Use of Technology to Perform HR Transactions

written by: Christy Bernard

The workforce of the future will be more diverse, younger workers will be more technically savvy, and workers nearing retirement will require flexible work arrangements. Employees, both in the beginning of their work career and nearing retirement, will require flexibility from their employer and will need access to employment information 24 x 7 x 365. In order to meet the needs of our employees, human resources will be required to provide employees with access to both employment information and benefits information through a secure internet site established just for that employee. Employees who are technically savvy will prefer to enroll in their health benefits online, when their schedule permits and will want to read through employment information, such as the Employee Handbook and company policies, when they can fit it into their schedule.

The trend is moving away from asking an HR professional for a paper copy of policies and procedures and moving toward employee access 24 x 7 x 365. GBAC’s HRIS provides employees with all of these benefits and more. Employees are able to complete new hire paperwork online prior to their first day of employment so they can hit the ground running on their first day. In addition, employees are able to complete their benefits enrollment paperwork online and view the different policy offerings and their associated costs. Employees have secure two-way communication access to human resources through the HRIS enabling employees to communicate with HR when they can, not when HR is in the office. This enables employees on multiple shifts to be able to communicate more effectively.

Health and Wellness Programs to Reduce Health Care Costs

written by: Christy Bernard

Reign in health care costs by educating and treating high-risk employees. Early intervention can substantially reduce health care claims and premiums. Typically health care benefits is one of the most expensive item in the company’s budget. Did you know that 10% - 20% of your employees are driving 80%—90% of your healthcare costs? There is an urgent need for proactive healthcare and wellbeing. Self-care can account for approximately 50% of all claims. Wellness Programs, Health Screenings, Health Risk Assessments and Disease Management are effective ways to reduce healthcare costs by educating employees and managing their health and wellness.

Companies across the country are moving to consumer directed health care in an effort to control the rising costs of medical insurance. The idea behind consumer directed health care is that greater individual accountability will help contain medical care costs. Most companies find that in order to attract and retain qualified and reliable workers they must offer medical insurance. By offering employees a high-deductible medical plan and the opportunity to contribute to a Health Savings Account encourages employees to become more educated. Employees take an active role in which medical procedures are available, how effective they are, and how much they will cost. In an effort to make it easier on employees, some medical insurance companies are not publishing their negotiated rates for a variety of services through the insurance company’s website. In the past, employees would contribute on a pre-tax basis directly from their paycheck, pay out of pocket for the medical expenses and receive reimbursement after mailing in the receipts. A great benefit being offered by most employers is a debit/credit card to pay for medical expenses. The employee receives a credit card that deducts the amount of the medical care expense directly from their Health Savings Account or other pre-tax account. Please contact GBAC, Inc. to obtain more information about how we can set up a program specific for your company’s needs.

Web-Hosted Human Resource Information Systems

written by: Christy Bernard

Making the decision of which HRIS to use is an important one that should be well thought out. There are 2 types of HRIS systems: leased and licensed. The trend over the last 8 years is to a leased system. A leased system offers low monthly fees and a short term commitment. Your IT department doesn’t support the system, upgrades are automatically loaded and included in the price, you don’t need to install anything and you don’t need to purchase special hardware. A licensed system is when you purchase the software. When purchasing a licensed system you typically pay for the software up front and commit to annual maintenance fees of 10% to 20% of the initial cost. Licensed systems typically have at least a 5 year ROI which means that you are stuck with that system for a minimum of 5 years. This is a long commitment especially since it is impossible to know where HRIS development will go and whether the licensed system you chose will evolve. Finally, your IT department is the only support for a licensed system and is responsible to ensure the system is secure which can be costly and challenging.

In 1990, HRIS evolved from the standard Excel spreadsheet that many are familiar with. The first system was difficult to access from multiple locations and did not offer an employee portal. From 1993 – 1998, open systems evolved. These systems linked multiple locations and a large boom in development of functionality occurred. From 1998 – 2004 the HRIS evolved into a hosted solution accessible via the web with employee user-interfaces. The trend toward web-hosted HRIS is booming. Employers are demanding a low maintenance system delivered exclusively over the internet. This is the type of system that GBAC offers.

Installed systems are installed either on your computer hard drive or on your company’s server. Hosted systems are stored outside your company’s system so they do not take up any hard drive or server space.Our system is a hosted system available to you through any internet connection. With a hosted system there is no overhead or support on your part. Gen-4 and GBAC support maintain and back-up the system. Our hosted system is accessible via remote access from any internet connection 24 x 7 x 365.

A common myth is that hosted solutions are less secure. This is not true. Hosted systems are typically more secure than what a company’s IT department could provide. This is because hosted solutions have internet security professionals dedicated to building security features and protecting the system.

GBAC chose the Gen-4 system because it is a leased, hosted solution developed specifically for internet delivery. The system is “on-demand” which means that it is accessible from any internet connection 24 x 7 x 365. With our system, there is no up-front cost for the system, no long-term commitment and little, if any, maintenance. The system is upgraded automatically and seamlessly. The cost for our HR Solution is a low monthly lease starting at $200 depending on the size of your employee population, which includes unlimited management users, an employee self-service portal and web-based benefits enrollment. We are able to offer the Gen-4 system at a very reasonable price due to our broker relationship with Gen-4 and the large volume of clients we have.

Our goal is to provide you with an HR Solution that will help smooth your job and make you a hero with top management and the employees you serve. Our system will improve the quality of service you are able to provide your employees.