Using Case Management to Build your HR Knowledge Base
Most organizations implement HR Shared Services Centers (HR SSC) for two main reasons: 1) they want to lower costs related to HR service delivery and improve efficiency, 2) they want free up HR leadership to handle more strategic initiatives and be less transactional.
The idea is familiar enough. Empower employees to answer their own questions through an employee self-service portal and provide a centralized place for employees to get their questions answered by HR agents that are readily available. This frees up your HR specialists to focus on more strategic initiatives and improves the level of service you provide your employees.
The only caveat is that in order for it to work, the knowledge – often times stored in the heads of experienced HR specialists – must be accessible both to those first tier HR agents fielding calls/emails and to the employees through the self-service portal.
Unfortunately, the most knowledgeable and experienced people in most HR organizations also seem to be the busiest. So getting them to take the time to take what they have in their head and transform it to something consumable by others isn’t easy. But in order for an HR SSC to function properly, it’s essential.
When implementing an HR SSC, it’s a good idea to have a plan for how knowledge will be shared, managed and updated. While many vendors offer services related to building a knowledge base for your self-service portal, it’s important to think about how effective that really is. For an HR knowledge base to be viable, the knowledge must be searchable, relevant and detailed. For a third party to gather this information and successfully transform into a consumable format is difficult because they only have the information you put in front of them, which is often incomplete or not in context.
Implementing an HR help desk that includes case management and knowledge management, allows HR SSCs to collect HR knowledge as cases happen. This means the knowledgeable and experienced HR specialists can be answering employees’ tough questions and at the same time, building the knowledge base so Tier One ( front-line HR generalists) and Tier Zero (self-service) can answer those questions in the future. While it may take more time to build a knowledge base using this approach, it will be much more effective at enabling Tier One and Tier Zero to handle a higher volume of employee needs.
CedarCrestone came to the same conclusion in their 2012 – 2013 HR Systems Survey in the HR service delivery section. The survey revealed that “a Shared Services delivery model that includes an HR help desk application and self-service delivers the highest level of efficiency to enterprises.”
Knowledge is currency. To ensure your HR SSC is improving service delivery and lowering costs, you need to capture it.
