Transition and Implementation of Duval County Public Schools Employee Self-Services

Executive Summary
Since 1990, many companies have been using employee self-services the purpose of improving how employees at update their personal information, by using company website instead of submitting documentation. Duval County Public School (DCPS) procedures have been out dated more than ten years. The organization needs to change their procedures and transitions into a new system that will improve key aspects of daily routine operations at DCPS. Those key aspect may be classified as: linking SAP software and DCPS internal website, given employees the ability to use their PC and eliminate the usage of paperwork.
DCPS is depending on their IT Department ability to provide the connection between both software to enhance the services that the employees are currently receiving so they will see the value in using employee self-service kiosk. The staff is currently printing standard forms from their website. Employees will have the capabilities to log into profile account and enter changes to W-4”s, banking information, review statements, receive electronic W-2”s, personal data and view benefits.

Brief Company History
In 1914, Jacksonville, South Jacksonville and connecting areas were the first school district. The public school district is managed by seven board members and superintendent, who believe developing a strong public school system for Duval County. DCPS is the 22 the largest school district, rank among 120th in the nation, and the sixth largest school district in Florida. There is approximately 125,164 students enrolled during 2014-2015 school and budget of $1.7 billion to ensure that students are receiving and preparing for success in college or a career after graduation. The school district is home to three of the nation’s best high school; Stanton College Prep, Paxon School for Advance Studies, and Douglas Anderson School of the Arts (DCPS, 2009).
The district is also ranking second among the largest employer in the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), with an average of 13,000, full and part-time individuals employed during the 2014-2015 school year. Out of this total, 8,284 are teachers (DCPS, 2009).
Business Problem
For years, information technology has changed the way organizations allow their employees to view and update their personal information. A traditional services within Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) are to have human resources, benefits and payroll department directly serve all their staff in person. With the power of advance information technology, many traditional from the services have been altered to form the employee self-services. For instance, DCPS employees continue to complete and submit forms the old fashion way. Currently all necessary forms are completed, place in school mail or employee drives the forms to administration building to submit the paperwork’s to human resources, payroll department and insurance department.

However, taking a step back, and glancing at the big picture of the entire school district, having a unified system, will provide better services to the end user or the employees. This transition will obviously benefit the organization, it will have adverse effects on the staff outcome by making the employee self-services available to employee too update personal information and to view documentations. This employee self-services system can be what drives the trends needed for the organization to focus on and develop the tools, improving the district database.

From an organizational and profitability standpoint, an efficient, easy to use and unified web-based system, capture all aspect from the employee point of view focusing on timeline of entry, accuracy of information keyed by employees. Employee self-services have proven techniques will have a positive impact on all the district work force. So, as mentioned earlier, the problem with this school district, is they are still using the traditional way of completing forms and forwarding information about necessary department for data entry into the SAP system for update. Once SAP and district website is link together the district is missing out on standing current with their software.
High Level Solution
The most efficient way, for determine on the cost and how to merge SAP and district web-base is to seek information from IT Department to see what is required to allow employees to us their desk computer as employee self-services. Plus IT should be allowing to choose various levels of and users, which will include key opinion managers from human resources, benefits and payroll department. Once the team is formed, IT will be given the task of providing information on the key operating systems requirement pertaining to each department objective, which will define the three department feedback will be important to ensure the final standardized linking both system together will meets the criteria that each department feels is key aspect. After criteria are agreed upon the IT Department will implement SAP software and the district website.

License will have to be purchase from creator of SAP in order to upgrade which can be a costly expense before connecting these database together to develop employee self-services (ESS). The budget for this upgrade is $200,000.00, which includes computer software, consultant fee if necessary and vendors.

When a system is being evaluated, the various products there should be key components in which the evaluators are tasked with focusing on. Hopefully, both system merging together will not be highly complicated and all the information entered into the ESS will automate uploaded to SAP system. If the user end doesn’t take the time to ensure the connection is vital there could possibly be some issue and connection could fail and nothing will be accomplished. Some key criteria that must be address from the beginning are the timeframe of evaluation, which accesses to release to employees, and feedback.

By developing this connection employee will have access to change their vital information that effects their paycheck, personal data and benefits without having to forward documentation to human resources, payroll or benefit department. The ESS will allow and improve how employees access their personal data to update information when necessary from any district computer system. Once the information is enter into the ESS website it will automatic upload into the SAP system. This operation will reduce cost, decrease employees and unnecessary travel time to and from main administration building.

Benefits of Solving the Problem.
The overall benefits that DCPS is providing access to employee self-service via intranet to all employees. Ess has its advantages. By implementing ESS school district will experience a reduction in costs of human resources and payroll services to employees. When the employees have access to employee self-services, they will be able to maintain personal data and view standard information which will lower the number of forms receive for data entry and phone calls to human resources, benefits and payroll departments. When employees are able to update information online, less money is spend on paper forms. Since employee information is captured electronically and sent to the appropriate approver or database, less time is spent processing employee transactions.

For example of one savings is by moving to electronic pay statements employees will no longer receive paper direct deposit statements. Employee will have the capable of printing, emailing their stub via self-services as soon payroll has been posted instead of waiting for payday. This will reduce the amount of checks stubs that has to be printed due to various union contracts and reduce the time and cost of printing direct deposit statements.

It has been known that self-service implementations have reduce human resources staff to employee ratio of 1:151 while companies without self-service having a ratio of 1:99. This service will give the employee the ability to update personal data onto higher rate of accuracy and faster than before. This will free human resources staff to focus on issues of strategic importance of the district. (Anheier, December 2000).

Business / Technical Approach
The best approach that DCPS department to being by replacing traditional way employees submits paperwork and enter into negotiations with IT department to provide a quality products of merging DCPS web base of SAP system. The upgrade of merging both system together would mean that DCPS would be moving in the direction of given employees access to update and view personal information. Once the update is approved by all authorities’ managers, IT will remotely upgrade all of the system to ensure they are capable. This is a project that the entire IT department can complete in a short period of time and a test pilot team will be designated to test, implement, and to work out all the bug of a new system before releasing it to the all school district personnel.
After designing the new system it would have to be put in place, and given the employees the option to use employee self-services or stay with the current way of updating persona information by downloading and completing forms from the website. During this process DCPS would be able to monitor how many employees is comfortable with using the new system versus completing forms. Using the agile development method DCPS could essentially provide a service that will cater to their employee’s needs. In this method they will receive direct feedback on employees as to how well the new system is working, and what bugs are need to be fixed, and what changes need to be made or what application employees see as having a value to them. The upgrade would also mean that all employees will need training as how to access the employee self-services system and how navigate within the system. In turn this will eliminate the number of staff that is needed for the human resource, payroll and benefit department once the web site is in full usage.

Business Process Changes
The business process that would change the most is way employees submit all necessary changes in their personal files by using employee self-services. DCPS is a large organization ensure that students are receiving the best education possible, but lack in technology when it comes to ensuring their employees has access to update any necessary information. Even though the organization has a website, it is only used to display school information and department information so employee can download forms to complete and mail to necessary department for data entry purpose. For example, W-4’s form are on the website under Business Services/Payroll Department. When an employee completes the form he or she must delivery or mail via school mail to payroll. When an employee wants to update his or her address they may contact human resources on the phone or download and complete new address form from website and forward to human resources department in order for information to be enter into the system. The district needs to discover a better way for employees to update their information, plan must be cost effective, and user friendly.
By changing the process of how employees submit data to the district office is essentially going to have to shift its attention away from forms on human resources and payroll departmental website. This means that IT is going to have to be more focus on the end users, or employees and their capable of utilizing the network and working through each application without becoming confused. This process may mean taking staff off their assigned task to assist employees in navigating through the employee self-service kiosks.
There will be a separate team to handle the all inquiries and would mean that there would not be great deal of confusion when working through this new system. Instead of DCPS technology department handing all trouble call because of the changes regarding the new technology they would redirect the calls to payroll department in which will instruct or give directions on how to walk through the new system to ensure the upload is correct in SAP system.
Technology / Business Practices Used to Augment the Solution
This upgrade to DCPS network is going to be a combination of technology and three departments working together. The technology department will be implementing the use of agile development system as to getting a great deal of feedback from the employees as much as possible during the implementation of the new network. On the business side human resources, payroll and benefit management will choose which applications employees will be allow access to make updates. The departments will then ensure that the IT manger will reveal proposal of their plans on how the new system will be implemented, which areas will be target for testing, and the selected team that will handle the tasks to make all the necessary changes possible while remaining in the allotted budget.
Using the agile methodology the implementations of the new system can be closely monitored on the effect that is not only has on the employees, but on the network itself. Getting feedback from the pilot team before releasing to the entire district will prove to be a valuable asset. Getting the information on the pilot team and employees once the network is releasing will better improve the implementation of the system is one way of making sure the upgrade be a success.
Conclusion and Overall Recommendations
The overall recommendation of DCPS is to connect SAP and DCPS internal web base together, to stop employees from using the current process of completing forms. As soon as employee self-services are link the employee will be limited to the tasks or access to update their personal files in SAP. The upgrade to both network will improve the quality of the current routine system that is in place. The implementation of merging both network together will not only bring the current standards of DCPS up to date, it would make it accessible to years to come. In the long run it will save the district money from not hiring additional staff and possible making cutbacks. By going with the merge DCPS can be reassuring that they are facing over flow of paperwork as received in the past, primary goal of receiving updated information in SAP from employee self-services would be achieved, and employee may make changes without contacting human resources or payroll technicians.
Previously employee self-services implemented the Human Resources, Payroll and Benefits Departments had additional task. With the many features, DCPS staff may utilize an online employee personal management, which allows individuals to have online access to leave and attendance, view their compensation history, online company forms, policies and union contracts, online resignation features, online scrolling for birthday month and anniversary.
High Level Implementation Plan
The implementation plan would begin by human resources, payroll and benefits department selecting which application to release, choosing the pilot team, working with IT to ensure their needs is in the finally stages. This will ensure that all department involve needs are communicating with the IT manager and individuals assigned to project that the task is more likely to be met. During the building of the design the IT will ensure that there will be no interrupt when using both network. The new system will be accessible to pilot team to discover if any issue or bugs to be worked out of the merge. When all areas has been tested and is completed the employees self-services will be pilot out those department involved in approximately five months before been release to the district wide. The only drawback is the employee self-service can only be use with district web base which mean there is no way to access information from any mobile device.
During that time the IT team will be collecting statistic from the employees on how the system basically work to determine if any additional changes need to be done, and determine how much training is needed for each employee to receive the complete understanding about the system; or if there is any other way to enhance the perception of value that the employee place on the new services provided by the district. Linking them together will provide employees with the following capabilities: change W-4’s, direct deposit information, review pay statement, receive and print W-2’s, update personal information such as address, phone number and emergency contact, and view insurance information.
Summary of Project
Duval County School District employed over 13,000 employees, who does not have the capabilities to view or update personal information without submitting a completed form to three department that has the capabilities but not the work force to do the task within a specific time frame. Employee self-services would assist with key and essential data. The automated system will provide employees with access to their personal and work related information via DCPS web based system by using chrome, however the employee will only be able to access the services from district computers systems. Even with having access from DCPS computers it still will eliminate completing forms (paperwork) process and relied workload on an already reduce staff. That is why it is vital that the self-services needs to be tested and evaluated by pilot team to ensure it has meet all necessary fulfillment before deploying a implementation timeline, equipped with contingency plans and adequate transition and training timelines to encompass all end users.

References
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