What is meant by HR case management?
HR case management is how companies manage employee issues and requests. Also called Employee Case Management, HR case management is like a ticket system where the employees can submit their requests and follow the workflow thereon. They will know how the request has been routed, whether the issue is being resolved and when to expect an answer. HR case management allows the HR department to make notes and escalate pending issues to a different team member while providing transparency to the employees.
HR Case Management – Explained
In the past, cases were managed by employees themselves either by asking an HR representative, manually filling out a form, or via emails. While these methods work well for small organizations, they may lead to frustration and confusion amongst the employees and HR. Employees need to know who has received their inquiry and expect transparency in operations. HR staff will need to identify who is handling the case, collaborate, track history, and measure performance.
HR case management offers a way for employees to submit requests and forms which are then routed to the appropriate HR staff. This technology allows HR to manage requests better and offer transparency to employees. They will understand better how to manage a huge volume of requests and how to optimize teams.
The 3 components of the HR service delivery tool are HR Knowledge Base, HR Case Management, and Self-service portal out of which Case Management is its core component. Let us understand the importance of case management from the HR department’s perspective. A case is a request that can arise from managers, employees, new hires, partners, or external entities.
Each request needs to be recorded with its key information including requester information, category/sub-category of request, and the source of the request (whether telephone, email or chat).
An HR case management tool delivers five main features to its users namely, Dashboards, SLA’s, Workflow Automation, Collaboration Tools, and Analytics. These 5 main features enable efficiency, customer satisfaction, and time savings for all stakeholders.
Components of HR Case Management
1. Automation
HR Case Management tools can automate workflows and route employee requests to the right individual. For instance, generic queries will be sent to a shared service while payroll requests can be sent to the payroll department and so on. When an employee submits a form, it automatically kicks off a process, a sequence of tasks is generated and every person who needs to perform a task is notified. Automation can help HR to better manage all employee needs right from routine tasks to open-ended inquiries.
2. Knowledge Base
The knowledge base of HR case management tools helps to reduce the number of inquiries received by HR. This facility allows employees to procure the information directly without contacting HR. When an employee searches for information in the knowledge base of the case management system, the required forms will be presented. Knowledgebase will be contextual which means that the forms and articles will be relevant to the specific employee.
3. Transparency
Case management tools offer transparency to meet employee expectations. Often, employees who send emails to the HR department are not sure if their requests were received or what their status is. Through HR case management, both HR agents and employees can track the progress of a case and ensure that their issues are resolved.
4. Collaboration
Many HR cases can be challenging and complex, requiring the efforts of more than a single person for resolution. HR teams need to have collaboration capabilities and also involve other individuals like a manager. HR case management allows HR representatives to collaborate on cases and initiate tasks for managers and other HR leadership roles. By tracking case completion and communication, HR task management tools can simplify collaboration among team members to resolve inquiries, issues, and requests.
5. File Management
HR processes require several documents that form a part of various HR systems. To ensure successful service delivery, these documents must be managed and stored properly. Case management integrates with file management to automatically send documents to be stored in the employee records. This way, the HR department can have a holistic view of the employee details through the completely integrated service delivery platform.
Benefits of HR Case Management
Save resources and money – HR case management software can streamline workflows and prevent mistakes due to wrong routing. Streamlined HR cases management will enhance the efficiency of the HR team, reduce costs and time spent by them on critical issues.
Easy Information Access – Through HR case management, employees can easily access the information they need from any place, at any time, and from any device-either their desktop, mobile phone, or tablet.
Real-time insight – The top HR case management tool offers complete transparency to the employees. They can view the location of their tickets at all times, ensure that it is attended to, and have an idea of when the issue will be resolved.
Self-Service – The HR case management system has an in-built self-service portal that can restrict the number of tickets being submitted. IF employees can easily find answers to the questions they are looking for or know where to find them, your HR case management tool is doing the work for you.
Dashboard Views - The dashboard view of the HR case management software organizes a long list of employee cases into simple, graphical views. Some colors prioritize the cases into groups, and they indicate which ones need to be attended to first, second, and so on.
SLAs help to keep cases up-to-date – A Service level agreement or SLA is assigned automatically to each case once it is created as per the case type, category, and other parameters. The SLA also determines the deadline of the case. The SLA also triggers reminders and escalations automatically if it needs to be taken to the notice of a supervisor.
Conclusion
HR case management is the comprehensive solution for HR departments that includes the HR knowledge base, multiple access channels, business process automation, self-service portal, document management, and analytical reporting.