Case study
With a 72-year history, United Bank of Africa (UBA) is one of the leading and most recognized banking brands to originate from Sub-Sahara Africa. UBA has growing operations in 20 African countries, the UK and USA, and a rep. office in France providing corporate, commercial, SME, consumer and personal (retail) banking services to more than 25 million customers.
Role
Duration
Industry
The team
The existing employee management process posed significant challenges. HR business partners were inundated with daily requests from a workforce of over 10,000 employees, all of which had to be processed manually. This manual approach not only led to delays but also increased the risk of errors, creating bottlenecks in HR operations.
Covid-19 came and in response to the pandemic, stringent preventive measures, including social distancing, compelled the entire organization to shift to remote work. This was an unprecedented challenge, as the organization had not previously operated remotely. The impact of this shift became starkly apparent as employees and HR partners found themselves operating remotely, away from their usual work locations containing vital files and documents necessary for HR operations.
The introduction of Human Capital Management (HCM) automation, codenamed HCMConnect, marked a pivotal moment. It emerged as the central pillar of innovation, significantly enhancing the experience of employee management for human resource business partners.
Moreover, its implementation acted as a catalyst for increased demand for automation in various operational processes. This ripple effect led to substantial savings of $80,000 per month by replacing costly third-party enterprise applications with more efficient in-house solutions.
savings on monthly license
Increase in automation demand
BEHIND THE SCENES BELOW
Activities
User interviews
Literature review
Key findings
Manual Processing: The majority of employee requests are currently handled through manual processes, relying on paper forms and Microsoft Office tools like Excel and Word. Additionally, communication and approvals are primarily managed through email, which often leads to lengthy and disorganized threads, making it challenging to track and respond effectively.
Disjointed & Dispersed Data Sources: A significant portion of requests, leading to substantial backlogs for HR business partners and employees, are related to inquiries such as leave entitlement information and payslip details. This data is often scattered across various sources, making it difficult to access and provide timely responses.
Activities
Information architecture
Focus area
Userflows
Navigating through uncharted waters, user flows proved invaluable in visualizing user journeys and ideating on processes as they initiated and transitioned between different user groups, including employees, managers, and administrators. It provided a comprehensive view of the entire process, allowing us to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement. These insights facilitated productive discussions with the engineering team, particularly on the backend, enabling the development of APIs that significantly accelerated product delivery timelines.
Sketches
Wireframe
High fidelity Mockups
Usability testing
During the development process, thorough usability testing approach was implemented. Following the completion of prototyping for each module, we conducted reviews with employees and staff administrators via Teams. This iterative testing process involved an average of 2-3 sessions with the HR team and select staff employees for each module before granting sign-off for implementation.
Some testing sessions led to valuable iterations, ultimately contributing to a more user-friendly and effective final product.
Final designs
Handoff
Arranged in flows
Use of connectors to aid developer's comprehension
Use of notes for additional context and explanation
Head, HR Group Shared Service | UBA Group