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Archive for the ‘Enterprise Management’ Category

The bad old days of complex, almost incomprehensible business systems are definitely on the way out. New system designs and much better integration are in. The entire theory of business systems has been reinvented as a much more efficient, far more flexible paradigm. Read the rest of this entry »

Discusses the importance of OHS training and its applications .

Every experienced manager, supervisor and staff member knows how important OHS training can be. It’s critical in emergencies, and it’s good workplace business practice. Knowing the OHS reporting requirements and even just understanding the issues can make a big difference between a safe workplace and a risk management horror story. Many businesses operate a special OHS management system to ensure best practice and make sure that workplace safety is under full control.

OHS training overview

The basic levels of OHS training are:

• OHS training at induction level- Core OHS practices and orientation

• Risk management training- This is usually a specialized form of training appropriate to the workplace

• OHS delegated officer training- For people delegated to OHS roles in the organization. This includes further training in reporting and documentation of OHS issues and incidents.

Apart from the mandatory OHS training at induction level, these are needs- based training programs. This training is best conducted using a dedicated learning management system which carries out structured training and develops and implements schedules of required training for staff. For OHS training, these systems are ideal. They can be structured for both basic OHS and advanced risk management training like managing an offsite backup service for system crashes or actual risk management courses in legal liability training and related asset management.

OHS compliance training and learning management systems

In many organizations the OHS management system is part of broad based compliance management systems used to ensure statutory compliance and best business practices. Training is conducted within a learning management system, which is a dedicated training management function. OHS compliance is actually a specialized area for many businesses. The OHS issues for businesses can be extremely variable and may require specialist training in areas like hazardous materials, electrical safety, or other industry-specific matters.

In major industries employing large numbers of staff and contractors or staff in remote locations, the learning management systems are invaluable. These systems are designed to manage training efficiently, and can be adapted to any workplace situation. For contractor management, for example, where employers are both obliged to provide OHS training to contractors as well as enforce OHS compliance, OHS compliance training can be delivered on a “customized” basis, dealing with all the issues related to the work on site, site safety, required work practices, risk management and public safety.

Productivity and OHS training management

It’s rarely mentioned that OHS work practices are in fact best practices for any workplace. “Safety” translates directly into practical risk management on the job. It also ensures that hazards like faulty equipment, dangerous wiring, unsafe surfaces and other potentially major liabilities are dealt with promptly and effectively.

This training also saves lives and avoids the kinds of incidents which can wreck lives. Until comparatively recently, about 30 years ago, the workplace was one of the most dangerous places on Earth. Only actual war zones and traffic accidents caused more casualties. Productivity in the workplace can be measured in safety as much as in dollars.

Deals with fundamental contract management practices and explains the value of training systems in this context.

Contractor management can be extremely complex. It can involve OHS, workplace practices, contract-related stipulations regarding site workplace practices, site safety, and a range of other issues. Many of these issues relate to statutory requirements related to work being carried out. New enterprise content management systems incorporate training systems specifically for this purpose. Standalone versions of these systems, including online induction training, are also available.

Contract management- Following the letter of the law and protecting employer interests

The contract management process is very much a series of checks and compliance issues. These issues may involve serious liabilities for employers, particularly in the areas of OHS, where basic responsibility for workplace OHS rests with them. Other issues may also involve contract enforcement and ensuring that contractor performance is in accordance with contract stipulations.

There are several areas to be addressed in the process of best practice contract management:

OHS- This area includes a range of statutory obligations and obligations on contractors and sub-contractors as well as employers. Induction training is critically important both as best OHS practice on sites and as part of core OHS management practices. The new training systems provide a good “same page”, easily managed training schematic to ensure that all contractors receive the required level of training and information.

Contract management- The range of issues in contract management is extensive, and includes:

• Contract terms compliance
• Performance and quality of work issues
• Contract milestones
• Reporting
• Disputes
• OHS practices by contractors

Best practice is now to use software to manage contractor information on multiple levels in these areas. It can be used to train contractors in fundamental contract compliance issues like reporting as well as workplace practices and other areas on a needs basis. These learning systems are extremely flexible and can include everything from online induction through to in-house training options.

Contractor management systems

As you can see, these two areas are effectively integrated in to the contract management process at various levels. To do this efficiently, enterprise content management systems use special contractor management software to monitor contractor compliance. This system is both a real time monitor and an audit trail for contracts. It’s extremely efficient, and provides employers with valuable real time information regarding contract issues.

This software is also extremely valuable as a management tool. Contract performance problems like delays, failure to complete contract tasks on a due date, etc. can be easily identified and related to the broader management issues. This function is critical in ensuring efficient contract management and timely responses to contract issues.

The contract management software is able to work within the wider business management system. When applied to a big contract scenario with multiple contractors and sub-contractors, the value of the contractor management systems becomes obvious. Each aspect of a major contract is able to be assessed and evaluated both independently and directly related to “big picture” management operations.

In effect, the contractor management software and systems operate as both a reporting system and as a warning system. The training systems are a critical part of the mix, ensuring good quality information is provided in all relevant fields.  The two systems ensure a very high standard of contract compliance and performance across the entire spectrum of contractor management.

Customer Relations Management has recently been quite rightly getting a lot of attention from business experts around the world. The CRM issue is a very hot topic, and as a result CRM systems have been pushed into overdrive to deal with a range of issues which are often very high impact for businesses at the coalface. CRM systems are critical parts of enterprise content management systems, (ECMS) to the extent that they come under the “don’t leave home without it” level of importance.

Customer relations can be a particularly tangled length of string, often with a multiple range of issues. Fast turnaround of issues is the name of the game, and it pays for itself, eliminating the waste of resources on situations which, let’s face it, should be easily manageable. The early CRM systems came under a lot of criticism for that reason. They were perceived as inflexible, unhelpful, and in some cases almost inoperable, creating a bureaucratic process in an environment where the real need was for real time information. They were really little more than “organizers” in database form, and their functional value to staff dealing with customers was pretty low. They were cost-creators, not fixers.

Modern customer service requires fast, constructive responses. A bit of data from months ago doesn’t go down terribly well with annoyed clients. The new generation of CRM systems are designed specifically to avoid situations like that. The new CRM systems are integrated with the broader business systems. These CRM systems are able to find information and work with it. This new generation of CRM is a communications system, not just a database. The new CRM systems are plugged in to an intranet community, making them capable of useful interactions and physically getting in to a system and achieving results.

CRM systems in operation

Anyone with any real experience in customer relations will agree that the ability to actually solve problems for customers is the core issue. The secondary issue is ensuring that things are done properly and that there are no loose ends or dead ends in managing customer situations. The community net plug-in is the key to the effectiveness of the new CRM systems. This allows customer service staff to access facts and deal with issues in real time, not “we’ll be able to tell you next week”, that helpful way of creating lawsuits and consumer claims in a single sentence.

The beauty of the new systems is that they’re able to work with the integrated ECMS systems seamlessly. If you’ve seen the tracking systems for consumers on the online business sites, that’s a simple example of how these systems work. The intranet version of the CRM systems is even more efficient, able to find all relevant data and provide customer service staff with information from the intranet and locate and fix issues. This makes a single phone call more productive for the customer, and a lot more cost- efficient for the business.

If you want a truly effective, cost saving CRM system, check out the new CRM systems and their related ECMS systems. It will be worth it.