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As Smooth as Fred and Ginger – As If!

As I was pondering today’s blog, I was happily watching ‘The Gay Divorcee’ with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers from 1934.  Yes, I’m comparing something from 1934 to something in 2020. Sad, isn’t it?

Duane and I love these old classics and what also made that movie fun to watch was the brilliant supporting cast of Edward Everett Horton (who our cat Eddie is named after – no joke) and Eric Blore.  If you haven’t had a chance to catch these brilliant character actors in action check this out.

I found this on Youtube (you can literally find anything on there)

EEH is sitting/Eric Blore is the Waiter:

I heard a very interesting fact about this movie which I couldn’t help but relate to the situation regarding our global HR system rebuild.  ‘The Gay Divorcee’ was Fred and Ginger’s very first movie where they received top billing.  RKO Radio Pictures wasn’t sure how the dancing duo would do at the Box Office, so they put Horton and Blore in to ensure a successful Box Office return.  It had a budget of $520,000 and brought in $1.8 Million worldwide. Not bad for 1934!

 In a way, this reminds me of the building of the new Employee Central system which is replacing Production HCM.  How you ask?  Well, let me explain.

 Right now, we have a global team working on the architecture of this new system (the movie house). They are really forced to build since the current module will be eliminated at some point soon (the production). It wasn’t as if a group got together to discuss how to improve current processes – no, no, noooooo (the writers).

The company has been using SAP SuccessFactors for so many years that it will continue to hold on to those elements that are being used by other departments.

Similar to how RKO Radio Pictures held on to their guaranteed successful characters actors and placed them in a film with no certainty of the success of the two new leads, SAP is taking quite the gamble that Employee Central will be built and utilized to its fullest potential with abundant success (enter The Director).  

For me, I see the parallel as the HRIS (Human Resources Information Systems) team being the supporting character actors.  We could be as funny and Horton and Blore if we weren’t so frustrated all the time with how atrocious our current inefficient systems are.

In a movie, the Director can only direct the talent he/she is given. Mark Sandrich, who directed ‘The Gay Divorcee’ was very fortunate to have Fred and Ginj to work with.  He teamed up with them for several more movies which were all considered a triumph.  

The incredible dance scene below is from ‘Swing Time’ which also features the adorable Eric Blore.  

Have you noticed that movies almost always have one director? Not a team of directors – one director. If it were possible, I would love to work with such great directors, such as Frank Capra (my favorite), George Cukor and Ernst Lubitsch – well, that is if they were techies.  

I honestly don’t know what stage the Employee Central project is in since communication is lacking and there are still too many directors on set and none of them are as talented as these guys.

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The End-User – Can anyone hear me??

I wasn’t able to post anything last week due to my being a part of lockdown meetings everyday for hours on end.  You see, there are so many people trying to build a system without knowing what the end-user needs or what the end-user can offer in terms of HOW to build this silly complex global system.

A few weeks ago I was on a call when the person at the other end of the phone asked me if I thought the problems in our HR ecosystem would go away with the installation of this new and supposedly shiny new module.  I flat out answered ‘No!’ quite emphatically. You see the builders are building something they know nothing about and won’t know anything about since they aren’t the ones actually doing the work the system is being designed to do.

Enter the Three Stooges – Larry and Curly get their heads clucked together by Moe… (Hey Moe!)

This picture sums up how the global teams are using their precious time to build something so important but have no clue what direction to go.

And now for more fun facts – (I do this to keep from going completely insane during this project)

The act began in the early 1920s as part of a vaudeville comedy act billed as "Ted Healy and His Stooges", consisting originally of Healy and Moe Howard. Over time, they were joined by Moe's solder brother Shemp Howard, and then Larry Fine. FYI – Larry’s hair was actually Trademarked.  

The four appeared in one feature film, Soup to Nuts, before Shemp left to pursue a solo career. He was replaced by his and Moe's younger brother, Jerome "Curly" Howard, in 1932. Two years later, after appearing in several movies, the trio left Healy and signed on to appear in their own short-subject comedies for Columbia Pictures, now billed as "The Three Stooges". From 1934 to 1946, Moe, Larry and Curly produced over 90 short films for Columbia.  

It’s immensely frustrating to sit in meetings for hours on end knowing that you don’t have a voice and the person who is speaking for you doesn’t have a damn clue.  The ‘architects’ on this project meet a lot to discuss each aspect of the new module.  They then reach out to those of us actually doing the work but don’t take into consideration the results if the suggestions are ignored.  We already look like fools and I thought this would be our chance to really come out on top and develop a wonderful experience that would alleviate much of the daily fires we’re asked to put out.

We work for hours on end to brainstorm and develop workflows that we are confident will result in better proficiency and are asked to drop everything we’re doing and only focus on the task at hand.  After sitting in a small, stuffy room with very uncomfortable chairs and no windows do we come up with a few ideas that if implemented would be a truly fantastic process. Everyone would be happy and life as we know it would be better than ever.

Then…..

At this point, SuccessFactors Employee Central is only a concept and I have no clue how it will look when all is said and done.  The techy in me is super excited about the possibilities, however, the realist is quite skeptical.  

Technology is a very good thing and we will be better for having it.  The fact is simply this…technology will continue to advance whether we move with it or not. Isn’t it better to move with it?

 That’s all I have for now. Thank you again for your support and always:

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The Basket is way too heavy so I’m done shopping!

As I was driving to the supermarket this morning, I was thinking about how Employee Central will make life easier for the employees at our company. Yes, even on days off and holidays I’m still thinking about work. At least until Baseball season starts - in 37 Days, 13 Hours, 25 minutes, 10 seconds …              https://howmanydaysuntil.center/mlb-opening-day/     but who’s counting -  then that’s really all I care about.  How will the Red Sox do without Mookie Betts?  Will this be another heartbreaking season for Red Sox Nation? 

Oh the humanity!

Sorry about that – I do get carried away when it comes to Baseball.

So….with my brain churning as I was walking around Ralph’s filling up my cart from the list in my hand, I thought about how something as simple yet necessary as filling up a grocery cart full of items from my list could compare to this new HR system that is supposed to make life easier for employees.

Believe it or not, I was curious about something we all take for granted. What is the history of the shopping cart? I mean, they weren’t on Earth while the dinosaurs roamed, or when our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence.  Not even when Buster Keaton was filming such masterpieces as his most famous ‘The General’ in 1926 and Steamboat Bill, Jr in 1927 where he did what is considered the most dangerous stunt in movie history.

Nope –

Oklahoma City, 1937 – Sylvan Goldman who was the owner of the Humpty Dumpty Supermarket Chain, made an interesting observation.  Once his shoppers wire or wooden baskets got too heavy, they headed to the checkout counter and bought only what they could carry.  In order to keep customers to buy more items he had to figure out a way to make heavy baskets more manageable.

While sitting at his desk one night he noticed a folding chair across the room. He grabbed one of the shopping carts and placed it on the seat of the chair and one underneath the chair.  He stepped back and envisioned wheels on the legs of the chair.  It took a few months of tinkering, but Goldman eventually settled on a design that was convenient and flexible.

He filed the patent in 1938 and on June 4, 1940 this was patented as

               ‘Folding Basket Carriage for Self-Service Stores’

Ah HA!!!  Self-Service…. That’s the key and the bridge from Shopping Carts to Employee Central.   Instead of customers, we have employees.  

The past few weeks I’ve been describing how cumbersome the SAP Production HCM module is and how it’s in constant battle with the ever-evil KRONOS system.

A quick reminder that the Production HCM piece is being eliminated and Employee Central is now in the lineup and hitting in the lead-off position.  For those who are not familiar with Baseball terminology, the lead-off hitter bats first.

Last week I had the pleasure of working with two other members of our HR team who focus solely on Hospital Registration and Credentialing. We spent two days and many long hours creating a workflow that would make things much easier on new employees and their managers by utilizing the functionality of Employee Central.

The above picture is what we developed after two grueling days.  This workflow came out of our ‘shopping list’ of the functions we would like in our shopping cart for the developers of our new system.  

Right now, the process is very manual and makes the cart ‘too heavy’.  The employee can’t do much on their end because of this antiquated way they receive permission to work at their assigned medical facility.  We want to develop a self-service portal for them and their managers to not only streamline the process, but also be able to monitor the progress and maintain a checklist of any credentials that are due for renewal.

The image below is a sample of how the homepage on Employee Central will look once we determine the tasks it needs to inhabit.

Each tile is a link to a robust workflow/process that will contain a myriad of ways to better serve our employees and even better, help them serve themselves. The goal is to reduce the ‘heavy basket’ of activities needed to on-board, manage and organize departments as well the entire company on a global level.

Right now, Production HCM is not user friendly which puts a lot of pressure on the HRIS team as well as the Hospital Registration/Credentialing team.  With EC, the employee (the customer) will have access and visibility into their own employee record and make updates such as address changes, phone numbers, marital status etc.

Don’t get me wrong – this won’t be totally independent. For instance, we certainly don’t want people making changes to their compensation profile just as an example.

I’m hoping that by next week, I can take you inside one of these tiles so see how it looks.  The global team is getting together again this week to continue developing as we suggest. Fingers crossed that we’ll get what has been on our shopping list for a while.

But right now, I’m actually going to use what was in my shopping cart this morning and bake a bunch of goodies for the visitors that will be in our office this week.

Enjoy your week and always, always

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Oreos vs Hydrox – can you really taste the difference? OR Production HCM vs Employee Central – how are they different?

Ah-ha!  Got your attention, didn’t I….

What I’m trying to explain here is that some of the system attributes might appear to look the same, but the ingredients we use will be different.  

But first a few fun facts about the famous milk dunking cookies.

Hydrox is the brand name for a crème-filled chocolate sandwich cookie manufactured by Leaf Brands.  It debuted in 1908, and then was manufactured by Sunshine Biscuits for over 90 years.  

The similar Oreo cookie, introduced in 1912, was inspired by the Hydrox. The Oreo eventually exceeded Hydrox in popularity which resulted in the Hydrox cookie being perceived as an imitator even though it was actually the original. Hydrox was largely discontinued in 1999 after Sunshine was acquired by Keebler, which was later acquired by Kelloggs. In September of 2015, the product was re-introduced by Leaf Brands.

What is the difference?

Hydrox cookies have a less-sweet filling and a crunchier cookie shell that has been noted to become less soggy in milk.    

The Oreo consists of two (usually chocolate) wafers with a sweet crème filling and supreme for dunking into a nice cold glass of milk. It is the best-selling cookie brand in the United States. 

Hence – same platform, yet different attributes resulting in very different end-use experiences.

As I mentioned in a previous blog the Production HCM (Human Capital Management) component of SAP is being eliminated in the near future as SuccessFactors builds a new cloud solution – Employee Central.

According to Daniela Lange, Sr. Director of Product Management for SAP Payroll Software Lead in Germany:

“SAP is the most global and the most powerful payroll solution we have. With 9,000 customers in 99 countries we pay almost 100 million people. And it's not just the breadth of the country coverage, it's also the localization depth.”

HCM is quite a complex and vulnerable organism with so many layers making workflows intricate with no wiggle room for error.  I will discuss only a few menu items to give you an idea of how many steps within a process it takes just to on-board one employee. They are PA40, PA30 and PPOME.

Let us begin with PA (Personal Action) code 40 which is the entry point to execute an organization on-boarding function.

Below is the ‘front door’ and what lies behind it are many, many layers of actions needed to be taken just to create the employee record.

 PA30 is the editing module used after the employee record is created. It’s used to make a myriad of changes such as address, marital status or name and in some cases salary rate information.

PPOME is a brutal monster that takes a lot of patience to maneuver around.  It’s best not to anger this beast as it can create a multitude of problems that will engage a battle with the enemy KRONOS. This is the platform where organizational units are created.  

The PPOME transaction facilitates the display and maintenance of Organization Units, Positions, Persons and Jobs from the organizational structure. The transaction is displayed with several areas, including search and overviews areas.  One mistake and an entire organizational unit will be a mess which will reset all Access Profiles in the KRONOS system.

The goal for the global HR team is to develop a harmonizing process on a single platform that offers localization for more than 45 countries. It will unify employee data and manage people more effectively while complying with locale and global mandates.

Next time I will focus on what these changes will look like and where we are in the development stages of this massive global effort.

Now go get a nice cold glass of milk and treat yourself to a handful of Oreos or Hydrox and always remember

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YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME – SAP/HCM battles KRONOS

With the sun due to set on the Production HCM (Human Capital Management) component of SuccessFactors SAP system, the company has been working with the global Human Resources team to build a user-friendly employee self-service portal to hopefully launch in August 2020.

The new Employee Central Hub is being designed and built with these system flaws in mind and we are not in the testing phase yet.  The global team has had different experiences therefore, each country is designing workflows that best suits their needs.  This is causing conflict in certain areas and not all processes translates the same way on the global stage. The new system is basically an intersection of human resources and information technology through HR software. This allows HR activities and processes to occur electronically and accommodate the many different aspects unique to each member of the team.

This might sound like a great idea given that we can now build a new shiny portal to make life easier for employees who need to make changes to their employee record on their own.

(Insert the sound of screeching brakes here)

Let’s back up a smidge. The current HCM system is so faulty that is thinks it’s the boss of KRONOS, which is the timekeeping system that is not compatible with anything known to man.  The two systems hate each so much that it causes tremendous chaos and confusion for the end-user and too often creates payroll errors.  

HCM is the ‘entry’ way to the employee record, however, extremely limited amount of information flows into KRONOS from HCM which means multiple layers of manual set up is required after the file feed from HCM over to KRONOS a day or so later. Here is an example of how persnickety KRONOS is.  If an employee’s name is too long, it will only capture the person’s first letter of their first name resulting is so much havoc that a system analyst with high level access is the only person that can correct the issue by waving a magic wand on the back end of the system.  The same way Mr. Scott, Chief Engineer of the Enterprise, is the only one who can put the engines back online so the warp drive will function allowing the starship to escape the neutral zone and avoid a war with the Romulans.  (Remember, Romulans don’t take prisoners). 

In escaping the neutral zone one might think the ship is out of danger. Yet, the Enterprise wanders into an Asteroid field. Now, the two systems engage in another battle of brawn. While the balance of power appears to be even and the employee record has been created in HCM and the manual set up allowing for specific levels of KRONOS access has been established, the employee needs to simply update their address, phone number, gets a promotion or any other type of change to their employee record which is first processed in HCM.  

The next day, KRONOS, being the enemy from within, resets the access levels back to the employee’s original settings leaving them without access to either enter their work hours or for managers to have the ability to view and manage their teams time or a myriad of other issues. No notification is sent and not a clue is given that something is wrong.  Anarchy ensues to a barrage of emails, Skype messages and phone calls of panicking staff begging the HRIS (Human Resources Information Systems) team to drop what they are doing and fix all these issues immediately.

I wish we had someone like Lt. Uhura to monitor all communications and only put through what was REALLY important.

Here’s the rub - this is an inconsistent system flaw in that not every change in HCM results in resetting KRONOS access levels. I think it depends on which way the wind is blowing that day.

Most days, the HRIS team can be flooded with emails on a daily basis to resolve the battle between HCM and KRONOS.  

It may seem that KRONOS has the upper hand in the feud for attention, however, the information only flows one way – from HCM to KRONOS. Never from KRONOS back to HCM which means that anything set up in KRONOS will be wiped out 99% of the time a change is made in HCM.

If HCM had a voice ↓

One important goal for the global team to design is how to manage the workflow from HCM into KRONOS so that KRONOS doesn’t reset accrual profiles.

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Too many cooks in the kitchen?

There is a reason restaurants have a head chef. There is a reason why the Quarterback calls the plays on the field. There is also a reason why Captain Kirk is so awesome.  They all have command of the room (if you will) and works with a team of experts to make an informed decision that will be in the best interest of the masses.  

Captain Kirk is a great example.  He deals with different cultures ranging from Earth to Vulcan to fight the Klingons and those pesky Romulans (who don’t take prisoners by the way).  

I ask you this....would you walk into Spago’s in Beverly HIlls and tell Wolfgang Puck to add salt to his  American Wagyu Filet Carpaccio with white truffles?  

Would you tell Tom Brady he should have thrown the football to someone other than Randy Moss for a 6-yard TD pass?

During the next few weeks, I will share the process of a company trying to work together to build a shiny new employee self-service portal from many different cultural perspectives even though the needs of the end-users (the many) out-weigh the needs of the few (the builders).

I’m excited to take you on this journey as my company works tirelessly to agree on what aspects of the new system works on a global stage.