At RECONNECT 19, representatives from Presence of IT spoke about their client Endeavour Foundation’s rapid deployment of PeopleSoft Fluid Timesheet and how it helped the organization reduce the number of customizations and improve the user experience.
Key Takeaways
- Deployment of PeopleSoft Fluid Timesheets can be done rapidly – in as little as 15 weeks.
- Fluid Timesheets benefit the business by saving time and costly errors. Employees and managers benefit from mobile access, user-friendly interfaces, and time-saving features for entering data, and easy access to information for decision making.
- By limiting customizations in Fluid Timesheets, businesses can maximize functionality and benefits.
- Promoting the many benefits of Fluid Timesheets makes adoption an easy sell.
About Endeavour Foundation
Endeavour Foundation is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia. As an independent not-for-profit charity and one of the largest disability service providers with about 4,500 employees, Endeavour Foundation has many success stories. Similarly, its implementation of PeopleSoft and its rapid deployment of the PeopleSoft Fluid Timesheet is a point of pride and a model for others. In fact, Endeavour Foundation was recognized as a PeopleSoft Innovator in 2019. In July 2013, Endeavour started on PeopleSoft 9.0 and PeopleTools 8.52. They later upgraded to PeopleSoft 9.2 on PI 27 and PeopleTools 8.56 in November 2018.
In addition to the upgrade, Endeavour also recently updated their approach to managing its PeopleSoft solutions. The company moved from simple maintenance mode and compliance with legislative requirements to adopting new functionality and capitalizing on its benefits as soon as it was released. This included Fluid UI capabilities in PeopleSoft HCM such as Employee and Manager Self Service, the new Fluid Timesheet, and Employee Snapshot. Endeavour Foundation was also able to eliminate many customizations. Ultimately, they were working toward a seamless, easy transition with an improved end-product for their employees – many of whom have disabilities.
Endeavour Foundation’s Partnership with Presence of IT
To prepare, Presence of IT worked with Endeavour Foundation over the course of 15 weeks in deployment stages with only seven days needed for the timesheet deployment. This rapid-deployment approach included preparations like a fit-gap analysis and review of customizations for what to keep or drop and development with design workshops and build and unit testing of the system. Additionally, Presence of IT implemented user acceptance testing before going live.
Presence of IT used the Cumulative Feature Overview tool to distinguish changes between Endeavour Foundation’s current image and planned upgrade image. This helped identify instances when a Classic page or functionality has been replaced by a Fluid. Whenever possible, Fluid changes were adopted.
The team also advised communicating with an Oracle representative throughout the process because they can provide suggestions about value-added opportunities and inside information about the PeopleSoft direction and roadmap that could ultimately influence decisions that Endeavour Foundation had to make.
Overview of PeopleSoft Fluid Timesheet
PeopleSoft Fluid Timesheet includes the following features:
Time Tile
The Fluid Timesheet feature Time Tile is available through login and gives a centralized view of all options related to recording time. This includes logging time worked, leave requests, weekly summaries, etc.
Time Reporting
Time Reporting accommodates punch time and entered or elapsed time. This screen uses the same underlying logic as previous PeopleSoft versions but with an improved user interface. A visual display provides managers with key information immediately. For example, color coding identifies when an employee is underutilized and eliminates the need for reviewing data to make determinations. The page also provides a key to the information which is displayed on screens for both managers and employees.
Viewing Time and Exceptions
Viewing Time and Exceptions gives managers a more user-friendly view than previous versions of PeopleSoft. The user interface has changed considerably. The WorkCenter, for example, provides all the links on one page. It also shows the time summary for each employee as well as any exceptions.
Quickfill
Quickfill is used when an employee or organization is simultaneously working on two projects that require two separate departments to be billed. Quickfill eliminates the problem of having to complete multiple reports with duplicate information. Quickfill fields can be easily populated with the same data. Employees can set this up quickly and make updates or changes easily. Managers can review the Quickfill settings of each employee. The information can be accessed on a mobile device and is readily accessed from the Time Tile.
Approval and Alerts
Approval and alerts for notifications are Fluid, which makes the mobile experience simple.
Workforce Availability
Workforce Availability displays important calendar events, such as holidays and vacations. The user interface utilizes color coding to identify availability readily.
Auto Enrollment
Auto Enrollment is a popular feature that automates time and labor enrollments. It updates data for all new hires, including concurrent employment instances, rehires, terminations, job changes, and other configured HR actions. A PeopleSoft query allows the user to identify a group of employees to provide selected attributes and user preferences. For example, a manager can group all employees working in one state and set the same attributes for this group only. The auto enrollment process can be run in real-time or batch processing. Users consider auto enrollment one of the best new features, in large part, because of its time-saving abilities.
Results of PeopleSoft Fluid Timesheet Rapid Deployment
The enhanced functionality of PeopleSoft Fluid Timesheets led to a number of important business improvements for Endeavour Foundation. Increased manager visibility of data led to a reduction in the number of errors. This ultimately led to a reduction in costly payroll errors. Moreover, manual administrator tasks have been reduced. Mobile access to self-service is quick and easy – helping to build and support adoption. By using the system’s functionality and eliminating customizations, Endeavour Foundation has reduced maintenance and will be reducing the amount of effort needed for future image upgrades and functionality releases.
The business is not the only one who wins with the upgrade. The user also experiences many improvements. Users appreciate the modern look and feel with easy access and Fluid navigation. They save time when completing timesheets – especially when they use the new Quickfill option. Managers benefit from easy access to employee information, which helps them monitor data quality, increase productivity, and make decisions. Employees can use mobile functionality to view, complete, and lodge information anywhere at any time.
Quick Tips and Tricks
- Invest time in showcasing new functionality to get buy-in early from the end-user. For example, demonstrate to users how Quickfill will save time. Promote other features like Auto Enrollment that other users consider one of the key advantages of Fluid.
- Work to ensure the business is open to change and progress.
- Include pre- and post-implementation surveys with employees and managers to determine key pain points. Be sure to focus on these identified areas during the upgrade/new functionality implementation.
- Allow ample testing time to correct any “bugs” in the process.
- Ensure concerns are addressed with all parties and review the necessity of any customizations.
To learn more about Endeavour Foundation’s rapid deployment of PeopleSoft Fluid Timesheet and their Fluid UI journey, check out the additional resources attached below.
To learn from the experiences of your peers within the Quest Oracle Community, check out the PeopleSoft Customer Stories page that houses 30+ PeopleSoft customer stories about Selective Adoption, user experience, PeopleSoft in the Cloud, PeopleSoft Human Capital Management, PeopleSoft Enterprise Resource Planning, and PeopleSoft tools and technology!