Case study

Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) employ a civilian workforce of 12,000 working in the procurement and supplies area of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) – buying all the equipment and services that the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force need to operate effectively.

Workpro is used to manage HR casework for this large workforce. A rapid deployment (within 6 weeks of approval) was required and achieved using the UK Government G-Cloud procurement route.

Confidence in the HR case management process has increased. Users and managers have a much clearer picture of what needs done next, by whom. Reporting is easier and richer.

Using G-Cloud saved time for DE&S. Transparent pricing and service descriptions allowed them to quickly shortlist suitable suppliers, while pre-agreed terms and conditions offered contractual safeguards.

G-Cloud is a framework for cloud hosted software and support services, which can be used by organisations across the UK public sector. The framework is managed by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) who carefully evaluate suppliers during the tender process.

DE&S were operating to tight timescales. They needed a ‘ready to go’ HR case management system but also to adapt elements to their ways of working. Workpro stood out in two ways – the number of case types pre-configured into the system and the ability to customise.

Delivery timescales were met using a phased approach. The standard Workpro HR system was deployed in phase one, with minor adjustments for DE&S specific security settings and KPIs. The HR team were able to start recording live cases on the target date, 1st April 2017.

A subsequent phase planned further customisations. However, after using the “out of the box” system successfully for a year, DE&S have found the amount of customisation required is much less than originally anticipated - tweaks to their terminology and processes only.

The DE&S HR team now have one system for all HR case activity, eliminating duplication of effort and greatly reducing the administrative burden. Saving time and therefore cost.

Confidence is greater that cases are being handled consistently. Templates ensure standardised correspondence is issued promptly. Tasks remind users when actions are due. Various alerts and case views highlight any deadlines that are approaching.

DE&S now have access to management information on HR casework, that previously would have been difficult and time consuming to access and collate – or just not available. The Workpro system enables reports to be easily produced:

• Data is collected and categorised throughout the workflow.
• Standard reports are automatically generated.
• Ad-hoc reports can be created at any time.
• Trends and root causes can be identified and analysed for remedial or preventative action.