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April 2005

Printer-friendly version of April 2005 edition of Empower News

Empower Jumps in the Window at O’Brien

O’Brien Glass Industries will greatly simplify paying its more than 1000 staff nationally by implementing Empower-HR. Due to go live in July, Empower-HR will remove a great deal of complexity for O’Brien, a national organisation that has different Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs) with differing conditions for staff in various states.

O’Brien Payroll Manager Rajni Dhar, who is managing the Empower project, said she was expecting Empower-HR to eliminate a great deal of complexity currently encountered in managing the payroll. “We have to manage different EBAs with different payment requirements for each state,” she said.

“It involves a lot of manual processing that causes a great deal of anguish. Our current system is not date-driven and has limitations in keeping the pay history. When it comes to reporting, it does not get any better.  Our existing system lacks flexibility and requires a fair bit of manual processing to produce meaningful reports. We look forward to Empower-HR to simplify and automate complex calculations and provide us the potential to tailor reports to suit our business needs.”

Founded in 1924, O'Brien www.obrienglass.com.au is a market leader in both automotive and building glass replacement. It has 50 automotive branches and 38 Home, Shop, Office branches nationally as well as its head office, a factory and a distribution centre in Sydney.

O’Brien selected Empower Masterpay from a competitive field of national suppliers. Using its ASP delivery model, Empower is providing O’Brien with HR, Payroll and Time & Attendance modules. As well as a full clock-to-bank solution, O’Brien insisted on a date-driven HR/Payroll system to solve its existing problems and issues.

Ms. Dhar said O’Brien had required a date-driven system to cater for RDOs and annual leave-on-average basis. “When we did further investigation, we found the Empower system was the best of all other systems that we looked at in the market,” she said.

For more information, please contact Empower Director Customer Delivery Chris Wilson on (08) 8332 6988 or chris.wilson@empower.com.au.

Empower Simplifies Reporting and Beefs Up Passwords

Empower Masterpay has boosted the convenience and security in Empower-HR V7 with a service pack release that includes a powerful ad hoc query tool and stronger powerful password protection.

Responding to requests from customers, Empower’s development team has improved the reporting and password functionality of the Empower-HR software. Empower-HR’s new Ad Hoc Query tool can deliver information on screen to any user immediately without having to use complex reporting tools. The Ad Hoc Query tool is available off the toolbar on all screens, allowing data to be displayed on screen, emailed or put into a spreadsheet or PDF document.

Empower Development Manager Sandy Duncan said the Ad Hoc Query tool gave simple access to data quickly. “It’s a great ad hoc complement to reporting tools such as Crystal Reports,” she said. “It’s simple to use. It’s user-friendly. It gives users information at their fingertips when they need it without them needing knowledge of data structures or the training to use a formal reporting tool.”

Service Pack 4 for Empower-HR V7 also contains a new Forgotten Password feature for the Self-Service module. This allows employees to manage their own passwords, rather than rely on the HR department to reinstate forgotten passwords. Empower has also added a feature that allows customers to enforce better password protection with a pre-set password expiry feature and a new minimum-length password requirement. Both of these features can be based on the customer’s existing IT security policy.

Empower’s Manager Client Services Daryl Rasheed said this enhanced password security was based on client requests. “Customers are happy about it because it empowers employees and it better protects the enterprise,” he said. For more information about the Service Pack 4 enhancements to Empower-HR V7, email Daryl Rasheed at daryl.rasheed@empower.com.au or call him on 08 (08) 8332-6988.

 

Nicola Takes Up Empower Walking

Fitness instructor Nicola Ballard has joined national HR & Payroll specialist Empower Masterpay as its new Business Development Manager to shape up the company’s profile in the Melbourne and Tasmania markets.

Nicola has more than 10 years experience in the Payroll and HR industry. She started her career as a Payroll HR coordinator for shade cloth and gazebo manufacturer Gale Pacific. After four years, she left Gale to join Lend Lease Employer Services as an Implementation Consultant, a seven-year stint that saw several ownership changes which finally morphed the company into ADP.

Nicola said she had joined Empower Masterpay because the company was “personable” and its Empower-HR product was functionally rich. “I was looking for a challenge, which Empower has given me,” she said.

“I love people and I’m passionate about Payroll & HR. I have an accounting background, so I enjoy the process of solving problems with technology. Empower gives good service and its products have been around for a long time. I’ve been up against them in the past in a pre-sales role, so now one of my goals is to get the Empower name out there.”

Nicola has a diverse range of passions from water skiing, horse riding and tennis to Payroll/HR. “I believe that a healthy body gives a healthy mind, so the balance between work and sport provides my stress release,” she said. “I’ve always been motivated to go to gym and particularly in motivating others, so when it comes to sales, it is full steam ahead.”

Empower Masterpay is an Australian company that since 1984 has specialised in providing functionally rich software solutions for Human Resource management. Its clients include Penrith City Council, the State Government of Tasmania, Just Jeans, RM Williams, Sun Microsystems and Pan Pacific Hotels Asia.

Empower CEO Alan Greig said he had recruited Ms. Ballard because of her energy. “Nicola has a lot of experience in the industry and strong credentials in implementing payroll systems,” he said.  “She brings a lot of credibility with her and will build good rapport with prospective clients about how our products provide a solution. But most of all, it’s her energy: She has usable zeal and wants to have a red hot go.”

For more information, email Nicola Ballard at nicola.ballard@empower.com.au or call her on (03) 8517-2215.