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Core Payroll/ HRIS System
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 APEX Software will be the core payroll and HRIS application. It is a cloud-based system that operates on either PC or Apple products, on a wide variety of mobile devices, and without regard to your choice of browser. Their “Employer on the Go” interface is designed with robust capabilities for our internal and our client users. Reporting capabilities are exceptional, and we are finding it intuitive and easy to use.
A separate, comparable interface called “My Employer on the Go” is designed for use by employees. Once clients make the choice to allow employees access to pay information online, other useful features become available. For instance, we believe many clients will welcome the system’s on-line employee onboarding feature.
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Employee Benefits Management
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 We are also particularly excited about taking great strides in Employee Benefits Management. Where it will be helpful, MDI will integrate our core payroll software with Employee Navigator, a leader in on-line benefit enrollment and benefit communication software. By connecting employee benefits with payroll benefit deductions, we expect to see significant efficiencies in employee benefits management for both our clients and for us. The online enrollment tools are really amazing!
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Time & Attendance / Applicant Tracking
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Market Dimensions will continue to offer TimeForce II (time & attendance software) and Applicant Pro (applicant tracking and recruiting management software). These two solutions are among the best-in-class, and integrate nicely with our core technology platform. 
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Market Dimensions has been in the planning phases of this upgrade project for some time. Each of the new system elements is already LIVE and being used by a small group of our early-adopter clients. We are actively assessing all clients and services to develop a reasonable timeline during which we expect to make the upgrade available. To that end:
- We are reviewing everything we are providing to clients today, including web access, special reporting, software integrations, etc. We are exploring the new systems carefully so that we can meet those same client needs in all cases.
- We know there are some important differences from our existing software platforms. Reports are formatted differently, the web-based tools are different, and in some cases, even the terminology differs from what we are accustomed to. That said…
- Payroll is still payroll, and we are confident we will be able to meet all federal, state and local requirements without exception.
- We are also confident we can meet the various reporting needs for all our clients. We have already seen the system’s very strong reporting capabilities.
- We anticipate relatively few issues when changing platforms…we know we have to deliver the same core functionality we are currently delivering.
- Our team here has already begun learning the ins-and-outs of the new system. We are proud of the capabilities of the client service team we have in place, and expect only mild turbulence. We’ll keep our seatbelts fastened, just in case.
- We have developed tools that will convert a significant amount of data from the existing system into the correct data structure for the new platform. This is an important capability that gives us great confidence that YTD totals will be correct at the time of the transition.
In most cases, we are well familiar with the unique needs of our clients. Long before going LIVE with the new system, we are completing a readiness assessment for each client. We will use this assessment, in combination with our conversations with you, to accomplish this upgrade with only minimal assistance from you.
We want you, of course, at all times to be comfortable with MDI, with the transition process, and with the new tools and reports we will make available. If at any time you have concerns or questions, we’d like you to reach out to us. Call us anytime at 815-963-2435 or reach us by email at payroll@marketd.com.
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Q. What will happen to the payroll history that is in the current Summit system?
A. The Summit system will be retained for some time to give all of us access to historical data. Where it may be important or helpful, we can work to convert some years of history into the new system so that it is more readily accessible.
Q. What should be our expectations in terms of costs for this upgraded technology?
A. Market Dimensions has always been sensitive to remaining affordable and competitive with the cost of our services. We are not planning any general price increase for our services as a result of our investment in upgraded technology. Of course, some of the new features, if desired will have an associated price. We look forward to exploring the value equation with each of you as you seek new features.
Q. When does the new system go LIVE?
A. Importantly, this will vary for each of our clients, and we expect in most cases to review this timing with you directly. The new system is already LIVE and being used by a small group of early-adopter clients. More will be transitioned each week over the next several months.
Q. How strong is the labor distribution reporting capability of the new system?
A. Many of our clients have important departmental, divisional, or job costing structures that are critical to the way payroll costs are posted to their financial records. This, too, is a meaningful responsibility of the payroll systems…to categorize labor-related costs according to the needs of the business. We have been impressed with the capabilities of the APEX system, and would expect to be able to create complete general ledger entries with each payroll, if desired.
Q. What will happen to the existing MPower site (hris.mowerhris.com)?
A. Not all of our clients have made use of the current website for either their administrative payroll contacts or for their employees. The new APEX platform has terrific web site capability, however, and we will encourage most clients to avail themselves of the tools that are available there. The existing site will remain accessible (and might be useful for history prior to 2018), but will no longer have updated information after a transition is complete for a given client. Employees will access a new site for their use.
Q. Will employees using TimeForce have to make changes?
A. No. The website that employees and their supervisors use to record and/or approve time is NOT changing at this time. While our connection with APEX provide some alternatives if we wish to explore them, we continue to believe that TimeForce is an excellent time & attendance system. Employees will continue to use the same site. We will be able to import time into the new APEX system as we are doing currently.
Q. What new employee tracking capabilities are included with the HRIS software?
A. See the article about HRIS systems in general. We’re also glad to highlight some additional tracking capabilities for employee property/assets (e.g. computers, keys, codes, etc.), employee training (e.g. safety, harassment, etc.), employee education or certification (degrees, etc.), and employee performance reviews.
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A What is an HRIS and WHY do I need one?
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The terms HRIS (Human Resources Information System) and HRMS (Human Resources Management System) refer most often to software that can provide a business with an electronic means of handling a number of HR functions including storing employee data, managing payrolls, helping with recruitment processes, administering benefits, and tracking attendance.
As each business is unique, whether in similar or very different industries, or whether of similar or dramatically different sizes, so too are the HRIS needs of the business. As a result, there is not a single standard definition about what constitutes an HRIS, or even a clear answer to the question whether every business needs one.
At some level, every one of our clients has an HRIS system at their disposal. All of our payroll data is maintained electronically, and our systems allow for excellent reporting out of the database. That would absolutely meet the minimum requirements for an HRIS.
- For some businesses, this is sufficient, and no other electronic recordkeeping is needed or used
- For other businesses, clients have relied on us to track additional data that go beyond what would be minimally necessary to calculate the payroll.
- For other businesses still, we have helped them make use of ancillary software products (timekeeping, applicant tracking, benefit support, etc.)
- And for others, there are very good stand-along solutions that our clients have implemented to help with a particular need.
Any and all of these would constitute various forms of an HRIS.
We know that there are several specialty systems available in the marketplace that are exceptional at specific tasks. These systems clearly have their place. At the same time, one objective of an HRIS is some degree of integration. Businesses should be careful about using multiple non-integrated systems, making sure to not over-duplicate information in multiple places. That only increases the risk of error or inconsistency, which defeats one purpose of using technology.
We are asked frequently about our HRIS capabilities, and our initial answer is similar almost every time, “what is it you’re looking for?”
As technology continues to evolve in the HR and payroll space, we still have not found an affordable piece of software that would, by itself, meet the broadest needs of all of our clients across such a wide variety of industries. However, we do believe that the four key elements of our software (Apex, Employee Navigator, TimeForce and Applicant Pro) can be integrated and managed in a way to affordably meet a very wide spectrum of HRIS needs/wants.
We very much look forward to talking more with all of our clients to make sure they are able to make good use of all of our integrated technologies. We want to be your partner resource Beyond Payroll…Beyond Expectations!
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Please share your payroll stories!
We intend for this newsletter to be informative, yet something you look forward to reading when it appears. If your "payroll department" has something comical to share, please send it our way. We don't promise to print them all, but we might!
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