Affirm Software Group

Innovative Billabong implements new hire onboarding solution

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 03:14:00 +0000

The Billabong Group selects Affirm Software (Affirm)’s HR onboarding solution to onboard all of Billabong Australia’s new hires electronically.

Senior HR Consultant Christie Lockyer commented “Affirm’s sophisticated onboarding solution has transformed the way we onboard staff. We’re thrilled to have it in place and working efficiently before the busy Christmas period.

Feedback from the HR team and instore Hiring Managers has been really positive as they can independently process onboarding packs, saving them considerable time and costs, eliminating the need for unnecessary paperwork being mailed out and lost.

We’ve also had great feedback from new hires about how easy the new system is to use, and how modern and professional it is, giving them a good feel for our business before they start, which projects the right image for our brands”.

One of Billabong’s key needs for the solution was to help empower their Store Managers who had previously been caught up in time consuming paperwork in having to prepare and send onboarding packs.

With a large number of Billabong new hires being highly mobile, the onboarding solution had to provide the option for candidates to review their employment contracts, policies/procedures and forms online via a mobile device. New hires can now review and accept everything on the fly quickly, via multiple mobile devices securely.

Bryan Ericson, Affirm’s CEO added: “Clients are increasingly looking for ways to innovate and become an ‘employer of choice’. The onboarding solution implemented by Billabong is ideal for large retailers.
The onboarding solution is very comprehensive and looks innovative, which communicates to Billabong’s new hires that the business cares about their staff and reinforces to them that they are working for an International, reputable and iconic industry leader”.

– ends –

To arrange an interview, or for more information please contact:

Bryan Ericson
Affirm Software
bryane@affirmsoftware.com.au
+61 3 9029 2907

About Billabong

Billabong International Limited's core business is the marketing, distribution, wholesaling and retailing of apparel, accessories, eyewear, wetsuits and hardgoods in the boardsports sector under the Billabong, Element, Von Zipper, Honolua Surf Company, Kustom, Palmers Surf, Xcel, Tigerlily, Sector 9 and RVCA brands.

The company has approximately 6,000 staff worldwide and its shares are publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Billabong International's products are licensed and distributed in more than 100 countries and are available in approximately 11,000 doors worldwide.

Further information can be found at http://www.billabongbiz.com

About Affirm Software Group (‘Affirm’)

Melbourne based Affirm Software Group (‘Affirm’) delivers paperless business process management and interactive forms solutions. Affirm’s software provides transformational solutions for resource intensive business processes. Affirm’s software has been transformational in the area of HR onboarding and for the Insurance, Government and Utilities industries. Affirm’s technology can be applied to any industry where forms processing is an inefficient, timely and costly issue.

Affirm and Brookfield Multiplex won Best Use of Technology at the Annual Australian HR awards.

Further information about Affirm can be found at www.affirmsoftware.com.au

Is the sustainability of the insurance sector under threat?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 05:39:00 +0000

With Heads of major insurance companies voicing their concerns in the media recently, you might be left wondering what is happening in the insurance industry.

According to the Australian Financial Review, Global re-insurer Reinsurance Group of America reported a loss of $300 million in the Australian life insurance market in the three months ended June 30, 2013.

As a result it suspended all new group Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) business indefinitely on the basis that the market 'was not stable'.

Certainly alarming figures and statements.

Other relevant points around causes:

Claims are souring largely due to an increase in stress related illness such as mental health and back pain
A weaker economy has contributed to high stress and depression
The greatest majority of claims are being made by higher income, white collar workers
People cancelling their policies has increased 20% a year over the last four years, due to financial stresses and fee increases of up to 10% per year for people over 40 (Source: Australian Financial Review).

Insurance companies are looking for solutions to address this dire situation.

Solution for the insurance sector = innovative, central communications platform

Not much can be done about the volume of claims being lodged, however there are solutions that can be implemented quickly to reduce the time to process claims.

Additionally, insurers need to identify where claims officers are spending their time to reduce time spent on tedious administration and refocus their efforts on addressing questionable claims, quickly resolving valid claims and freeing up significant reserve capital.

A central communications platform that facilitates communication to all entities relevant to a claim external to the Insurance companies' claim system is one quick way to initiate this turn around quickly.

Such innovative solutions are already positively addressing similar problems in other industries, such as Human Resources.

Insurance companies should not delay making decisions. New low risk solutions that leverage cloud based technology can be up and running within months.

For a free report that suggests low risk, affordable solutions to these challenges in more detail, contact Affirm on info@affirmsoftware.com.au and request Affirm's insurance whitepaper.

Potential (Perfect) storm brewing for insurance companies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 05:08:00 +0000

Over the past month there has been an increased media coverage surrounding the potential storm brewing in the insurance industry.

Adding fuel to these stories are huge profit downgrades from the large insurance companies. AMP recently stated that its fourth-quarter earnings could take a hit of up $65 million.

This has been largely due to:

Significant rises in income protection and Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) claims as a result of greater acceptability and prevalence of stress and mental illness

Growing presence of no win no fee lawyers

Policy terminations due to the ageing population and tough economy.

It is uncertain as to what lies ahead, which is concerning many of the big players.

High end advisers are being engaged to find solutions to these significant threats.

So what can be done quickly to minimise the impact of this situation?

The more progressive insurance companies we are talking with are seeking to address costly inefficiencies associated with the more complex claims processes such as income protection and TPD.

Through our engagements we are observing:

Transformation projects are underway to implement claims systems and other disruptive technologies to evolve

Claims processing need to speed up to cope with demand and address servicing of unnecessary claims

Inefficient paper based practices being replaced with solutions to streamline processes, focused on the end customer

Termination of policies could be addressed through improving communication and service to the customer.

If you're a progressive company who wants to ride ahead of the storm, feel free to contact us.

Keen to avoid manually processing forms every month?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 27 May 2013 05:54:00 +0000

A large Australian State Government Department urgently needed a solution to manage their casual overtime and travel expense claim forms, used frequently by their 1600 employees.

The Department implemented Revolve eForms.

The solution has enabled them to efficiently process hundreds of HR forms electronically each month.

Employees login to the system via their intranet and the eForms portal provides them with a fully branded interface for a seamless user experience.

Upon creation of a new form, fields are pre-populated with known data. The form is then automatically sent to their Managers’ dashboard for approval.

Our eForms solution supports customised notifications to employees and managers so that users are kept informed of the progress of an eForm/claim.

Completed forms data is exported and sent onto our clients’ system for further processing.

Additional benefits from moving to eforms include:

- Improving customer satisfaction

- Eliminating compliance risks

- Going green and reducing a company's carbon footprint; and

- Being innovative

The Department have been extremely happy with the results achieved by moving to eforms and intend to automate additional forms in the near future.

“Easy to use... it’s just what we needed. It’s brilliant!”

- Senior Manager, Large Government Department

5 ways to guarantee a successful onboarding project

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 02:34:00 +0000

1. Create a solid business case with clearly outlined cost savings and the return on investment (ROI) that electronic onboarding will deliver.

Affirm have an onboarding ROI calculator which we can use to help define all your manual onboarding costs and the potential savings (around 80% of you manual costs), which can be used to build your business case

2. Ensure Legal are comfortable with electronic signatures on contracts and that all employment contracts are up to date.

Complete this review process prior to starting your project to avoid any delays with getting started

3. Appoint Senior Management as project owners and educate them so they support a fully paperless solution, including electronic signatures

Educate Management that electronic signatures are legally acceptable
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is comfortable that our system is fully compliant and use HROnboard to approve their contracts, policies and Tax file declarations, all electronically.

4. Form your working groups early

Actively engage and gain buy-in with IT and Facilities Management and other service providers to discuss how everyone will benefit from the onboarding project
Involve marketing resources to ensure marketing messages andcorporate collateral as part of the onboarding process, are all in line with the company’s brand.

5. Audit your current onboarding processes and contracts

Use your onboarding project as a way to audit and streamline your onboarding processes, procedures, contracts, brochures and policies
Check that all HR policies are up to date for the business before moving online and that you have all the latest documents including the latest Fair Work statements. Appoint an owner of these artefacts to ensure they are kept up to date and compliant
Review all employment templates used and reduce these down to the core employments contracts necessary
Map out stakeholders and providers within the business and confirm if any are impacted by different work place agreements, regional contracts or health and safety regulations, and factor these into your contracts.

A little bit of planning upfront will ensure you are onboarding new hires in no time.

Contact us for any further information or to help you build your business case for electronic onboarding.

Legal guidance about electronic signatures on documents

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 00:41:00 +0000

Interview with Kent Davey, Principal of Technology law firm TechComm Legal

With so many of our clients interested in having forms and contracts approved electronically, we asked our Lawyer, Kent Davey from TechComm Legal about how Australian law views electronic signatures.

What is an electronic signature?

An electronic signature is a method used to identify a person and to indicate his or her approval of the information which he or she has communicated.

A person may electronically sign a document by simply typing his or her name into the document, inserting an electronic representation of his or her signature into the document (e.g. a picture or image of the person’s signature) or entering a PIN code.

However, whether or not the person will be legally bound by using an electronic signature in any of these forms will depend upon a number of factors which are considered below.

When can a person use an electronic signature?

Unless an exemption applies, Commonwealth and State electronic transactions laws permit a person to use an electronic signature where the person’s signature is required respectively under a Commonwealth or State law (e.g. taxation, superannuation or employment law).

However, if the signature is required to be given to a private sector or State entity then the entity must have consented to the person using an electronic signature.

Exemptions apply in respect of specified Commonwealth and State laws and legal requirements (e.g. wills and other testamentary instruments and personal service requirements) in respect of which a person is not able to use an electronic signature.

When will a person be legally bound by a contract entered into using an electronic signature?

A person will not be legally bound by an electronic signature unless the requirements of the applicable Commonwealth or State electronic transactions law are met.

Under Commonwealth and State electronic transactions laws a person will not be bound by an electronic signature unless:

* the electronic signature method used was either:

as reliable as appropriate for the purpose for which the electronic communication was communicated, in the light of all the circumstances, including any relevant agreement; or
proven to identify the person and to indicate his or her approval of the information which he or she has communicated; and

* if the electronic signature was required to be given to a Commonwealth entity – the electronic signature requirements of the Commonwealth entity were met; and

* if the electronic signature was required to be given to a private sector or State entity – the entity consented to the person using an electronic signature.

What records need to be kept when a person uses an electronic signature to enter into a contract?

An entity which consents to a person using an electronic signature should keep full details of the electronic signature method used and sufficient evidence to establish the person’s identity and that he or she approved the information which he or she communicated to the entity (e.g. a log of actions together with a record of the information communicated).

Please note that the above information is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice for any particular purpose. You should seek your own independent legal advice for your specific circumstances.

TechComm Legal

TechComm Legal provides highly specialised legal services in the converging areas of technology and communications law.

The company offers a wealth of knowledge and expertise gained from advising both private and public sector clients for more than 30 years in the areas of IT, telecommunications, intellectual property, e-commerce, privacy and commercial law.

10 compelling reasons to eliminate paper in your office

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 06:10:00 +0000

Paper based forms, documents and contracts consume space, are easily lost, and are resource inefficient.

It's time to "go green" and reduce your use of paper, and here is how.

1. Consult with everyone in the office to develop a team plan and goals for reducing paper usage in your office

2. Start tracking paper usage – consider a competition between offices and departments to reduce usage

3. Provide staff with dual monitors to give employees an incentive to keep things on their screen and increase productivity. This New York Times article confirms that adding an extra monitor increases productivity.

4. Enforce strict printing policies requiring double sided and/or 2 page layout printing for ‘temporary’ documents

5. Ensure your Sales and Marketing team email sales brochures to prospects, rather than produce printed copies

6. Onboard your new hires into your business electronically, using solutions like HROnboard

7. Re engineer your forms. There may be many forms within your business that could be constructed electronically to make it easier for people to complete them quickly. Consider using eforms throughout your business instead, such as Revolve

8. Store all source documents online eg email invoices and submit tax file forms to the Australian Taxation Office electronically

9. Put it on the computer: consider electronic faxing or scanning. This reduces paperwork in the office and allows deals to move in parallel.

10. Use recycled paper and shred paper for recycling – not really a reduction, but good for the environment.

In reducing paper, you will create a more efficient business, reduce wastage, and eliminate unnecessary costs. Too many compelling reasons not too....

Are eSignatures acceptable on my contracts or eforms?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:14:00 +0000

We use electronic signatures within HROnboard, and our other eforms solutions, and are often asked by clients “can I accept electronic signatures and electronic approvals on my contracts?”

We define an electronic signature, or eSignature, as the electronic process which signifies an approval/agreement to a contract, form, or policy which is presented in electronic format. Our clients such as the ATO and Brookfield Multiplex use our HROnboard solution and have elected to use eSignature solutions.

We have included electronic signatures within our technology for a number of reasons. Firstly, to create efficiencies with approval times. It’s much faster and convenient for someone to click a button onscreen, than route a document via courier or paper shuffle within an office, particularly if people are in disparate locations. Electronic signatures obviously save time and money, eliminating the need for paper, printing and courier charges. Finally, having signatures captured also ensures we eliminate risks of non compliance, with a full audit trail.

To build a high level confidence and assurance with our clients we authenticate the signer via mobile PIN technology. Additionally, we date & time stamp users eSignatures so that if proof of approval is ever required it is simple and easy to retrieve. This also adds significant efficiency when an audit takes place of employment contracts and company policies where individual proof of approval, acknowledgement or agreement is required.

Some of our clients have implemented a full online electronic approval system whilst others have implemented a partial electronic solution. With a partial electronic solution the company requires the person doing the approving to print, sign and then upload the signed copy into our system via scanning or faxing, so we have a combination of a signed form and an electronic date and time stamp of reloading.

eSignature within a contract or eform

One of the main hurdles that will impede a company with the implementation of a full electronic approval system is the organisation’s culture. There is no legal reason not to implement the more efficient electronic system, but if the culture is one of being conservative and slow to adopt new technology, then it may be difficult to gain the acceptance from senior management.

Disclaimer: You should discuss issues relating to the use of electronic signatures in your business with your own Legal and Compliance officers.

Join our September onboarding webinar

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:22:00 +0000

Learn how paperless onboarding cuts costs by 80%

Join us for a free 30 minute webinar on Tuesday 18th September, at 12:00pm.

Hear Bryan Ericson, Affirm Software’s CEO, discuss latest onboarding trends and show you how to:

Drastically reduce onboarding time, costs and improve productivity
Include electronic approvals of contracts, forms and policies online
Integrate onboarding software within your existing HRIS systems
Overcome non compliance risks

HROnboard^TM, used by the ATO, Brookfield and AMP converts paper based onboarding processes into an efficient, highly secure paperless onboarding solution. HROnboard includes dynamic employment contracts creation, electronic acceptances of contracts, policies and pre population of forms.

"It's amazing how fast we can get offers accepted now. It took only 20 minutes from the onboarding pack being sent, until it was all accepted online, including all reqired forms and approval to company policies" - Kristen Madigan, HR Manager, Brookfield.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Innovative Australian eforms technology firm, Affirm Software, Victorian small business of the year finalist

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:48:00 +0000

The Affirm Software team celebrated as Victorian small business finalist at the Telstra Australian business awards on Tuesday night.

After winning a contract to provide our eforms technology, Revolve, to AMP, more clients and partnerships have followed including Brookfield Multiplex, The Australian Taxation Office, NGA.NET and Navigo. It's thanks to these corporations for embracing Australian innovative technology that we are where we are today.

eforms provide measurable benefits by efficiently replacing paper based business processes, improving customer experiences with forms completion online, and significant cost reductions.

Our eforms technology does not require any new hardware or software, making implementation easy, quick and low cost. The more you use, the more you save.

Richard Power, Chairman and Affirm Founder had unwavering belief in the creation of an internet based solution to make the paperless office more realistic:

“It’s great to be involved in such a reputable awards program that recognises well run Australian companies. Our innovative technology was created here on Australian shores and is a tribute to the hard work of our staff and the customer-focused culture that we foster within the business.”

Being a finalist endorses the soundness of Affirm’s business strategy and vision, and is a credit to the focus, passion and dedication of the team and its Directors.

“We hope these awards will create awareness to other innovative Australian corporations who wrestle with high volumes of paper forms and contracts, to know there is Australian technology out there which can transform your operations. This recognition will also support our marketing initiatives of moving into the global marketplace”, stated Ericson.

MYOB were the sponsors of this award category at the Telstra business awards, held at Atlantic, in the Docklands.

Richard Power and Bryan Ericson collecting the award

Affirm girls enjoying some champagne

Affirm Software are a finalist in the Telstra Australian business awards

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 07:10:00 +0000

Local Melbourne based business, Affirm Software, is pleased to announce that it is a Victorian State finalist in the Telstra Australian Business Awards, MYOB Small Business category.

Bryan Ericson, Affirm’s CEO, stated "It’s great to be involved in such a reputable awards program that recognises well run Australian companies. Our innovative technology was created here on Australian shores and is a tribute to the hard work of our staff and the customer-focused culture that we foster within the business.This recognition will also support our marketing initiatives of moving into the global marketplace.”

Affirm Software started with the knowledge that many companies and industries wrestle with high volumes of paper based forms and contracts, and that demand existed for technology to efficiently manage these.

Some of the largest Australian corporations and Federal Government Departments are now successfully using Affirm Software’s eforms technology.

Since 1992, the Telstra Australian business awards have been recognising businesses for their hard work, commitment and of course, success. This prestigious and coveted awards program celebrates the country’s entrepreneurs and innovators behind these companies.

The Victorian winner will be announced on July 31^st at a gala dinner in Melbourne.

http://www.telstrabusinessawards.com/

Webinar - onboarding - end manual processing madness

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 06:29:00 +0000

Join us for a webinar on Wednesday June 20, 2012 12:00PM-1:00PM

Onboarding is moving from ‘manual paper-processing madness’ to an easy, speedy and flexible online solution.
“There are many well known pain points in the manual processing and onboarding of new staff that just shouldn’t exist. Here at Navigo we’ve got a solution with the potential to deliver 200% efficiency improvements to contribute to your bottom line, as well as restore your sanity!”

Join us in a 30 minute webinar, where we’ll show you how you can:

Significantly improve employee onboarding experiences
Accurately speed up the onboarding process
Reduce paper based processes
Minimise opportunities for re-keying errors
Restore your sanity
No-one should suffer the pain of poor Onboarding processes, whether they are new or existing staff. So register and join us for this event

Please register your interest with our Sales Partner Navigo at info@navigo.com.au.

Affirm's CEO to present at onboarding talent conference

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 01:35:00 +0000

If you are interested in "harnessing technology to streamline onboarding programs and dramatically enhancing ROI and the overall candidate experience", come and hear Bryan Ericson, Affirm's CEO, present at Tonkin's onboarding conference on the 16th-18th April at The Grace Hotel in Sydney. For more details: http://www.tonkincorporation.com/

NGA.NET integrates onboarding software

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 03:36:00 +0000

Republished by Shortlist

NGA.NET has partnered with Affirm Software Group to integrate its HR onboarding software into NGA's e-Recruit system.
An NGA spokesperson said the new software was available for all e-Recruit users with 1,000 or more employees and complex onboarding needs, and was currently being trialled by a Federal Government department.

Interview with CEO Bryan Ericson about the various motivations that drive electronic onboarding, costs and some of the key challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 04:28:00 +0000

Why did Affirm Software choose to develop an onboarding solution?

The onboarding process for many companies is still heavily paper based, slow and inefficient, prone to errors, and incredibly slow and frustrating for the new employee writing the same information over and over again. With very few secure electronic onboarding solutions in the marketplace, we were asked to build a solution for a major Australian Financial Institution.

Our development product Revolve specializes in building business solutions where there are many paper forms, requiring similar information to be written, and the forms needs to be passed between many different parties who are often based at different locations.

What do you think is the most innovative feature of the onboarding solution?

I have to say the way our system allows a HR colleague to dynamically assemble a tailored employment contract/letter of offer based on business rules, easily and quickly, and then distribute it to various people within the company for approval before making it available to the candidate, is very powerful.

What have you found to be the major driving factors for why a business would introduce electronic onboarding?

Whilst many businesses have similar reasons for implementing an electronic onboarding product, the priority order of these issues is wide and varied.

For example, for Professional Services industries such as an Accounting firm, a major factor is speed. When the process is slow and cumbersome, often your best and first choice candidate will have multiple offers and if a letter of offer is delayed by days and often weeks, companies may be forced to offer second and third choice candidates. The cost of this delay is immeasurable, but significant for businesses striving for excellence.

With Technology companies the image and culture is important and first impressions last. When a savvy, young switched-on candidate is faced with a cumbersome paper based onboarding experience, they can often challenge whether they have made the correct choice to join the business. Yet when they are welcomed with a highly efficient, user friendly internet based experience, their decision to join this business is reinforced as the correct one.

In Health Services, with the current shortage of skilled resources, they often find candidates are interviewed one day and start the next. The administration process of onboarding is often lagging behind the actual start date by many weeks, exposing the business to unnecessary legal and compliance risks. So speed for them is critical, not just for the employment contract execution but for the delivery and acceptance of critical business policies.

In Community based organizations such as churches, having a new candidate understand and agree to policies such as social media policies at the same time that they are accepting the Employment Contract is important.

All companies want to reduce the cost of onboarding administration but this is particularly important for Governments.

What is the cost of paper based onboarding solutions?

The cost of paper based onboarding varies by organisation, due to varied current business practices, but the costs to consider include labour administration/time, mistakes and errors, printing, mailing and courier costs, and lost productivity if a new starter’s environment is not set up on day one. These costs alone definitely exceed $500 per new employee and more likely exceed $1,000 per employee.

Actual costs don’t factor in improved employee retention and job satisfaction and productivity based on the onboarding experience, in addition to the costs of rehiring/retraining new employees when people leave.

What is the greatest challenge an organisation will face in introducing a business solution like HROnboard?

Our solution is fully electronic and completely eliminates paper and the need for signing documents. What I have found is this is a cultural challenge, not a legal issue. Many organizations that don't embrace change readily, often struggle with this move away from the use of signatures. It's usually one of the first questions I ask, "How do you think your organization will accept electronic approvals". If they are not confident, I know it will be difficult for them to gain approval.

What are some of the problems your electronic onboarding solution addresses?

We address many issues such as reducing a business process from often taking days/weeks to minutes/hours, significantly reducing administration cost by more than 500% and ensuring all new employees have read and agreed to company policies before starting with a firm.

But I have to say, I think the most important factor is that our solution allows the business to be ready to welcome the new employee with all the logistical business requirements set up for them to start their new role on day one. I have heard many horror stories about new employees arriving on their first day and no-one knows who they are. They have nowhere to sit, no computer and none of the facilities like desk or chair, etc to do their job.

Statistics have proven they people who have a poor experience in their early stage of engagement often will not stay long. Our solution will electronically inform all relevant parties of the new employees start date and integrate with the various Departments to arrange all aspects of the new employee’s working requirements, including an induction checklist for the Hiring Manager.

Does your system integrate with other HRIS systems?

Yes, we have already successfully integrated with NGA.NET's eRecruit software and our system data output is available for straight through processing into systems such as Payroll, as long as they have Application Program Interfaces (API) available.

NGA.NET and Affirm Software partner to provide integrated onboarding solution to market

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:24:00 +0000

NGA.NET has formed a strategic alliance with Affirm Software (Affirm) to provide innovative onboarding solutions to complement their existing recruitment and performance management software.

Donna Costello, NGA.NET’s Product Director commented “Affirm’s sophisticated onboarding system complements our eRecruit solution. As Affirm specialises in eforms, they are a strong partner to deliver a truly unique onboarding system, tailored to customer’s specific onboarding needs, particularly in the letter of offer phase.”

Both systems use a Software as a Service (SaaS) hosted internet model, and seamlessly integrated to ensure an effortless user experience. As customers don’t need to install any software or hardware, implementation times are reduced.

Both businesses also understand HR challenges with paper based and highly administrative processes, and the integrated solution provides huge efficiency gains, time and cost savings to recruit, retain and develop candidates.

Bryan Ericson, Affirm CEO added “Client’s are increasingly looking for an integrated offering, so our solutions and synergistic partnership brings us one step closer to providing a truly integrated end to end solution into a complementary customer base.”

Top 10 best/worst onboarding war stories as submitted via Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:41:00 +0000

Thank you for sharing your best and worst onboarding stories via Twitter. Below are the Top 5 onboarding stories, as submitted by you.

#5 – When I arrived, there a welcome banner on my pc for my first day, and then the whole team went out to lunch. I got a great feeling about the company and felt very valued and welcomed.

#4 - Three days into my new job, my company was acquired by another company. 5 days in, I was told I had to reapply for my job.

#3 - Went to work on my first day and as I opened the door, fell on my face and spilt coffee all over my boss. Very embarrassed!

#2 - Arrived Day 1 in suit and tie and everyone else in casual dress. What a dork. Thx 4 letting me know the dress code.

The winning entry by James Caldwell @cluemark: #1 - I joined a new start up project and before my contract start date I was given a welcome basket of goodies (nuts, chocolates,booze, etc.)..the value of which was deducted from my first pay(: Congratulations to James who wins a double-pass to Village Gold Class cinemas.

The process of onboarding a candidate can be frustrating for new employees, prone to error and involve lengthy delays to complete. It shouldn’t be like that. Getting the simple things right is often the best onboarding experience. Some simple tips:

Ensure selected candidates receive paperwork, policy manuals and all forms efficiently online before starting, and as fast as possible to avoid them accepting another offer.
On Day one, ensure the computer is set up with access to relevant system directories, payroll have the new candidate logged into their system, business cards ordered, phones set up and the induction program very polished. A team lunch is also a great way to welcome the new team member.
Create actionable goals and expectations early
Debrief at the end of the onboarding period confirming that the new candidate is happy and settled in

Innovative HR Managers can onboard staff so easily using cutting edge HR technology to help them improve efficiencies and make things easier for their staff and candidates.

HROnboard by Affirm Software allows HR teams to customise letter of offers being sent to candidates, with dynamic data driven letter of offer clause inclusion and assembly enabling them to include any specific clauses or terms within individual letters of offer. It can then accommodate internal approvals, to ensure everything is approved online quickly.

The HR Manager can customise employment packs to include policy and procedures manuals, pre-populated eForms, orientation schedules, videos, benefits documents, FAQ’s – any customised material you want new staff to see. This removes all paper forms and approvals.

The employees review and approve their offer online via a personalised and secure employee portal. They receive notification of their offer via their mobile phone (requiring PIN ID verification for security purposes). The candidate enters details only once, which pre populates all eForms. This saves the new staff member considerable time rewriting the same information across multiple forms.

Once accepted, the system sends forms and documents to relevant departments, e.g. IT and payroll, for processing. This ensures that an employee’s workspace and material are all ready for their first day. If they have all the material prior to starting, and all (IT and payroll) systems ready for Day 1, they can become productive much faster and start to quickly contribute to an organisation.

Brave the Metrics Madness

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:10:00 +0000

Kyle Lagunas, HR Analyst at Software Advice where this article was originally published discusses metrics for on boarding ROI.

Business leaders are aggressively looking for strategies to increase their organization’s output while keeping staffing costs in check. HR metrics are a hot topic, as they have become the key to making the most of an organization’s people. Of all the potential strategies for maximizing ROI, an improved on boarding process is one area worth investing in. Why? Because ensuring the new talent you hire is prepared to succeed from day one is critical to engagement and productivity.

Some organizations spend valuable time and money acquiring new talent, only to have the on boarding experience be little more than a checklist of tasks to be completed in the first week. Orientation is limited to a tour of the employee’s immediate surroundings, training is reduced to “Holler if you need something,” and their workstation is semi-complete (the phone’s been ordered).

On the other hand, an employee that experiences a smoother onboarding process will be better trained, more connected to the organization and quicker to produce.

When determining ROI of the onboarding process, you need metrics that will help you determine how efficiently new hires can come in and make an impact on their team and your organization. While some things are easy to measure (i.e. costs per employee, terminations at 90 days, total cost of new hires), other things are more difficult to assess – such as average time to proficiency or cultural fit of those who quit.

Establish a Baseline for Measuring Onboarding ROI

The biggest obstacle many HR departments must overcome is working with company leadership to establish a baseline for how your organization will assess ROI. Not only can this be incredibly subjective, but it’s also time consuming. Unlike other company metrics, evaluating the true value of bringing on new employees and measuring their contribution to your organization is not always a straightforward process. Thus, the time spent with leadership establishing a baseline for measuring ROI is invaluable.

I recently spoke with Dave Wilkins, VP of Research at Taleo, about some best practices for enhancing the onboarding process and measuring ROI. Based on our conversation, there are a few key concepts to keep in mind when establishing your baseline to measure ROI:

Onboarding should be consistent. All of your fancy data gathering will be for naught unless you can roll out a universal process for onboarding new hires. According to Wilkins, “Rather than have something that's being done ad-hoc between different groups or divisions, you need a way to standardize the onboarding process.” At the small and medium-sized business level, the core ROI lies in having a solid onboarding process. Without it, HR professionals spend a lot of their time fighting fires.

The onboarding process is just that: a process. Though checklists are great for staying organized, your new hires’ success depends on your ability to get them connected to your organization and keep them connected beyond their first day. A little food for thought: According to Leadership IQ, 46 percent of new hires don’t last more than 18 months. “The assumption that we can bombard people with everything they need to know in 90 days and not continually reinforce those things is a mistake,” explained Wilkins.

The onboarding process is a lot like dating. Though the normal probationary period for new hires is 90 days, The Wynhurst Group reports 22 percent of staff turnover occurs in the first 45 days of employment. As you are getting a feel for your new hire’s potential within your organization, she’s sizing you up as well. So be sure she knows that your office door is always open, buy her lunch on her first day and let her know you’re committed to her success.

At the end of the day, your metrics will inform your ROI, but it’s up to you and your leadership to determine the true value of an improved onboarding process.

Brave the Metrics Madness

Once you have a grasp of what information will be most valuable to your organization, it’s time to strategically determine how to track it. While some of the data you measure won’t be cold, hard facts that fit nicely into a spreadsheet, there are still three key areas you can focus on that will provide you rich information: performance, experience and effectiveness.

Furthermore, I think it’s important to broaden your scope beyond your new hires to measure the impact they have on their teams, as well as the impact your organization sees as a whole. Here are a few ideas of what you can measure (as well as how frequently):

	Employee (30, 60, 90, 180, 360 days)	Team (Quarterly)	Organization (Semi-annually)
Performance	Progress Milestones	Change in overall productivity	Headcount vs output
Experience	Employee Satisfaction	Impact on team morale	Cultural fit vs retention
Effectiveness	New hire temp proficiency	New hire time to proficiency vs. team average	Impact on retention (both quits and terminations)

For Maximum ROI, Take Engagement Beyond Onboarding

The best metrics are not just FYI-this-is-going-to-be-archived-immediately reports. They should be forward-thinking analytics tools. According to Dr. John Sullivan at TLNT.com, “They tell you who’s going to win the Superbowl next year, not who won last year.” But let’s go one step further: Your metrics should provide the information you need to develop strategies to ensure you’re winning the Superbowl every year.

Your ROI is answering one question above all: What is the value of onboarding new employees more effectively?

Here’s a hint: the sooner they can begin making key contributions, the better. Take a look at your metrics and note improvements in employee performance, time to proficiency and increased retention. These are all major factors that will inform your organization’s answer to this question. And once you have this answer, move on to the next question: How can we maximize the value of a better-onboarded employee?

One way you can maximize this value is to keep the momentum going. “The hiring and onboarding process is really the start of the talent management conversation,” says Wilkins. “Engagement starts in the recruiting process, manifests itself in the onboarding process, and then continues on in how you motivate employees day to day.”

Many organizations leverage the tools and technology found in talent management systems to better manage the process of engaging and motivating their employees. Beyond core talent management functionality, these systems also offer reporting analytics and dashboard elements that provide the information you need to support your ROI analysis.

Regardless of the tools and metrics you have at your disposal, though, there isn’t one best practice for everyone to live by when measuring ROI. Rather, it comes down to having a clear conversation between HR and company leadership to determine the end result you’re going for.

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Effective on boarding of new staff well is intrinsically linked to staff satisfaction, retention and loyalty. Quick to implement and inexpensive, you can get your ROI back very quickly using Affirm Software's on boarding solution, HROnboard.

What do you think? What metrics do you evaluate in determining onboarding ROI? Leave your comments below.

Onboarding Strategies for Getting Seasonal Workers Up to Speed

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:13:00 +0000

Republished from Kyle Lagunas, HR Analyst at Software Advice

During peak periods - around the holidays, tax season or over the summer - it’s critical that businesses can easily manage the addition of temporary employees and quickly get them up to speed. And from recruiting and training to offboarding, seasonal employees can put your human resources software and processes to the test. Not only do you have to find and hire the right people, you have a very short time to train them and get them connected to your organization.

An effective, streamlined process for hiring and onboarding employees is essential to any organization’s success - especially those that rely on seasonal help. Here, I’ve outlined a few ways to go above and beyond your normal onboarding process to get seasonal employees geared up and ready to go.

Employee Integration: The Heart of Onboarding

According to F orbes Woman columnist and onboarding expert Emily Bennington, every employee in an organization should be integrated into the company on several levels - regardless of the length of employment. But because of the time constraints associated with onboarding seasonal workers, you’re going to need a concentrated game plan. How familiar with your products do they need to be to handle the register? Take a look at your existing onboarding process, and then adjust and condense it so you can achieve your optimal level of integration.

5 Key Factors of a Strong Seasonal Workforce

Some people may assume I’m focused on training when I say “onboarding,” but the fact is that the employee experience starts in the recruiting stage. With this in mind, here are a few key strategies to help you throughout every phase of the process:

Tailor your recruiting strategies. Your recruiting efforts should be tailored to meet the specific needs of a seasonal workforce. It’s important to make the details of the opportunity clear from the get-go. I would also be wary of how you communicate potential for further employment, as you don’t want folks making assumptions.

Perform due diligence. Don’t skimp on due diligence in collecting legal papers and monitoring employees’ schedules. “A lot of people short-circuit processes like verifying work eligibility or tracking hours correctly. It should go without saying, but you really need to be sure you’re following the law,” says John Rossheim, a senior contributing writer at Monster .com.

Provide proper training. According to Bennington, onboarding should focus on integrating new employees in three areas:

● Technical Skills: To what depth of expertise do seasonal employees need to be trained to perform their jobs?

● Company Culture: How thoroughly do seasonal hires need to understand company policies and values?

● Social Integration: In what ways can you connect seasonal employees to your organization so they feel like they are part of the team?

Furthermore, Rossheim suggests designing your seasonal workforce “to accomplish the task at hand, rather than haphazardly training everyone to do everything they may possibly have to do. Specialize rather than throwing everyone into the same bucket.”

Know your capacity upfront. Whether you have a general human resources management system or a hodgepodge of spreadsheets and checklists - it’s important to know your capacity. Can your back-office system efficiently handle an increased volume in applicants and new hires?

Make them part of the team. Seasonal employees can easily feel isolated if an onboarding program doesn’t successfully connect them to the organization. According to Eddie Baeb of Target Corportate Communications, Target is focused on engaging seasonal employees and making them feel just as valued as anyone else from day one. With nearly 40 percent (about 35,800) of seasonal team members joining as permanent employees last year after the holidays, they’ve got this down.

Offboarding Offers an Opportunity for Improvement

You may have discovered a few star performers you’d like to bring onto your team permanently. For the rest, though, Bennington says “there’s definitely an opportunity to establish brand ambassadors.” Offboarding provides a chance to make a lasting positive impression, while gaining insight into the worker’s experience.

Standard offboarding practices include surveying workers on their experience. Bennington suggests going beyond surveying, and having one-on-one exit interviews with select employees to get more candid responses.

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Kyle Lagunas is the HR Analyst at Software Advice. On the surface, it's his job to contribute to the ongoing conversation on all things HR. Beyond that, he makes sure his audience is keeping up with important trends and hot topics in the industry. Focused on offering a fresh take on points of interest in his market, he's not your typical HR guy.

Tweet your new employee war stories

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:34:00 +0000

Share your best/worst onboarding experience and WIN a double-pass to Village Gold class

Ever joined a company and been welcomed in such a way that was either so incredibly good or terribly bad? We want to hear it. Affirm Software are giving away a double-pass to Village Gold Class cinemas in return for sharing with us your best or worst experience as a brand new employee at a company.

Comment below with your story or interact with us via Twitter.

The stories we like will be re-tweeted and a winner chosen. To be eligible for the prize, you must use the hashtag #affirmcomp.

The competition will run until 5:00pm AEDST on Friday 16th December 2011. The winner will be announced via Twitter, so follow us to see if its you. Follow us via @affirmsoftware

Disclaimers: When tweeting your stories, it is highly recommended you change the names of people and companies to protect the innocent (and the guilty).

Streamlined onboarding proves winning approach

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:31:00 +0000

Republished by Key Media 1/11/11
The Australian HR Awards held in Sydney last Friday saw recognition of excellence within the industry – and at the cutting edge of implementing streamlined HR processes, Brookfield Multiplex took out the award for Best use of Technology.

Upon winning the award, Kristen Madigan, General Manager of HR at Brookfield Multiplex, said it was excellent to receive recognition for the contribution their team has made to their organisation.

Brookfield Multiplex was recognised for their successful implementation of a streamlined onboarding system, HROnboard by Affirm Software, and Madigan said the software has completely removed the manual processes common to the onboarding process.

Speaking to HC, Bryan Ericson, CEO Affirm Software Group, said surprisingly there are not a lot of onboarding solutions on the Australian market given that completing the process using software is just 10-20% of the cost of manually onboarding a candidate. Ericson said the key factor and point of difference was that their onboarding solution allows for complete flexibility, and the system can be adapted to the needs of individual companies.

The key benefits that have driven positive feedback included the quick turnaround of candidate approval, and the option of sms acceptance of employee contracts. Ericson also said, “We had one candidate complete the whole process within 20 mins. Normally that would take upwards of a week, and when you can turn the process around really quickly you’re obviously more likely to get your first choice candidate.”

EmployeeConnect sponsored the award, and Ari Kopoulos, national sales and marketing manager said it was refreshing to hear of organisations harnessing the available technology, and using it to derive real benefits and value.“You know we talk about [implementing new technologies], but to see it actually happening, is great to see,” Kopoulos said.- Stephanie Zillman -

Brookfield Multiplex and Affirm's onboarding software win "best use of technology" award at the Australian HR awards

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:06:00 +0000

Brookfield Multiplex, the leader in construction and development projects, has an innovative HR team who have embraced a fully paperless onboarding solution developed by Affirm Software. Brookfield’s use of this technology was recognised by winning the “best use of technology” award at the Annual HR awards on Friday night, October 28^th, 2011.

There were 22 nominees within this category, and four finalists who included Atlassian, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Logan City Council and Santos.

With a distributed workforce around Australia and the globe, the system has created huge efficiencies for the HR team to create customised letters of offer, issue policy documents and relevant corporate information and eForms to all new recruits and transferring staff quickly.

Once Brookfield develop their offer letter, all internal approvals are done electronically, and then the offer, policies and eForms are all issued via a candidate portal, which the candidate can view and accept legally, online. The system also includes mobile PIN validation for additional security.

Some of the key results that Brookfield Multiplex achieved through using Affirm’s onboarding technology have included:

- Reduction of over 85% in total cost per welcome pack

- 100 page new starter pack is now an entirely paperless process

- Achieved an ROI within 1 year

- Roles redesigned to avoid non redundant admin tasks and focus on value added tasks

- Streamlined and automated, consistent process to send personalised offers to employees

- Complete audit trail for employment online (SOX compliance if audited)

- Comprehensive tracking and reporting to manage IT and payroll and their KPI's for helping onboard new starters

- Enable a quick turnover time (including approvals and receiving offers - 10 days down to 20 minutes!) and reduced vacancy time per role.

Bryan Ericson, Affirm CEO added “Working with such a visionary and innovative company such as Brookfield Multiplex has made it easy to deliver significant efficiency gains in the area of onboarding and eForms.”

Affirm is thrilled that Brookfield’s implementation of their onboarding technology, HROnboard has received such a highly acclaimed HR award.

Revolve super - eforms software solutions for the superannuation

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:05:00 +0000

Affirm will be exhibiting at the Innovation and Technology:superannuation event in Sydney later this year. With such high volumes of paperwork and forms within this sector, Affirm's innovative eforms and contract management software allows forms to be pre populated, completely accurately and quickly, and stored compliantly online.

The event will discuss changes in the superannuation sector and promote technology solutions for the sector.

The event is to be held on 6 December 2011 at the Hilton in Sydney http://www.fst.net.au/Index.aspx

Affirm Software announced as finalist for Business3000 awards

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 03:50:00 +0000

ANNOUNCING THE 2011 FINALISTS FOR THE BUSINESS3000 AWARDS.

Business3000 would like to thank all the businesses who submitted a business entry kit for the awards for 2011.

The following businesses successfully met the awards criteria and are the finalists to win the 2011 awards, which will be announced at the Gala Luncheon on Thursday 13th October.

Affirm Software
Corporate Creative Directions
Doxa Youth Foundation
Enspire
Gewurzhaus
Hub Melbourne
Huddle
Illumination
Life Elements
m.a.d.woman
MBD Energy
Pozible
Victorian Youth Mentoring Service

Visit Affirm at the HR Technology Conference October 12

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:23:00 +0000

Affirm showcased it's web based onboarding software, HROnboard at AHRI's Technology conference in Melbourne on October 12th.

HROnboard has dynamic data driven letter of offer clause inclusion and assembly enabling HR Managers to include any specific clauses or terms within individual letters of offer. It can then accommodate internal approvals, to ensure everything is approved online quickly. Once the letter of offer is approved, the HR Manager can customise employment packs to include policy and procedures manuals, pre-populated eForms, orientation schedules, videos, benefits documents, FAQ’s – any customised material you want new staff to see.

The system then issues the pack to employees for their review and approval online via a personalised and secure employee portal. They receive notification of their offer via their mobile phone (requiring PIN ID verification for security purposes). The candidate enters details only once, which pre populates all eForms. This saves the new staff member considerable time rewriting the same information across multiple forms.Once accepted, the system sends forms and documents to relevant departments, e.g. IT and payroll, for processing. This ensures that an employee’s workspace and material are all ready for their first day.

One of our clients, Brookfield, has seen measurable benefits since implementing “HROnboard” including:

· A reduction of over 85% in the cost per welcome pack due to the lower mailing, printing and HR administration costs to create and distribute the employment offers

· Full compliance with delegated authority levels through the implementation of online electronic approvals, removing all paper forms and approvals

· Improved turnaround around time for new starters to receive their welcome pack, offer and policies.

Brookfield’s HR Manager, Kristen Madigan comments “It has been amazing how fast we can get offers accepted now. Last week, it took only 20 minutes from the time the letter of offer was issued, to the time it was accepted by the candidate, including collecting all required data and acceptance of company policies.”

Find out more about it: http://www.hrtech.ahri.com.au/