Alan Gregory
1 minute length
Posted: 17th June 2021

IRIS HR Professional Q2 2021 Product Update

April – June 2021 Update

We are constantly striving to enhance the functionality IRIS HR Professional delivers to its users. This product update provides information on new features, enhancements and fixes developed during April to June 2021.

All new features and enhancements arise from feedback and suggestions from customers.

Existing users can suggest product enhancement ideas in the Big Ideas portal available from the Guide page within the IRIS HR Professional product.

Complete release notes are available in the Guide page within the IRIS HR Professional product.

Multi-step Workflows:

We have added the ability to create workflow sequences which enable a real process flow with the completion of key tasks triggering the send of the next task in the sequence.

In this example, each task needs to be complete before the next should be sent.

Example: New Starter

Task 1 – Create and issue new contract

Task 2 – Set an onboard date and send invitation email

Task 3 – Direct employee to documents tab to review & sign their contract

 

It’s also possible to manually trigger a workflow against a group or individual employees. This gives the flexibility to trigger workflows which may not have automatically triggered.

Triggers can also be scheduled allowing the creation of workflow triggers based on even more dates within the system. When a date is due a workflow process can be triggered to ensure all necessary tasks take place.

The trigger can be set up using the criteria of how many days / weeks until the date is due. Once the date matches the criteria a task/sequence of tasks is sent to the relevant person who would then action the task.

Read our blog post

Multi-step Forms

Functionality has been added to Forms allowing the system to send information to multiple people automatically. It’s possible to create forms to include information which can be read/edited by more than one person.

When a Custom Form is completed and saved, it can be accessed on the employee’s tab that relates to the form. A new field on the Custom Forms area called Display On allows users to select the tab where the form is to be displayed.

Organisation Chart

We have added a new, easily viewable Organisation Chart to the system.

Employees can now see key information about colleagues and the company and are able to have a visual understanding of how the company looks and works together.

Read our blog post

Kudos

On login, employees can now see any new Kudos they have received since their last login.

Option to hide Anonymous tick box

The Kudos form is now included in Screenbuilder, allowing users to hide the Anonymous and Private tick boxes, all other fields are marked as core and cannot be changed. If the Anonymous and Private options are selected employees will be unable to give Kudos to colleagues anonymously.

Read our blog post

IRIS HR Pro iOS app

The new Kudos feature is now available in the iOS app. This allows app users to easily view Kudos received, add ‘Comment and Likes’ to Kudos and give Kudos to colleagues.

The iOS app now has a banking-style timeout automatically logging out inactive users after 10 minutes, returning them to the logout screen.

Tap in/Tap out shortcut has moved to the top of the app home screen, making it more accessible.

Time – files can now be added to the Time record using the iOS app, it’s also possible to add further Breaks.

We have enhanced the iOS app to provide an improved user experience when using larger screens.

When using the app employees can now request changes to their booked absence

Recruitment module

There is a new tick box in Screenbuilder in the Recruit module to enable users to remove the ‘Please retain my details for future employment opportunities’ tick box from applications

Where candidates have previously agreed to retain their data its now possible to set a retention period to hold their data. Historic Candidate records will be deleted for the previous Months or Years on a rolling daily basis

Who’s Off Today

The Who’s Off Today screen now includes arrows < > allowing users to flick between days, 7 days either way.

There is also an option to include all working patterns when viewing Who’s Off Today

Absence Reporting

Employees can now amend an existing Absence record.

  • New Request Change button on existing Absence record
  • Opens new Absence Request screen
  • Is sent for Approval as normal
  • On Approval, original record is deleted, new record is created
  • Only allowed for future-dated records

Absence types:  Its now possible to restrict an absence type and reason to different Companies and Countries within the system.

Absence warning: When employees submit Time they will now be notified by an on screen message, if there is already an Absence record on the date they are logging time for.

Document Management

Upload Documents with a future access date: Its now possible to add a document to an employee’s record and specify the date that they can view the document. This is ideal when new starters join an organisation.

When hovering a mouse over a document in the My Details > Documents tab a new tool tip containing the filename of the Document now appears.

Read & Accept Accept Notification – users can now add a ‘Read by’ date on ‘Read & Accept’ documents and send reminders to employees who still need to read and accept after that date.

Additionally, there is now an option to the Read and Accept screen to inform the owner when a document is accepted. When an employee accepts a document, an email is sent to the owner to inform them. To reduce the number of email one email shows anyone who has accepted the document on that day

We have also increased the file size limit on linked documents. Its now possible to link documents up to 5MB.

Company Handbook – Document Upload: An ‘Edit’ button has been added to the Company Handbook enabling users to create a document for the handbook from within the handbook itself. This will only be visible for users with access to System Tools.

Reporting Enhancements

Time and Expenses Report – We have added the ‘Unsubmitted’ status to the Time and Expenses report.

Mail Merge – We have added a ‘Today’s Date’ field to the ‘Mail Merge Field Selector’.

Documents – Document Category is now included in the standard Documents report.

Quick Queries – We have added Perform to Quick Queries enabling you to add a Dashboard tile containing Perform information.

Holiday entitlement:

Users now have added the option to create multiple Holiday Entitlement schemes. When a scheme is assigned to an employee, the Holiday Entitlement for that employee is automatically populated field with the same days/hours

Custom Forms:

Add documents to a Custom Form before submittion – When creating a Custom form, users can now add a tick box requiring their employees to attach a document. When the form is saved a pop appears allowing the employee to upload the document.

Single Sign On (SSO)

Clients using Single Sign On (SSO) will find the ‘Provider Name’ is now database unique field. If users try and save External Provider details and the Provider Name is not unique, a warning is issued: ‘This Provider Name is already in use and must be unique.’

The unique ‘Provider Name’ should be used in the RedirectUI when setting up the link with the external provider.

Other Product Enhancements

Directory Look Up – A ‘Where’ clause has been added to the Directory lookup:

Charts/Graphs in IE11 – Charts and graphs now display correctly when the site is opened in Internet Explorer 11.

Title field: The Title field on the Personal tab and New Starter form has been enhanced, so when a new title it is entered it is automatically added to the list of Title Options ready for the next time a Title field is required.

Default Time: Users now can now set default Time option on the Time tab.

Service Distribution chart change: The Service Distribution chart on the Dashboard is now based on Continuous Service Date rather than Start Date.

Direct link to approve pending requests: We have added a direct link to your pending requests from the Dashboard. Click the View button on the Pending Requests panel on the Dashboard to open same window as seen on the Home screen.

Save Button on the Set Rights Advanced tab now saves the record and returns you to the Set Rights tab rather than closing Set Rights completely.

Quick Queries: We have added the Expenses Approval Date and the Submit Reference number it has been assigned to Quick Queries.

Additional Expense and Time Types: You can now enable and use Type 4 and 5 in both Expenses and Time.

Non-Binary Gender Option added to the Personal tab with a new drop-down field labelled Gender Identity to. The field can be renamed in the Screenbuilder.

Benefits for dependants – employees can now add the names of dependents covered by a benefit by completing the new ‘Dependents Covered’ for each Benefit Form.

SRA diversity questionnaire – The Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) Questionnaire in our Legal module now contains all new/amended questions, and reflects the 2021 sample file provided by SRA.