UK City of Cardiff simplifies HR operations

Cloud migration improves performance management for over 14,000 employees.

Cardiff, the capital of Wales, serves an estimated 478,000 citizens. The council has a budget of around £656 million and has over 14,000 employees. By adapting the way of working and making better use of in-house knowledge and skills, the municipality wanted to significantly improve service to its residents and customers.

For example, the HR and payroll department took a closer look at employees and systems because it had non-standardized processes and also did not use electronic HR management tools such as employee self-service (ESS) and manager self-service (MSS). As a result, the department had limited possibilities for viewing and checking, for example, the recording of time.

Also, the knowledge management system did not use company-wide policies and procedures. There were many forms and processes that confuse the end user. More than 88 payment models were used for eleven transactions. In addition, several systems were used for the same function and silos were created. For example, 11 different document management systems and 13 case management systems were used along with paper-based processes.

Integrated solution

To change that, the City of Cardiff chose TCS’s Framework Oriented Architecture (FOA) model to build a good solution. TCS has proposed an integrated solution with TCS DigiGOV, to configure municipal HR business processes according to its policies and integrate with existing SAP payroll solution. The basic SAP salary modules were retained, while a complete HRMS solution was introduced using the flexible and scalable DigiGOV framework with rapid turnaround methodology.

The new HR platform makes it possible to identify in real time the financial impacts of absenteeism at City Council and to monitor and evaluate individual performance. In addition, the platform gives employees 24/7 access to their profile, for example to submit leave requests. The solution is also compatible with smartphones and can be accessed from all devices.

Call

With the clock system, employees can record their working times according to the flexible working hours regulations. TCS has also introduced a “Digital Communication Platform” on top of the DigiGOV framework that allows the municipality to reach its employees anytime and anywhere. When the pandemic broke out, the platform helped the board stay in touch with workers.

“I have worked with TCS from the beginning and have really appreciated the relationship and flexibility of TCS. I have always believed that people are important in relationships, and we have been fortunate that the diverse TCS teams that we have worked with have all been great – just couldn’t That this is just a coincidence,” Cardiff said.