Blog Summary
Bryan Thumme, solution consultant with WorkForce Software, an ADP company, shares practical advice for evaluating where key workforce processes should be managed across time and attendance, payroll and HR systems.
In my current role, I often join discovery calls with prospective clients intending to understand the unique reality of what data is feeding their current workforce management processes. The common thread is that these data sources often differ from one organization to another, especially when considering businesses that operate on a global scale. The core information for a time and attendance system may originate from different locations depending on how your organization chooses to structure its workforce data.
I’m passionate about how organizations make the best choice for consistent time and attendance data sources because I know how overwhelming human capital management (HCM) transformation projects can be. Having baselines for how workforce management data functions help us evaluate our current system and determine what steps we need to take to reach a future state.
I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Kelly Abbott, senior director, time to pay transformation with The Hackett Group to host our recent webinar, What system fuels your workforce with reliable time and attendance, payroll and HCM data? In addition to the fundamentals I covered, Kelly provided proven best practices she’s discovered from her extensive experience guiding organizations through the implementation and optimization of enterprise workforce management solutions.
What is a System of Record (SoR) v. Source of Truth?
These are two terms that will come up in any IT implementation project, not just efforts related to HCM transformation. It’s helpful to have a clear vision of what they are and how they influence workforce management processes.
- System of Record (SoR): A SoR is an information storage and retrieval system that stores valuable data on an organizational system or process.
- Source of Truth: The source of truth refers to the authoritative, reliable and trusted source that provides the most accurate and valid data. It is the primary source from which all other systems and repositories retrieve their data.
Both systems of record and source of truth are used to store data. They have a similar purpose, which is to generate reports, make decisions, manage data and store information in a single place. Both systems can help you identify gaps in your processes by allowing you to see where there are inconsistencies.
The main difference is systems of record don’t usually have an actual person who writes or edits their stories. A source of truth is typically maintained by an individual or team.
How does time and attendance software get HR information and payroll information from a system of record?
There are a variety of ways that time and attendance systems will interact with multiple systems of record. In the most basic data flow setup, time and attendance software sits between the HR and payroll SoRs. Many of the organizations we work with have multiple HR systems and payroll systems that handle different employee populations throughout the globe. While ADP WorkForce Suite® is not an HR or payroll solution, our capabilities require that we interact with both of these systems to retrieve proper data.
How these data streams flow are vital considerations for any implementation or transformation project. Data retrieved from these systems could include demographic information such as employee pay rates, the type of employee they are like full time, part time, contractor or location information.
Here are a few examples of considerations you can use to determine which system will provide the best data stream for your time and attendance solution:
- Are time off banks and accrual rules currently maintained in the current HR or payroll systems?
- Are the time off bank balances going to be imported into ADP WorkForce Suite?
- Can the process for “real-time” time off bank and accrual rules provide an enhanced business process and functionality for your employees?
- Are there complex rules for time off banks and accrual rules that the HR or payroll system cannot meet?
- How does the process of amending timesheets in the past period in ADP WorkForce Suite affect time off balances?
Some of the key differentiators for ADP WorkForce Suite are how it manages data flows and applies rules to data. The system provides measures to navigate complicated rules like prorated calculations for new hires, workers who move from contractor or part time to full time, or perhaps from one union to another. Or maybe even accruals that are tied to how much you work or scenarios that require certain triggers for the accrual to occur.
Most time and attendance solutions will allow you to manually adjust or add values to make manual corrections. ADP WorkForce Suite Time and Attendance, by comparison, has the ability to calculate even the most complex type of accruals, reducing the need for manual calculations and corrections.
Similarly, ADP WorkForce Suite offers a simplified method of revising data from previous pay periods. This is important because one of the main reasons time sheets do get amended in the past is to account for unused or unaccounted time off that was or wasn’t taken. This has not only potential pay implications but also requires updates to the time off balances.
If there is a change that needs to go back several pay periods, that could potentially require many more amendments to produce accurate records. The most common scenario that comes to my mind is when collective bargaining agreements get ratified retroactively. It’s not unheard of to have contracts that take effect retroactively, which can impact on how time is accrued and require an update to the employee’s current balances to make them whole.
How evaluating data streams promotes successful workforce management implementation
There’s not a one-size-fits all option for how whether a system of record or source truth will best serve your workforce management processes. Determining which is best fit for your organization is vital when designing a successful workforce management implementation.
In our webinar, Kelly Abbott explained how thoughtful decisions early in the project lifecycle have a massive impact on the implementation process. She offered four foundational principles for navigating this process:
- Clear, consistent documentation that reflects true business rules and operational realities. Not having these policies written down leaves this up to interpretation, and that automatically puts your organization at risk.
- Identify requirement gaps, misinterpretations and misunderstandings to avoid rework and compliance risks. You want to reduce that exposure as much as possible and help ensure that the rules and the policies and the documents that you have, they’ll have the same meaning throughout your entire organization, not just one region or one locale.
- Incomplete or unclear documentation leads to implementation mistakes that impact downstream payroll and adoption steps. When there is a difference in understanding, evan small variances can have downstream impacts on other connected systems. This leads to a lack of alignment or overly customized processes that risk incorrect payrolls.
- Search for mistakes or pain points early. Issues found late in the process are significantly harder and more expensive to fix. Put in the work now, reap the benefits later!
Setting up that strong foundation, brick by brick, level by level, using some true strategic advantages early on, you won’t only be protecting your budgets and your timelines, which is super important to all of us, but you’re also giving your entire team a solution, a real true solution to really accomplish and come over those everyday HR, technology and process issues.
Access the full webinar for more details on how to best source workforce data to fuel your time and attendance system.
