This summer, the State of Tennessee went live on its new ePAF solution – one ultra-efficient eForm automating over 89 different actions, including multiple types of hires, rehires, demotions, promotions, data changes, job reclassifications, pay rate changes, transfers, leaves of absence, retirement and terminations. With users initiating more than 1,300 eForms in the first 36 hours in production, it proved to be the largest volume of eForms processed so soon after go-live. When the full deployment is complete, it will serve over 40,000 employees in more than 50 agencies.
Single Search = Greater Efficiency
With the State’s new ePAF, users initiate a new form with a single search that determines if the employee is a new hire/rehire, transfer or existing employee. Rather than requiring the user to determine the appropriate form to use, the form determines what pages and fields to display based on the action being taken, whether that’s a hire/rehire, job change or status change. The single search has not only made the process more efficient, it has reduced training time as well as ongoing maintenance, requiring the State to maintain only one search instead of three or more. The intuitive design of the form and the single search has enabled the State’s department managers to initiate and execute forms without extensive training or documentation.
Increasing Productivity
In the first ten days, over 3,700 forms were created, over 1,600 executed, and more than 1,100 authorized during payroll lockout. Traditionally a time that required users to stop making updates to the system, the productivity they’ve gained during payroll lockouts has been an unexpected benefit for the State. Rather than requiring users to avoid those activities, they’re now able to continue initiating, reviewing and approving forms without pause. The approved forms are simply held in queue by the Integration Broker, and automatically update PeopleSoft once the payroll processes are complete. Those 1,100 forms that were queued during lockout? They executed in less than 7 minutes once the lockout was lifted.
“This is QUITE impressive on the numbers authorized during payroll lockout,” commented Sandy Graf, State of Tennessee ERP Director of Finance & Administration. “This is really going to make such a difference in the timeliness of transaction processing within state government.”
Leveraging PeopleSoft’s AWE
Approval routing with the State’s new ePAF solution is managed with PeopleSoft’s delivered Approval Workflow Engine. Integrated with AWE, GT eForms’ filters and Visual If technology enables business analysts to accurately and efficiently define conditional approval routing.
Strong Project Leadership
From the beginning, the project benefited from the State’s strong project sponsorship and leadership. The State recognized early on the benefits of keeping the form and the process simple, intuitive and uncluttered for the user. The project team consistently applied Gideon Taylor’s SEEF methodology – measuring decisions against primary design principles of Simple, Effective, Efficient and Flexible. Those same objectives extended to each of the agencies and departments as the project progressed.
“The entire GT team was extremely responsive, professional and knowledgeable of the PeopleSoft applications and helped take our business analysts and developers to a deeper level of technical understanding,” commented Graf. “We look forward to working with you on future projects as well, as we explore potential forms projects for benefits enrollment and security.”
The State’s ePAF implementation has proven that, even for large organizations with complex processes, you can still deliver a simple, easy and efficient user experience. A well-earned ‘Congratulations’ to everyone involved!
