Yuoumanage Aids People Management
At Women's Charity
July 25 2008 - Helping hundreds of families requires a great deal of hard work, a
large part of which involves efficiently managing staff so they can concentrate on providing victims with the
highest levels of support.
Women's Aid is a charity providing support to women and children that have suffered from or are exposed to domestic violence. Wanting to find ways to become more effective and work smarter, it began by taking a close look at its people management processes and decided there was room for improvement. Existing database access was too restricted, there was too much reliance on paper, and too much of the information managers required about staff was not readily available.
Appreciating that such an unwieldy system potentially posed a risk to the organisation, particularly given the vulnerable nature of its clients, Women's Aid began to search for a more integrated people management solution. Any new system had to be capable of consolidating all employee data and management processes, be able to provide managers with easy access to all the information about staff they needed, be able to support the charity's Competency Framework, and give HR full visibility to track key management activities at all times.
This tall order was ultimately met by Youmanage, the creators of an innovative online HR toolkit that Women's Aid believed could give them the tools, information and guidance they required in a convenient, usable format. The Youmanage concept was relatively new to the HR sector at the time, but Women's Aid could see its potential and became one of the first customers, a decision it has had no cause to regret.
The Youmanage toolkit incorporates a suite of modules that encompass every aspect of an employee's life cycle, from job profile to exit interview. It enables organisations to develop a more productive, competent and motivated workforce by improving the quality of recruitment, performance management and employee development.
Web-based and requiring no large capital outlay, the system's strength lies in the fact that all the modules are underpinned by a single employee database, which enables improved access to employee information and a more 'joined-up' approach to people management.
Easily implemented and offering the potential to reduce paper-based employee records, the system ensures line managers are more empowered and self-sufficient. Its ability to walk managers through step-by-step processes for common tasks and to deliver relevant information anywhere, anytime, saves time. In turn, this enables them to be more effective, whilst reducing administration costs and giving HR more time to focus on its strategic role with no loss of visibility.
In addition, the system can also help users comply with employment law and other relevant legislation by ensuring the correct processes are followed and key data is tracked, a function Women's Aid says has already proved extremely valuable in an increasingly litigious environment.
"The toolkit has proved very valuable on a number of fronts and we have found it very good," comments Women's Aid HR Manager Allison Mann.
"Implementation was straightforward and full support from Youmanage was always available. From the HR point of view it has met all our objectives, and feedback from our line managers suggests they like the flexibility of being able to access and update records at any time, or to get the information they need quickly.
"The more we use it the more uses we find it has. Currently, we are working with Youmanage to fine tune the system so that we can give staff different levels of access according to need. By switching some of the more routine administration functions, such as recording sickness or absence for example, we believe we can make managers even more productive whilst retaining comprehensive records," she adds.
Using Youmanage has allowed Women's Aid to significantly improve the effectiveness of all its management processes. Amongst several benefits noted by the organisation is the confidence managers now have to be able to do the right things at the right time in the right way, and of having the full picture before they begin any discussions with team members.
The charity also highlights the positive impact the recruitment and interview modules have had on its business. Operated in conjunction with its Competency Framework, it says these have had a positive impact in ensuring the organisation recruits people with the skills needed to do challenging jobs well.
Managers preparing for an interview get a prepared interview template that includes appropriate questions based on the criteria required for the job. They are able to record the interview output online throughout the recruitment process, ensuring objective decisions are made and that there is a full record of the basis for those decisions.
Managing the process this way means that Women's Aid can provide both successful and unsuccessful candidates with high quality feedback that not only supports their personal development but also boosts the charity's reputation as an employer of choice.
And once a decision has been made, the Youmanage system produces an offer letter based on Women's Aid own templates, part of a series of bespoke, branded letters, forms and guidance notes the service offers. Moreover, once the role has been accepted, the system supports the management of the employee from that point and throughout their time with the charity.
This is just one of the many ways Youmanage has been able to help the work of Women's Aid and make a big difference to its efficiency.
The charity's CEO Janet Dalrymple agrees, saying it is proving a very useful tool.
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