HRISEIM: WPP Collaborative Funding accelerates HR Improvements

The HES HRIS Group formed 10 years ago and now comprises 17 Australian and 2 New Zealand universities. The Group is managed by Higher Ed Services and has an elected Executive drawn from university representatives.

Michael Knight, Executive Director HR from CSU, currently chairs the Group and Karen Harris (ECU) and Joe Dascoli (QUT) are elected members of the Executive. Kent Levander (HES) is the Executive Business Consultant and manages Group business. The whole Group meets twice each year, but conducts strategic development activities throughout the year.

Members focus on promoting effective business improvement in HR management through the development of efficient business models and associated technology support systems. Accelerated systems developments have been funded by the participating universities on a collaborative basis since 2003. Participating universities contribute to a Group R&D fund, to accelerate best practice improvements in HR management which benefit all members using the Alesco HR system. The cost advantages of sharing resources and knowledge are enormous and benefit all participants.
An opportunity to accelerate 13 projects came with successful submission for WPP funding made by Charles Sturt University to DEST on behalf of the 17 Australian universities in the Group. The $2.1M funding provided by DEST has enabled the acceleration of the HRISEIM Programme across a broader range of compliance and efficiency projects, which are designed to respond to the changing higher education environment, including emerging legislative initiatives. HES is the Project Management Partner for the projects.

The HRIS Group's strategic objectives over the next three years are to achieve significant improvements for HR management by delivering the 13 HRISEIM projects through to implementation, in as many universities as possible. Charles Sturt University has made a WPP Round 2 submission for new HR related projects on behalf of the HRIS Group, as members wish to collaborate on further productivity improvements and have a strategic plan for developments through to the end of 2010.

The Group shares a significant knowledge base on HR management practices and collaborating universities frequently share information on local developments and present seminars to ensure best practice HR solutions. Some important initiatives which are being developed relate to web based employee self service modules, timesheets and HR forecasting and reporting.

The lead universities for the WPP funded projects are:
HEWRR (tba); WorkChoices (Flinders); OH &S (UWS); Timesheets (Flinders); Rosters (QUT); eRecruitment (CDU); Salary Packaging (UWA); Superannuation (Tasmania); Improved Workflow & Approvals Processing (ECU); Financial Modelling & Payroll Improvement (Flinders); General Ledger Processing Improvements (CSU); Employee Self Service Improvements (UWA); Improved Academic Profiling, Hire & Promotions (Newcastle).

Further information about the HRISEIM Programme is available from Kent Levander kent@hes.edu.au