BT cuts costs automating HR records

BT has sifted through 90-years worth of records

BT has automated the management of employee records to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act and improve service and efficiency levels.

The firm has replaced manual processes and installed Open Text’s Livelink system.

During the course of the £250,000 project staff sifted through records spanning 90 years housed in 22 rooms, destroying expired data and scanning and uploading remaining documents to the new system.

Previously the data management team had to physically locate and retrieve individual records from a warehouse and return them to the human resources (HR) department when requested. Now they can be retrieved using a range of criteria, such as national insurance number or date of birth.

Group HR policy manager Gill Roberts says benefits include money saved on storage and resourcing, improved access to files and being able to meet compliance responsibilities.

‘Previously, requests to find data could take up to a week, but now it can be as quick as five minutes,’ she said. ‘It’s a huge financial saving in terms of efficiency and resourcing costs.’

Roberts says the system ensures BT automatically complies with retention rules for information, and accurately classifies data. ‘Employees rights are maintained and our business requirements are met,’ she said.

The system may be extended for global archiving, and to keep records of the network.