Leave management in the age of dematerialization
The HR department is in contact with all employees to manage working arrangements. The question of leave can lead to a lot of back-and-forth, even though there are simple solutions for managing it more effectively. Find out all our advice on managing leave.
Taking leave: an obstacle course
Find out how many CP (Congés Payés) you have to your credit
Want to take some vacation? Let's get started. First, you need to get your hands on your last pay slip. There, you need to find the figure showing your remaining vacation entitlement.
A two-stage application process
Once you've checked your balance, the next step is to submit your request to your manager. This can take the form of a paper document with a given outline, where you indicate the dates concerned, or more simply sending an e-mail to make a request. Once this formality has been completed, your manager will forward your request to the HR department or the person in charge of payroll.
Validation to be entered twice
For their part, HR check the leave entitlement to validate the request, and enter the details in their tracking file: dates, hours, etc. When it comes time to prepare the payroll, the person in charge summarizes the various leave entitlements and transfers them to the payroll software. The leave taken line is then incremented and the remaining leave balance updated.
This traditional vacation management process requires several exchanges and manual entries. This makes the process even more laborious, and increases the risk of management error.
A dematerialized portal to centralize information
Today, a range of HR software packages can simplify leave management, especially for companies with employees on different sites.
An intelligent solution to ensure nothing is forgotten
The employee submits his or her absence requests via the management software. The HR department then receives the request in the form of a contextualized form, showing the reason for the request, the applicant's absence quota, the CP already taken and those already requested. At a glance, all the elements are brought together in the Zéphir management solution to validate or reject the absence. There's no need to search for and cross-check information, which saves considerable time.
What's more, the tool automates workflows: once validated, the absence is charged directly to the payroll software. Other specific features can also be configured, such as transport passes, luncheon vouchers and bonuses. You enter them once, then the tool suggests or reminds you of them. Connected to the calendar, the solution also takes public holidays into account. All these safeguards considerably reduce the risk of forgetting or making data entry errors.
Sharing information for better organization
An interesting link can be made between your HR software and your teams' project management. When a request for absence is validated, it is indicated on the activity schedule.
- Other team members can anticipate and organize themselves accordingly. If another member of the team was also planning to take a day off, he or she has the information to avoid any overlap.
- The project manager has real-time visibility of everyone's availability and allocated resources. He or she can better organize work accordingly.
A wall for exchanging information
Some ERP or management software packages offer a personalized reception area. This space, which every user passes through on logging on, can become a place for exchanges. With Zéphir, personalization is individual. Each employee displays the information or layout he or she wishes on his or her "wall". For example, a sales rep who frequently uses the expense report module can create a shortcut for himself, just as he would on his computer's workstation.
This space is also ideal for facilitating internal communication within the company. In a more informal and highly effective way, you can broadcast messages in the application that are closely or remotely related to your business. For example, if you plan to close the company for the July 14th bank holiday, you can use the "wall" to remind everyone to take a day off on the 15th.
Simpler, more efficient management
Exchange information on a common interface
The first thing is to provide employees, their managers and the HR department with the same interface. As a result :
- exchanges are simpler,
- the validation process is faster,
- shared information is clearer.
Sharing the same information
Beyond the paperless management of paid leave, the entire employee career path is concerned. With management software like Zéphir, you can also enter your expense claims in the solution. This way, HR or the person in charge of accounting has direct access to them, enabling them to reimburse you.
Within the same interface, you can manage annual performance reviews. Employee, manager and HR are informed of the date of the interview. The interface can also provide a history of previous interviews. There's also a facility for sending reminder e-mails before the date.
Access the solution wherever you are
SaaS (Software as a Service) HR software enables information to be shared in the cloud. This is invaluable, especially for companies with remote teams. Despite geographical remoteness, the employee has access to the same up-to-date information as the rest of the team.
A company, even a small one, soon has many HR aspects to manage. The use of dedicated tools means that leave can be managed more efficiently, both in terms of scheduling and validation, and in terms of informing project colleagues. Gone are the days of the leave sheet, replaced by dematerialization and the real time savings and efficiencies it brings.
Article translated from French