Apply for Leave

Apply for Leave

by | Jun 19, 2020 | Process Improvement

Leave requests are one of the most common processes within an organization. For this reason, they are a great place to start with process improvement. Even small improvements here can save the business thousands of hours a year.

1. Submit Request Initiator
The trigger for starting this process is the employee initiating the request. You will want to capture all the required information about the request at this step, eliminating any back-and-forth later in the process. Consider things like:
  • Type of leave (annual, sick etc.)
  • Dates requested
  • Whether leave in advance is required
  • Whether they will be contactable

2. Check Employee Leave Balance Payroll
Upon submission of the request, the Payroll team will provide the first approval. This is simply to check whether the Initiator has enough leave accrued. This should be a basic Approval or Rejection.

If “leave in advance” was requested, Payroll can approve the request and leave a comment for the Initiator’s Manager to see in the next step.

2. Check Employee Leave Balance Payroll
Upon submission of the request, the Payroll team will provide the first approval. This is simply to check whether the Initiator has enough leave accrued. This should be a basic Approval or Rejection.

If “leave in advance” was requested, Payroll can approve the request and leave a comment for the Initiator’s Manager to see in the next step.

3. Check Team Calendar for Clashes Initiator’s Manager
The next step in the process is the for the Initiator’s Manager to check for any calendar clashes within their team and either approve or reject the request based on this. Depending on your organization size and structure, you may find that you have no difficulty covering a staff member’s absence, or that you need to arrange cover during this time. These are things for the manager to consider at this step.

4. Approval Email Notification
Once the leave has been approved or rejected, an automated email can be sent to the initiator to inform them of the outcome.
4. Approval Email Notification
Once the leave has been approved or rejected, an automated email can be sent to the initiator to inform them of the outcome.
5. Update Payroll Records Payroll
The final step of the process sits with the Payroll team. This is just a reminder for them to confirm that the leave has been recorded in their payroll system and that any shared leave calendars have been updated. One of the key benefits of managing this through a workflow platform is that you can ensure this process is not marked as complete until all required steps are done.  

This is an excerpt from Flowingly’s process guide, Essential Processes for Human Resources.

Proven Processes to Streamline Your HR Journey.

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Onboard & Induct A New Employee

Onboard & Induct A New Employee

by | May 29, 2020 | Process Improvement

A quality onboarding experience is the single most important step to getting a new staff member to an operational level quickly. Sadly, this is a process that many organizations only pay lip-service to.

If you’ve been lucky enough to join a company with an exceptional onboarding experience, you’ll know just how powerful it is. The benefits are endless. Better understanding of company culture. Improved grasp of responsibilities. Increased performance through better training. Decreased time to becoming fully operational.

1. Send Welcome Email and Request New Employee’s Details Manager
What better way to kick-off the new employee’s experience than with an email welcoming them to the company! This is a great way to introduce them to the company culture and set the tone for what they can expect going forward.

Use this opportunity to request the employee’s details, such as their tax details, superannuation info or their working visa. This will save you more time on their first day.

    2. Complete New Employee Basic Information Manager
    Once the manager has the employee’s basic information, they can collate it into a standardized form for the HR team. When building this process, it is the responsibility of the HR team to outline exactly what they require to process a new employee. If it’s not outlined in the process, the manager will not know what is required.
    2. Complete New Employee Basic Information Manager
    Once the manager has the employee’s basic information, they can collate it into a standardized form for the HR team. When building this process, it is the responsibility of the HR team to outline exactly what they require to process a new employee. If it’s not outlined in the process, the manager will not know what is required.
    3. Approve Employee Paperwork & Enter in HR System Human Resources
    This step is where the HR team enters the provided details into their systems. The first action is to check that all the requested details have been entered correctly. If not, the process can be sent back to the manager to fix.

    We use a combination of a task list and an approval in this step. This could be split into two, however the best processes are nice and simple. This creates no unnecessary wastage and less admin.

    4. Prepare Employee’s Desk and Laptop IT Services
    Now that the basic information has been covered, it’s time to setup the employee’s tool-of-trade. IT can simply come in and follow a quick checklist outlining what the employee requires. A handy addition to this step would be a quick video on desk ergonomics!

    Optional extra: Some companies may require a stack of software to be setup for the new employee. If this is the case, additional fields can be used to inform IT of the required software. This removes the hassle of back-and-forth emails over logins during the first couple of weeks.

    4. Prepare Employee’s Desk and Laptop IT Services
    Now that the basic information has been covered, it’s time to setup the employee’s tool-of-trade. IT can simply come in and follow a quick checklist outlining what the employee requires. A handy addition to this step would be a quick video on desk ergonomics!

    Optional extra: Some companies may require a stack of software to be setup for the new employee. If this is the case, additional fields can be used to inform IT of the required software. This removes the hassle of back-and-forth emails over logins during the first couple of weeks.

    5. Issue New Employee Items Administration
    It’s now Day 1 of the employee’s new job and they require some basic items to become a fully-functional employee. Things you might want to include here:
    • Mobile phone and charger
    • Security door key
    • Swipe card

    If you’re more advanced with your processes, you would link this up with your employee exit process. This would allow you to mark off these items as returned at the end of employment.

    6. Complete Activities by End of Week 1 New Employee
    As we all know, the first week at a company can be a bit of a blur. Most organizations have a standardized approach. This step of the process should be a simple checklist, where the employee can check off that they have been introduced to the team, gone through an H&S induction, had their photo taken and more.
    6. Complete Activities by End of Week 1 New Employee
    As we all know, the first week at a company can be a bit of a blur. Most organizations have a standardized approach. This step of the process should be a simple checklist, where the employee can check off that they have been introduced to the team, gone through an H&S induction, had their photo taken and more.
    7. Complete Activities by End of Month 1 New Employee
    The key to an effective onboarding is having specific timings and goals. It is important for the manager to set aside time to understand how the employee is tracking and to give them feedback and coaching. Many businesses have their new employees spend time with different parts of the company. The end of month 1 is a great time to get together and review the key takeaways that the employee has had in their first few weeks. This step may include a review of what the employee has learned and opportunities for company improvement that they have seen with fresh eyes.
    8. Complete Activities by End of Months 2 & 3 New Employee
    By now the employee should be progressing to an operational stage. This is a good chance for the employee to review their learnings and sit down with their manager to evaluate their progress. It is important to capture feedback at this step. This will help management understand the effectiveness of the onboarding process, and whether it requires further improvement.
    8. Complete Activities by End of Months 2 & 3 New Employee
    By now the employee should be progressing to an operational stage. This is a good chance for the employee to review their learnings and sit down with their manager to evaluate their progress. It is important to capture feedback at this step. This will help management understand the effectiveness of the onboarding process, and whether it requires further improvement.

    This is an excerpt from Flowingly’s process guide, Essential Processes for Human Resources.

    Proven Processes to Streamline Your HR Journey.

    Discover the building blocks of process improvement.

    Download Now
    Release Notes – 2020 R1

    Release Notes – 2020 R1

    by | Apr 17, 2020 | Release Notes

    Our first release of 2020 introduces Flow Model version tracking, print-friendly Flows, and improved process map visibility. 

    Have a look at the highlights of this release: 

    Flow Model Versions

    We’ve added the ability to view the Flow Model version number from when a Flow was started. You can also export specific Flow Model versions.

    This is useful if you update a Flow model and users have already initiated it.

    Flow Model version is displayed in:

    • The first Step of new flows 
    • A new column added to Report page 
    • A new column added to CSV report

    Printer-Friendly Flows

    We’ve improved the export Flow functionality and allow user to save it in a more printer friendly format. 

    The new document now includes a comment section which will include all comments added by workflow users while the flow was in progress.

    A common use-case is to include comments made on an expense request process, printed for archival purposes.

    Process Map Visibility 

    Flowingly Workflow Users can now open and review Process Maps from within Flowingly’s Runner.

    Clicking on a Process Map from the Maps page will direct Flowingly users to a new page displaying the selected Process Map instead of opening the Flowingly Modeler.

    This is especially useful for organizations using Flowingly as a repository for Process Maps. Staff can easily view relevant process maps without opening the Flowingly Modeler.

    Additional Improvements

    • Short text customization
    • Customizable subject placeholder text
    • Introduced last updated date column in Library
    • Added scroll bar to form designer
    • Option list fields and Approval options now are deselectable
    • Small tweaks and bug fixes
    If you’d like to learn more about how Flowingly can help you on your process improvement journey, get a demo today!

    Get your business flowing

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    Request Access to Applications

    Request Access to Applications

    by | Mar 31, 2020 | Process Improvement

    Many companies run this process informally, often using email. This approach can work with 10 employees in the same office. But what about when you have 100 employees? What if they start working remotely? As soon as your business progresses past being able to swivel your chair to talk to the admin of the application, you need to develop a proper request process. 

    1. Select the Required Applications Initiator
    It’s common for remote employees to suddenly find that they no longer have access to something they regularly used in the office. Luckily, in the age of cloud-based applications, accessing software from anywhere is easier than ever. The first step of this process is for the employee to highlight what they need access too. Bonus tip: this step also works really well when onboarding a new employee, you’d just have it as a step for their manager. 

    2. Set Up XYZ Accounts Various
    When companies run this process informally using email, things get missed.  By having a full list of services in a single place, life is made far more simple for the employee and the IT team supporting them. The great thing about using workflow software to process these requests is that it directs the request down the right channel instantly. No more “Hey Sam, do you know who the admin for Slack is?”.  

    3. Login and Go! Initiator
    The final step of this simple process is for the employee to check that your logins all work. Have them mark off that they’re all logged in and ready to go.  

    This is an excerpt from Flowingly’s latest process guide, Essential Processes for Remote Work.

    Proven processes to help you manage a remote workforce.

    Discover the building blocks for constructing a strong remote culture.

    Download Now
    Request to Work Remotely

    Request to Work Remotely

    by | Mar 31, 2020 | Process Improvement

    Before staff start working remotely, most organizations will need to approve it. This process has two main benefits. Firstly, the organization can ensure that managerial approval is in place, and secondly, they get a full record of all remote staff for HR and health & safety purposes. This is a simple approval process, that can be modified to suit many other applications. 
    1. Submit Details of Request Initiator
    The trigger for starting this process is an employee request to work remotely. This step is a good opportunity to capture all the relevant details about the request, from the dates requested to their job title (you may have a list of titles which are approved for remote work). 

    It’s important at this step to capture the reason for the request, along with an outline of the working location, including the address, details about the environment and whether the staff member requires any equipment that they don’t already have. 

    2. Manager Approval Initiator Manager
    This is a simple approval but provides an opportunity for longer requests to be approved by the employee’s manager before they get submitted for approval to higher levels (e.g. the CEO). If the manager feels anything is missing from the application, it’s good to have an option to just send back to the previous step and let the employee know what is missing.
    3. CEO Approval CEO
    Depending on the size and structure of your company, you will have different rules around approvals. Many companies will allow an employee’s direct manager to make the call on shorter requests for remote work, while longer requests need to go through higher level of approval (as seen here).  
    4. Start “Set Up Your Remote Workspace” Process Initiator
    Once the request has been approved, it’s important to make sure the employee has a quality remote workspace setup that meets company regulations for health & safety. For this reason, the last step of the approval process should link directly to the “Set up your remote workspace” process. 

    This is an excerpt from Flowingly’s latest process guide, Essential Processes for Remote Work.

    Proven processes to help you manage a remote workforce.

    Discover the building blocks for constructing a strong remote culture.

    Download Now