Strategic HR: Using Case Management to Build an Enterprise-wide Knowledge Base

Science fiction author Ray Bradbury wrote, “Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.”

A similar argument can be made for almost any enterprise organization, and particularly for their HR departments.

Without a library of your organization’s employee-relevant documents, forms, policies, benefits information, and similar items, you run the risk of seeing the same HR problems repeated over and over, and you have no clear path for preventing similar problems in the future.

A highly featured, automated HR case management solution can help you build a living library — a searchable, constantly growing, and evolving document repository that will expand your organization’s knowledge base. HR departments can use the repository to store and update standard forms and company documents that employees, HR staff members, and customer service representatives can access and download.

A related feature is a system of reports that gives you updated insight into how employees and HR are using any of the myriad items in the knowledge base.

Let’s assume that after you announce a new policy for paid time off, you see a spike in the number of requests from one region compared with the others. It might prompt you to be sure that everyone is getting the same communication about the new policy, or find out if managers have communicated it differently from region to region.

A knowledge base is even more beneficial if it includes searchable answers and solutions to concerns and questions that have previously been addressed within the system. This ensures that employees and HR staff are all working from the same book, all the time. When you extend the knowledge base to include employee self-service and access from an employee portal, the workforce gets the information they need by accessing their own personalized, searchable information. The results: fewer calls to HR and a more certain future of accurate employee actions and employee engagement.

With an enterprise-wide knowledge base, you can achieve:

• Faster resolution of HR cases — from the smallest to the biggest
• Greater alignment with policies and procedures company-wide
• The ability to update documents on the fly

To see the value of having a knowledge base integrated into your HR case management solution, ask yourself this question: What was one major HR case in your experience that could have been mitigated by providing that front-line employee or manager easy, direct access to current, accurate, and relevant information?

Image source: DKRZ Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum