HRMS Workflow Overview

Robert Boudreau

June 2015

Agenda:

• What is Workflow

• How It Works

• Features

• Reports

• Data Cleanup

• Rules

• Known Issues

• Changes To Rules

• Resources

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What is Workflow?

• HRMS introduced it’s first on-line forms in 2009.

• With on-line forms, it’s no longer possible to collect hand-written approval signatures.

• Electronic approvals were implements – called workflow.

• Multiple approval steps are possible.

• Each approver is sent an email when it’s their turn to do an approval.

• The approval emails contain a sign-on hyperlink.

• Approvers sign on to HRMS via the hyperlink and do their approval.

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How it Works:

• There is a central repository of approval rules.

• Departments define as many approvals steps as required for each type of transaction.

• Workflow errors are identified before a transaction is submitted to the workflow technology.

• As a transaction is submitted, workflow determines (using the rules) who to send it to for approval.

• All rules use position numbers to identify the approver.

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Features:

Central rules repository:

• Can be used for HRMS and non-HRMS modules and systems.

• Rules are stored by department and transaction type.

• Each transaction can have multiple approval steps.

• There are 2 types of approval steps:– Position-based

– Signing authority based

• You can have Secondary (backup) approvers.

• Rules can be faculty/staff/student specific.

• You can turn email notifications on and off.

• Security access is auto-created for new employees.

• Several Query reports available.

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Features:

Position-based Rules:

• Approvers determined by position numbers stored directly in the rules repository.

• You can have as many position-based approval steps as you like.

• You can put them in whatever order you want.

• When workflow is launched, each position number is cross-referenced to a person.

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Features:

Signing Authority-based Rules:

• Only one of these steps per transaction.

• Insert this step wherever you like between the position-based steps.

• Approvers determined via speedchart info on the transaction.

• When workflow is launched, the PG(s) is looked up in the FMS Signing Authority (SA) system.

• The SA designated as the Financial Officer is the primary approver.

• Within the SA system, a program runs nightly to auto-update employee ID and name (based on position number).

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Features:

Features Common to Position and SA Based Approvals:

• You can identify secondary approvers (backups)– Position-based are recorded in the rules inventory

– SA-based are recorded in the SA system

• Once received, an approver can reassign their approval to someone else

• Delegation is available while on vacation

• Ad-hoc approvers can be added on the fly

• ‘Review and Confirm Approvers’ page identifies problems prior to transactions being submitted to workflow

• Workflow does not differentiate between checking/review steps and actual approval steps

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Example:

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Initiate Transaction

Step 1Posn-based

Step 2SA-based

HRMSRecords

Review and Confirm

Approvers

Transaction Workflow

User completes data-entry and clicks the Submit button

User corrects workflow errors and submits transaction to workflow

Posn # is obtained from rules, Posnlooked up in HRMS and transaction sent to approver #1

PG is obtained from transaction, looked up in FMS SA to get Posn #, Posnlooked up in HRMS and transaction sent to approver #2

Fully approved transaction is stored in HRMS

- Posn Mgt- eRecruit- ePAF- Employee records

HRMS

Your Workflow Rules:

What do my rules look like?

• Run Query 400_HRMS_WORKFLOW_RULES

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Your Workflow Rules:

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System

Your Workflow Rules:

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Department

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Module and ProcessYour Workflow Rules:

Your Workflow Rules:

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Faculty, Staff or Student rule

Your Workflow Rules:

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Approval Step #

Your Workflow Rules:

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Approval Type

Your Workflow Rules:

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Approver Type

Your Workflow Rules:

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Approver Type

Your Workflow Rules:

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Approver receives Email?

Your Workflow Rules:

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Approver Position #

Your Workflow Rules:

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Approver name

Your Workflow Rules:

Let’s look at an example

• Department ABCD

• eRecruit

• Job Offer

• Staff

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Your Workflow Rules:

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2 stepsSigning authority, PositionBackup approver on step 2

Your Workflow Rules:

Back-up (secondary) approvers:

• Workflow allows for the definition for secondary approvers for all transactions in the central rules repository (except signing authorities which defines secondary approvers in its own database).

• Each approval step can have a primary and one or more backup approvers identified.

• If the primary approver is unavailable, a backup can do an approval.

• Departments identify who receives a notification email.

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Features:

Approval tracking:

• Each HRMS module allows the department to track approval progress (ePAF looks a bit different).

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Features:

Ad-hoc approvers:

• The workflow technology allows an initiator or an approver to inject additional people into workflow for a specific transaction (beyond what’s defined in the rules inventory).

• These people can be:– additional approvers

– for notification only (they are informed of the transaction, but are not required to approve it).

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Features:

Review and Confirm approvers:

• The workflow technology allows users to review their approvers prior to a transaction being launched into workflow.

• May not be able to submit the transaction:– Inactive approvers (terminated, retired)

– Approver is the initiator

– Incorrect security access

• Can still submit the transaction:– People who no longer work for the department

– People on vacation

• If necessary, a transaction can be saved for later submission while approver corrections are made.

• Users also have access to a hyperlink that takes them to a list of their approval rules in the central rules repository.

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Example:

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Initiate Transaction

Step 1Posn-based

Step 2SA-based

HRMSRecords

Review and Confirm

Approvers

Transaction Workflow

User completes data-entry and clicks the Submit button

User corrects workflow errors and submits transaction to workflow

Posn # is obtained from rules, Posnlooked up in HRMS and transaction sent to approver #1

PG is obtained from transaction, looked up in FMS SA to get Posn #, Posnlooked up in HRMS and transaction sent to approver #2

Fully approved transaction is stored in HRMS

- Posn Mgt- eRecruit- ePAF- Employee records

HRMS

Occurs here, before submitting to Workflow

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Features:

The Worklist:

• The worklist shows an approver the transactions available for their approval.

• A column indicates whether an approver is a primary or secondary approver.

• The hyperlinks identify the type of transaction, and when clicked, take the approver to pages where they can review transaction details and approve/reject the transaction.

• Workflow allows an approver to reassign an approval to someone else.

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Approve or Pushback

Features:

Delegation:

• Workflow technology allows an approver to delegate their approval duties to another person if, for example, they are going on vacation.

• Workflow allows an approver to delegate their approvals for up to 2 months.

• They do this online via the workflow profile screen where they identify the person being delegated to, and for how long.

• Approvals received during this period do not appear in the original approver’s worklist.

• Delegations are not effective dated:

– This means you can only have one in effect at a time.

– Don’t enter all your vacation time-spans at once.

– Wait until one expires and then add the next one.

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Identify delegate and time span

Turn on/off HRMS workflow emailsUpdate your business

email address in Self-Service

This is where Workflow emails are sent

Reports:

Queries:

• 400_HRMS_WORKFLOW_RULES (also an FMS version)

• 401_WF_APPROVER_EMAIL

• 402_PG_SIGN_AUTHS_BY_PG

• 402_PG_SIGN_AUTHS_BY_DEPTID

• 403_WF_DELEGATIONS

• 404_WF_POOL_APPROVERS

• 405_WF_PENDING_APPROVAL (4 versions)

• 300_POSITION_ORG_CHART

• 301_ALL_ACTIVE_POSITIONS

• 317_INVALID_REPORTS_TO

• 318_POSITIONS_NOT_USED

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Data Cleanup:

Signing Authority Approvals:

• Departments are responsible for maintaining their own signing authorities.

• The FMS Web security admin for your department can be found here: http://finance_ginseng.finance.ubc.ca/securityadministrator_toProduction.cfm

• All PGs and Deptids must include the employee ID and position number for the manager and all signing authorities.

• One signing authority must be designated as the Financial Officer. This person is the primary approver and receives workflow notifications.

• Look for problems with these Queries:– 402_PG_SIGN_AUTHS_BY_PG

– 402_PG_SIGN_AUTHS_BY_DEPTID

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Data Cleanup:

Reports-to:

• This field is maintained in Position Management.

• It’s used to connect positions to each other hierarchically.

• It can be used to identify who someone reports to – their manager.

• Although used minimally for HRMS approvals, the reports-to field is used extensively in OPT. This is because a manager must approve an employee’s travel claim.

• Look for problems with these Queries:– 300_POSITION_ORG_CHART

– 301_ALL_ACTIVE_POSITIONS

– 304_HISTORICAL_EE_LIST_BY_POS

– 317_INVALID_REPORTS_TO

– 318_POSITIONS_NOT_USED

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Rules:

University Signing Resolutions:

• http://universitycounsel.ubc.ca/signing_authority/signing-resolutions/

• Specifically, #14 addresses Employment.

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Rules:

Department vs. Central rules:

• Workflow consists of both department and central workflow rules.

• Generally, department rules are done first, followed by central rules.

• Central approval steps happen in HR, Faculty Relations and Payroll.

• Not all transactions need to be centrally approved.

• When are central approvals required?

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Rules:Position Management:

• Departmental approvals:

– You need departmental approval if you do one of the following (these are all things that affect the budget of a position):

• New positions, or changes to existing positions as follows:

• Change the job code

• Change a position from term to ongoing

• Change a position from inactive to active

• Extend the term of a term position

• Add new speedcharts

• Change the budget by more than 10%

• Central approvals:

– All new M&P and BCGEU-Okanagan positions.

– Changes to the job code or job description for existing M&P and BCGEU-Okanagan positions.

– Tenured faculty positions.

– If a position does not require central approval, you may optionally request it.

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Rules:

Job Opening:

• Departmental approvals:

– There must be at least one departmental approver.

• Central approvals:

– There are no central approvals for job openings.

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Rules:

Job Offer:

• Department approvals:

– As per UBC signing resolutions.

– Plus, the person designated as the Financial Officer for the P/G in the FMS signing authority module (1 approval step for each P/G involved).

• Central approvals:

– If CUPE 2950 and hiring an internal applicant (HR needs to check that the step is correct).

– If M&P and hiring over the max of the range.

– All non-tenured faculty hires are done electronically within the system via workflow.

– All tenured faculty hires are done outside the system on paper.

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Rules:

ePAF:

• Department approvals:

– As per UBC signing resolutions.

– Plus, the person designated as the Financial Officer for the P/G in the FMS signing authority module (1 approval step for each P/G involved).

• Central approvals:

– If the appointment is to Workstudy then the Workstudy Office.

– Staff hires and appointment changes, including unionized Teaching Assistants.

– Faculty hires and appointment changes.

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Known Issues:

Position Management and Job Opening:

– If one of the departmental approvers is also the initiator, then that approval step will be skipped (it does not matter whether the approver is primary or secondary).

Job Offer and ePAF:

– An approver will approve more than once if they are both a position approver and a signing authority approver on the same transaction.

– An approver will approve more than once if they are the Financial Officer on more than one P/G for the same transaction.

Escalation:

– Warns an approver if a certain amount of time has elapsed and they have not done their approval.

– Not implemented (being investigated).

– Run this Query: 405_WF_PENDING_APPROVAL

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Making Changes to Rules :

All HRMS rules:

– Download the Workflow Rules Authorization Form from http://www.hr.ubc.ca/forms/

– Form has instruction for both initial setup, and changing existing rules.

– Initial setup:

• Provide your rules in the special spreadsheet.

• Send form and spreadsheet to HRMS.workflow@ubc.ca

– Changes:

• Run query 400_HRMS_WORKFLOW_RULES into Excel.

• Make changes to the spreadsheet (don’t forget to highlight them).

• Send form and spreadsheet to HRMS.workflow@ubc.ca

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Your Workflow Rules:

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Highlight your changes

Resources:

University Signing Resolutions

• http://universitycounsel.ubc.ca/signing_authority/signing-resolutions/

HRMS Workflow Web Pages:

• http://www.hr.ubc.ca/information-systems/hrms/hrms-uniform-workflow/

– Set up initial workflow rules

– Change existing workflow rules

– Quick help guides

– eMail contact information

• If you have a workflow-related issue, contact the HRMS Workflow Administrator at HRMS.Workflow@ubc.ca.

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The End

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