As part of Prince Sultan University goal to reduce paperwork, Human Resources Department Implements Modern System to Manage Operations

Prepared by: Mushrif Al-Mahanna

The Human Resources department at the university is considered a critical division, just like in any other organization. This department is responsible for many different functions, including raising the workforce’s performance, recruiting scientific and technical expertise, in addition to developing and implementing policies, systems and regulations for employees.

The HR department serves all of the university’s staff, putting in place formal policies and procedures for both faculty and administration employees. The department also provides advice and assistance to other departments in the university.

The HR department, which is led by Mr. Abdul-Aziz Al Obaid, continuously works to advance the department in order to stay up-to-date when it comes to the latest HR systems and technology which involves adopting technical systems to help the university achieve its vision and mission.

Comprehensive Systems Development

As part of this commitment to develop HR systems at the university, the department recently signed a collaboration agreement with MenaITech, a company which was founded in 2003 by a group of highly-experienced human capital management and information technology professionals for both the public and private sectors, to provide state-of-the-art systems in this field. MenaITech’s human capital management systems provide the latest technology that are compliant with local laws and regulations to assist various divisions in applying HR functions in the best possible way. These systems cover recruitment, training and development, evaluation and planning. In addition, the agreement also covers other secondary HR systems to support the primary HR platform.

The Head of HR, Mr. Abdul-Aziz Al Obaid, made a statement to our newspaper: “This step is in line with the digital transformation process that we are witnessing; technology has affected all aspects of our lives, including how we approach human resources management.” He added that the HR sector has benefited from this development as well, especially in the field of recruitment, research, job applications, and the selection of qualified personnel. He said that MenaITech was appointed to implement the new HR management system in the university to meet its evolving needs and its future vision which seeks to eliminate ‘paperwork’ and apply best HR management practices across a variety of disciplines.

Al Obaid added that the new system, which took around 70 days to be fully implemented and for the staff to be trained on using it, involved daily meetings and follow-ups to provide the best possible results, including several secondary HR systems. The primary systems include: Human resources information management system (MenaHR®), payroll & personnel solution  (ManaPay®), employee and manager self-service (MenaME®), multi-dimensional analytics and metrics dashboard (MenaExplorer®), and time attendance management system (MenaTA®). In the near future, workshops will be held for all employees to familiarize them with the services provided by the above-mentioned systems.

Special Services

*MenaHR® System

MenaHR® is a comprehensive Human Resources information management system designed based on the latest HR functional requirements and collaboration concepts. It helps Human Resources departments and HR professionals achieve many of their goals of improved efficiency, employee and managerial productivity, training and growth, controlled HR costs and increased employee satisfaction.

MenaHR® allows organizations to share information effectively using employee self-services, furthermore reducing data entry and increasing accuracy by capturing data at the source, allowing HR professionals to work smarter, faster, and more efficiently to manage every aspect of the organization’s most important business asset – the employee.

MenaHR®’s comprehensive and rich features cater to the latest HR practices and functions necessary today in successful organizations operating in the MENA region. Organizations can easily identify all the facts, figures and the presentation of the system’s value to an organization, making the selection process of your HR very simple.

*MenaPay® System

MenaPay® allows organizations to manage their payroll in various countries with separate payroll requirements, applying their local tax systems and rules. Organizations can administer their payroll solution across all geographies from one central location with a single server installation. The system facilitates administration by implementing changes across the organization from one single point saving both time and money. MenaPay® can be operated using an ASP shared services model.

MenaPay® System’s Technical Specs

• Multiple languages
• Define departments and sections by user
• Define the work policies by user (deductions and different working mechanisms)
• Issuing all governmental reports
• Detailed statistical study of all employees
• View financial statements of employees
• View emergency contact-person information for staff
• View staff hierarchy in the organization
• View staff skills and linking them to a training system
• View qualifications and education of staff
• Management and archiving of employee documents

Managing bonuses and deductions

• Defining various bonuses and calculation methods
• Defining different deductions and calculation methods
• Transaction Management
• Overview of staff transactions (overtime, exit time, vacations, loans, increments)
• Complete integration of financial and administrative services
• Processing more than one type of end of service benefits
• Completing of staff transactions directly by calculating employee’s working hours

*MenaME® System

Advantages of this system:

• Efficiency: Reduces the burden of manually entering data by HR staff. Now employees can enter and update their own information electronically (details, benefits, training, etc.…) instead of filling out a paper form to be manually updated through HR.
• Convenience: Employees can get an immediate access to their information at any time and anywhere as long as an internet connection is available.
• Data Accuracy: Employees can fill in their own details through a computer eliminating illegible handwriting. Now users take the responsibility of maintaining correct and accurate data.
• Productivity: Employees don’t need to call the HR department to inform them about leaves or ask about their benefits anymore. Answers to all employee-related questions would be streamlined, saving employees’ time and giving HR employees e more time to focus on big-picture tasks.

*MenaExplorer® System

MenaExplorer® is a powerful multi-dimensional analytics and metrics dashboard that gives you a bird’s eye view of your organization’s effectiveness and performance across a wide spectrum of indicators. The dashboard gives an accurate and real-time data to help make better and more accurate decisions.

MenaExplorer®, with its powerful human capital analytics module and HR metrics capabilities, provides graphical reports and key metrics for through a user-friendly dashboard. Users can easily analyze trends and make strategic decisions that impact the efficiency and profitability of their organization.

*MenaTA® Time keeping management & Attendance system

MenaTA helps organizations manage their workforce and track employees’ time and attendance in an easier, more efficient and affordable way. MenaTA, a user-friendly interface that reduces time needed to process employees’ time and attendance and automatically calculates total worked hours including overtime, vacations, sick leaves and holidays.

With a single click, all employees’ data can be viewed in addition to full staff attendance reports.

Al Obaid ended his speech by thanking the team members and they are: Hanaa Sultan, Ibrahim Talib, Saad Al-Mawlid, Noura Al-Saif, Khalid Al-Meteuwa, Fahad Al-Goleyqa, AbdAlmalek Al-Sahim, Abdullah Al-Hashil, Mohammed Al-Saadon, Omar Sofi, Sahar Al-Aqeel, Areej Al-Hamed, Aseel Al-Heneeti, Huda Al-Yamani, Dana Sejeeni and Roaa Al-Otebi.