Project Proposal

HR Management Information System – Phase I

UW Workforce Management Needs Assessment
Human Resources, Financial Management, Administrative Information Services

Submitted by: Weldon Ihrig – Executive Vice President

Executive Sponsors: Phyllis Wise – Provost
Weldon Ihrig – Executive Vice President
Ronald Johnson – Vice President, Computing & Communications
Date: 10/28/2005

1.0 Business Case

The University of Washington’s existing payroll based workforce management systems are
incomplete, inflexible and not able to meet the current and future needs of the institution.
Implementing a complete, flexible HR Management Information System (HRMIS) will enable the
University to move forward with business process improvement while creating an environment that
supports consistency, compliance, efficiency and effectiveness. A HRMIS informs payroll systems
with respect to who is employed, what position they hold, benefits eligibility, etc but also contains
critical workforce information including organizational information, individual skills and
competencies, performance ratings, labor relations information, licensure requirements, and career
development plans. In a decentralized environment such as the University of Washington, a
workforce management system is mission critical as it provides the support infrastructure to allow
departments to perform HR functions in a consistent compliant manner while providing the
analytical capabilities to allow Human Resources to meet the requirements of departments,
employees, administration, regulators and represented labor.

In addition to payroll processing, the UW currently uses HEPPS and related systems to collect and
interact with available workforce data (e.g., dates of employment, time and leave information, salary
and benefit information) for the University’s 30,000+ employees. HEPPS is a highly customized
implementation of a payroll system produced by Integral Systems 30 years ago. This customized
vendor package has assisted the University’s modernization and development for a generation. It
has become over time a valuable repository of our business rules and processes and it has been
extended through the USER projects to continue to provide value to the institution. However, the
University’s HEPPS implementation and its data design have limitations that have not allowed the
University to keep up with changes in the business and regulatory environment. Our workforce
management systems are no longer able to function as a repository of business rules and as tools
to execute them; they are now dictating our business rules and processes and increasing
compliance risks through a lack of flexibility.

Because the basic data design of HEPPS is centered on point-in time payroll processing and labor
distributions rather than people management, there is no access to person level information
required to function as or integrate with a modern workforce management system. In the current
environment we cannot provide information about the nature of our workforce, only about
what individuals were paid. A modern HRMIS is designed to enable an employer to plan and
manage and analyze the organization’s intake, classification, staffing, orientation, compensation
and benefits administration, performance management, and employee and labor relations.

In HEPPS many data elements exist at one point in time, with no history. The combination of up to
seventy budget distributions provides the basis for how University systems view and manage the
employment relationship. Having data elements without history, and managing from aggregated

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labor distributions after payrolls are run prevents the integration of data from HEPPS to a HRMIS.
Since HEPPS only collects certain data elements required at the point a person is paid it is possible
to take information from a relational based HRMIS to HEPPS while the reverse is not true.

A HRMIS needs to be based on a time relational data model in order to keep track of an individual’s
entire employment history and to adapt to changes in business or data requirements. Each table in
a relational data model is comprised of a series of rows with attributes held in columns (like the
rows and columns of a spreadsheet). A series of attributes that would form a single row of
information on a person might be name, eid, date of birth, ssn, last review date, etc. In a
hierarchical model like HEPPS the structure of the data is defined in strict relationships that are
much less flexible. Adding attributes in a relational model is akin to adding a new column to a
spreadsheet; adding new data is akin to adding a row to a spreadsheet and can be done without
limit. In contrast, adding available attributes and the amount of information available in a
hierarchical model such as HEPPS is akin to adding a new letter or word of text to a page using a
type writer. It is limited by both the size of the page and the requirement that all other spaces, text
and lines must remain the same or the entire page must be rewritten in order to make sense.

Since the central systems are not able to perform the functions required to manage our workforce,
an army of “shadow systems” replaces them. Departments and administrative offices throughout
the University maintain and use thousands of individual information stores including paper, excel,
word, access and other electronic databases and files. Such shadow systems are inherently
inefficient, insecure with respect to private information and subject to inconsistencies and errors.
They cannot be effectively analyzed, aggregated, audited or used beyond the needs of the
immediate, local problem they were created to solve such as keeping track of performance
evaluations or computer assignments. Sub-optimized business processes around personnel and
data management are the rule in this environment rather than the exception.

The expanding knowledge and talent of our faculty and staff is among the few assets that the
University possesses which has the opportunity to grow rather than depreciate over time. The
University currently spends a great deal of money maintaining an inefficient set of systems and
business processes focused around the management of people. Creating an environment which
enables more effective and efficient personnel management will allow for the most productive use
of the over $1.5 billion spent annually on compensation and benefits.

1.1 Purpose of Project

The University faces a number of immediate compliance and business issues that will require
modifications to our existing systems. While we must move forward to address those immediate
challenges as best we can, we are not positioned to manage our workforce in an effective, efficient
and compliant manner through our current payroll and personnel systems. Achieving a more
flexible, efficient, consistent, compliant and effective personnel management environment will
require significant financial investment in the renewal of the University of Washington’s HR and
Payroll systems. The Needs Assessment phase of this effort will determine the high level business
requirements for a HRMIS and payroll system that will be flexible enough to meet the University’s
needs well into the next generation.

Project Approach
The project will apply the USER project methodology under the auspices of the Strategic Initiatives
Office. USER approach is a high involvement methodology that engages key business users (both
central and departmental) throughout all phases of the project from initial project definition to final

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implementation. The chart below depicts the lifecycle of the project from initial product strategy to
product implementation and ongoing maintenance. This initial phase of the HRMIS project will
focus on two key steps related to product strategy: 1) project scoping and planning and 2) needs
assessment. Subsequent project steps will address the analysis of alternative product solutions
and the development and implementation of those solutions.

Product
Product Strategy Product Development Management

Define ITAC Project Assess Design/ Build Test Implement Ongoing

Project Review & Scoping, Needs & Prototype Maintenance
Funding Planning Alternatives & Support

The Needs Assessment phase will be a concentrated six month analysis and visioning exercise that
will result in documented high level requirements to inform the next phase of the project. By
assessing our current and future needs for workforce management systems at a high but
comprehensive level the University positions itself to make the best decisions on future investments
in the renewal of our HR and Payroll systems so that they will serve the needs of the institution for
the next 30 years. The Needs Assessment phase is not intended to gather all of the detailed
business and technical requirements of a full workforce management system for the University. It is
intended to provide the roadmap that will make build or buy decisions and detailed requirements
definition activities more accurate to the needs of the whole University. The USER approach to
product acquisition is an iterative process that will involve further scoping and planning following
this Needs Assessment phase.
Executive
The needs assessment will be undertaken by a Executive
Sponsors
Sponsors
project team drawn from throughout the
University. The primary participants will be a
Process Improvement Team of subject matter Technical Business
Technical Business
experts in an impacted area of workforce Advisory
Advisory
SIO/Project Advisory
Advisory
Group Leadership Group
management. They will meet regularly and will Group Group

gather input and propose ideas for consideration.

In addition, the project will require a strong, Project
Project
Manager
dedicated Project Manager and Project Assistant. Manager
(1 Process
(1FTE)
FTE)
PIT members will be drawn from the following Improvement
Team
areas: Business
Analyst

SUBJECT USER INPUT

• Human Resources MATTER GROUP(S)
EXPERTS
• Financial Management
• Academic Human Resources
• Medical Centers Human Resources
• Two colleges at least one of which must have significant grant and contract work
• Computing & Communications
• Planning and Budgeting

In addition the project will require time from senior leaders, line managers and employees
throughout the University for survey and focus group participation. This will be a recursive process

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in which communities of interest are drawn together to express requirements and validate the
requirements put forth by other communities.

1.2 Project Drivers (cost, quality, risk, performance, compliance)

1. Compliance – Obtain a more flexible system that enables the University to respond to
changes in regulation with the greatest speed, lowest cost and lowest risk.
2. Effectiveness – Provide the right data for the whole University to effectively manage its
workforce so that the right people are in the right place at the right time with the right skills.
3. Flexibility – For increased compliance and reduced maintenance and support cost.
4. Efficiency - Reduce lost productivity currently spent on inflexible central systems and the
shadow systems and processes that they incur as a hidden cost of operation.

1.3 Benefits of Needs Assessment Phase

Confidence and Flexibility – The investment that the University must make in its workforce
management systems to gain necessary data, functionality and the flexibility to adapt to the
unknown requirements of the future will be significant. Thoughtful and broad assessment of the
current needs of the institution will provide confidence that investments will deliver maximum value
over time.

Effectiveness and Efficiency – Effective, compliant management of our workforce is mandated

both by best practice and regulation. In addition to pointing out the limitations of our current
environment, the gap analysis that will be performed by the project team as part of the Needs
Assessment phase will help highlight areas for business process improvement.

1.4 Type of Project

Check all that apply.

X Scoping study X Regulatory requirement

X Long-term strategic Short-term tactical

1.5 Project Impact (visibility, impact on clients, on operations, etc.)

High. This Needs Assessment phase is the cornerstone of an effort that will ultimately have a major
impact on the way the University develops, manages and compensates its workforce. A HRMIS will
provide integrated workforce management solutions and support a level of workforce planning and
development that the University of Washington has previously been unable to deliver. In order to
deliver the maximum value in the long-term the Needs Assessment phase of this project must be
highly visible to senior level personnel and will demand their involvement. The business and
compliance risks and inefficiency associated with the lack of flexibility in our current systems will
also be mitigated through this effort with a high impact on resource utilization and process
improvement potential.

1.6 Regulatory Requirement (compliance risk, if any)

Yes. There are requirements to maintain and report on information that the University either lacks
or can supply only through thousands of hours of effort by departmental and administrative staff.
Our current systems do not have the required information and structure to manage our entire
workforce in a compliant manner. They also lack the flexibility to react to changes in the business

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environment. Examples of multi-year systems projects initiated by changes in the business
environment include UWorks in response to Personnel Service Reform Act and a ten year effort
around retirement reporting to react to changes in DRS plans. These would have been much less
traumatic changes in a flexible systems environment.

1.7 Project Risk (factors that may cause the project to fail)
Low. A fixed requirement of this project is that it must result in the University having a HRMIS that
is flexible enough to respond effectively to changes in internal business needs and external factors
such as changing regulation. Other large institutions, responding to similar business and technical
drivers to those that University of Washington faces have had well publicized and very expensive
failures when attempting necessary modernization of their workforce management systems. There
are several common themes in such failures that are instructive. They include having project
managers that do not have the expertise and experience to deliver results, insufficient oversight
mechanisms and failure to determine the needs of the institution(s) at the very beginning of the
process. In order to mitigate the last of these risks the University will invest at the beginning in a
Needs Assessment phase to determine the needs of the whole University. This phase will be the
start of a Product Strategy phase in which the University will determine its needs, assess the best
path to obtaining those needs and perform the pre-development work necessary to a successful
outcome.

Needs Assessment Phase - Low

Risk Planned Mitigation

• Poor project management
• Lack of focus
• Lack of participation
• Project Management coordinated
through Strategic Initiatives Office.
• UW proven and focused process
improvement project structure.
• Support and sponsorship from
Provost, EVP, C&C.

HRMIS Project - Medium

Risk Planned Mitigation

• Insufficient oversight
• Insufficient accountability
• Poor project management
• Significant missed requirements
• ITAC and senior executive oversight.
• Phased approach, senior executive
sponsorship.
• Retain or hire project management
team with direct experience in
selected build or buy direction.
• Needs Assessment & Strategy phase.

1.8 Key Business Owners

Joanne Suffis – Interim Vice President for Human Resources
V’Ella Warren – Vice President, Financial Management
Edward Lightfoot – Chief Information Officer, Computing & Communications

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2.0 Project Elements
2.1 Scope of Work

Needs Assessment Phase

1. Develop a comprehensive understanding of workforce management needs at the
University of Washington and necessary improvements in systems, data, and processes
to meet best practice and regulatory requirements with respect to workforce
management.
2. Benchmark UW against leading institutions in both the private and public sectors of
general business and higher education with respect to current and future workforce
management business and systems approaches.
3. Deliver decision support documentation as an output of the Needs Assessment process
that will enable the University to choose the best path for the institution to renew our HR
and Payroll systems for the next 30 years.

HRMIS Project
1. Assess UW, regulatory and best practice requirements for workforce management data
and systems.
2. Determine build or buy path including high level scope, budget and timeline.
3. Detailed requirements and migration planning including detailed budget and timelines.
4. Development and/or implementation phases.
5. Ongoing support model developed and implemented.

2.2 System Features and Standards

Element Yes/No Notes

Pubcookie UW authentication service N
ASTRA UW authorization service N
SecurID security service N
MyUW personalization N
C&C-hosted servers N
High-availability server configuration N
Privacy issues N
Purchased package N
Integrate with existing systems N
Data feed N
Data Warehouse (ODS) N
Disaster recovery N
Heritage modernization N
Nebula desktop N
Help desk N
External system N
Other

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3.0 Resource Needs—Preliminary
Preliminary estimates of functional and technical resources needed for this project. Hours are
rounded to nearest 10.

Resources Est. Low Est .High Notes

Hours Hours
UW Department Staff 8,000 12,000
C&C Staff 800 1,200
Oversight Staff 120 180
SIO Project Staff 2,000 3,000
Total C&C Staff Hours 800 1,200
Total Project Hours 10,920 16,380

4.0 Cost Estimates by Fiscal Year—Preliminary

Dollars for each expenditure type are rounded to the nearest 10; total dollars is rounded to the
nearest 1,000. Estimates will be refined as planning gets more detailed, after approval.

4.1 Needs Assessment Phase Cost Estimate

This table summarizes estimated expenditures for the Needs Assessment phase of HRMIS.

Fiscal Year Type of Expenditure Est Low Est High

FY 2005-06 Project Manager (SIO) $ 100,000 $ 150,000
FY 2005-06 Project Assistant (SIO) $ 30,000 $ 45,000
FY 2005-06 Travel/ Training $ 20,000 $ 25,000
FY 2005-06 SIO Support $ 25,000 $ 60,000
FY 2005-06 Department Backfill $ 0 $ 100,000
FY 2005-06 C&C Staffing $ 56,000 $ 84,000
Total Estimated Phase I Costs $ 231,000 $ 464,000

All salaries include benefits. Travel and training is high to accommodate multiple site visits if
necessary by Process Improvement Team. SIO support is based on a estimated overhead rate of
approximately 10 – 15%.

4.2 Ongoing Support Cost Estimate

This table summarizes estimated ongoing expenditures by type (e.g., hardware, software licensing)
on an annual basis.

Fiscal Year Type of Expenditure Est. Low Est. High

Total Estimated Annual Costs $ 0 $0

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5.0 Funding Sources
5.1 Implementation Cost Funding

Source of Funds Status Amount

Central funding being requested $ 464,000
Your Dept. or College $
Other $
Total $ 464,000

5.2 Ongoing Support Cost Funding

Source of Funds Status Amount

Central funding being requested N/A $
Your Dept. or College $
Other $
Total $ 0

5.3 Indirect Cost Recovery Funds (does this project predominately provide
infrastructure support for research?)

None

6.0 Needs Assessment Schedule—Preliminary

Project Phase Est. Start Date Est. End Date

HRMIS Needs Assessment 01/2006 06/2006

7.0 Assumptions / Notes

8.0 Implementation Challenges

8.1 Coordination Issues
The project will be coordinated through the Strategic Initiatives Office using the USER model. This
office will be responsible for project direction and scheduling, hiring the Project Manager and
Project Coordinator, managing the project team, project support and documentation.

8.2 Success Criteria

Needs Assessment Phase
1. UW user requirements and culture integrated into regulatory and best practice
requirements.
2. Needs Assessment documentation that provides direction for in depth requirements and
build or buy decision.

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HRMIS Project
1. A flexible HRMIS with required data for effective, compliant workforce management
delivered on time and on budget.

9.0 Alternative Approaches

Continue the status quo and accept risks and inefficiency of current systems, data and processes.

10.0 C&C Confidence Level

Confidence in the C&C estimates is:

Low Medium X High

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