also makes a difference to those that want to progress, and some do.

Where does Terrence do these online trainings? At the kiosks?

This is a good question, and as answered on the webinar, the learning blend is often decided by the type of learning (skills, behavior, or knowledge), geographical spread and volume. If appropriate for the training to be delivered by eLearning, a kiosk or device can be used. In factory and retail locations, onsite training is often given due to it being in a single geographical location and numbers of people.

This technique already exists. Every organization can do it. What’s special about your solution?

Currently, some organizations haven’t reached the digital maturity where they are connecting data from the “unconnected employee” to the processing of HR, e.g., payroll, their development, and engagement to provide everyday advise. In many organizations this is still a manual activity. The difference is engaging with the employee with a device they use in their every day work—a till, an access point, a kiosk, tablet, or mobile (if allowed). Then having easy-to-use ways to administer, communicate, and engage, which automates transactions and improves adoption, productivity, and engagement.

We were talking about tools, but how do we ensure we have the right digital mindset to really go “digital”?

Digital is not just a tool, it’s also a mindset. The mindset is aligned to the leadership, strategy, and culture change. Digital is about doing things differently and measuring different things. The focus is no longer the back office but the front office. Our research with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) outlines this challenge and its link to profitability and revenue.

How does the digitization work for a knowledge worker in IT? To elaborate, if we look at our organization, what are the enhancements we can make by leveraging best practices?

Digitalization is putting the customer at the heart. It moves the focus from back-office transformation to the front office. If you think about your interactions with the best brands in your life, mine are Apple and Squarespace. I can find answers on what I need easily, in simple and easy to consume chunks, and video to help. This is the same in HR, Finance, Supply Chain, Business Knowledge—this transformation of content also needs a mindset shift. How we write policies and guidance will be transformed from lengthy documents to text blocks and rich content. This is something we addressed last year with our digital help desk, which uses a cognitive knowledge base, supported by virtual chat and virtual agent to digitalize knowledge, increase productivity, and reduce costs.

Can you elaborate more on gamification. Are there any standard tools available on the market and any best tools available?

Gamification is a digital technique used to engage and entice users to participate. Providing leader boards and social communities around gamification appeals to the competitive nature of many individuals, including the unconnected worker. They may come in to work early, leave a little later, or spend time during their break completing tasks to get their leader board or point standings up. In addition, occurrence tracking, i.e., assigning points to infringements such as arriving late, taking longer lunch breaks, leaving early, etc., can also make its way onto the leader board and disciplinary reports. Gamification can be an effective digital tool to engage the otherwise disengaged employee. That being said, we have seen that offering higher value self-service functionality is a better engagement tool.

Who is responsible for filling up the content and editing Terrence’s “panel”? Is it Ida?

Terrence’s panel is created from the data in the systems, e.g., the master employee record, time, and absence. Terrence has actions in the workflow for him to complete with the device he uses. His manager, Ida, accesses the analytics from that data, but also has workflow for her to complete, e.g., approvals.

Now that we are moving more to managing professional profiles and mobility and time scheduling through r2d2, would this system be somehow communicating with it?

Yes, it certainly can, if it makes sense. Your first point about moving to managing professional profiles is vital, but what does a complete professional profile look like? HR systems have gaps here. For a complete professional profile you need to aggregate data about the person/employee from multiple disparate systems, i.e., HR, LinkedIn, Talent Management, Learning Management, Workforce Management (WFM), Payroll, etc. This is the only way that meaningful AI can be incorporated to drive value. This is exactly what the system we presented does, but rather than communication with r2d2 it unifies all these into a complete ecosystem. We understand that rip and replace is not the answer so yes, the system presented is an open system that can communicate with any modern communication platform. What is important to understand though is that the complete professional profile is what drives proper and efficient time scheduling (i.e., the right employee with the right skills and competencies for the right cost at the right time in the right place), but then tracking the actual time worked and feeding that back to compare schedule to actual is crucial to optimize the efficient deployment of the workforce. This is why unifying complete HR and HCM with WFM and Payroll is key.

How can we transfer absence data or payroll inputs from this tool to the payroll system for processing? Is there any interface process available?

Yes, the system tracks and calculates absence and time data in real time for immediate visibility into zero-to-gross time and cost. At the end of the payroll cycle, i.e., weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc., records are approved in the system and processed via FTL into a file format that a local payroll provider can consume. This is all automated of course.

Read a blog entitled “How to engage your unconnected employees” on how implementing a complete digital HCM solution across your HR function promotes employee engagement and fosters a high-performance culture

Learn more about how Capgemini’s Digital Employee Operations offering can reimagine your HR function for the digital age.

Stay tuned for more information about our “Reimagining HR for the Digital Age” series!