Before you read about my work on this solution, I would like to mention that on 12th February 2019 in London, we are hosting a free half-day seminar where you can discover how to unlock the potential of Office 365 with with Microsoft Forms, Flow, PowerApps and Power BI. If you work for an organisation with more that 250 employees, please do click below to reserve a place. 

SEMINAR – Transforming business processes with Microsoft 365

Power Platform HR case study background

Understanding the wellbeing, attainment and goals for staff across your organisation is crucial to success.

Therefore, your HR departments will undoubtedly use an appraisal process. Collation of this data is key to tracking staff performance within your organisation, but it’s a time-consuming process. Frequently you start the next cycle just at the moment the data is collated. The requirements of the modern workforce only exacerbate the challenge as many may be mobile or remote, so don’t have regular access to their line manager to complete the appraisal process. Using the Power Platform we were up for the challenge.

The Challenge

Every organisation has varying numbers and types of employees, spanning dispersed locations and diverse roles. Consequently making a solution that address the needs of all is a challenge.

Silversands was challenged by a city council to create an appraisal process that allows staff to judge their own performance progress and job satisfaction. They wanted a data input layer that was user-friendly and allowed the employee to rate progress against several predefined questions on a sliding scale. This process needed to auto-select the manager and inform all those involved in an individual’s appraisal that a new cycle had begun. Human resources and the senior management wanted to be able to see both the breakdown of the responses for a team, and the overall council.

This set of requirements is not unusual for an appraisal process. However, there is no standard process which means customisation is necessary. As a result the choice was either buying an off the shelf product, using paper forms or a bespoke and expensive solution.

In steps the Power Platform

The Power Platform is the name for the Microsoft suite of no code or low code tools. All available within Office 365, it comprises:

  • PowerApps: Point and click app design tool that connects to multiple data sources
  • Microsoft Flow: Allows for the creation of automated workflows to loosely coupled data sources
  • Power BI: Business analytics service that delivers insights to enable fast, informed decisions

The Power Platform for an Appraisal Solution

PowerApps has a rich set of controls that work seamlessly with data sources to both surface and store the data. These controls allow for the requirements to be met without the need for lengthy development. In fact it took 12 days instead of an estimated 3 months.

A user sees relevant content within a PowerApps enabled form, whilst managers can close a process from within the same interface. This is because Microsoft Flow secures the item to the user and their designated manager upon addition to the SharePoint list.

Since all the data is available in a SharePoint List it is therefore available to Power BI. As a result, several reports on the progress of the appraisal cycle can be exposed. These allow users to interact with the data and drill down in to areas if required.

This model enables the creation of an app accessible across multiple devices and manages the whole appraisal process, therefore questions or even the whole interface can be changed simply in one place, tailoring the appraisal process to your organisation’s needs.

How Can Silversands Help?

Silversands is a Microsoft Gold Partner and specialist in Microsoft 365 and Azure / Hybrid cloud. We are actively transforming our customer’s business processes with the Power Platform. To talk to one of our consultants please complete and submit the form below:

Power Platform workshop in London on 12th February 2019. If you work for an organisation with more than 250 seats that uses Microsoft 365, join us for a 1/2 day session that will fill your head with ideas and knowledge.

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