City employees will receive a link to a digital HR portal in the coming weeks, which enables them to create a password before accessing their new SAP numbers, whose digits start with quadruple noughts – 0000.
The move is designed to modernise business processes and organisational culture and improve employee experiences to meet changing business and technological needs.
Soon you’ll be able to check your leave days, apply for, and have your leave approved online and even generate your payslip online.
The online HR platform has been in effect in the backend since March 2020 and is now being phased in for the use of all employees. Technical staff working on the system has already held information-sharing sessions with ‘Super-Users,’ who are the designated, first port of call for the training of all ‘End-Users’.
There’s already an agent in every municipal building, region, entity and department who has been trained as a ‘Super-User’. Once the new normal has been embraced, training and testing workshops will be scheduled to assist all municipal employees (End-Users) to adapt to the modernised SAP application.
This smart integration of digital technologies is meant to streamline mundane HR tasks and improve efficiency within the municipality, boost productivity, and impact business performance. The entire SAP run programme essentially advocates for the digitisation and hosting of municipal data on a cloud-based system, including customer care, supply chain management, performance management and governance.
This strategic approach focuses on a homogeneous operating model, based on international municipal best practices, while simultaneously improving internal efficiencies, including data sharing. The tech solution will be implemented in phases, starting at the Metro Centre, followed by Pikitup, the Johannesburg Social Housing Company, and at City Power and Joburg Water for billing integration.
Chief Technology Officer, Cyril Baloyi has conceded that the City’s ICT infrastructure is obsolete. “We’re moving to an efficient, automated tech system that’ll improve accountability in municipal operations,” says Baloyi.
The modernised system enables the City to achieve an integrated business and technology solution across the municipality, which is a key requirement for National Treasury’s Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts (mSCOA). The scope of work includes a new premise for implementation of the SAP solution to the latest version of SAP ERP (S/4 Hana), which accommodates the prescribed minimum requirements as per the mSCOA regulation.
Baloyi says the new system will create harmonised municipal operations through a citywide, consolidated ICT platform. “It’s a conscious effort to use ICT to transform the general quality of life,” he says.
The digital portal, with a touch of light blue and grey linings, has enhanced HR functionalities, as well as a new look and feel that will be highly purposeful for City employees, enabling the viewing of personal profiles among other features. Payroll will be entirely automated, with data held there integrating with other employee data and made available through Omni-channel portals, including those on mobile devices.
The City believes that a highly automated business process will cut costs for the municipality as operations are being digitised.
