People and Culture identified the need to move all of our staff files onto an electronic solution to improve efficiency, security and accuracy. Work was undertaken to procure an Electronic Document Management system, the system selected was Onbase. The scope of the project was widened to include other business activity. This included, appointment forms, automatic creation of files, electronic workflow and approvals. The key benefits of having an electronic document management system are:
The project and benefits were broken down into three key phases:
This phase was launched in 2021, the links to launch the new appointment forms and user guides can be found below. People and Culture will no longer accept the old PDF appointment forms, but we will work with you to support you in using the new Onbase forms. Targeted notifications was sent to user groups with further details on how to access the forms and support available.
As part of our continuing support for People and Culture related processes, we are offering drop-in support sessions for any member of staff who regularly uses and submits Onbase appointment forms.
This is an opportunity for you to come along and ask us about any questions you may have – how the appointment forms work, right to work checks, entering working patterns or the process of issuing contracts and payroll forms.
No questions are off limits, and we are here to support you so please see full information below and feel free to share this with anyone you think may find them useful:
There are none currently for phase 1.
Phase 2 has taken the paper based academic agreements and moved them to an electronic format, the forms utilise information we already hold about the individual and take the draft form through the process, gaining approval at each stage until it is submitted to ASC. The form builds over each stage in the process, allowing targets to be updated at each stage before submission for the final stage of achieving permanency. The form also can be added to creating one seamless document that will support the permanency and any promotion application without the need to duplicate data. There is no change to the process or content of the agreements, just a move to an online process.
Phase 2 captures information from within iTrent and the Research Information System to ensure that information held in one University system can be used where required in other systems. The system holds the key individuals that will support the academic in completing the agreement and achieving permanency.
The annual review process will also move to an online process, allowing the link between other systems to pre-populate key data allowing those who are completing the form to focus on the content.
Onbase uses key information currently held within iTrent, and the committee information, to ensure the information is passed directly to the decision makers in the process and notifications are provided to each stakeholder throughout the process.
This phase of the project has had a soft launch over the last few months; we now have agreements at each stage of the process. We have been working with individual academics and HODs to move this these forward. A separate page for Onbase, alongside the supporting documents and guidance for P2P, will be available with user guides and support for each group that are accessing the system in this phase.
Annual review submissions are to be developed for launch by the new academic year.
We are working on feedback from users and the items in development are currently:
In phase 3 managers will be able to launch pre-populated leaver and change forms via People Manager to inform People and Culture of any changes to the contract or to notify People and Culture of any staff who are leaving the University. Working in the same principle as the appointment forms, managers will be notified of when these changes are processed.
Phase 3 will be available for the start of the new academic year.
This page will be updated as we continue to work with the system and listen to feedback from users. There are a number of places you can go for support or for an update on the project please refer back to this page.
If you need help with completing an appointment form, please contact either resourcing@essex.ac.uk or staffing@essex.ac.uk
If you require any assistance with P2P in Phase 2, or have any general issues or queries, please contact onbase@essex.ac.uk