The Client

The Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Human Resource Services Division (HRSD) provides policy direction, coordination and support for human resource functions for Oregon state government including Classification and Compensation, Human Resource Management and Consultation, Human Resource Systems, Labor Relations, Statewide Recruitment, and Training. In this role, DAS HRSD administers the human resources system for all Oregon State agencies¹ and strives to provide excellent service to the executive and legislative branches, as well as all Oregon State employees.

The Challenge

The existing human resources, applicant tracking, and position management systems were installed a number of years ago and are difficult to maintain and upgrade. DAS HRSD wanted to implement a new, integrated human resource information system that would provide enhanced capabilities such as manager and employee self-service and a much more flexible reporting environment. DAS also wanted a system that would be much more scalable, maintainable, and upgradeable in order to serve the state for years to come. DMG was asked to assist DAS in defining the requirements for a new commercial-off-the-shelf statewide human resource information system (HRIS), estimating the cost to implement the proposed system, identifying and documenting anticipated benefits from the new system, and assessing potential project risks.

The Solution

DMG conducted a series of tasks to plan for a new HRIS:

• Defined Goals & Objectives – We conducted interviews with approximately twenty State of Oregon departments and/or agencies to identify critical business needs, opportunities for improvement, issues with the current systems, and to gather other input from key stakeholders.
• Identified Process Improvement Opportunities – We worked with the DAS HRSD core team to identify “as-is” processes; held several workshops with HR staff from a cross-section of State agencies to validate and document these processes, and then documented and presented the “could-be” processes enabled by new technology.
• Defined Requirements – We worked with human resources and technical staff to define detailed functional and technical requirements to be included in a planned future RFP; for a new system.
• Cost/Benefit Analysis and Business Case Report - We evaluated several alternative implementation approaches for the new system, analyzed the benefits and costs of implementing a new HRIS, developed a cost model, and wrote a business case providing recommendations for implementation and funding.

The Results

The DAS HRSD team continues to strive for process improvement and uses the process documentation as a tool to facilitate interagency process reengineering.

DAS will submit a funding request for a new HRIS for the 2009-2011 biennium. They will use our cost/benefit analysis and business case documentation as part of the request.

For more information on this project or to review the processes, business case, or other deliverables, visit the DAS website located at: http://www.oregon.gov/DAS/HR/hris.shtml