Webinar: Unpacking HR Tools in IFS Cloud

Unpacking IFS Cloud HR: Webinar Summary

Introduction

Welcome to another Anthesis “Unpacking IFS Cloud” webinar, this time focusing on the HR capabilities available within IFS Cloud.

Oliver Franks, Solution Consultant at Anthesis, was joined by Michael, Anthesis’ HR specialist. Together they explored how IFS HR has evolved significantly from earlier versions of IFS and demonstrated how organisations can use the module to improve employee onboarding, absence management, training, competencies, succession planning and employee lifecycle management.

One of the key themes throughout the session was that IFS HR has been substantially redeveloped for IFS Cloud and should not be viewed as simply an upgraded version of the HR functionality found in Apps 9 or Apps 10.

Why Consider IFS Cloud HR?

Michael explained that earlier versions of IFS HR were often seen as a supporting function for other business processes. However, after years of development, IFS Cloud HR is now a mature solution that compares favourably with many standalone HR systems.

Key advantages include:

• Native integration with the wider IFS ecosystem
• Modern user experience built specifically for Aurena and IFS Cloud
• Mobile-friendly employee self-service capabilities
• Embedded competency and training management
• Improved onboarding and employee lifecycle management
• Enhanced absence and leave management
• Succession planning and workforce development tools

Importantly, organisations already using IFS Cloud may already own much of this functionality through their existing licences.

HR Capabilities Covered

The session focused on six key areas:

1. New employee onboarding
2. Absence and leave management
3. Skills, competencies and training
4. Employee leavers and rehires
5. Employee relations (disciplinaries and grievances)
6. Succession planning and talent management

Employee Onboarding

One of the most significant advances in IFS Cloud HR is the onboarding framework.

The onboarding process is driven by configurable templates that can contain as few or as many tasks as required.

Examples include:

• Issuing laptops and equipment
• Completing mandatory training
• Health and safety inductions
• Document collection
• Meeting key stakeholders
• HR check-ins
• Team introductions
• Company asset allocation

Tasks can be assigned to:

• HR teams
• Hiring managers
• IT departments
• Health & Safety teams
• Individual employees

Organisations can create different onboarding templates for different job roles or departments.

Michael highlighted that the onboarding process ensures consistency and helps create a positive first impression for new employees while reducing the risk of important steps being missed.

Key Features

• Highly configurable onboarding templates
• Task ownership and tracking
• Progress monitoring
• Automated notifications
• Lobby-based visibility for outstanding actions
• Employee and manager comments throughout the process

New Employment Assistant

The New Employment Assistant streamlines employee creation.

Features include:

• Configurable mandatory fields
• Pre-populated data
• Assignment to organisational structures
• Employee categorisation
• Leave entitlement allocation
• Competency assignment
• Certificate tracking
• Employee self-service data entry

Competencies can either be assigned manually or inherited automatically from the role being recruited for.

Employees can also contribute information themselves through self-service, including qualifications and certifications that may not have been captured during recruitment.

Absence Management

The presenters demonstrated the absence management functionality, which provides a simple and visual way to manage leave.

Employee Features

Employees can:

• View leave balances
• Request annual leave
• Book multiple consecutive days
• Submit different absence types
• View request status
• Access functionality via desktop, tablet or mobile

The visual calendar view allows employees to see booked leave at a glance, reducing mistakes and making planning easier.

Management Features

Managers and HR teams can:

• View team absences
• Approve or reject requests
• Track absence status
• Access organisation-wide absence visibility

The solution supports:

• Fixed annual leave entitlements
• Accrued leave calculations
• Hour-based leave booking
• Partial day absences
• Integration with Time & Attendance and Time Cards

Skills, Competencies and Training

This was highlighted as one of the biggest enhancements within IFS Cloud HR.

Competencies are now fully integrated with the wider IFS platform, meaning the same competency information can be used across:

• HR
• Manufacturing
• Service Management
• Project Management

Competencies can be measured using configurable rating systems, including star ratings, and can include expiry dates where required.

Certification Management

Organisations can manage certifications for:

• Forklift operators
• Welders
• Health & Safety personnel
• Cherry picker operators
• Compliance-based roles
• Industry-specific qualifications

IFS automatically tracks validity periods and certification history.

Training Management

Training functionality allows organisations to:

• Create training courses
• Schedule training events
• Register attendees
• Record attendance
• Assign trainers
• Track outcomes
• Automatically award competencies upon successful completion

Training can be delivered to:

• Internal employees
• Customers
• Suppliers
• Contractors

The platform is not intended to replace a full Learning Management System (LMS), but it provides strong training administration and competency tracking capabilities.

Employee Leavers and Rehires

IFS Cloud now provides a structured employee termination process.

Termination Process Features

Organisations can:

• Record leaving reasons
• Manage internal transfers
• Handle retirements
• Trigger offboarding workflows
• Assign and track offboarding tasks

Examples of offboarding tasks include:

• IT account deactivation
• Company equipment return
• Exit interviews
• Payroll actions
• Security access removal

Tasks can be assigned deadlines and monitored through lobbies and notifications.

Rehire Capability

One particularly valuable enhancement is employee rehiring.

Instead of creating duplicate employee records, IFS Cloud:

• Reuses the original employee record
• Retains employment history
• Preserves competency records
• Maintains certification history

New skills and qualifications gained during a period away from the organisation can also be added to the existing employee profile.

Employee Relations

IFS Cloud HR now includes stronger support for disciplinary and grievance processes.

Capabilities include:

• Case management
• Participant tracking
• Investigation notes
• Supporting documentation
• Meeting records
• Outcome tracking

Supporting evidence can be attached directly to cases and stored securely within IFS.

Security Controls

Access can be tightly controlled through:

• HR security profiles
• Role-based permissions
• Restricted documents

Sensitive documents can be hidden entirely from users who do not have explicit access rights.

Succession Planning and Workforce Development

The competency framework supports strategic workforce planning.

Managers can:

• Assess competency gaps
• View skill matrices
• Analyse workforce capability
• Identify training requirements
• Highlight high-potential employees
• Support succession planning activities

Competencies can be analysed across:

• Individuals
• Teams
• Departments
• Entire organisations

This is especially valuable in industries facing skills shortages or operating under strict regulatory requirements.

Key Takeaways

The webinar concluded with several important messages:

IFS Cloud HR Is Significantly Different

Customers familiar with HR in older IFS versions should view IFS Cloud HR as a fundamentally redesigned solution rather than an enhancement of previous functionality.

Integration Is a Major Advantage

Because HR is embedded within IFS Cloud, organisations avoid costly integrations between separate HR, competency and operational systems.

Employee Self-Service Has Improved

Mobile and tablet support make it easier than ever for employees to manage leave, update information and complete HR-related activities themselves.

Many Customers May Already Own the Functionality

A large proportion of IFS customers may already have access to much of the HR functionality included within their licensing agreements and could realise significant value simply by enabling and implementing features that are not currently being used.

Skills and Competency Management Is a Major Opportunity

For organisations still relying on spreadsheets or paper records, IFS Cloud HR offers a centralised and auditable platform for managing competencies, training and workforce development.