Payroll Remittance

1
Payroll Remittance Time Tracking Cycle Time

• Background-Problem
• Non-exempt employees have to submit time-tracking
  information twice, first using a web enabled
  tracking form that records the time spent on
  customer work requests and the second using an
  excel payroll form which tracks the hrs worked
  each week. Cycle time is on average 23 min.
  weekly per person. Non-exempts have complained
  about the non-productive rework of using 2 forms.
  
• Project to target labor efficiency savings by
  decreasing wasted time spent by non-exempt
  employees when remitting time to payroll using 2
  different medias. Allowing the increase in
  productivity will increase the amount of billable
  time available each week.
• Improving quality by providing all time-tracking
  staff with a centralized process for remitting
  time to payroll
• Goal
• Reduce payroll submittal time tracking cycle
  time by 50 (unit of measure minutes), Upper
  Specification Limit (USL) gt 15 minutes.
• Approach DMAIC
• Data Collection Cycle time for payroll
  remittance was measured over 1 month (2 cycles)
  with a two week pay period, non-exempt employees
  only.
• Root Causes Submitting time-tracking in two
  forms results in increased cycle time and
  decreased productivity.
• Solution Selection Web tracking form feeding
  Oracle payroll database solution was developed to
  track employee time and submit to payroll. Cycle
  time and accuracy was measured during the first
  two weeks of rollout.

Before
After

• Results
• After Web-Form Payroll Implementation, mean cycle
  time was reduced from 23.17 minutes to 8.27
  seconds. The result is an annual savings of 700K
  of increased employee productivity

2
Call Center Backup Slides
Digitization
Process Start Non-exempt employees enter time
tracking info into payroll excel form Process
Stop Payroll Submits Payroll for check issue
Payroll Time Tracking
Cycle Time
Process Requirement Defect Definition Unit
Definition Unit of Measure Data Type
Payroll submission cycle time lt15
minutes Payroll submission cycle time gt 15
minutes 1 payroll form for 1 employee for 1
payroll period (2 weeks) Minutes Continuous
3
Background Process Root Causes

• Web form is not meeting the requirements of all
  stakeholders, resulting in rework

Non-Exempts enter time tracking info into payroll
excel form
Non-Exempts enter time tracking info into web-form
Start
Admins/Mgr. compiles Excel form and review both
Web Excel forms
Payroll compiles and enters into Oracle
Regional Admins compile time tracking reports
Payroll Submits Payroll for check issue
Stop
People
Machines
Methodology
Having complete time in more than 1 form.
Customer programs use different forms
Missing Information
Non Exempt Employees
Separate e-mailed forms by individual staff
Manually entered
Inaccurate information being entered in excel
forms
Different Excel Form used (Format
Timesheet Processing
Manually compiling/reconciling/ verifying staff
timesheets
Erroneous Information
Admins Managers
Too Many manual process steps involved with
payroll submission
Requires correct format
Website down
Manually compiling/reconciling/ verifying staff
timesheets
Web based application
Info is located in more than 1 place
ADP Payroll System
Payroll Dept.
Locating Information
Manually Entered
New employee profile not setup correctly
Exempt PTO must be entered manually
ADP System Down
HR provided incomplete info
Why is payroll cycletime gt 15 minutes?
Number of hands involved with payroll submission.
Estimating time vs. recording actuals
New Staff Untrained
More Than 1 Start/Stop
Different versions of Excel forms
Program Accounts
E-mailed
Manual processes in compiling and verifying
Phone calls Tickets Customer requests
Excel Form
Non-standard process applications
Too many start/stops lead to consolidated time
tracking
Distractions
Uses military time
Manually entered
Poor Operational Definitions
Putting off timesheet until last minute
Rounding errors
Measurement
Forms
Operations
4
Define Problem Statement

• Stakeholder analysis was performed to understand
  buy-in needs of all groups
• Quality Functional Deployment (QFD) was used to
  prioritize each identified critical-to-quality
  (CTQ) involved in the process

• Payroll submission cycle time lt 15 minutes was
  selected for project Y

• Focused on steps involving excel form, compiling
  and data entry into Oracle system.

5
Measure

• 2 operators collected 2 data points (For 4
  different weeks) on 4 different payroll forms (8
  Trials)
• Web time tracking week submissions the payroll
  forms were used, collected separately and then
  combined into the total cycle time
• Each operator recorded the same cycle time for 1
  operator to complete the payroll cycle time
  process. (Repeatability)
• No variation was found between operators using
  the computer clock time stamps. (Reproducibility)
• MSA needed to be conducted 3 times, each
  requiring updates to the operational definitions.

6
Analyze
No special causes impacting the data over time
No special causes impacting the data over time
Web Excel
Time used via web vs. excel forms statistically
different
Remote (Blue) take 6 minutes longer than Campus
(green) locations

1. Too many manual process steps with payroll
   submission
2. Manually compiling/reconciling/ verifying staff
   timesheets
3. Having complete time in more than 1 form
4. Different versions of excel payroll forms

7
Improve

• Pilot Plan
• Enhanced web-payroll solution will be implemented
  in Q1, 2003
• Open training calls will be held prior to roll
  out, ensuring all employees are trained on new
  web-based payroll submittal
• Training calls for managers will be held and
  feedback used to make any necessary changes,
  prior to roll out
• Regular team meetings will be scheduled in order
  to document risks and process deficiencies
• Documentation, including process escalation
  paths, training manuals, and process maps will be
  sent out as a reference for all accounts
• Helpdesk form will be updated to reflect any
  additional employee information needed
• Accounts with duplicate profiles will be removed
  from database prior to roll out and new ones
  created as necessary
• Payroll accuracy will be gauged during the first
  two pay periods after implementation

Pugh Matrix used in evaluating key criteria to
each proposed solution
8
Improve Continued

• How was the solution determined
• Brainstorming with Subject Matter Experts (SME)
  for identification of technology improvements
  needed to remove the manual reworked process
  steps
• Was a Pugh matrix or other tool used
• Both the Pugh Matrix (Criteria-Based Matrix) and
  brainstorming with multi-functional team pointed
  to web site real time coding improvement
  opportunities
• Cost Benefit Analysis
• Average loaded employee rate (salary benefits)
  used to compare pre post cycle times for
  productivity savings
• Team Effectiveness Tools
• Stakeholder analysis for change supporters and
  resistors with influence strategy plan applied
• Changing systems and structures analysis in order
  to understand the vertical, horizontal, internal
  external change impacts
• Failure Modes Effects Analysis (FMEA) user to
  capture mitigate risks

• The changing systems and structures assessment
  allows for the discovery of process change
  impacts (both positive and/or negative) in all
  directions of the process. Helping to identify
  resistance to change and change risks across
  additional groups.

9
Control
Variation by Operators entering varying case
comments

• The Failure Modes Effects Analysis (FMEA
  Risk Analysis) will be a living document, used
  to address any process problems during and after
  the new system rollout.
• Documentation regarding the Web-Based Payroll
  functionality will be dispersed to all employees
  to reduce learning curve.
• Escalation paths for the Web-Based payroll
  problems will be formulated and documented prior
  to rollout.
• Training calls will be held prior to rollout for
  non-exempts and management.
• Cycle time and payroll accuracy will be measured
  during the first two weeks of rollout.
• Eliminating the need to track time in two forms
  reducing both cycle time and process variation
• Centralization and further digitization of the
  payroll remittance process will allowed for
  easier adjustments in future maintenance
• Reduced rework and increased staff productivity
• Standard practices allow for simpler future
  changes.
• Web interface more user friendly than as-is
  process

Individual and Moving Range (IMR) control chart
selected for continuous data with no
subgroups. Upper Specification Limit (USL) lt 120
indicates process control with mean of 12 range
2 seconds.
10
Results

• Was applying Lean Six Sigma helpful?
• Defined the gap in performance and identifying
  root causes
• Solved root causes and validated solutions
• Sustained improvements and shared lessons learned
• Financial Data Collection
• 10 weeks of data collected with web page Log
  files created to count each additional sub case
  created (does not count the original master sub
  case assigned to engineers).
• Web page case creation increased to 100 with the
  full training of the engineers and usability
  testing.
• All financial savings validated with each
  business division
• Process improved from 1.12 to 3.3 Sigma
• Human error eliminated with 100 automated
  digitization of all transactional tasks
• Standardized web submittals as single method used
  with backup plan for phone should disaster strike
• Multi-generational project plan (MGPP) formulated
  to measure and improve on remaining CTQs
  (Critical-to-Quality) identified in Quality
  Functional Deployment (QFD)