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Human resources and kiosks

A wide variety of companies are discovering the benefits of human resources kiosks as a way to empower current employees and attract new workers. While return on investment is difficult to measure, this kiosk application is close to proving its staying power.

September 22, 2002

In mid-2001, officials at The Hospital of Saint Raphael discovered they had a problem. While the New Haven, Conn., facility had been named one of the top 50 hospitals in the country by the American Association of Retired Persons, it needed to score higher marks among certain hospital staff.

The potential problem involved the heartbeat of any company, its human resources department.

"A little over a year ago, management determined that there was a whole group of employees that we hadn't been reaching with information," said Mary Griskewicz, Saint Raphael project manager. "We're talking about the environmental services staff, the food services staff. They needed basic information about their benefits."

Computers were the logical solution for the problem. But most of the employees in question do not have their own desks and certainly had no space for their own computers.

Out of that vexing problem came a solution: kiosks. "Our staff discussed the matter and someone said `Hey, what if we put a couple kiosks down in those areas,' " Griskewicz said.

A little more than a year after the kiosks were rolled out, Griskewicz said Saint Raphael has learned that kiosks can be an invaluable aid in promoting human resources functions at a company. The hospital has saved on paperwork and is better able to serve staff needs.

"Our director of food services loves it and said it's a great time-management tool for the staff," she said. "They don't have to spend as much time with the employees. They can directly get the information they need and even more information."

At companies ranging the spectrum, from retail to services to financial to manufacturing, kiosks have become an effective human resources tool.

"You want all employees connected to the central nervous system of the company," said Alex Richardson, president and chief executive officer of kiosk software developer Netkey Inc.

For the kiosk industry, human resources kiosks have become an application that can be marketed as a successful application.

"It's been there since I started in the kiosk industry," said Ben Wheeler, who was recently named sales manager, wood products division, at Metal fx. "The first thing I saw was a group of HR kiosks going to Chase Manhattan. The next-to-last item I sold (at Arral Industries) was to Bose. The whole two years I've been in the industry I've seen a steady flow in interest in HR kiosks, whether it's the banking sector or manufacturing."

Bridging the divide

Companies that turn to human resources kiosks usually follow a model similar to Saint Raphael's experience: They pinpoint a sector of their work force that needs greater human resources access, determine that it will not be served effectively by mere computers, and turn to kiosks.

Using a touchscreen, employees can access information on benefits, work schedules, and vacation time through an interface similar to the one developed by Apunix Computer Services.

Not every employee has a desk with a computer on it. In the manufacturing and service sectors, there are numerous workers who do not have desks, much less computers.

It is for those people that the human resources kiosk provides one of its greatest services, according to Sylvia Berens, vice president of kiosk developer Apunix Computer Services. The kiosk, with its ability to provide information at the touch of a screen or click of a mouse, creates a positive worker empowerment atmosphere.

"There's a lot of employees in service industries who don't have access to a computer at their desks," she said. "With kiosks, they have a place to get printouts and information."

"A lot of our site manufacturers and many employees don't have access to desktop computers," Debbie Quimby, Boston Scientific Corp. senior business analyst, human resources, said in June. "We wanted them to have access to HR forms and information on their benefits. We also wanted to try to free people up (in the HR department)."

The scientific research company, working with Arral, deployed 17 kiosks at 10 North American manufacturing facilities this summer.

At Saint Raphael, the five-foot-tall units were built by the hospital's facilities management department utilizing Netkey software and Elo TouchSystems' touchscreens. The department put the kiosks on wheels, meaning they can be transported to any section of the hospital.

The kiosk model works because the unit's small footprint enables it to be deployed in high-traffic areas, such as company cafeterias or break areas. Richardson agreed with Berens that kiosks underscore a company's commitment to its workers.

"What companies are asking themselves is, `Are we blowing kisses at the employees or are we really helping them?' " Richardson said.

"It's not just self-serving," he added. "It's asking yourself what problems can you solve in that four square feet of space for employees. That's the key."

Usability studies

But not every company follows the Saint Raphael model. One of the reasons human resources kiosks have become successful is their versatility.

"A kiosk with the right kind of software can do everything -- train employees, handle schedules, and take care of the welfare of employees," Wheeler said.

Financial services provider J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is a prime example of a company fitting its human resources kiosks around the company's needs.

Chase, which currently has 25 kiosks deployed throughout North America and plans to expand the service internationally in mid-September, uses its kiosks for a typical range of internal human resources functions. But it also serves to empower the company's employees by encouraging them to move up within Chase. Rhonda George, Chase service delivery operations specialist, said the kiosks provide coaching tools, resume writing services, and personal advancement tools.

"We're giving our employees the resources they need at their fingertips and making it more tangible," George said.

Chase's kiosks also serve a vital external function, George said. Prospective employees can submit resumes and receive a reference number. That number allows them to check in with Chase on potential job openings, receive direct feedback from personnel officials, and even go back on the kiosk to update their resumes.

"It gives them a great way to get in contact with us and not feel a disconnect from the organization," she said.

Other companies, such as Home Depot, have experimented with kiosks as a way of accepting job applications. The do-it-yourself retail chain has kiosks in 98 stores to screen applicants, according to Netkey.

Turning a human resources kiosk around and offering services to customers is another reason why the application has so much potential, Wheeler said.

"Companies can set aside certain times of the day for HR functions, and they can also be turned around and used by customers for clicks and mortars," he said.

"It can be turned around for a (casino) player's club in Las Vegas," Wheeler added. "It's the same concept; customers swipe their cards at the machine. You get their demographics and they get comps (benefits)."

Savings -- but how much?

When a human resources kiosk displays a high level of versatility, it does more than empower employees and customers alike, according to Berens.

"When the kiosk can be multi-functional, that can increase the return on investment of the unit," she said. "Say you're in a retail store, you can turn around a (retail) kiosk and use it as an employee-training device."

Creating a measurable return on investment, however, remains one of the frustrating issues surrounding human resources kiosks. Most people involved in human resources kiosk programs say the ROI is hard to measure, but is definitely out there.

"It's saving us money," George said, who could not supply specific figures. "You don't have a fax machine somewhere and you don't have someone behind a desk doing data-entry."

In general terms, human resources projects create a positive ROI because the kiosk itself is less expensive than the manpower and supplies it replaces.

"It wasn't a great deal of money," Griskewicz said when asked how much Saint Raphael put into its project, "but it was a low amount for a large ROI in terms of satisfied employees."

Added Wheeler: "A $5,000, $7,000 kiosk is less expensive than a $45,000 HR employee inundated with paperwork."

In a June white paper on human resources kiosks, Netkey pointed out that Microsoft Corp. saves $1 million a year with its human resources portal, launched five years ago, "the result of streamlined processes, reduced transaction processing time, and the elimination of more than 200 paper forms."

Contemplating what's next

How human resources kiosks evolve is a question that will be answered by time and the enthusiasm companies show for the application.

Chase, for instance, will deploy another 12 kiosks when it takes the application global this fall. At Saint Raphael, the human resources kiosk program may not expand, but the hospital is looking at ways to create benefits for patients through the use of kiosks.

Advances in kiosk software could determine the future of human resources kiosks, according to Wheeler.

"Software is really the crux of the kiosk (in HR settings)," he said. "Without it, you've got a pretty box that looks nice."

Richardson said the key will come in the way employers understand worker dynamics in a perilous economic climate.

"My basic philosophy is that all employees today are volunteers," Richardson said. "How do you get them motivated and pointed in the same direction? What's the need and the value add? How do you transform them into hard-working people? In this uncertain environment, employee satisfaction is more important than ever."