Brock University is launching a new unified system to provide faculty and staff with safe and efficient access to their personal work information.
Over the next eight months, the University will be working to transition the way human resources information is accessed.
Workday, Brock’s cloud-based finance system launched in May 2016, will be expanded to seamlessly integrate Human Resources, providing direct access and data to staff, faculty and administrators when they need it. The new initiative, with a go-live date of July 1, 2018, will bring together several HR systems in an efficient and user-friendly format.
The system, with its design underway, will allow for access to real-time data, reduce duplication and provide a unified system of record for improved analytics, reporting and forecasting for planning and operational decisions.
It will give employees direct access to their own personal information and online requests for time away, and will provide management with team information and reports for analytics.
Key to the new initiative’s success will be stakeholder engagement, which has been ongoing in the project’s initial phases and will continue throughout the period leading up to the launch.
“We know the success of implementation and our ongoing ability to deliver excellent HR services will be largely dependent on understanding our stakeholder needs and requirements,” said Grant Armstrong, Associate Vice-President, Human Resources. “As a result, we have been and will continue to engage stakeholder groups throughout the implementation phase. It has been great to see the desire and enthusiasm different groups have demonstrated in wanting to contribute their knowledge and ideas to the project.”
Training will be provided and support will be available to assist Brock faculty and staff throughout the transition.
The Brock team leading the initiative, called Project Mosaic, includes Human Resources and Brock ITS staff, as well as representatives from Deloitte brought on to oversee the system’s design.
The transformation is expected to increase efficiencies within the current HR system, allowing the department to focus on customer-focused support for staff, faculty and administrators.
“By having a system that is less cumbersome and more accessible to more people, information can be more easily retrieved,” Armstrong said. “People won’t have to wait to find out about or change personal information — if they choose, they will be able to access it themselves.”
Human Resources will, however, always be available to assist, he noted.
“A system like this will also allow people to have more ‘doorways’ into HR,” Armstrong said. “Since first coming to Brock more than four years ago, I have heard concerns from people about not knowing who to contact in HR when they have an HR-related problem. By increasing efficiencies with this system, we are hoping to be able to reallocate some of our resources that manage highly time-intensive manual operations into more face-to-face HR support when necessary,” he said.
“This will be a great win-win for all staff, faculty and students.”
Over the next several months work will be done to design and test the new technology.
As not every new business process will apply to everyone, people most impacted by various new system components will be involved in the testing of key areas such as creating positions, creating contracts, recruiting to fill positions, replacing current time clocks and tracking time away, applying for jobs and requesting leaves.
Information on the initiative will be shared and feedback obtained through presentations at department levels, meetings with focus groups and emphasis on the Workday SharePoint site where faculty and staff can go to learn more.
