FIRM LAUNCHES APP THAT MAKES HR PROCESSES MORE ‘DEMOCRATIC’
Cloud-based application Ashima promises a simplified process for human resource management
Cebu-based IT company Konsum Technologies has launched Ashima, a cloud-based human resources management app that lets employees view their work schedules, record their attendance, file for leaves and overtimes, and view payslips—all on their mobile phones. Konsum CEO John Joseph Mercado said that the company thought of developing the app in 2015, when an outsourced app didn’t quite meet all of their HR needs. Making HR processes more democratic “is a necessary condition for companies to attract, retain and enable their employees, their most valuable resource,” Mercado said.
Cebu-based IT company Konsum Technologies has developed a cloud-based human resource management application that brings about more “democratic” HR processes in the workplace.
With Ashima, employees can record their attendance, view their work schedule, request for leaves and overtime, and view payslips using their mobile phones.
For employers, Ashima handles payroll processing and management (paycheck), work schedule management (shifts), as well as timekeeping (hours), among others.
“Democratization of HR and its different processes is a necessary condition for companies to attract, retain, and enable their employees- their most valuable resource,” said John Joseph Mercado, Konsum Technologies chief executive officer.
Traditional way
Currently, the HR department in the Philippines is highly hierarchical and follows centralized structures, which lead to “disconnected employees,” said Mercado.
The app, which was first developed about two and a half years ago, was inspired by Konsum Technologies, a BPO company in Cebu City that had experienced using an outsourced human resource management application that did not serve the needs of the company.
Instead, Mercado and his team decided to create their own. That was when Ashima was conceived in 2015. However, it was only this year that Konsum Technologies launched it in the market with about 20 BPO companies now using the platform.
The largest company that adopted Ashima is a BPO company with a 2,400-workforce.
Wooing the market
The plan is to have more companies in Cebu and in the country adopt this HR application. However, Mercado admitted that it will be not be as easy to convince companies, especially those that are still “very traditional” in their HR processes.
“They are used to doing things this way (traditional and paper-based processes). To get behaviorial change is a mindset change. It’s easier to be in BPO because you’ve got younger people,” the official said.
He added that participation and collaboration increase engagement of the workforce, which in turn is a catalyst for increased productivity and levels of satisfaction.
Ashima is a Bengali word for “limitless.” The app was built by 30 people working for Konsum Technologies.
Democratization of HR and its different processes is a necessary condition for companies to attract, retain and enable their employees--their most valuable resource. JOSEPH MERCADO, CEO