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| Newsletter 1 Office of Personnel Policy April 3, 2000 |
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DOI To Modernize Personnel Data System
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The FHRIS Project, which is pronounced "Ferris" and stands for
Federal
Human
Resources Information
System, is a joint effort to
bring state-of-the-art human resources management information technology
to the U.S. Department of the Interior. The partners in this joint effort
are the Department of the Interior (Office of Personnel Policy and National
Business Center), ICRC, and the SAP Corporation.
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Table Of Contents
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In the early to mid 1990's the Federal government eliminated a large
number of personnel positions with the intent of improved personnel business
processes and automation. The Department of Interior (DOI) actually led
the way in reducing its personnel workforce.
Unfortunately, the reductions at DOI came without the automation used by private industry
and because of this personnel service to managers and employees was jeopardized.
At the time of the cutbacks, Interior was implementing the Federal Personnel Payroll
System (FPPS), a system designed to process payroll and pay-related personnel actions,
however, the functionality in FPPS did not improve all human resources business processes
across the Department. For almost 3 years, it has been the "vision" of the Office of Personnel
Policy to create a state-of-the-art HR system with improved functionality equal to that available
in the private sector. With that in mind, it started a strategic effort to identify the high-level
requirements of such a system and analyze potential vendors. The completion of FPPS in 1999 allowed
us to focus on the HR information technology needed to improve our business processes and
functionality. These improvements will mean faster and better HR service to all Interior employees - from
front-line workers to executives.
The Office of Human Resources, and its Office of Personnel Policy, are
the system "owners" of FPPS, and their vision is to improve HR services
through automation and technology. The National Business Center, and its
Products and Services Division in Denver, operate FPPS and will share co-responsibility
for other HR related automation initiatives within the Department. Jointly
they decided to seek partners in the commercial sector to obtain and implement
the HR information technology needed by DOI. After looking at numerous
products and potential contractors, an Alaskan Native owned corporation,
ICRC, submitted a proposal for a pilot program to implement SAP HR software
in DOI. While most Americans have heard more about other Federal HR software
providers, SAP is the largest producer and distributor of HR software in
the world. In the private sector, many of the country's largest companies
use SAP HR software. Until the FHRIS Project, however, SAP did not have
a federalized product. The FHRIS Project will allow the ICRC/SAP team to
demonstrate it can federalize parts of the SAP HR product. ICRC will serve
as the integrator for the project, helping to configure the SAP HR software
for DOI use.
What Exactly is a Pilot Project? The FHRIS Project involves a three phase pilot approach for determining the direction the Department will commit to for human resources information system support in the future. Phase I (Three months) - The first phase of the pilot project involves conducting a "gap analysis" of SAP functionality and federal requirements. While SAP is the world leader in human resources software, it has never been utilized in the United States at the Federal level. The gap analysis involves determining what things are necessary and unique to Federal human resources management that must be programmed into the system to make it work properly (and legally) for Interior and its clients. This means identifying requirements like veterans preference, Reduction-In-Force procedures, and the federal classification system (GS, WG, SES, etc.) that aren't utilized in the private sector, but are necessary to Federal agency personnel operations. This gap analysis, and the resulting requirements documentation, will allow SAP to program Federal needs into its system for use by Interior and other federal clients. Phase II (Two months) - Through an initial analysis of the SAP HR product, it was determined that many of the human resources processes are very similar in both private industry and the Federal government. Therefore, Phase II of the pilot project will involve configuring the SAP software for use in three specific areas of functionality: recruitment (including applicant tracking); skills bank (allowing for the comparison of employees and applicants against position requirements used for staffing, training and workforce planning); and employee development and training (career counseling, development of individual development plans, and the automated registration of employees for training). Configuration of the system in these three areas will allow Interior to test the software to demonstrate the products capabilities. Phase III (One month) - After the SAP software is configured for recruitment, skills bank, and employee development and training, pilot sites in Interior bureaus will test the software for approximately one month. This test will allow the Department to determine how well the software performs, what impact improved business processes have on personnel office operations, and an estimate of the costs associated with implementing and operating the entire SAP human resources software platform (in its federalized format) department- wide. After the pilot project is complete a decision will be made by Senior
Leaders from across the Department and its Bureaus on whether to begin
a full implementation, and if so, how to fund it.
To ensure the SAP software works for everyone in the Department, a Project
Team has been put together consisting of Personnelists and EEO Specialists
from the Bureaus. The team members, with varying experience and backgrounds,
are analyzing the entire SAP HR software package to make sure Federal and
departmental requirements are met.
The FHRIS Project team will be communicating with all stakeholders in the human resources management process (executives, line-managers, personnelists, EEO officials, employees and labor unions) throughout the project. In addition to these periodic newsletters, the team will make presentations at the DOI Human Resources Management Conference in New Orleans (May 30 - June 2, 2000), and is available to make presentations to DOI bureaus and personnel offices. You can also obtain information on the project and project partners from several informative web sites. These sites are:
The FHRIS Project is like a dream come true! Since the personnel office
cuts of the mid 1990's, the entire human resources management community
has been looking for ways to improve customer service - even with a reduced
workforce. The FHRIS Project represents our best chance to do just that.
All of us on the project team are excited about the almost limitless possibilities
offered by the SAP HR software. Couple this with a stellar group of DOI
human resource professionals and top-notch contractor support and we have
all the ingredients for another DOI Home Run. Thank you for your interest
in this important project and we hope you continue to follow the FHRIS
Project.
Dave Anderson
ICRC is excited and proud to be a part of the U.S. Department of the
Interior's FHRIS Project. The Department's commitment from the leadership
and staff will enable the team to develop HR software that will be a model for the
entire government. This project represents a tremendous opportunity for
ICRC to expand its information technology services while helping Interior
test and implement SAP's world-class HR software. We are committed to ensuring
SAP's HR software provides all the HR functional support Interior needs
as it enters the 21st century.
Don Iffland
I believe that DOI finds itself in a very exciting and important position.
They have the opportunity to influence the direction that SAP will take
in the development of the Federalized Human Resource Management System.
Our development staff will use the input that DOI provides to SAP during
this six-month endeavor in the development of the SAP Federal HRMS off-the-shelf
baseline application. I am very excited for the opportunity to be involved
with such an important project as FHRIS. I am impressed with the quality
of DOI Project Team members and subject matter experts that have been provided
by the DOI Executive Sponsors. SAP and the Partner consultants have already
built a strong bond and professional working relationship with DOI. I am
also impressed with the commitment and vision that the Executive Sponsors
have given to FHRIS. Finally, we at SAP have a concept, which we call Team
SAP. Team SAP means "Total commitment by SAP, the Partners and DOI to the
overall success of the DOI FHRIS Project."
Nelson Velez Jr.
Have a suggestion for a newsletter article, or a question or suggestion
for the project team, please do not hesitate to contact us at:
U.S. Department of the Interior Phone (202) 219-0624
dave_anderson@os.doi.gov
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