The purpose of this guide is to serve as a checklist for HR professionals who are considering HR software and services to support their growing HR needs. We were able to meet with Ms. Carol Maloney, the Chief HR Officer of N.C.C group of companies, and she was able to give us interesting answers regarding Bcore, the HR and Talent management system she uses to manage all her tasks.

Tell us about the experience and impact of technology in managing Human Resource function during this COVID-19 crisis.

First, let me tell you that we have 5,300 people to take care of who are deployed in more than 70 different projects around UAE. Now you can imagine the dire need for technology in the management of the resources of our people. We use Bcore, which is a customizable, cloud-based, and user-friendly Human Resource Management System (HRIS) in our day to day operation.

With the pandemic, no organization has the luxury to invite the whole team in the office to complete the task. In this critical time, we are able to accomplish our job on time and being efficient from home only with the presence of below 30% in the office.  What I found the most important role of the vendor at this moment is the technical support, and I truly appreciate the BDNA teams' response to make the system function in a group environment.

• Employee functionality

We operate almost paperless when it comes to the transaction of employee services. Our services have been smooth without any interruption.

• Flexibility and scalability

The system is flexible in terms of usage and support in multiple devices and operating platforms.

• Payroll and tax filling

The interconnected function between daily attendance (punching), automated calculation, and the system sends the timesheet for final approval. Imagine the waste of time and the amount of potential error if a manager has to spend time on manual timesheet preparation. My team is blessed with the system, I would say.

• Training and support

The BDNA has exceptional customer support ranging from platform training, process training, and, most importantly, they follow up to enhance the capability of the user.

• Reporting capabilities

The reports are customizable, and I am able to get any type of data field on the report on request. Live information, advanced visualization of the information, and data field available for individual analysis are the best part when it comes to the reporting capabilities of the system.

• Talent management

Talent Management starts with the strong foundation of Human Resource processes and the availability of technology for smart decision making and efficient administration. When I said the foundation, it is the organized large data set of skills, knowledge, monitorable performance metrics that are rightly aligned to each other. The system we use provides us a comprehensive function that helps us to identify and nurture the talents, help to improve performance, and promotes engagement.

The system has helped us to engage our people from the pre-recruitment stage to offboarding. It rightly fits our purpose as we believe that the way employee leaves impacts the way employee stays and engages.

• Time and Labor Management

The automated timesheet captures the information from punching (daily attendance) and has been helping us in the management of the workforce. It is not only the payroll process, but the most intelligent part is benchmarking the need of people according to the project size and budget.

The system notifies our project leaders in advance on the need of people according to the contract or project. This functionality has helped us to increase the productivity of our team members and has helped managers to be better planners.

• Technology for the future

Indeed, the system is scalable, and I believe that system is capable of adapting quickly to increased workload or market demands.

Through these questions, you will be able to better diagnose what unique solutions your company needs from HR software and services.

Feel free to contact us directly at +971 4 422 7725 or email us at sales@businessdna.ae

Visit our iTalent page /our-portfolio/erp-solutions/hr-talent-management.aspx#dwn-bro for a free brochure or request for a free demo by clicking here /our-portfolio/erp-solutions/hr-talent-management.aspx#requestDemo.

Our HR and Talent managaement suite is all about the Right People, Right Place, Right Now!

With COVID-19 cases growing worldwide, business leaders are scrambling to deal with a wide variety of problems, from slumping sales and stalling supply chains to keeping employees healthy and making sure they can continue working.

Professors of Harvard Business School were able to answer how the coronavirus pandemic is likely to change how companies do business. Here’s what they said:

 

The best leaders will break out of silos and improve workplace culture

If there were ever a time to “think outside the building” and be more aware of the wider system, it’s now. Operating in silos and paying attention only to a few stakeholders’ leads to vulnerabilities. Companies are dependent not only on global supply chains and what might be happening in other countries, but also on the state of institutions in their own communities. The ecosystems in which companies operate mean that a disruption to one industry or set of activities ripples to others.

Companies with the strongest stakeholder and partner orientations are best able to survive and transcend crises, because they can plan together, gain local knowledge from each other, and draw on good will to get back to business quickly when the crisis abates.

 

Employees and buildings will be healthier

COVID-19 will change the nature of our offices, apartments, hospitals, schools, and government buildings. Concern about the spread of this and other communicable diseases might fade after this contagion, but there will probably be more outbreaks in the decades to come. This means that we can expect our physical structures to change, too.

Think of the extension of today’s airport and courthouse security screening: not just what weapons you may be carrying, but also what infections you may be carrying. Many of us have experienced health screening in Asian airports for years as technicians viewed our facial temperatures, checked our passports and vaccination histories, and asked questions. This will become a more permanent component of entry to office buildings, schools, and transit hubs.

 

 In-person meetings will be less important 

All organizations will learn that they can leverage technology much more effectively to operate remotely and conduct business. We will realize we need far fewer face-to-face meetings than we thought. I think the productivity benefits could be quite big.

The companies that will lose: travel businesses, such as airlines and hotels. We may discover we just don’t need to travel to meetings as much as we thought.

 

Employees will take stock of their new work priorities

 As this crisis unfolds, you may find your workdays following a very different cadence. Normal work activities will get disrupted and then blended with your personal life as you begin working from home. The colleagues you usually run into at the office will no longer be down the hall, and the normal meetings and email threads that occupy your days may get shuffled in unexpected ways, depending in part on whether the crisis cripples or amplifies the demand for your work. In either case, this is a good time to take stock of your priorities and rethink your patterns of collaboration.

By auditing your work responsibilities and project commitments, along with all the meetings, emails, and other tools you use to collaborate, you can become more focused and intentional about how you spend your time. Before this crisis, you may have felt overloaded with too many meetings and relentless emails, making it seem like you never had time to do your actual work. The shift to working from home, despite all of its inherent challenges, can also be an opportunity to reflect on your priorities and design your new schedule to accomplish them.

 

 Supply chain strategy will be rewritten 

Businesses have been surprised on how dependent they are on China, for everything from key raw materials or parts to finished products. Often they didn’t realize that it was a supplier to their supplier, or further down as a third or fourth tier. The magnitude of the shock means after they recover from the momentary chaos, many will start thinking about diversifying their risk and trying to develop alternatives in other countries.

The biggest losers from the coronavirus [in business] are service industries that have seen their revenues dry up. Airlines, hotels, the travel industry at large, are losing revenue and cash flow that will be difficult to replace. Manufacturers can run overtime and make up for lost production and fill pent-up demand, but services demand is perishable and hard to replace. 

Business DNA will be sharing more informative blogs in the next couple of weeks. Visit our blogs page /blog.aspx for more blogs and our ERP solutions page /our-portfolio/erp-solutions.aspx to see how Business DNA can help and assist you with all your business needs.

With COVID-19 cases growing worldwide, business leaders are scrambling to deal with a wide variety of problems, from slumping sales and stalling supply chains to keeping employees healthy and making sure they can continue working.

Professors of Harvard Business School were able to answer how the coronavirus pandemic is likely to change how companies do business. Here’s what they said:

 

Organizations will develop trust-based cultures with employees

The coronavirus challenge demands an organization-wide, honest conversation that enables truth to speak to power about the corporate response to the challenge. Think of it as a new strategic initiative facing huge execution challenges. These require senior management to get the best information they can about barriers to execution, and it requires trust and commitment. That comes about when everyone in the organization knows that senior management wants to hear from lower levels about barriers to execution that might include their own leadership.

The coronavirus challenge, like any crisis, provides senior management a huge opportunity to develop a trust-based culture rapidly or, conversely, if not handled with an organization-wide honest conversation, to undermine their ability to develop a trust-based culture for years to come.

 

Businesses will help customers be more helpful

Forward-thinking leaders can run better organizations by creating conditions that allow customers to be more helpful. When service provision is a true partnership and customers are pitching in, employees are more productive, service outcomes are improved, and experiences are enhanced for everyone involved.

For example, cinemas have identified a concrete, helpful customer behavior—silencing phones before the movie begins. A simple reminder that demonstrates why it matters to everyone in the theater is all it has taken to practically eliminate interruptions during movies. Another success is how airlines have trained us all to take part in cleaning the plane before landing. During the final approach, a flight attendant asks over the P.A. that we pass our trash and unused items to a crew member in the aisle. On some flights, this message additionally describes a tight upcoming turnaround, and how passengers can help the cleaning crew achieve an on-time departure for the next flight. In both cases, we gladly do our part.

By identifying concrete ways in which customers can be helpful, providing clear instructions about what they can do, and designing transparency into why their partnership will make a positive difference for everyone involved, business leaders can improve interactions among their customers and employees, and help us all achieve better things together.

 

Remote work will become strategic

Working remotely is very effective if you can also restructure the organizational processes for how communication happens, how socialization happens, and how coordination happens. 

In a short time it’s not possible to do everything, so there are a few things companies can focus on. First, in a remote world, it’s very important to not only communicate synchronously on Skype or Zoom, but asynchronously, where you’re not face to face on a screen.

Remote companies have well-established processes where people are socializing and no one is feeling isolated and falling through the cracks. That’s really important right now, especially with all the anxiety around us and schools getting closed and the fear and psychosis of the moment. 

 

 Leadership will engage people to work together creatively

We will come to learn that hiding bad news is never a good idea. That will mean recommitting ourselves to mastering the leadership skills to tell the truth and to engage people in the hard work of creation solutions together.

Mastering the design and management of teams will become an even more critical focus—or more accurately, mastering what I have called teaming—working in flexible groups with shifting membership, often from different locations, to address particular challenges. Depending on how long the current state lasts, we may see a shift away from static organizational structures toward dynamic team forms. This only works well under conditions of psychological safety, when leaders have made it crystal clear that every team member is welcome to speak up with ideas, concerns, and yes, bad news.

 

Standard operating practice will be elevated to a new level

Many of the changes companies will make in the short term are obvious: dramatically reduced travel, more work-from-home opportunities for white-collar workers, and changes in business operations to reduce human contact and to improve workplace hygiene. 

The more interesting changes will play out after this public health emergency is behind us. In the past, companies have used the lessons learned during periods of disruption to improve their standard operating practices. For example, the great recession forced employers to revisit their staffing models. The result was a permanent shift in the ratio of part-time workers to full-time workers across the economy. COVID-19 may yield similar changes.

 

Business DNA will be sharing more informative blogs in the next couple of weeks. Visit our blogs page /blog.aspx and also wait for part 2 on how Covid-19 is already rewriting the future of Business next week!

Dealing with mountains of paper or unwieldy excel spreadsheets is not ideal, especially when looking for an important document.  Whether it’s an inspection report/ audit or a risk assessment, the last thing that you want is to waste time hunting for a document when important actions have to be taken. 

Here we have included some reasons why your business should consider moving from paper to software:

 

NO DUPLICATION OF WORK

A major problem in health and safety management where a paper-based system is used is duplication of work. You do a site inspection on paper, along with acquiring all of your supporting documentation (photos etc.). Then you have to return to the office and copy it over to excel or a word document and scan your other materials.  This wastes valuable time repeating the same task.

 

LESS OFFICE MESS

As a result of this, tasks can suffer if you rely on a paper-based system.  People may not check written tasks or reports without prompting or reminders, which can cause a lot of problems for important health and safety duties.

 

IMPROVED FILE MANAGEMENT

Using a software-based health and safety management system will free up extra space in your office and work areas. Piles of paper and filing cabinets take up a lot of room, and if your document output is big enough, you may even require external storage space. Moving all of your health and safety documentation to an online/ cloud-based system allows you limitless storage capabilities.  The extra space gained by getting rid of your filing cabinets can be very useful, especially in smaller offices.

 

INCREASED COLLABORATION

Even if there is a filing procedure in place, paper documents can still become lost or misplaced.  In addition to this, they are at significant risk if fire or water damage occurs in an office.  Software - based documents provide you with an easier to navigate sorting system.  Digital documentation also cuts down on the amount of time spent rifling through piles of risk assessments and method statements looking for one specific document.  Crucially, digital files also make it easier to track the origin of and changes made to a document, which is very important to health and safety management.

 

WORKING REMOTELY

Workplace collaboration on documents is made much easier and more streamlined with a cloud based service.  Staff in businesses with multiple locations can work on the same audit, have access to the same risk assessments and method statements, lessening the impact of geography and productivity. Organizations don't have to have many physical locations to see these benefits, as collaboration between departments and team members is made much more straightforward.

 

BETTER SECURITY

Software-based systems allow staff to be more mobile in their work. This is especially important in a health and safety context.  The addition of mobile capabilities lets staff report incidents and hazards as they happen. Offsite meetings and inspections is better facilitated by a digital system. Remote working also lets staff work offsite and at home.  At a time when addressing the work-life balance is increasingly important, offering staff the ability to work from home can lead to great productivity and employee satisfaction.

 

COST REDUCTION

Paper documents are not very secure, as anyone with access to the office in which they are kept can potentially acquire them.  With a software management system, access to certain documents can be restricted or made available at will. If paper documents are destroyed or misplaced, it is likely that their information is gone for good, which can be devastating for a business. Software and cloud-based systems can experience data loss, but information is much easier to back-up on hard drives and to retrieve. Sensitive or confidential customer information is also better protected.

The cost of printing, copying and storing masses of paper can be very expensive.  Not only do you have to factor in the cost of buying large amounts of paper, there is also the cost of maintaining printers and photocopiers.  Time is also wasted as staff try to sort through large volumes of documents. Postal costs also have to be taken into account. While there are initial costs with implementing a software or cloud based management system, businesses will likely see a faster return on their investment.

Business DNA would like to offer you the opportunity to see what our end to end business solution software can do for your organization.

Feel free to contact us directly at +971 4 422 7725 or email us at sales@businessdna.ae.

Visit our ERP solutions page /our-portfolio/erp-solutions.aspx to request a free demo and a free brochure.

 

Remote work is on the rise. Advancements in technology and cloud-based tools like the ones Business DNA developed, have made this incredible feat possible—you can work, communicate, and collaborate virtually from virtually anywhere. You no longer have to be confined within the four walls of a traditional office.

As a global company, Business DNA is a big supporter of remote work. We are even able to stay connected using our own digital tools that we’ve created for our customers.

Right now, the number of first-time remote workers is on the rise.

Business DNA has currently adopted work from home as our default state—but we’re not alone. There are now millions of people joining us, as businesses transition to remote work setups following the coronavirus outbreak.

If you are a remote work beginner, we have a few tips and best practices to share that will help you get started on the right foot.

 

Long blog post alert! Bring a cup of coffee, this might take a while.

Have the right tools in place

Cloud-based tools made it possible for everyone to stay working as a unit as projects progress. It is best to be prepared with the right set of cloud-based software tools when going remote. I can’t imagine how much more difficult projects would have been without these tools in place.

Speaking personally, as a family man with members who are also required to stay at home, I had to keep focus on work amidst all kinds of domestic noise. I’m grateful that I invested in good noise-cancelling headphones! Of course, it should go without saying that it is crucial to have a high speed broadband setup with a powerful WiFi router. So, it’s best to be prepared with the right hardware tools to complement your software tools. Even if times are tough to the extent that humanity is challenged, with the right tools, things that may seem remotely possible, can be made possible remotely.

 

Self-direct: be your own boss (especially when no one is around)

Those of us who are used to the buzz and interactions of a busy office may find it hard to stay motivated when they are suddenly by themselves at home. This adjustment can feel impossible to some. If you are one of these people who struggle with the transition, there is no need to fret. There are steps you can take to ease the adjustment period. Over time, you may even learn how to use the focus gained from solitude to get a lot more done.

The key step is to keep your purpose, or “big picture” in mind. The story of the three stonecutters is a great example. When asked by a passerby what each stonecutter is doing, the first says he is chipping stones, and the second says he is earning a living. But, the third says he is building a grand cathedral that will be the pride of the town. There was even a similar historical incident in which President Kennedy asked a janitor mopping the floor at NASA what he was doing. The janitor simply replied that he was “helping send a man to the moon.”

What is the cathedral your team or organization is trying to build? What is your moon mission? Look at your work not as a series of chores, but as indispensable contributions towards realizing a larger vision.

Do the work you believe in. Do you feel the impact your work creates is in proportion with your abilities? Do you find this impact personally satisfying? If not, it could be that you are overly focused on trying to please someone else, acting out of fear, or “just in it for the money.” None of these options is the best position to be in if you’re looking to find self-motivation.

Often, what the brain craves above all is instant gratification. You can play to this by transforming your work into a game. Set short term goals, and give yourself rewards that are independent of the outcome of your work. Ex: “If I work for the next three hours on this tough problem, I will watch my favorite show or nap for the next half hour.” “If I can clear my to do list by Thursday, I will treat myself during the weekend.” To summarize, put your work in the context of a larger vision, do what you believe in, and make it like a game. Soon, you will get to a stage where the only boss you will need is yourself.  

 

Managing a Team Remotely

reducing friction, reusing tools, and recycling knowledge

Work isn’t always the same. It can come in various levels of complexity and difficulty. A good chunk of my work is spent on my own deliverables. There’s also the work where I collaborate with the people I manage, review their work, get them to review some of my work, ideate on projects, and so on. On top of that, there’s the work of collaborating with people outside my team, from different parts of the company, and even people outside the organization. At least two-thirds of all of that used to happen in person. Ever since we moved to working remotely, we have had to achieve the same magic without physically spending time together.

 

Here’s what we try to do:

Brainstorm with the group: Every time we begin a new project, we typically spend time writing down ideas on different pages of a single document. If nothing else, this helps revisit one’s own ideas of clarity, purpose, and viability.  

Create rapport: In the absence of in-person interaction, video works best for creating rapport. This is crucial when we work with people from other teams. For every project we work on, we connect, and at the end of a brainstorming session, we spend time over video to evaluate ideas and arrive at basic conclusions for building further.

Receive clarifications: Any number of questions can arise as we start working out the details of a project. Did they mean this when they wrote that? Did they assume this detail for the sake of discussion? Most of the time, these questions don’t have a simple yes or no answer. They require a short explanation, which is often more efficiently accomplished through voice.

Reminders and quick decisions: In an office setting, people remember projects when they see a teammate who runs that project. While working remotely, these little reminders are often out of sight and out of mind. Group chats help address this challenge. They’re also useful for getting feedback from teammates on early stages of work, and voting quickly on smaller decisions. It is better to avoid having long-winded discussions on group chats, as they can tend to go on and on without a firm conclusion. Getting on a video call will help address these issues.

FYIs & MOMs:  In almost every project, much of the work happens in the background, and it’s not always necessary to notify everyone every step of the way. Sending such notifications automatically on a chat group can also inundate people. We use emails to update key stakeholders about important milestones. We also send a minutes-of-meeting write-up after any meeting that involves more than 3 people.

Creating knowledge: We make it a point to compile internal knowledge on the details of big projects to share with all our stakeholders. This includes things like the challenges we faced on the project, how we overcame them, what to avoid in the future, and how to do some things better are all details that will be useful references in the future.

We try to keep as much of these processes as clear as possible, which helps each person structure their day based on their own productivity choices. That way, everyone is happy, and we’re all able to get our work done regardless of all other factors.

 

Humanize Technology and be more mindful

Technology makes it extremely easy to work remotely and also stay connected with the rest of the team, in addition to my own personal relationships.

 

Here are a few tips on how you can humanize technology:

• Remain available on your messaging and remote call apps while the rest of the team is working. This reassures colleagues that you are approachable and can be reached immediately. When you are less available, set your communication status accordingly. [Eg. “At lunch,” or “in a demo.”]
• There are a few tasks that can only be accomplished with calls. Make yourself available to take work calls.
• When working with colleagues across time zones, schedule calls and meetings at a mutually convenient time. If a time is not very convenient for you, you should feel comfortable informing others.
• Do not say “Hi [Colleague’s name]” in your messaging apps and wait for others to respond. It keeps the other person guessing. Instead, add 2 lines explaining why you are trying to contact them.
• When leading remote teams, take initiative and start the conversation about work. Do not wait for your teammates to give you updates for the day.
• Be transparent. Keep showing work output to relevant stake-holders on the team. This improves your credibility and the trust that your colleagues have in you.

 

Master documentation

One of the crucial aspects of working remotely is creating a culture of collaboration. Switching between messaging apps and channels all day is not the best way to be productive. It is important to set apart a few hours each day to do independent work. It helps when you can differentiate between what is important and what is urgent.

In order to facilitate collaboration, it is good to document important things often, especially when you work remotely.

For example, sharing your ideas in a document with your colleagues before or after a call helps them prepare better, and saves you from possible miscommunication. This also ensures everyone is on the same page (or has better context) before you start a call. For teams, it is best to create a common content repository. This speeds up the sharing and collaboration process.

 

Find your happy place to practice solitude and get work done

In addition to switching between different environments to work in, I try to maintain a fine balance between avoiding distractions, and staying connected with my team and our business partners all over the world through audio and video calls.

When I am working in the office, my train of thought is constantly interrupted by getting pulled into discussions or problems that demand my immediate attention. However, this enforced isolation is inadvertently teaching all of us is to slow our thoughts down, which in turn adopts better decision-making.

 

Evolve and maintain a healthy work-life balance  

I learned that it is very difficult to have a “work-life balance”.

My work life and personal life only integrate with each other.

Here are some things that I do as part of my attempts to juggle the two important halves of my life:

• Identifying which part of my day that I am most creative, and setting my status to DND around that time.

• Using the time that I feel the dullest to do tasks that involve moving around: cooking, gardening, walking, and some exercising.

• Creating my own “list of gratitude,” including the people, things, opportunities, and memories that I am grateful for. This serves as a great anchor for staying positive.
• Picking one hour of every day, and compartmentalizing it into three 20-minute learning paths. This time could be set aside for reading a few pages of a book, watching a TED talk, listening to a podcast, or even revisiting skills that have not been sharpened or put to use in a while.

If we are content and peaceful at the end of the day, and see a purpose for tomorrow, we know we have found our balance. 

To conclude: set your mind right, do your part, and the rest will come to you naturally 

Remote work really requires a strong commitment. It might take you a few days or a few months to master remote work. Just be professional, and pace yourself. Take the time to learn the ropes.

What does iAssure do?

• Integration
• Configurability
• Accessibility
• Functionality

Strategic ways that favor iAssure software?

Comprehensive analysis

• Reduced risks
• Simplified reporting
• Automated data analysis
• Increased management visibility which leads to a decrease in incident occurrences
• Data accuracy

Identifying costs leads to better productivity and loss prevention

• Legal fees
• Labor costs
• Risk Reduction
• Reduction of production Costs
• Prevention of loss by preventing lost time incidents

Employee interaction and engagement

• Higher productivity
• Cleaner workplaces
• Employee participation in QHSE management.
• Decreased sick leave

The success rate of our all-in-one safety software is a pointer to its efficiency. Start today by taking advantage of our risk register software which allows you to record and manage risks in a seamless manner. iAssure automates many of the processes that consume valuable time in your organization. You can be certain you will be on your way to having a safer workspace for your business. 
Click here to request for a free demo today.

 

Quick Facts

iAssure automates many of the processes that consume valuable time in your organization. 

• Time spent on common activities: To get a good estimate, iAssure looks at how many hours per month each EHS staff member spends on tasks like creating and uploading records, uploading data, correcting data errors and managing formulas, assigning tasks and notifications, etc.
• iAssure records & tracks preventive action on past incidents, hence increases productivity levels by 50%!
• Time will be saved!
• Quantify the potential time saving: let's say one of your core QHSE team members spends eight hours per month creating environmental compliance reports. Using iAssure software, they can do the same task in just four hours per month.
• iAssure helps to save up to forty working hours per month for each QHSE staff member.
• Reduces previous documents referral turnaround times by as much as 90%!
• Other cost savings: the EHS software can also help avoid incidents and their related costs including legal fees, medical and workers compensation expenses, fines, lost administrative time, and related travel expenses.
• Save 50% of the cost on work related injuries and workers compensation!
• 90% of the Safety issues being corrected before incidents!
• Intangible Benefits: Improved employee morale often due to an increase in the belief that management truly cares about safety. This can lead to measurable benefits such as lower absenteeism, improved satisfaction survey scores, and lower staff turnover.
• Absenteeism can be reduced up to 40%!
• 30% more efficient since employees can spend more time on valuable work outside of data management!

Look around you and think of about five businesses that used to exist but are no longer available, you would find out that at least, two of them went down partly or mainly because they refused to pay attention to their quality, health, safety and  environment related commitments/ obligations.

A healthy and safe working environment is a requirement in most developed countries in the world. To remain in business, standards have been set by various internal bodies (ISO, FDA, GMP) and local governmental authorities where they are monitored closely to see that this is achieved.

We were able to meet with Mr. Muhamad Nassar, the Chief Operating Officer of Aman Integrated Solutions, where he was able to give us interesting answers regarding iAssure, the quality, health, safety, environment management system he uses to manage all his tasks at Aman.

 

QHSE software – why so important?

• Why more and more companies go for IMS (Integrated Management System) ?
  IMS is a one platform enables integration of multiple ISO standards as per the current high-level document control structure of ISO’s Annex SL format, further it gives the organization the opportunity to identify, establish and implement a streamlined process of parallel implementation and maintenance of standard requirements with less manpower, efforts and time.
• How iAssure helps in compliance with local and international regulations? 
  iAssure is structured and developed in a way to comply simultaneously with ISO standards and regulations established for food safety, environment health and safety and quality. iAssure have captured all necessary standards and regulatory requirements in its platform which enables any organization to comply with the requirements in a self-governing way with a well tracked and ease of maintenance in process monitoring, recording, record retaining, result analysis and continual improvement
• How costly can it be to not to comply with the QHSE regulations (monetary fines or others like temporary/ permanent suspension of operations permit)?

  Regardless the necessity to comply with legal requirements to which the compliance failure may result in business closure, fines, prohibitions to do certain activities etc., the requirements of a well-managed QHSE system is a high scoring area among our clients in the developing market trend. 
  The QHSE compliance and well managed QHSE system increase our chance to gain more business and at the same time its lack can result in failing to secure business opportunities.

• What types of regulations any organization (dealing with food related activities) in the UAE has to comply with? 
  

  There are several laws common for UAE such as federal law, labor law, ministerial resolutions / decrees, environmental laws, laws on waste management etc. added to this there are many laws in each emirates specific to them such as ADPHC (OSHAD SF), ADAFSA regulation in the emirates of Abu Dhabi.
  All entities operating in UAE must comply with all UAE laws and emirate specific laws.

• How can compliance with QHSE regulations help an organization with boosting employee morale? 

  Any QHSE failures such as injuries, fatalities, uncontrolled / harsh work environments, poor welfare arrangements will result in losing employee morale. Complying with QHSE regulations ensures that, you avoid such failures and are brining continual improvement to the workplace safety and employee wellbeing which in turn increases the employee morale.

• How different/similar are the regulations in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and other Emirates?

  The QHSE and Food safety related laws are similar throughout the UAE, the differences are mainly in technical values and the level of implementation and enforcement which varies from emirate to emirate.

• Do organizations get any incentives or support from governments for complying with latest QHSE regulations, and implementing initiatives like reducing carbon emission (in terms of subsidies, tax holidays or rebates etc.)?

  Organizations complying with regulations may receive recognitions in form of certificates / awards from regulatory bodies.

• How can iAssure help an organization with reducing cost?

  iAssure is an integrated management tool for managing more than one ISO standard, it eliminated the need for paper, printing, documents storage for retention, saving time by accessibility, mobility, advanced search option, preset master recording forms etc.

• Advantages of latest browser-based architecture for anywhere and anytime access to system for data entry and reporting?

  In manual ISO documentation and records maintenance system, it demands you to be in your office to trace a records, verify a document / report, prepare a document / report etc., but with iAssure you are able to document control and manage your ISO from anywhere anytime which is a total freedom of work that enables you to attend your other business needs.

Feel free to contact us directly at  +971 4 422 7725 or email us at sales@businessdna.ae.

Visit our iAssure page /our-portfolio/erp-solutions/qhse-management.aspx for a free brochure or request for a free demo by clicking here /our-portfolio/erp-solutions/qhse-management.aspx#requestDemo.

Safety is our Priority and iAssure is definitely the Eye that never sleeps!

When it comes to managing unusual, unanticipated and unplanned events, such as the potential spread of COVID-19, or environmental disasters such as floods or wildfires, the key is planning.

But how do you plan for an unanticipated event? If you’re experienced in health and safety you already have a tool that you are an expert at using to plan for routine tasks such as manual handling or work at height, identifying emergency scenarios and planning for those – a risk assessment.

While we can’t predict whether COVID-19 will burn itself out, or turn into a pandemic, we can use a risk assessment process to consider what the consequences would be to our organizations of widespread illnesses.

Start by identifying essential resources, and considering what would happen if it were lost or reduced. You don’t need to be able to predict precisely what the cause of the loss could be to work through the consequences. We’ll look here at some of the top resources to assess the risk, and some mitigation you might need to put in place. The planning approach provided here relate to health, safety & business continuity can be used to assist develop your pacific organizational planning for the anticipated 

 

RESOURCE: PEOPLE

Hazard

If people are ill, or have to ‘self-isolate’, if the schools are closed and they have to look after their children, if the roads are closed or the transport means are restricted or stopped, the impact on the organization is the same – insufficient people to carry out work safely. Consider critical roles such as:

• Service / production crew
• HSE & Emergency management staff
• Supervisors, security and maintenance staff
• Customer handling staff. 

Solution

• Identify critical roles in the organization. Understand your minimum and critical safe staffing levels.
• Make arrangements for remote working where possible.
• Train people to be multi-skilled, to provide flexibility in covering critical roles with the people available. For example, cross-training operational and maintenance staff.
• When planning Emergency provision such as first-aiders & fire wardens, consider the impact of absences, and decide priorities & arrangement in advance. 

 

RESOURCE: SUPPLIERS

Hazard

Insufficient supplies to work safely and to ensure the continuity of the business. If your suppliers are suffering from a labor shortage, or logistics issues, how many days of critical supplies do you have? Consider what additional supplies you might need in an emergency, critical raw materials for production & service, including soap, tissues, cleaning materials, sanitizers and additional collections of waste. 

Solution

Identify critical supplies to ensure health & safety and continuity of the business and determine appropriate inventory levels.  Apart from this, think too about supply & service contracts, what happens if the fire alarms or emergency lighting stops working? What if the fire suppression or gays shut off systems fails? If your service contractors can’t get to you to do an emergency repair, what back up do you have? What happens if your critical materials supplier stock runs out? What is your contingency plan, who is your alternative suppliers?

 

 RESOURCE: UTILITIES

Hazard

Insufficient water resulting in hygiene concerns, lack of power for safety systems and safe working conditions. Continuity of business effected by critical utility failures.

Solution

Some organizations can’t operate without water and electricity or gas, while others can carry on - for a while. Find out how many hours of water is stored in your water tanks, and what back up power there is. Identifying critical roles in advance will speed decision-making. If you know there is only enough water for 100 toilet flushes, and there are 100 people in the building, sending 90 home so that the critical 10 people can work for longer will be an easier decision to make.

 

RESOURCE: BUILDINGS

Hazard

Buildings become unusable because of conditions (eg: need to isolate due to infections, floor, storm, and riot). This could also be a consequence of a lack of people to maintain and manage a building.  

Solution

Can essential functions be moved to alternative facilities? In advance agree:

• Which functions are essential?
• Where people will go?
• How they will find out where to go?
• Which facilities can support service, production & product / service deliveries?

LIMITING THE SPREAD OF A VIRUS

As the world is coming together to fight against covid19 coronavirus, workforce & public safety are becoming key concern for any organization, importance of implementing and following comprehensive control measure with adherence to latest QHSE managements system (IMS) standards and regulations is even more crucial. Get in touch with us at Business DNA to know how iAssure, our state of the art software solution can help you manage all these requirements while compliance with local, federal and international regulations and guidelines is achieved.

iAssure is a Quality, health, safety, environment & food safety management system. With iAssure all incidents are preventable via its training, monitoring, documenting and proactive attitude. iAssure is a 100% compliance system with governmental rules and regulations such as (Abu Dhabi Public Health center (OSHAD) ADAFSA, DOH, TCA, IDB, AD Municipality, Zonescorp, DOT - etc).

iAssure Features include:

• Integrated food safety management system (FSMS).
• 100% ISO Compatible, 360 Degree management tool.
• Live Monitor to all Health & Safety activities (HSMS).
• Integrated Environmental Management and Smart QHSE Partner with e-Waste Management Tool (EMS).
• QHSE End to End Mobility Solution.
• QHSE Business Intelligence Applications (BIA).
• Full Documentation eco-management system.

Feel free to contact us directly at +971 4 422 7725 or email us at sales@businessdna.ae. Visit our iAssure page /our-portfolio/erp-solutions/qhse-management.aspx to request a free demo or for a free brochure. Safety is our Priority and iAssure is definitely the Eye that never sleeps!

Customers Enjoy The Ease And Efficiency Of Self-scanning

ABOUT SOUQ PLANET

Emirates (UAE), opening its doors in 1968 under the name Abela. It now has five outlets in the UAE, with thousands of customers, and has been an enthusiastic adopter of digital innovation as a means of improving the customer experience. This has included rolling out smart shopper cards offering a lot of benefits to loyal customers.

When it opened its fourth Souq Planet in 2014, a store with a floor area of 2,000 square metres, NCC decided to offer a self-scanning service to holders of its smart shopper cards.

There are plans to expand Souq Planet outside the UAE.

Solution

The retailer engaged Business DNA, a Zebra Technologies’ partner, to implement a self- scanning system in its new Abu Dhabi store. Business DNA rolled out the Zebra MC18 personal shopper retail mobile computers using the Re-vision Omni-Channel Platform, which connects the scanners to Souq Planet’s backend systems. Shoppers can also download the Re-vision software onto their mobile phone.

Now when customers arrive at the store, they go to the location where the scanners are held, present their smart shopper card to a handheld scanner, then pick it up and place it in the cradle on their trolley.

Customers scan the barcodes of the items they want to buy by pressing a yellow button on the scanner. They can then pack their shopping immediately or, if they prefer, put it in the trolley so that staff can pack the items for them when they have finished.

When they have completed their shop, customers go to the self-scan cashier point and hand their scanner to the cashier, who will check the total value of the goods and ask for payment.

Challenge

Souq Planet’s priority is to make its customers’ experience as smooth and easy as possible. At busy times, customers can find themselves queuing to pay, and Souq Planet wanted to reduce checkout waiting times.

It decided to introduce self-scanning for customers in its new Abu Dhabi store. The scanners would need to be robust, reliable and easy-to-use. Souq Planet wanted the scanners to have a good battery life, an efficient barcode scanner and strong wireless connection to transfer data to its enterprise resource planning (ERP), point of sale (POS) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems

Results

The Zebra MC18 scanners have proved extremely reliable and robust. They have been extremely popular with customers, who adopted them quickly.

Shopping is much faster: shoppers no longer need to queue to pay, unload their shopping cart or pack it into bags when they have finished. Souq Planet has seen customers return more often to the store and buy more goods at each visit. Souq Planet now plans to roll out the self- scanning system to its other stores.

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Let’s face it: being a CFO these days is not what it used to be. The role of the chief finance function has evolved beyond the narrow financially-centric viewpoint. Today, it involves providing strategic visionary leadership alongside the CEO.

Financial tools that once worked are now falling short for meeting these changing needs, which now include deeper insights into business intelligence, metrics, reporting and analytics all in real time and at your fingertips.

So what are your options? Sound investment and selection of the right ERP solution is a game changer for this new brand of strategic CFO. It can provide a powerful way to gain sharper insights that drive both the company’s growth and bottom-line agenda.

Here are a few of the benefits that accrue from having the right ERP solution:

• End-to-end company visibility – Of all key fundamentals: financials, inventory, operations, sourcing/supplies, service/support obligations and statuses, etc.
• Decision-making support – Access to data, metrics and reporting provides the ability to act on all of this critical information quickly and with favourable profit and cost ramifications.
• Customer/market responsiveness – Trends, issues and/or sales or service opportunities are quickly identified and made actionable.
• Business Process Automation – removing manual processes and inserting standardized alerts on key performance indicators can be the difference between running in the black or the red.
• Auditable compliance with government/industry/financial/customer/partner regulations – This can range from legal regulatory reporting to product recalls and adherence to contract terms.

In these uncertain economic times, today’s financial heads are increasingly aware that their effectiveness is extremely compromised without a comprehensive and highly-integrated set of technology tools at their fingertips. A strong, integrated technology foundation that is created by the right choice of ERP can assist manufacturers and distributors to rise to the next level of growth.

 There is much evidence that the human brain can process and react faster to images compared to text content. This means data presented in a visual form can be a valuable strategic business tool as people respond to it positively and absorb key information and performance indicators in new and constructive ways.

Data visualization was sometimes seen as a, ”new age gimmick” in the past, probably because of shallow and flashy visuals used at the time, but insightful visualization, including a combination of graphs and Gantt charts (giving a visual representation of planning and tracking) for example, can be a very useful business tool across the organization.

One of the greatest strengths of data visualization is how it brings actionable insights to the surface. Unlike one-dimensional tables and charts that can only be viewed statically, data visualization tools enable users to interact with the data and reveal the patterns within. For example a well-designed Sales data visual comparing sales trend over the last 6 months will very quickly highlight if sales are on the rise or decline.

No matter which form is used, the visuals must focus on the primary areas of the situation at hand and is dependent on the data used. Heat maps are good for areas/region related data and graphs can provide historical data, but there are a variety of mediums.

The trick or art to data visualization is using the right medium to get the best result out of the data. The data visual/dashboard cannot be too busy as it distracts from the task at hand. So the visual must be simple and must focus on the key areas or objectives of the task at hand so as not to lose its value.

Used properly, to reveal key insights into the business, data visualization adds a wealth of strategic knowledge to plot a prosperous course ahead.

ERP is the backbone of business intelligence for an organization, giving managers an integrated and holistic view of all processes. It effectively coordinates the instrumental actions within the business, converting the company’s culture to one primarily supported by technology. This technology empowers employees to do their jobs better and more efficiently, boosting employee morale and contributing to the company culture.

Impact of Organizational Culture on ERP

Change management is critical when implementing an ERP system into any business.  ERP systems bring new methods, processes and procedures, and easing employees into this new transition is imperative. When you implement ERP you are changing the way people work. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges an organization can face is migrating from a culture of disconnected silos of information, where the reality is one of using multiple, disparate systems, to a fully integrated enterprise-wide solution platform with ERP as its foundation. Company management, in cohesion with the software vendor, must make a priority of educating users of the new system so that they gain a solid understanding of the impact their contributions make to the successful deployment and utilization of the new system.  If there is not a total “buy in” of the new solution by each and every employee, the organization cannot leverage the levels of efficiencies and accomplishments promised by the ERP software.

Employee attitude is the key ingredient for success. This is best managed through user training and change management, reducing any resistance to change.

If implemented and introduced properly, ERP can be a beautiful unfolding of the next chapter in a company’s culture and progress.

Before any business can constructively recommend a Cloud or On Premise solution without any bias, they must first engage in dialog with the ERP purchaser in order to understand and consider their requirements.  This dialog must ensure full coverage of the associated risk and rewards associated with purchasing a solution for running on either of the platforms.

The typical dialog we witness would normally go…

Up Front Cost Vs SaaS (Software as a Service) and Upgrades 

Customer:We are looking for an ERP solution on a monthly subscription, perhaps on a per user/per month model.  We are looking to do this to put a flat line through our budget and avoid any lengthy capital expenditure proposals along the way.

Provider: That’s great, but note that leasing is now a common option for on premise ERP purchases, in the long term SaaS would always eventually cost more than an on premise solution. Regardless of Cloud or On Premise – they would both come with a minimum number of days to implement the software (on top of SaaS model), this could range from 15 to 5000 days.  A business could also be locked into a 12-month contract with no visibility of the future price you would pay.  You could also be forced into software updates on set dates, unlike the flexibility of on premise, where you plan, test and update when convenient to your business.

Integration Aspirations

Provider: Whilst running your ERP solution, what services might you be looking for a real time connect to, for example, Finance management system, HR and Talent management System, procurement and warehouse Management System?

Customer:   We are a growing business and want to ensure we have the opportunity to use these services as quickly and cost effectively as and when we need access to them.

Provider: Then you need to carefully research which ERP offering, regardless of platform, has the most open, reliable API and has a reputation for integrating to the best of breed software offerings on the market. You will probably find that, due to the maturity of most on premise solutions, they are often the most effective solution from this perspective. 

Business Criticality 

Customer:  It is critical for our business that the machine and labor tracking solutions that we use for monitoring and posting data to our ERP solution are up 24/7. Any downtime here would see us without visibility and the result could be a loss of vital customer contracts.

Provider:  Although a Cloud ERP provider might be able to offer you the guarantee of very high up-time, you would typically have to pay for a very expensive internet connection in order to guarantee this.

Hardware & Administration Costs 

Customer: As a business, we want a cloud solution because we can’t afford expensive hardware and software licensing just to run an ERP system.  We also can’t afford to pay someone to administer this ERP system.

Provider:  Financial leasing could help here, it would help you spread the cost of your investment and any expected ROI could help to pay for the investment.  Separately, it cannot be emphasized enough just how important the role of the ERP administrator or business system owner is in ensuring the success of the ERP implementation and ongoing extraction of value for your business. Even Cloud deployed ERP requires a high level of ownership and management.  Often those Cloud system providers will charge more for the backup and restoring of data. Some providers will also hold rights over your data and charge you to obtain your data in a database format should you need it for local analysis.

Summary 

The above conversations are important in the Cloud Vs On Premise debate.  They show that, at present, there is still a strong argument for on premise ERP, especially for a technically savvy, forward thinking business that runs its business in real-time and demands maximum value from its systems.

But this is only now.  In 5 to 10 years’ time, the technological barriers governing our connectivity will be gone and the race for the mature ERP solution at the cheapest price with the most functionally will prevail.

This is why we find that Business DNA commitment to a cloud approach, covering aspects of deployment, flexible consumption, diverse accessibility and more, and the perfect answer to these upcoming advancements in technology.