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July 2005

This is a printer-friendly version of the July 2005 edition of Empower News

 

Empower Passes the Thiess Test

Leading regional integrated engineering and services provider Thiess has given Empower-Masterpay top marks after upgrading its payroll system to Empower-HR this month.

Thiess is going through a growth spurt after winning a series of major construction projects including the EastLink Motorway project in Melbourne and a major share of the Alcan Gove project in the NT. The 62-year-old Brisbane-based company employs more than 12,000 people in its operations throughout Australia, South East Asia and the near Pacific. Thiess uses Empower-HR to pay all of its 2300 Australian staff, on six independent payrolls.

Thiess Staff Administration Officer Nigel Bracegirdle said Empower had met the company’s high standard. “I think we tested them in a lot of ways, but they've managed to pass the test,” he said. “Our costings requirements are pretty detailed and complex, yet Empower has written a solution for that. We've had a good relationship all the way through. They’re very helpful and I would recommend Empower to other companies.”

Thiess, a wholly owned subsidiary of ASX-listed Leighton Holdings, recorded 2003-04 revenues of $2.4 billion. Its core disciplines include building; civil engineering; mining; environmental services; utilities services; telecommunications and facilities operations & maintenance.

Thiess first started working with Empower three years ago when the Australian-based HR-Payroll specialist took over the Equinox payroll service as part of its purchase of Masterpay in mid 2002. In September last year, Thiess surveyed incumbent suppliers, including Empower, PeopleSoft/JD Edwards and Aurion to replace the decade-old Equinox payroll service. Empower won the business and its Empower-HR payroll service went live on July 1 this year.

Mr. Bracegirdle said Thiess selected Empower because its Empower-HR ASP service best met the needs of a company with a mobile workforce. “Empower offered us retrospective costing which none of the others could,” he said. “This lets us go back into a prior period to do costing adjustments. We have a really mobile workforce, so people can move between jobs during a month, but we may not find out until the following month. Empower-HR lets us amend this quickly and easily

“Empower also streamlines our workflow because it is a date-based system. For example, instead of having to hold on to leave paperwork for months, it lets us enter the leave notification just once and then put the paperwork away.”
Thiess is so happy with Empower-HR that it plans to start work on Stage Two of its upgrade, deploying Employee Self-Service and Manager Self-Service, in the next couple of months.

Mr. Bracegirdle said Empower was a very user-friendly company. “Empower is more than willing to do things for us, which makes them very easy to work with,” he said.

For more information about the Empower-HR payroll service and in-house software solutions, call Empower Business Development Manager Nicola Ballard on 03 8517 2215 or email nicola.ballard@empower.com.au.

Empower’s on the Job with Costing Module

Empower Masterpay is finalising a Job Costing module to debut in Empower-HR V8, due early next year.
Already under vigorous testing internally at Empower, the Job Cost module will simplify the ability of organisations to manage employees working projects scattered across diverse workplaces.

Empower Masterpay Director of Corporate Services Brian Towler, whose responsibilities include product development, said Job Cost had emerged from an internal requirement at Empower. ”We needed it for our own use because we run a lot of projects involving a lot of people over various sites,” he said.

“As well as five Empower offices, many of our employees work away from the office, on client sites or from home. With Job Cost, they can enter data from wherever they may be.”

The availability of the Job Cost module is just one of the major enhancements for Empower-HR, which is scheduled for release in early 2006. Benefits of the new version will include:

1. Easier and more intuitive use through a new screen look and feel.
2. Easier employee leave management by offering improved Gant charts to visually present the impact of employee absences
3. Easier new employee management by letting managers set up new employee records wherever they are located
4. Proactive management alerts with exception reporting to managers via the web.

Mr. Towler said that while the final feature set for Empower-HR V8 was still being finalised, the Job Cost module was a definite starter. “We already have it up and running, so it will definitely be in the next version,” he said. “Job Cost will allow you to track customers, employees, projects and tasks, all via the Web. It’s for anyone who wants to record individual time on projects for a geographically diverse workforce.”

For more information about Empower-HR V8 and its Job Cost module, contact Brian Towler on 08 8332 6988 or email brian.towler@empower.com.au.

 

Tony’s Rides the Success Cycle at Empower

Keen cyclist Tony Macrellis has abandoned the multinational marathon to take on a senior technical role with Empower-Masterpay.

As Empower’s Technical Services Manager, Tony heads up a team responsible for the company’s internal networking infrastructure, managing Empower’s online HR/Payroll service and providing technical support to customers.

Tony said the Empower role had attracted him because it offered “a more hand s-on technical role”. “I've always enjoyed technology and like to keep in touch with what’s going on,” he said. “My last two positions were project management roles on large projects, which involved a lot of administration and not much chance to get my hands dirty.

“Empower presents an opportunity to reacquaint myself with technology, working on smaller projects, which provide a regular sense of achievement and accomplishment when they are delivered. I had heard of Empower previously and was attracted to the size of the organisation and its culture. It was a place I could work in and contribute to. There are lots of challenges here, but none of them are out of reach.”

Tony joined Empower after working for IBM for one year and then two-and-a-half years with EDS in SA. He also spent a decade in the Australian defence industry working for British Aerospace Australia. The 44-year-old father-of-two said his after-hours interests included computer graphics and animation as well as cycling.

Empower Masterpay CEO Alan Greig said Tony brought a wealth of technical experience to the team. “Tony’s a real go-getter,” he said.

You can contact Tony Macrellis by calling him on 08 8332 6988 or emailing him at tony.macrellis@empower.com.au.