Self Service
Rolling out Self Service to Employees and Managers presents huge benefits to everyone but there are risks.
Risks that Cascade have encountered, addressed and developed solutions to overcome. Our HR software is completely browser based (thats not to say it is hosted online, although thats an option, and one third of our clients opt for our hosted service). This means that everyone uses the same system but that we allow you, the HR team, to select which users, either in groups or individually, can use which features and how they can interact with data. Your system, you're in control.
But even when we control what users use in Self Service we still have the concern that they are doing the right thing, at the right time and using the right resource. In short, we need guarantees that best practice is being used. To guarantee best practice is used throughout the company Cascade combines Self Service with it's workflow features by providing Best Practice Workflows. These workflows are designed in the core Workflow module and will guide users through any given task.
Users do not even need to know how to perform a task. Be it adding an absence, requesting a training course, applying for authority to recruit or any other process all they need to do is select an activity (user defined by HR) from a list and click it. Cascade will then present forms, instructions, screens, emails, mail merge documents or any other workflow task that you have decided is needed at that stage. Processes may be user centric or may inform anyone else in the business if that is what the activity needs.
This guarantees best practice and is one of the examples of why Cascade has a 100% success rate in rolling out Self Service to anything from 25 to 10,000 staff across single and Worldwide sites.
Cascade Self Service isn't even restricted to access via PC or laptop. The advent of Cascade Mobile Apps, a device and platform independent mobile app for self service managers and employees, frees users up to take advantage of Cascade wherever, whenever they happen to be. See our Mobile Apps page on this website for further details.
What might an employee do using Cascade Self Service?
That's up to you. However, it's likely they will want to update their personal details, request holidays or training courses, complete surveys and return to work forms online and view company documents and phone lists. We recommend concentrating on the areas that currently create the most administration in phase 1 of the self service roll out. This will maximise benefits early in the process. In phase 2 our clients generally introduce areas as required, such as online appraisals, course applications and expenses (requires Cascade Expenses module).
What might a line manager do using Cascade Self Service?
In addition to being an employee a line manager may authorise requests, benefiting from proactively delivered information to aid decisions. They may initiate their own requests such as authority to recruit or report an absence. By utilising Best Practice Workflows they dont even need to know how to perform these tasks, a single click from a menu of activities will guide them through it.
What might a payroll professional do using Cascade Self Service?
It's easy to think of Self Service being a HR related feature but in Cascade it can benefit Payroll too. Payroll may wish to deliver payslips through self service to employees. They may also want to authorise changes such as bank details and also perform global salary modelling. Really, it is up to the payroll department what use they make of self service but at all times they have control over acceptance and rejection of changes submitted.
Who else might use Cascade Self Service?
We focus a lot on employees and line managers when we talk about self service, after all they will use the system to interact with HR.
However, they are unlikely to have just one role in your organisation. Some may be employees and line managers as well as First Aiders or even the Finance Director. To manage this Cascade allows each user, through one login, to have up to 6 roles each with specific (user defined by HR) levels of access and responsibilities.
