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Attractor has worked with an NHS payroll team during the Autmun of 2009 identifying actions to deliver more effective and efficient services.

Reviewing options with local managers, Attractor has identified and evaluated a number of concepts and ideas.

Taken together, the changes identified would generate savings of around 20% of the existing service costs, taking into account the need for some additional investments.

If all proposals were implemented, client organisations would benefit from reduced costs phased in over a period of around 2 years with no detriment to service quality . Read the rest of this entry →

The NHS Electronic Staff Record forced organisations to review working methods in HR, Payroll and Finance – a significant challenge for all teams.

Addressing inconsistencies in data held by these departments, strengthening communications, recognising common needs and challenges has helped some to  improve understanding and trust, reduce antagonism and conflict.

Integrated systems processes have forced many teams to become more proactive in resolving issues of control and data maintenance. Where relationships have truly been improved, closer working on strategic employment issues has become possible.

Some are now taking integration to a new level of sophistication. Read the rest of this entry →

When deploying new tools, organisations commonly look for cash-releasing benefits, especially headcount reductions which deliver ongoing financial savings.

Where this is the primary objective for a self-service project, teams can often struggle to demonstrate these types of benefits and savings.

The less tangible benefits of self-service are often easier for managers to understand – though harder to measure using traditional cost-benefit analysis. Read the rest of this entry →

Photo:Bitterjug, flickr

During 2008-09, NHS organisations deploying ESR (an ORACLE-based human resources and payroll solution) worked to address early challenges with initial deployment.

Most are now in the process of refining practice to gain benefits and many are at the early stages of planning to deploy self-service.

Organisations should not dismiss lightly the effort needed to address stakeholder concerns and revise business processes when implementing self service. Nor should the ongoing challenges of systems management, user administration and support be ignored.

It is possible, though, to address these challenges effectively and there are some large prizes availble for those who do so successfully. Read the rest of this entry →

A special health authority determined the need for a self service expenses management solution, supporting claim, authorisation and payment processes and linked to ESR, the NHS integrated HR and Payroll system. Attractor was asked to support the project by writing the system specification, contributing to the procurement process and helping to evaluate solutions available. Read the rest of this entry →