SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE MBEM 13-15

SAGE ABRA HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN CONSTRUCTION
IT TOOL ASSIGNMENT

NITIN SINGLA

SCHOOL OF PLANNING & ARCHITECTURE,NEW DELHI

MASTERS IN BUILDING ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT (2013-15)

INDEX

INTRODUCTION WHAT IS SAGE ABRA HRMS? SAGE ABRA: A COMPLETE HRMS SOLUTION TURNING CHAOS INTO CLARITY TRANSFORMATION OF ORGANIZATION: SAGE ABRA HRMS SAGE ABRA INTERFACE TOP CHALLENGES AGAINST HR EXECUTIVES STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF AN HRMS SELF-SERVICE SOLUTIONS SAGE ABRA HRMS CUSTOMER SUPPORT HR MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS BENEFITS MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS PAYROLL MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS TRAINING MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS RECRUITING MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS SAGE ABRA HRMS REPORTING CAPABILITIES FEATURES SAGE ABRA FEATURES SCREENSHOTS PLUG-INS SAGE ABRA STRENGTHS / WEAKNESSES TECHNICAL INFORMATION STANDARD FORMS CATALOGUE PRICING RECENT SAGE ABRA AWARDS AND RECOGNITION CASE STUDY SAN DIEGO BANK SUMMARY COMPARISON WITH OTHER HR SOFTWARES

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INTRODUCTION

The right people make all the difference. Its true in small companies, large companies, and everywhere else. A business itself does not generate ideas, does not provide service, and by itself is neither innovative nor productive. People make all of those things happen. Despite the importance of the work force, many organizations have traditionally viewed their employees primarily as a capital expense. With an eye on salaries, benefits packages, and hiring, the chief concern of many human resource departments was to reduce costs. Then things got complicated. Today, the business environment is hypercompetitive. Health care costs are an everpresent concern. A large percentage of the workforce is retiring, while a younger generation of workers has higher expectations and is choosier about whom they will work for. Sage can help. Their industry-leading, customizable Sage HRMS solution enables one to decisively meet and respond to HR management challenges. With integrated payroll, benefits, recruiting, employee self-service, and analytics capabilities, Sage HRMS helps one to maximize every dollar invested in employees; also called as the Return on Employee Investment.

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What is Sage Abra HRMS?

When it comes to time and cost-saving HR solutions, Sage Abra HRMS offers the flexibility to choose the combination of software that meets the unique business needs. Sage Abra increases efficiency in every aspect of HR administrationHR, benefits, employee self-service, attendance, recruiting, and training. It includes support for companies in both the U.S. and Canada, and can even support companies with employees in both countries. Sage Abra replaces paper-based, time-consuming, and error-prone HR methods, and is modular so one can customize the solution according to needs, desired level of automation, and budget. Along with a comprehensive set of HR, benefits, recruiting, and training features, Sage Abra HRMS also includes Web-based employee self-service, benefits enrollment, and workflow features to keep your workforce connected at all times. It also comes complete with powerful reporting and analysis tools, including Crystal Report Writer, to manage the critical business information. To lower costs, reduce administrative time, and empower your employees, then Sage Abra is a perfect solution. With Sage Abra, the free flow of information between employees, supervisors, managers, and administrators saves time and money. Backed by superior customer support, Sage Abra HRMS provides unparalleled technical expertise, tax and legislative updates, and product enhancements that ensure ongoing success. Sage HRMS HR Actions eliminates the administrative burden of paperwork in the organization by giving HR professionals the ability to quickly and easily build web-based forms, route them for approval and save data directly into Sage HRMS. More control and visibility over where forms are is obtained, who has approved them and when theyre completed by an employee. Comprehensive best of breed HRMS for medium-sized businesses The integrated HRMS component of the Sage Software accounting and ERP portfolio Sold to over 19,000 companies in all industries Comprehensive, flexible, seamlessly integrated HR and payroll system Multi-database support includes MS SQL server, Visual FoxPro, and MSDE Modularity allows you to customize the solution that best meets your business needs and budget ESS, Benefits Enrollment, and e-Recruiter use the latest Microsoft .NET technology to connect employees, managers, applicants, and administrators via the Internet or intranet Backed by SCP-Certified customer support

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Sage Abra: A complete HRMS solution

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TURNING CHAOS INTO CLARITY

Sage HRMS connects to all employee-related information: By centralizing all the current and historic information about active and non-active employees of the organization, Sage HRMS eliminates ambiguity. It gives unmatched views of the workforceat macro and micro levelsenabling one to securely share the data with executives and managers. Precise, rich analytics that embolden the company leaders to make decisions based on fact rather than gut instinct. Focus on what matters most: In addition to driving more informed decision making, Sage HRMS reduces the time spend on clerical work. With information shared throughout the system, Sage HRMS eliminates redundant data entry, keeping focus on the strategic taskssuch as improving service and developing programs that help to hire and retain the best talent. Utility Sage HRMS: Manage all employee-related information and processes in a single solution. Maximize the return on every dollar you invest in employees. Reduce administrative work and focus on strategic programs. Hire and retain a more talented workforce. Make stronger decisions faster with improved access to workforce analytics. Ensure government compliance to avoid company risk in meeting federal and state rules, regulations, and reporting requirements. Closely monitor employee records and personnel actions, HR compliance, benefits administration, absence management, reporting (standard and custom), and data import/export actions. Handle payroll your way In-house payroll The advantages of in-house payroll processing are the tight integration with Sage HRMS, the comprehensive reporting, the last-minute changes you can make if needed, and the comforting assurance that you are in total control. Outsourced payroll Benefit Mall offers outsourced payroll and includes standard features, such as employee payroll data viewing and maintenance, payroll processing, reporting tools, payroll services, and employee self-service.

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Transformation of Organization - SAGE ABRA HRMS

Benefits of going paperless with Sage HRMS HR Actions includes: Give HR more control: Using dashboard views and other functionality in Sage HRMS HR Actions, HR can better control and manage how data is collected and saved into Sage HRMS. Streamline processes and improve efficiency: As a self-service application, employees are able to simply fill out a web-based form that is routed for approval and data is sent back to HR to save directly into Sage HRMS. Eliminate the challenges of trying to read hand-written forms, losing track of where forms are in the approval process, missing the right approvals, or other problems that can result from a paper-based process. Ensure consistency with business processes: Documented online processes around required data in forms and how they should be routed for approval ensure reliability and consistency with day-to-day business activities. Reduce data entry errors: Trying to read illegible forms can be difficult, and ensuring that data is correctly entered into your HRMS can also be problematic. Web-based forms filled out by employees can eliminate these issues as data is entered electronically directly into HRMS. Eliminate costs related to paper-based processes: A study by the Boston Consulting Group found that it cost employers on average $25,000 per employee to fill a four drawer office cabinet. Costs of paper-based processes include paper cost, printing, copying, and postage, storage, filing and recycling. Improve employee morale: Employees are increasingly demanding a workplace that favours web-based systems and processes. Moreover, the stress and hassle of managing paper-based forms becomes a thing of the past. Establish better record-keeping: Recorded audit trails of what fields were filled out, when they were approved; who signed off on them and when they were completed give much better visibility into HR processes. Become more environmentally-friendly: As a very green-friendly solution, Sage HRMS HR Actions eliminates paper waste.

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SAGE ABRA WORK INTERFACE

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Top Challenges Against HR Executives

Challenge
Employee information kept in multiple locations and systems

Sage Abra HRMS Solution

HR, benefits, payroll, attendance, training, and recruiting information in an integrated system Government compliance forms, reports, and legislative updates 300+ standard reports, ad-hoc query and Crystal Professional tools Employee self-service features save time and streamline processes Automatic alerts and reminders for timesensitive and recurring events Total control over payroll processing Automatic tax table updates; optional tax filing service Automatically communicates employee benefits enrollment data to providers

Staying current with government compliance requirements Lack of good reporting & analysis capabilities

Too much time spent attending to routine administration and paperwork Details and deadlines can often slip through the cracks Accurate and on-time payroll Complicated federal, state, and local payroll taxes

Missed enrollments and complexity associated with communicating benefits updates to carriers

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Strategic Objectives of an HRMS

Improve business processes with automated workflows and notifications Increase employee service levels with employee self-service capabilities Provide flexible, real-time reports that satisfy the needs of management, HR departments, and government compliance Reduce costs and increase efficiency and productivity

Self-Service Solutions
Connect your workforce via the Internet or intranet Employees: Manage personal information & request time off Managers: Manage information on direct & indirect reports, approve time off Make benefit elections via the Web & update life events Online approvals and workflows streamline processes

Sage Abra HRMS Customer Support

Support Centers Practices (SCP) certified customer support team More than 45 reps dedicated to Sage Abra, including many CPPs and PHRs Average support wait time = less than one minute Customer satisfaction rating = 4.45 on scale of 5

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HR Management Solutions
Automate HR recordkeeping and provide instant access to information Manage attendance accruals and track FMLA Ensure compliance with government mandates such as EEO and OSHA Empower employees with the ability to view and update their own information and view and request time off

Benefits Management Solutions

Create and manage all types of benefits plans Analyze & report on benefits data Census reports Benefits reconciliation reports Allow employees to make benefit elections online Efficiently manage the online enrollment process Automatically communicate benefit enrollment changes to all types of providers Eliminate missed enrollments, inaccurate billings, and complexity of dealing with multiple carriers

Payroll Management Solutions

Flexible, cost-effective in-house or outsourced payroll management Electronic timesheets for web-based time entry Employees can view & print personal payroll information such as pay stubs, W-2, W4, & pay history Process W-4 changes online Manage all types of PTO accruals Automatic federal, state, and local tax table updates Customized checks & direct deposit advices Optional tax filing service

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Training Management Solutions

Track training certifications, develop training programs, and define training needs for each job Manage training logistics, instructors, and course catalogs Administer & manage online training for compliance topics including sexual harassment and diversity Empower employees with access to personal training history, skills, and certification information online Allow managers to access employee skills & certifications

Recruiting Management Solutions

Find better qualified applicants and cut the time-to-hire cycle Automate and simplify the workflows required to create and approve job requisitions Integration with Monster.com Includes internal and public career centers Online applications and employee referrals Search candidate database for requisition-specific criteria

Sage Abra HRMS Reporting Capabilities

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FEATURES
Sage Abra ESS: Abra ESS provides a central location for employees, managers, and administrators to view and manage personal data and company information. Employees can request time off, view skills, job history, and performance reviews, print pay stubs, and more. Managers can access information on employees, approve time off requests, and locate personnel information on both direct and indirect reports with the organizational drill-down feature. Sage Abra Benefits Enrollment Empower employees to make their own benefits elections through the Internet or intranet. Easy, step-by-step wizards guide administrators through the benefit plan setup process, and walk employees through open enrollment. It includes year-round life events management that allows employees to update information, such as marital status and dependents. Sage Abra HR Ensure U.S. and Canadian government compliance (EEO, OSHA, EE), simplify benefits administration, and manage employee information with Abra HR. Easily access important personnel information, such as job history, performance reviews, education, and employee attachments. Streamline benefits administration with unlimited benefits plans, easily defined eligibility criteria, and benefit plan setup wizards. Sage Abra Attendance It provides flexible, intuitive setup and management of unlimited employee paid and unpaid time off plans, such as vacation, illness, leave of absence, and paid time off. Supports accrual or lump sum calculation methods and allows you to track year-to-date hours available versus year-to-date hours taken. Manage and report on full or partial FMLA leave, including all applicable certification and recertification dates

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Sage Abra Train Easily automate the scheduling, record-keeping, and logistics of training. Define specific training needs for each job track, manage certifications and logistics, and prepare training programs. Analysis tools help you fully understand the costs associated with training programs.

Sage Abra e-Recruiter Streamline the entire recruiting process and cut your time-to-hire cycle with 100% Web-based technology, paperless workflows, and online applications and screening questions. Integration with Monster.com and internal and public career centers allow employees and applicants to search and apply for open positions.

Sage Abra Org Plus Professional Employees and managers enjoy ready access to up-to-date organizational charts that give them the information they need to understand your business and plan for the future. It includes Web publishing capabilities, data management, organizational planning, and intuitive chart creation and formatting.

Sage Abra Alerts Abra Alerts automatically monitors your Sage Abra HRMS database and proactively distributes information to managers and employeesusing your existing e-mail system. Monitor dates, keep track of time sensitive events, verify enrollment in required training courses, and automatically respond to applicants who send in resumes, or generate standard e-mails for new employees or key events.

Sage Compliance Trainer Web-based training solution provides high-quality, multi-media courses on sexual harassment, discrimination, and other legal matters. Powerful tracking and reporting capabilities help companies ensure well-documented proof of affirmative defense.

Sage Abra Reporting Efficiently meet your managerial, compliance, and strategic planning needs with robust reporting options, including more than 100 standard reports, Crystal Reports Professional report writer, and the Abra Secure Query report writer.

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SAGE ABRA FEATURES SCREENSHOTS

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PLUG-INS SAGE ABRA

Plug-ins for Sage HRMS are utilities for the Sage HRMS platform that allow HR and payroll professionals to do their jobs easier, faster, and better. They crack the code of solving everyday problems, both big and small. They kill administrivia. Sage HRMS HR Actions

The web-based workflow solution to automate employee status change forms. Design, initiate, and route forms for approval that automatically update your HRMS. Garnishment Manager for Sage HRMS

Once you have run Calculate Payroll in Sage HRMS, just a few mouse clicks in Garnishment Manager will calculate the proper deduction amounts and update Sage HRMS accordingly.

Empower Tax Interface for Sage HRMS

Empower Tax Interface for Sage HRMS enables the Empower Tax filing service for users of Sage HRMS payroll an easy to use interface. After completing a payroll in Sage HRMS, simply run one of four reports that collect the necessary summary and wage data needed for tax filing and payment. Active Directory Conduit

Active Directory Conduit automatically populates selected attributes from a personnel database into the Active Directory data store eliminating data discrepancies between the two systems and wasted effort re-entering the data. Time and Labor Import for Sage HRMS

Relieve payroll staff of tedious, time-consuming and often error-prone tasks of preparing and entering time into payroll for processing. Position Control for Sage HRMS HR Actions

Effectively manage and control positions within Sage HRMS without separate processes or systems.

Dynamic Forms Checklist for Employee Self-Service

Make the on boarding process or routine completion of required forms as easy as possible for employees.

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I-9 Plug-in for Sage HRMS HR Actions

Efficiently and securely streamline the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification process. W-4 Plug-in for Sage HRMS HR Actions

Efficiently and securely streamline the collection of W-4 and related state elections online. NY Wage Theft Prevention Act Plug-in

Comply with the NY Wage Theft Prevention Act by prompting employees to view a form with their required wage notice. Custom Pay Stub for Sage Employee Self-Service

Web parts display data like pay history and detail, a list of Sage HRMS HR Actions forms needing completion or accrued vacation and sick time. HR Actions Enhancements

HR Actions Enhancements improve your capabilities within Sage HRMS HR Actions. Connection to Cyber Recruiter

Import a new applicant from Cyber Recruiter into Sage HRMS HR Actions New Hire form. HR Actions University

HR Actions University is a leading online training and e-learning platform for small and midsized organizations. Distributed Information Services (DIS) Plug-in

The Distributed Information Services (DIS) plug-in exports scheduled or on-demand information to third party software on remote computers, network directories and thirdparty web services. W-2 Compliance for Affordable Care Act Service

Data template for collecting the cost of coverage amounts and associated programs that will use these templates to import the values to be included on your W-2's. Accruals Widget for Sage ESS

Web parts display data like pay history and detail, a list of Sage HRMS HR Actions forms needing completion or accrued vacation and sick time.

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STRENGTHS / WEAKNESSES
BEST FIT FOR: Organizations seeking a comprehensive in-house solution to manage payroll and human resource functions for up to 1,000 employees STRENGTHS: Strong SQL database platform to ensure data is shared accurately Ability to process US and Canadian payroll Employee history is available at any time without changing years Two licenses of SAP Crystal Reports included to enhance reporting needs Allows company to maximize their Return on Employees Investment (ROEI) Direct cost savings: Paper, printing, postage for benefits enrollment Paper, printing, postage for paycheck distribution Reductions in paper files Monitored labor overtime hours Lower external recruiting costs Time savings/productivity improvements: HR staff time spent on routine admin, reporting, data entry Reduced time that open jobs go unfilled Higher employee retention rates Cost/risk avoidance: Government compliance fines and penalties Benefit provider billing errors Payroll errors POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS: Only available as onsite server/workstation/desktop solution Electronic filing of forms is handled by third party

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TECHNICAL INFORMATION

FILE EXTENSION:

Abra HRMS provides the Abra initialization (ABRAWIN.INI) file to customize your Abra environment according to your needs. This feature provides additional capabilities for using Abra HRMS on Local Area Networks (LANs). It can be very helpful in pointing to different data sets for reporting purposes.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

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STANDARD FORMS CATALOGUE

Goal Review and Planning Address / Phone Change Annual Goals Work plan Annual Performance & Salary Review Attendance Adjustment Change Job Title and or Pay Change Compensatory Time Earned Employee Education Employee Event Employee Notes Employee Previous Employer Employee Skills FMLA leave Handbook Acknowledgement Injury Report IT On boarding Feedback Job Change New Hire On boarding Employee Data Confirmation OSHA Pay Rate Change Pay Status Change Performance Appraisal Personal Leave Record Sick Time Re-Hire Request for Hire Return from Leave Separation Form Termination Authorization Termination or Separation Transfer Update Supervisor or Direct Report

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PRICING
Sage HRMS is a highly customisable payroll solution that combines strong human resource management functions. Sage HRMS is built on a sturdy SQL database and provides a number of add-on components to further enhance the system capabilities. All information within the system is tightly integrated and is easily shared between each add-on system component. Pricing is based on the number of employees, end users and add-on components required. Other pricing considerations include support and maintenance agreement and any upfront implementation and set-up of the system. Human resource functions as well as payroll processing for up to 100 employees starts around Rs 1,50,000 ($2,500). Discount pricing is available to users enrolled in the Sage Accountants Network.

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Recent Sage Abra Awards and Recognition

Abra Workforce Connections - Top HR Product (2005)

Leader Category Gartner, Inc.s 2006 Magic Quadrant for U.S. Mid market Human Resource Management Systems

Cited as Strong Performer in Forrester Research 2006 Mid -Market HRMS Evaluation

Abra Payroll - 4.5/5.0 star product review (2006)

Abra Payroll - Top 100 Products (2002-2006)

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CASE STUDY SAN DIEGO BANK

Problems Personnel actions involved labour-intensive, paper-based processes including: Managers had to regularly request information to complete a transaction Managers, HR or administrators had to fill out a number of traditional paper-based forms Users had to determine who needed to approve a transaction Manually routing the transaction for approval Auditing transactions for accuracy, completeness and appropriate approval Data entry by HR and payroll Filing completed paper-based forms in employees personnel files No visibility into the status of paper-based transactions as they routed through the organization for approval. Employee documents were filed in the employees personnel file and retrieval by the manager or HR was a time-consuming process. With all this information living outside one single sign-on application, there were islands of data tracked outside of Sage HRMS using spreadsheets and multiple data entry points, thus increasing the administrative burden for their staff. The Solution The San Diego Blood Bank deployed Sage HRMS HR Actions in order to eliminate paper-based forms and processes. Those processes included performance reviews, requisition to hire, new hire/rehire, status change, transfer, promotion, termination, updates to any employee data in Sage HRMS (except benefits) and online access to employee personnel files including attachments. Results The San Diego Blood Bank was able to successfully deploy performance reviews and other paperless web-based forms throughout their organization. Sage HRMS HR Actions is now used to collect data, route the actions for approval through email notifications and save data directly into their Sage HRMS. Managers and employees found the process of completing performance reviews online much more efficient. Our management likes that the system is user-friendly. says Juli Jacobson, HR Analyst, San Diego Blood Bank.

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Summary
Top reasons companies need HR technology: Improve processes Increase service to employees Position HR strategically Reduce costs Sage Abra addresses these objectives by offering: A single integrated HR, payroll, benefits, training, and recruiting system Superior workflow features Robust employee & manager self-service Comprehensive reporting & analysis tools Sage Abra provides an attractive return on investment

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COMPARISON WITH OTHER HR SOFTWARES

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