One of Scotland's largest local authorities set to transform people management

North Lanarkshire Council, one of Scotland’s largest local authorities, has announced a partnership that will radically improve its workforce management and be a key driver in its digital transformation strategy.

As part of a new seven-year agreement with HR, payroll and analytics expert MHR, North Lanarkshire will add cutting-edge functionality to extend the major efficiencies it already gains from its current use of MHR’s market-leading iTrent HR platform.

New capabilities will include the roll-out of self-service, enabling all employees, including teachers, cleaners, caterers, refuse collectors and the CEO, to manage a large proportion of their activities themselves, removing many laborious paper-based processes.

All data held about its 14,000-strong workforce will be stored in a secure central hub, bringing together disparate systems, to streamline people management and reduce time-consuming processes.

“This agreement with MHR is a central pillar in our digital transformation strategy, which aims to improve internal processes for the benefit of employees and the communities we serve,” said Jennifer Hardy, Employee Service Centre Manager.

“At North Lanarkshire, we always want technology that is engaging to use, brings new efficiencies and enhances levels of service. Having HR and payroll data available from a single source with such a great range of functionality will be a major gain for everyone. The goal is to create a ‘golden thread’ of employee data running across all aspects of our workforce as we look towards the future world of work and a digitally-savvy ‘new normal.’”

Five new iTrent modules will deliver greater efficiency for HR, and more fully engage the wide range of employees who serve the needs of the region’s 340,000 residents.

The HR Chatbot module is a digital assistant that will give North Lanarkshire employees fast answers to HR queries. It will enable them to complete tasks, such as requesting to book a holiday with their phones whenever they want, providing a better service to HR employees that requires less HR resource. 

Time and Attendance module can make life easier for employees and HR managers through simplified, faster management of time sheets, complex work patterns, time off in lieu (TOIL) and so on.

The Insight Builder module can deliver access to real-time data insights, trends and clear visualisations of HR and payroll information, empowering better decisions across the organisation on the basis of accurate and easily understood information. It enables managers, for example, to quickly drill down into the trends behind absence or recruitment, informing decisions to reduce bottlenecks.

The Case Management module will support North Lanarkshire HR managers to stay on top of every case lifecycle through a dashboard that brings together all the relevant information, provides secure access and the ability to action whatever is required from one screen.

Finally, the Employee Onboarding module will improve the whole onboarding process from start to finish. From the posting of the first job advert to interviews, provision of welcome packs, and the creation of training plans, Employee Onboarding helps organisations to build engaging relationships with new recruits from the start. This helps drive up retention rates through a more thorough process that makes people immediately feel part of the organisation.

Anton Roe, Chief Executive Officer at MHR, said: “North Lanarkshire employees are in the frontline of service-delivery, helping improve the lives of thousands of people. With this new seven-year contract and new iTrent modules, their HR department will have access to the best technology on the market, delivering significant efficiencies across the council that make life easier for each employee.”