Reach-HR Shared Services @ the Desktop are experienced in constructing simple and effective employee portal solutions as well as highly complex, fully integrated, enterprise portals where HR is a major constituent module.

The majority of HR departments will have an objective to reduce the costs of providing HR services. This has led to increased interest in outsourcing - yet this is not always a guaranteed way of delivering savings. The most common initiative to reduce costs has seen the implementation of 'Self-Service'. Although this has often been implemented to empower employees, it has also successfully transferred cost away from the HR department.

However, the scope of 'Self-Service', even from major vendors such as PeopleSoft, Oracle and SAP, still does not cater for all the possible functional elements that come under the umbrella of HR. In addition, organisations have found it difficult to integrate outsourced elements, such as Payroll or Pensions, into their 'Self-Service' solution.

An employee portal is both the answer and the next logical step on the evolutionary process that is 'Self-Service'. It enables access to all relevant people related data, wherever that data resides. During the past 12 months we have witnessed the employee portal becoming a fundamental building block in an organisation's HR service delivery strategy.