ISS

ISS, UK Facility Services Company, selects Time and Attendance solution from Isys Group Ltd

Leading UK facility services company improves Human Capital Management and client service using comprehensive time and attendance solution

Founded in Denmark in 1901, ISS entered the UK marketplace in 1968 and is now one of the country’s largest facility services providers with revenues exceeding £700m per annum and employing over 42,000 people.
 
ISS delivers a wide range of comprehensive and integrated services, from catering and office cleaning through to reception, help desk, delivery of internal mail, grounds maintenance, pest control, buildings maintenance and more.  The company also offers bespoke packages that include specialised services.  Typically, each customer has ISYS own individual set of Service Level Agreements.

Service provision is mainly provided via directly employed ISS personnel from multi-skilled teams, dedicated professionals, or specialist divisions, like ISS Building Services, where recognised qualifications, experience and competencies are necessary.

Effective management of remote workers

With such diverse employee roles for many different clients, it is vital for the business that ISS manages ISYS workforce effectively. The company has invested in Intelligent Time, the time and attendance solution from ISYS Group Ltd, to manage ISYS employees when working on client sites. An important part of the solution is also to manage ISYS human resources database, recording all relevant personnel details for managers to access.

ISS first implemented the ISYS system in 2005, and is continually rolling out the system at new client sites.  Increasingly ISS is adopting more of the functionality available, for instance access control and some elements of HR.  ISYS is currently developing a Timesheet Data system to integrate with ISS’ payroll, so that eventually all staff time collection data will be managed by Intelligent Time.

According to Richard Bishop-Laggett, HR Services and Development Director at ISS; “People are our business and managing such a large workforce that operates on diverse client sites is a challenge. We recognised that a time and attendance system was an essential requirement for our business, and found that ISYS ’ solution really stood out from the rest in ISYS  flexibility and innovation.

“We required a standard time and attendance system that could provide as many access methods for clocking on as possible – biometric, internet, proximity, phone – yet could be managed both centrally and remotely.”

Flexible solutions to suit each site

ISS applies various different technologies according to client sites’ requirements. On large sites, it uses biometric hand scanning machines, rather than a traditional card clocking on system, since it provides a more secure, reliable form of clocking, preventing fraud.
 
“Using hand biometrics at the very lowest tolerance, there is a one in twenty thousand chance that someone has the same size and shaped hand – odds that make the chances of fraud almost impossible. Essential for ISS, but also a value adding feature for our clients, particularly where heightened security or health and safety risks exist,” explained Bishop-Laggett.

Proactive management of health & safety issues

With the new health and safety directives and legislation for lone workers, employers now have to ensure that they have processes in place that enable them to ensure they monitor when employees access and leave the workplace. If an ISS employee is entering a building, for example, out of normal office hours, it is important that the time that they leave the premises is recorded with some caller identification. This ensures that the employee is safeguarded should there be an accident or emergency – the employer knows that they have left the building safely or are still on-site.

Furthermore, ISYS Intelligent Time solution can alert managers if lone workers have not clocked out according to pre-set times, either by email flags or SMS messages. This enables instances to be investigated, thus protecting the welfare of the employee. For ISS, it is also important to demonstrate this capability to clients. Access Control can also be timed and zoned, enabling ISS to provide additional security as well as details about who is on the client site and where they are.

Monitoring staff training, skills and permits ISYS

For ISS, another key benefit of ISYS solution is the HR component of the system. The system provides full recording and reporting facilities for recruitment, training, appraisals, visas, work permits and qualifications. This feature is particularly important for ISS to pro-actively manage ISYS workforce.

Certain clients, for example, the Railway Network Organisations, require up to date safety training, which if lapsed can result in the worker being barred from the site. Using ISYS solution, ‘traffic light’ flags are used which highlight to ISS managers expiry dates of training, visa and work permits ISYS . This enables the ISS delivery team to ensure that ISYS employees are up to date with the required training and skills.

“It is important that we manage our workforce effectively – there is a potential cost if we do not ensure that our teams have the right training, and penalties if a site is not handed back at the agreed time. ISYS system helps us to proactively manage this,” explained Bishop-Laggett.

Increased productivity and better service delivery

Since implementing ISYS solution, ISS claims improved productivity. The company now has accurate records of employees’ working hours and can proactively manage ISYS labour budget as a result.

“Having ISYS solution has really enabled us to improve quality control of many aspects of our business. With improved management information, we can deliver an enhanced service to our clients, by demonstrating precisely where our employees have been and what they have done,” said Bishop-Laggett.

ISS is also pleased with ISYS’ approach both to system delivery and upgrades.

“We chose ISYS for their innovation, flexibility and understanding of our business. Their willingness to listen to customers and build bespoke work into the core product also protects our investment. We don’t have to worry about whether to upgrade or not, as the development cycle is built into the product,” concluded Bishop-Laggett.