Dorset Police

Dorset Police cover the county of Dorset including Bournemouth and Poole, covering 1,000 square miles with over 700,000 residents. Listed in the Sunday Times as one of the Top 75 public sector companies to work for, Dorset Police has headquarters in Winfrith and has police stations in major towns around the region.

The organisation has six main divisions: Bournemouth and Poole, Dorset County, HQ CID, Criminal Justice Division, Headquarters and the Operations division. The Operations division is comprised of specialist departments including Contact Management, Safety, Education and Enforcement Services, Traffic Policing, the Dog Section, Firearms Response, Training and Licensing, Air Operations and the Marine Section.

With over 2,800 employees in six different divisions, managing headcount and staff poses a constant challenge.

Managing an extensive organisation
Dorset Police recently implemented OrgPlus from HumanConcepts to help its managers, HR team and Command teams manage their organisational structures and update changes in personnel and vacant positions.

According to Nick Power, e-HR Officer at Dorset Police, "Using OrgPlus has supported us in our drive to manage our costs and improve the quality of our data. Since implementing the solution, we have saved the equivalent of one day each week maintaining organisational charts. They now reflect an accurate picture of our staffing headcounts and vacant posts. The charts help our division and line managers make informed workforce planning decisions and remove the need for them to call HR for this information."

Accurate data displayed
Previously, the HR team had been manually updating the organisational charts, which was time consuming and error prone. Data issues and inconsistencies often occurred between divisions or the main HR database. Now workforce data from Dorset Police's main HR system populates OrgPlus to provide a visually rich org chart. Managers are able to check the data and easily identify any inaccuracies ensuring that the information reflects the most recent changes.

Senior managers and HR personnel use OrgPlus to view the number of direct reports, vacant positions and headcount across the organisation in the current charts published daily on Microsoft SharePoint.

"Charts are created for each division, some contain up to 1,000 employees, and can be viewed online by HR and line managers," said Mr Power. "OrgPlus provides a very accurate picture of where we are as an organisation."

OrgPlus allows managers and HR at Dorset Police to check visually that records regarding workflow are correct much more effectively than by inspecting the underlying data. OrgPlus saves time by providing easy access to information, reflecting what is held in the Force's main HR database. It also provides information to managers regarding absences and sick days, helping the Force to be more accountable as an organisation.

"OrgPlus feels like a customised package. The solution provides us with a wealth of features and functionality at a reasonable cost," commented Mr Power. Additionally, Dorset Police has been impressed with the support and training from HumanConcepts, which has been invaluable to the HR team in managing workforce changes.

Return on investment
"As a visual tool, there is no doubt that OrgPlus has made a significant difference to us as an organisation. We estimate that OrgPlus will provide a return on investment within twelve months through improved visibility, data accuracy and accountability," concluded Mr Power. He added, "Recent polls have placed Dorset Police the highest in the UK for public confidence. We believe that recruiting the right people and selecting the right technology to effectively manage our personnel and processes has helped us to achieve this status."

About HumanConcepts
HumanConcepts is the leading provider of on-demand workforce decision support solutions for organisations of all sizes. Over 50,000 businesses worldwide-including 400 of the Fortune 500-use OrgPlus® to help understand their workforce and manage change, using information-rich organisational charts, easy-to-configure workforce metrics, and advanced collaborative modelling tools. Named as Top HR Product of 2008 by Human Resource Executive® magazine, OrgPlus integrates seamlessly with Oracle, SAP, and other leading HCM and HR systems.

HumanConcepts is based in Sausalito, California with offices in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Singapore. For more information visit www.humanconcepts.co.uk.