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Integrating On-Demand HR Communications with PeopleSoft Self-Service at
State of Montana


	An Enwisen Customer Success Story

Transforming the Employee Self-Service Experience

The State of Montana Personnel Division selected Enwisen’s AnswerSource Workforce Communications suite to provide its nearly 13,000 employees and 6,000 retirees with critical decision support tools, and the convenience to complete work/life events from work or home. By integrating Enwisen with their PeopleSoft 8.9 HCM, eBenefits and ESS, a true self-service model was created. Since the roll-out of these solutions on the State’s new SOMEInfo portal (State of Montana Employee), employee satisfaction ratings of the self-service model are already at 99.8%, and the first all electronic Open Enrollment is a measurable success with a near 90% transition away from paper submissions.

About State of Montana Personnel Division

The State of Montana's Personnel Division and Health Care and Benefits provides benefit coverage and HR programs for more than 35,000 lives, representing almost 19,000 state employees and retirees. HR programs provided by the Personnel Division are designed to support State Agencies in attracting, developing, and retaining a productive workforce - and therefore establishing the State of Montana as an employer of choice.

The Challenge

“Given the State’s sizable employee base, we wanted to create a human resource portal that would have the efficiency of complete self-service but also be personalized for every employee,” said Randy Morris, Administrator of the State Personnel Division and the portal project leader. A content management system through an online portal was the answer – as long as two additional challenges could be met:

Satisfy state law requirements to provide public access to the information portal, but protect sensitive employee data.
Integrate with its PeopleSoft HCM and employee/benefits self-service solutions as it prepared for an upgrade from PeopleSoft 8.3 to 8.9.

“After the new self-service
model was deployed, we conducted
an employee survey, which showed a 99.8%
employees satisfaction rate with the new
self-service solution and online experience.
And that, for us, is the most important
indicator of a successful project.”

Randy Morris
State Personnel Office
Portal Project Leader

The Solution – AnswerSource

The State enlisted a third-party vendor to establish a comprehensive list of criteria for a formal Request for Proposal (RFP). Out of the 17 responses received, only 3 met the minimum requirements and ultimately, Enwisen’s AnswerSource was selected.

Enwisen’s status as a preferred communications partner by Oracle/PeopleSoft was key to selection, as were AnswerSource’s many rich features.

Rich Features Leading to Selection of AnswerSource

Comprehensive “hire-to-retire” content
Innovative benefits decision support tools
Personalization features
On-demand Software-as-a-Service platform
Cost-effectiveness
Strong references by its existing customer base

“AnswerSource was rolled out in just months, and was integrated fully with the PeopleSoft 8.9 employee and benefits self-service modules for a ‘content-in-context’ self-service model,” Morris said. The aptly named SOMEInfo site was launched for public access. And per state law requirement, the site provides visibility to the public of the content available through AnswerSource, but not sensitive employee data residing in PeopleSoft.

The Results

Within one week of launching SOMEInfo, 25% of all employees had already been online extensively searching and using the site. The site content provides employees with an abundance of searchable decision support tools, while the aggregate, yet still-confidential search data gives the Personnel Division greater intelligence about their workforce to better serve them.

Ability to monitor workforce shifts or trends

The heavy search activity visible to management enables them to monitor trends and to focus on those topics that are important to their employees. “For example,” said Morris, “search activity on Emergency Leave coincided with forest fires in the region, suggesting that many employees were interested in volunteering to help or had been personally affected by the fires. Another high search item – “Having a Baby” under the life event section – may indicate that the state would expect to see a surge in births and maternity leaves in the coming months.” Morris noted that the monitoring capability only provides general search statistics and does not allow the employer to track an employee’s specific navigation activity, protecting employee privacy.

Reduced paper transactions by 87%

The first Open Enrollment rolled out with the integrated benefits decision support and eBenefits enrollment resulted in a significant reduction in manual transactions (the enrollment period was still in progress as of the writing of this case study). Through the portal, employees can search, compare and evaluate benefit plans that best meet their work/life requirements. Employees armed with a high level of decision support are more confident about their choices and therefore more likely to complete self-service transactions online. A true self-service model frees personnel from laborious manual transactions – yielding both time and cost savings to the State. Most important, it increases employee satisfaction with – and adoption of – health plans.

Goal exceeded

The Personnel Division had set a goal to educate its employees about the benefits of its managed health care plan and to convert more of its employees to it from their traditional insurance plan. The AnswerSource comparison and calculator tools allowed employees to model their personal financial and medical information to make the best choice of plans, and resulted in a 9.4% conversion by employees. As this trend continues throughout the current and future enrollment periods – and through new hire elections – the State expects to achieve healthcare cost containment for the State and its employees.

99.8% employee satisfaction

Of course, no technology solution is successful unless employees find it easy to use. “After the new self-service model was deployed, we conducted an employee survey, which showed that 99.8% of employees were satisfied with the new self-service solution and online experience. And that, for us, is the most important indicator of a successful project,” concluded Morris.

For More Information

www.enwisen.com
(800) 685-5578x240

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