Local HR software vendor, SmartHR, has developed a self-service kiosk that will enable an organisations’ disconnected workforce to update personal information on their company HR systems, apply for leave and log HR service requests. The SmartKiosks are currently being rolled out at a local municipality with a large workforce of general workers, and will be most suited to companies with similar workforce profiles, primarily in the manufacturing, agricultural, mining and similar industry sectors.

“The SmartKiosk takes the concept of employee self-service to a new level. For the first time, employees who do not have access to computers can easily access basic HR services,” says Brendon Gass, Director at SmartHR. “The Kiosks eliminate paper, save time for employees while providing up to date information in SmartHR.”

The free-standing kiosk is wirelessly connected to the SmartHR database, ensuring seamless updating of information, and thus minimal disruption of HR staff for basic queries. The application’s easy to use graphical user interface has been designed to minimise the need for users to type. After authentication, users can review their personal particulars, checking those that are incorrect for follow-up by the HR department. They can also see their current leave balances and apply for leave. The SmartHR leave rule engine calculates employee leave balances at any future date by taking into account existing leave applications and the rate at which leave days are accrued—few, if any, systems offer this functionality. The SmartKiosks are integrated with the SmartHR SMS notification services which let employees know the status of their leave applications. Once employees are familiar with the kiosk’s basic functionality, a range of further services can be added to solve specific business problems where information is required.

The system also allows the user to request help from the HR department by logging tickets from the kiosk. These requests are managed as service requests via a help desk functionality that, uniquely, is integrated into the SmartHR platform.

“Integrating the service desk functionality into the SmartHR platform means that the SmartKiosk doesn’t just deliver benefits to workers and HR; it gives management visibility, for the first time, into the performance of the HR function,” says Gass. “Increasingly business are asking HR to fulfil a more strategic role.

Through analysis of the help desk tickets, executives can measure where the HR team’s efforts are being directed and determine the impact of relatively trivial tasks on the department’s capacity to achieve its strategic goals. As such, it complements SmartHR’s vision to look beyond simply streamlining HR and payroll functions to help the business as a whole manage its people information better.”