Office automation aid for personnel management

Noida-based infotech firm FCS Software Solutions has managed to reduce the non-billed time of its human resources to 6 per cent from an year-ago high of 31 per cent by implementing a new office automation tool, Digital Workplace. The company targets to bring it down further to 2 per cent by the end of the next financial year.

According to the company, Digital Workplace is a software tool that helps optimise manpower utilisation and streamlines workflow. The package developed in-house by FCS, integrates all the functions of an organisation and provides the management with complete access to information like daily time sheets, leave schedules, future projects, project staffing plan and skills inventory of its 1,400 employees.

It also generates various analyses and reports, such as the number of "first time right deliveries" and per-person bug-report analysis after each project delivery. Quick management access to such detailed analyses has resulted in 23 per cent increase in the "first time right delivery", the company claimed.

"Cost-effectiveness is the key to success in today's competitive environment. In such a scenario, our HR practices should leave no scope for miscalculations, whether it is data related to employee welfare or training or project deployment," said Dalip Kumar, managing director, FCS Software Solutions.

The Digital Workplace contains a database inventory as part of its HR module that helps map prospective employees within specific domains. Based on the requirement generated from the project management module, the HR just needs to negotiate the compensation package before taking the candidate aboard.

This ensures almost no bench-time as requirements get generated only when the "resource-requirement" alarm is triggered. The system also provides for self-assessment and a transparent, performance-based appraisal system for the employees.

The employees have complete access to information like their daily-task allocation, work progress and critical project timelines. The application automatically sends alerts to all members of the team about these timelines.

The project tracking module of the application helps project managers (PMs) in tracking, enhancing, and streamlining workflow while saving on non-billed hours.

The application contains centralised project management, along with project and resource information repository accessible at all times from anywhere. It makes it possible for even clients to track the exact status of their project on a real-time basis, along with the requisite information on the resources working on their projects.

"The direct communication channel with the project team has translated into mutual trust and long-term commitments from the clients," said Vineet Narang, vice president (strategic planning and business development) FCS.