In a previous post, we had discussed enhancements to existing features for PeopleSoft Time and Labor in v9.2. In this post, we want to examine and evaluate some of the brand new features being delivered as part of v9.2 for Time and Labor. Here is the list:
1. Time and Labor workcenter: v9.2 will see separate role based work centers for managers as well as Time and Labor administrators. This work center should act as the one-stop page for activities related to Time and Labor. Analytical reports using the new pivot grid functionality and alert aggregation will also be part of the work center. The work center will further have a collection of commonly used links as well as processes. We would like to note that a similar work center will also be available for Global Payroll and Absence Management in v9.2.
Our opinion: This is an excellent addition to the product as workcenters go a long way in increasing the usability of the product. Administrators of Time and Labor should especially find this feature appealing as it will add to their operational efficiency and increased productivity.
2. Alert and Notification framework: It has been proposed to deliver an alert and notification framework for Time and Labor in v9.2. This framework will help organisations setup one-time or recurrent notifications to different users in the system as well as setup alerts based on system data and monitor the thresholds. Examples where this could be used are - alerting managers of time approval prior to payroll cutoff, alerting administrators of system anomalies like employees exceeding an overtime limit etc.
Our opinion: This will go to a long way in addressing some critical business requirements with respect to compliance and measurement of Time and Attendance discipline/cost. Taken together with the Time and Labor workcenter, the alert and notification framework will augment Time and Labor operations in organisations, which in itself is a compelling business case for the adoption of this product.
3. New reports for Reported Time audit and Compensatory time: New XML Publisher based reports will be delivered for Reported Time Audit and details of Leave and Compensatory time.
Our opinion: Reporting is an area that has glaring gaps in PeopleSoft Time and Labor. Most mature Time and Attendance systems come with a number of out-of-the box reports, but the set offered by PeopleSoft Time and Labor is very limited. The new set of reports do not cover commonly requested reporting requirements and will be of limited use to customers.
Overall Analysis
We want to give a thumbs up to the product team of PeopleSoft Time and Labor for the new features adopted in version 9.2. It is obvious that the product team has spent time listening to customers as well as practitioners to understand and address common pain areas and requirements. I cannot remember of a recent previous release which has addressed so many of real customer needs.
A lot of focus has also been put into easing the administrative operations related to Time and Labor, which is excellent! It goes without saying that for a highly transactional module like Time and Labor, the administrators are the true heores and deserve as much product assistance as possible to ease out their operations. Features like the workcenter, alert and notification framework, locking of timesheets and generation of payable time on submission of timesheet are all geared to streamline Time and Labor administration processes.
There are indeed many other areas which we hope to see improvement on, with future releases or feature packs. Some of them are -
a. Better real time integration and validations between Time and Labor and Absence Management.
b. Mobile time reporting capabilities. Time reporting/approval are traditionally the first applications to get a mobile extension, but there has been no action from PeopleSoft Time and Labor on this front.
c. Better out-of-the-box reporting capabilities - It is extremely important to have reporting capabilities on work schedule information, payable time information, overtime analysis etc. This is an area we hope to see improvement on.
d. Country extensions/localisations - It goes without saying that most time in a Time and Labor implementation is spent analysing and configuring statutory labour rules. There would be a significant reduction in the total cost of ownership, if Oracle were to deliver statutory rules (just like its done for Global Payroll and Absence Management country extensions) for Time and Labor as well.
e. Light scheduling capabilities - Most organisations who are heavy users of Time and Labor, ask for some kind of workforce scheduling capabilities. It is not a feasible solution to suggest customers to purchase and use Oracle Workforce Scheduler (OWS), especially when they have light requirements at PeopleSoft side. We believe that a light version of a workforce scheduler that helps users to manage the availability of employees will be a great addition.
More posts on PeopleSoft 9.2 here - http://peoplesofthrms.blogspot.be/search/label/PeopleSoft%209.2
For more information or questions on PeopleSoft Time and Attendance, reach out to us at partner@hroiconsulting.com
Post Script -
Making use of non-9.2 features to replicate some of the proposed 9.2 features:
We believe that a number of tools available in existing releases can be effectively used to mimic some of the features that are proposed in version 9.2. We encourage customers to investigate the use of related content, relatred actions, workcenters, pivot grids, pagelets etc. that are already available on peopletools 8.52 to provide users of the system with a superior user experience.
Given below is an example of a pivot grid designed by us in HCM version 9.1, for drill down analysis of Payable Time
1. Time and Labor workcenter: v9.2 will see separate role based work centers for managers as well as Time and Labor administrators. This work center should act as the one-stop page for activities related to Time and Labor. Analytical reports using the new pivot grid functionality and alert aggregation will also be part of the work center. The work center will further have a collection of commonly used links as well as processes. We would like to note that a similar work center will also be available for Global Payroll and Absence Management in v9.2.
Our opinion: This is an excellent addition to the product as workcenters go a long way in increasing the usability of the product. Administrators of Time and Labor should especially find this feature appealing as it will add to their operational efficiency and increased productivity.
2. Alert and Notification framework: It has been proposed to deliver an alert and notification framework for Time and Labor in v9.2. This framework will help organisations setup one-time or recurrent notifications to different users in the system as well as setup alerts based on system data and monitor the thresholds. Examples where this could be used are - alerting managers of time approval prior to payroll cutoff, alerting administrators of system anomalies like employees exceeding an overtime limit etc.
Our opinion: This will go to a long way in addressing some critical business requirements with respect to compliance and measurement of Time and Attendance discipline/cost. Taken together with the Time and Labor workcenter, the alert and notification framework will augment Time and Labor operations in organisations, which in itself is a compelling business case for the adoption of this product.
3. New reports for Reported Time audit and Compensatory time: New XML Publisher based reports will be delivered for Reported Time Audit and details of Leave and Compensatory time.
Our opinion: Reporting is an area that has glaring gaps in PeopleSoft Time and Labor. Most mature Time and Attendance systems come with a number of out-of-the box reports, but the set offered by PeopleSoft Time and Labor is very limited. The new set of reports do not cover commonly requested reporting requirements and will be of limited use to customers.
Overall Analysis
We want to give a thumbs up to the product team of PeopleSoft Time and Labor for the new features adopted in version 9.2. It is obvious that the product team has spent time listening to customers as well as practitioners to understand and address common pain areas and requirements. I cannot remember of a recent previous release which has addressed so many of real customer needs.
A lot of focus has also been put into easing the administrative operations related to Time and Labor, which is excellent! It goes without saying that for a highly transactional module like Time and Labor, the administrators are the true heores and deserve as much product assistance as possible to ease out their operations. Features like the workcenter, alert and notification framework, locking of timesheets and generation of payable time on submission of timesheet are all geared to streamline Time and Labor administration processes.
There are indeed many other areas which we hope to see improvement on, with future releases or feature packs. Some of them are -
a. Better real time integration and validations between Time and Labor and Absence Management.
b. Mobile time reporting capabilities. Time reporting/approval are traditionally the first applications to get a mobile extension, but there has been no action from PeopleSoft Time and Labor on this front.
c. Better out-of-the-box reporting capabilities - It is extremely important to have reporting capabilities on work schedule information, payable time information, overtime analysis etc. This is an area we hope to see improvement on.
d. Country extensions/localisations - It goes without saying that most time in a Time and Labor implementation is spent analysing and configuring statutory labour rules. There would be a significant reduction in the total cost of ownership, if Oracle were to deliver statutory rules (just like its done for Global Payroll and Absence Management country extensions) for Time and Labor as well.
e. Light scheduling capabilities - Most organisations who are heavy users of Time and Labor, ask for some kind of workforce scheduling capabilities. It is not a feasible solution to suggest customers to purchase and use Oracle Workforce Scheduler (OWS), especially when they have light requirements at PeopleSoft side. We believe that a light version of a workforce scheduler that helps users to manage the availability of employees will be a great addition.
More posts on PeopleSoft 9.2 here - http://peoplesofthrms.blogspot.be/search/label/PeopleSoft%209.2
For more information or questions on PeopleSoft Time and Attendance, reach out to us at partner@hroiconsulting.com
Post Script -
Making use of non-9.2 features to replicate some of the proposed 9.2 features:
We believe that a number of tools available in existing releases can be effectively used to mimic some of the features that are proposed in version 9.2. We encourage customers to investigate the use of related content, relatred actions, workcenters, pivot grids, pagelets etc. that are already available on peopletools 8.52 to provide users of the system with a superior user experience.
Given below is an example of a pivot grid designed by us in HCM version 9.1, for drill down analysis of Payable Time
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| Pivot Grid used to analyse payable time details - PT8.52 and PS HCM v9.1 |
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