Transforming the leave experience through real-time data connectivity

Curt Burghardt and Denise Ferguson, Unum HR leaders and people analytics experts, explore how real-time data connectivity with leave and absence information transforms efficiency, transparency and downstream processes for employers managing leave in Workday^®.

• People analytics is more than just basic reporting. With the data available to Unum as Workday users, the company has begun using that data to influence decision making across the organization. For example, Unum can correlate learnings from its employee engagement surveys with employee data in Workday to identify trends that can help solve problems with retention and engagement. [03:49]

• Real-time connectivity simplifies leave processes. The ability to integrate data from Unum's leave management solution with an employer's Workday system has greatly simplified the complexity of leave management processes. [06:42]

  • In the old days, every step in the leave process involved multiple manual touchpoints, from multiple systems and vendors, creating inefficiencies, time lags and errors.
  • Unum partnered with Workday to deeply integrate leave management data into the Workday system, so employers can not only keep tabs on an employee's leave in their HR system of record, they also have more accurate and timely processing of pay for employees on leave, aligned with the company's pay and leave policies.
  • Unum's experience managing leave for its own employees while using Workday allowed it to identify issues other users would encounter and continually refine the connection with Workday.
  
  

• Simplicity saves time and creates a better experience. Chasing down errors in leaves and pay takes "an astronomical" amount of time, according to Burghardt. And headaches like those can come at the worst possible time for an employee who is taking leave for challenging reasons. "Making the experience as seamless as possible in those moments that matter, when an employee is at their worst" — that's a win, according to Ferguson. [08:33]

• Connectivity helps solve the challenge of intermittent leave. Intermittent leave is famously complex and time-consuming for employers, especially if they are using manual processes. Correctly coding absences is tricky, with cascading effects — including compliance issues — if done incorrectly. [10:24]

  • Real-time connectivity ensures that the employer's Workday system has the most up-to-date information on the leave and automates the coding, ensuring that the employer is compliant, paychecks are correct and the employee always knows how much leave of which type they have left in their leave bank.
  • Automation builds in the employer's leave policies so those are followed without confusion.
  • Unum's leave management solution allows employees to log their hours directly into the solution, which further simplifies the process and creates a better experience for the employee and HR.
  
  

• Unum's connection to Workday is powered by Unum HR Connect, which also streamlines and automates enrollment, evidence of insurability, billing and portability. Learn more.

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