In the U.S., there are state and federal laws that require employers to report necessary details of the new employees they hire or rehire. The scope of this project was to evaluate an effective managerial strategy to improve the reporting time of new hires to the federal government. Brainstorming was the primary methodology utilized to understand the limitations of the current system and also propose new ideas. In this case, it was a structured brainstorming session where the group leader outlined the different approaches suggested by all group members ( Coyne, K. P., & Coyne, S. T, 2011 ). Given that the scope of the project entails changes at a national level, it was essential to adopt a continuous improvement model for all the proposed changes.
The continuous improvement process requires one first to understand the processes that affect organizational goals, measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the process and later rely on factual information and knowledge to propose changes ( Formento et al., 2014 ). According to the administration for children and families (2019), federal statutes expect employers to register necessary information of their new employees with the state department of new hires (SDNH) of their respective states within twenty days after hiring. Afterwards, the information of the new hires is input in the database maintained by the SDNH within five business days. The SDNH is then expected to update the information with the national department of new hires (NDNH) within three business days. The NDNH then updates the latest information within the next two business days. As a result, it takes about a month for the federal government to register information concerning a new employee.
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Based on the analysis above, it is evident that there is a lot of redundancy in data transmission. Most of the redundancy results from the mode of data collection used at the state level. According to ACF (2019), the information required during registration of a new hires includes the employees' name, social security number, address, date of hire-day the employee begins work and the federal employment identification number. The ACF (2019) also notes that most of the information is already available in the W-4 form; thus, most states allow scans of the forms to be submitted through email. Alternatively, some states also have interactive web applications that enable employers to key in details of the W-4 forms and provide them online. Other options include sending the data in electronic devices such as floppy disks, magnetic tapes and cartridge cassettes (ACF, 2019). As a result, there is no standard model established to transmit the data, which leads to delays. For instance, employers submitting data through electronic devices are expected to make two monthly submissions of data for more than 12 employees which should be more than sixteen days apart (ACF, 2019). Thus, in such cases, data for a single employee is delayed before the employer can accumulate additional employee data.
Hence, one of the proposals to enhance the timely reporting of new hires is through the establishment of a common standard for data submission. For one, all SDNH need to eliminate the submissions through electronic devices such as magnetic tapes. Such a measure will reduce the extra work hours that are dedicated to retrieving data from such sources. Moreover, most of the information needed for registration is already provided in the W-4 forms. Therefore, it is possible to transmit most of the information online through an email. However, email submissions still require some time for the state departments to evaluate the data, store it and transmit it to the national department of hire. Thus, the time taken for the data to reach federal bodies will still belong. For that reason, all state departments should establish a web application to allow entry and transmission of data for new hires. Luckily, the information age has brought about cloud storage technologies ( Obrutsky, 2016 ). Through the use of cloud storage facilities, data from state departments is synced directly with the national department’s database. As a result, all data updated in the state departments are instantly added to the national database. The delays of the federal government having to wait for data from the state level is eliminated, and data can be acquired within three to five business days after hiring.
Implementing web applications as the sole means of submission comes at a price. One is the cost incurred while developing the necessary infrastructure. However, since it is a project that spans across the federal and state governments, it is more natural to cost-share. Additionally, since the data storage needs of all states are enormous, it is easy to exercise economies of scale provided by cloud service providers when purchasing huge data storage capacities ( Obrutsky, 2016 ). However, it will take quite some time to familiarize all parties that will experience changes. Nonetheless, adopting a continuous improvement process allows the integration of gradual changes over a specified period ( Formento et al., 2014 ). Implementing the proposed solution also has its benefit. For one, saves on the time and human resource that is needed to analyze data stored in electronic resources. Moreover, it is safer to store the information collected in cloud services when compared to means such as magnetic tapes.
References
Administration for Children and Families (ACF). (2019, October 4). New hire reporting - Answers to employer questions . Office of Child Support Enforcement | ACF. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/resource/new-hire-reporting-answers-to-employer-questions#admin_info
Coyne, K. P., & Coyne, S. T. (2011). Seven steps to better brainstorming. McKinsey Quarterly , (2), 1-8.
Formento, H. R., Chiodi, F. J., Cusolito, F. J., Altube, L. A., & Gatti, S. P. (2014). Key factors for a continuous improvement process. Independent Journal of Management & Production , 4 (2), 391-415.
Obrutsky, S. (2016). Cloud storage: Advantages, disadvantages and enterprise solutions for business . In Conference: EIT New Zealand.
