Technology brings employees the Hartford Experience: Shelly Bancroft is leading a massive technology overhaul at the insurance giant

Workforce, April, 2003 by Maryann Hammers

The way Shelly Bancroft sees it, human resources and company success are inextricably linked--and technology is the glue binding the two. As assistant vice president of human resources information systems at the Hartford, Bancroft is responsible for the human resources department's automation strategy. She is now heading up a massive three-year technology initiative to consolidate and bring online the company's various HR systems.

Known internally as "e-HR," the initiative, which is based on human capital management applications made by PeopleSoft, is expected to boost productivity and efficiency, and, over the long term, reduce costs. But Bancroft's overriding goal is to align the Hartford's human capital with the company's key business objectives, while shifting the human resources department from an administrative to a strategic role.

The original impetus for the initiative was a branding strategy called The Hartford Experience, which refers to the $15.1 billion financial service and insurance company's promise to provide solutions to problems, make it easy for customers to conduct business, and deliver superior service. It makes sense that employees will be more likely to deliver that kind of positive experience to customers if their own encounters with the company are equally glowing. With that in mind, the human resources department sought ways to extend the Hartford Experience to its 27,000 workers.

Bancroft saw technology as key to achieving that goal. "Our employees' experiences with HR transactions should reinforce the message that we want to deliver to our external customers," she says. "Through technology, we can maximize each employee's contribution and strengthen their Hartford experience, so they'll be in a better position to serve customers."

A veteran of both human resources and technology, Bancroft has been with the Hartford for 20 years and in her current position for six. She started out in information technology and business analysis, and over the course of her career has developed computer applications and managed IT departments and information centers. She moved to human resources in 1989, during a time when HR technology tended to revolve around ad hoc reporting, program development, and technical work.

Today the field of HRMS--and Bancroft's role in it--is far more comprehensive and vital. And as the human resources department becomes a strategic player, Bancroft faces the challenge of developing systems that support the Hartford's mission and brand.

The e-HR initiative, which has been under way for about 18 months and is halfway complete, includes upgrading HR information systems from a manual to a Web-based operation; developing a new hardware infrastructure to support the upgraded systems; implementing customized functions aimed at managers; constructing a data warehouse; and using analytic tools to measure HR functions such as staffing, compensation, talent management, and training.

Rolling out a comprehensive array of employee and manager self-service capabilities was the first step, which is mostly complete. Now workers have quick, easy access to their employment, personnel, and benefit information. They can update their personal data, view their compensation history, refer friends to jobs, apply for open positions within the company, complete a profile of their skills, and automatically receive e-mail alerts of job openings that match their profile.

Managers also can maintain correct listings of employees who report to them; change reporting relationships; view their employees' compensation history; manage and plan employees' total compensation, including salary, bonuses, and incentives; create requisitions for new positions; and submit compensation changes--all from the desktop.

"Just look at what it takes to process an address change in the old world versus the Web world," Bancroft says. "In the past, it was time-consuming for employees to make an address-change request. Now they have it at their fingertips. They just click on a link and make the change."

Such applications can save not only time and frustration but money as well, according to a PeopleSoft return-on-investment calculator that compares costs of business processes before and after deployment of self-service applications. "Most organizations see a 50 to 75 percent reduction in transaction costs," says Jason Averbook, director of global product marketing for HCM at PeopleSoft. "For example, each call on a typical help desk costs around $30. But using a Web-based self-service system, each transaction costs around 10 cents."

Self-service applications lead to fewer errors, more accurate data, and quicker access to information. "Instead of having just HR responsible, now the whole workforce is interacting with business processes in real time," Averbook says. "Employees have access to the information they need when they need it."

But despite the convenience, transitioning from a manual to an online way of doing business is a "tremendous culture shift," Bancroft says. "Change management was our biggest challenge." To introduce the new capabilities to employees, the Hartford offered training programs, including "employee expos," during which the HR staff demonstrated the new applications. "We wanted to make people comfortable with the change and get them excited about it, so we showed how it will directly benefit them," Bancroft says. "That went a long way in ensuring our success."