Query Manager makes light work of Amey’s SAP HCM reporting

Query Manager brings Amey the flexibility to manage all HR reporting in-house with quick and easy automated processes

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What I really like about Query Manager is the flexibility and the way that you can empower business users to create and run reports.

Michael Gleeson, Head of Shared Services Systems and Management Information, Amey
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Amey chose the Query Manager solution

Amey is a leading supplier of consulting and infrastructure support services both in the UK and internationally, with a team of 12,000 working across four continents.  The company is a very varied, made up of five business units covering a wide range of infrastructure and services. Because of the nature of Amey’s business and the amount of TUPE* transfers they do, both in and out of the company, their headcount can fluctuate by two to three thousand a year. This adds enormous complexity to their system architecture, and increases the need for robust reporting solutions to empower business users, rather than relying on expensive ABAP expertise.

Amey required an easy solution that would reduce the complexity of their systems and give them the data they need to run their business. Query Manager is the solution which gives them the flexibility to manage and control all HR reporting and interfaces in-house with quick and easy automated processes.

*TUPE is an acronym for the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations which govern the movement of employees and any liabilities associated with them from the old employer to the new employer by operation of the law. These regulations preserve employees’ terms and conditions when a business or undertaking, or part of one, is transferred to a new employer.

We have been asked whether the HR department could manage QM and reports. One of the major things is that even if you take it slowly, you’ll be able to get your head around QM and produce what you need to – a big benefit is the ease of being able to produce reports – it’s a very user-friendly programme, even though it does complex work.

Ian Thomas, Management Information and Systems team, Amey
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AMEY CHOSE THE QUERY MANAGER SOLUTION 3_V4

 

How Query Manager solved Amey's challenges

Amey’s challenges included: The Query Manager solution:

Expensive ABAP and the need for third party intervention

Query Manager has empowered the business to be able to create the reports themselves in-house, rather than use expensive third-party ABAP developers. The estimated amount of time for the process of creating reports has reduced from approximately two months via an external ABAP developer, to two hours in-house.

The need for a solution that was flexible to report on custom tables or attributes. For example, a number of external companies want to know department and business sector, where the person works and who to contact, and this wasn’t available.

Query Manager has built-in capability to link to custom tables and fields. Amey has used this in headcount reporting; they have a framework that requires up to 20 attributes attached to positions. Query Manager has allowed Amey to report accurately on these and give the business visibility.

Lack of governance, the risk of widespread access to SAP, and the inability to report out in groups

Query Manager gives Amey control and allows them to restrict access to selected users, to allow them to publish only the reports they need. Not only does this empower users, it also cuts admin time down by weeks.

The statutory reporting obligations were very difficult to manage in SAP, and not easy to adapt as new requirements arose.

With Query Manager, Amey can manage these regulatory reports much more easily. Reports required by Statutory Obligations include the National Minimum Wage, the National Salary Statistics Reports, Diversity reporting, holiday average and ONS. Because some of these reports are unique to the company, and Amey has created them, they can simply adapt them every year as needed.

As a contract-based company, Amey manages 2000 TUPE transfers in and out of the company every year, an enormous reporting burden

From a very laborious process previously of running about 30 reports and creating a spreadsheet, Query Manager has allowed Amey to create a much more streamlined report. An automated solution for data going in and out of SAP has reduced time from a couple of days to a couple of hours.

HR Input Audits were a challenge

Query Manager allows Amey to track any input errors and ensure that employee information is correct.

Payroll and third-party reporting; Ameyprovides around 75 third-party payroll reports to different companies (from unions to medical insurance providers). The process was very time-consuming and repetitive.

Amey used the Query Manager payroll wizard to create numerous payroll reports. Many are based on a gross-to-net report that gives them full payroll costing.

Amey also built a report in Query Manager which automatically determines wage-type and is automatically distributed by email; this task now takes about 20 – 30 mins rather than a few days.

The control of interfaces, and ensuring HR data is regulated when going outside of the business

Amey has a project to remove all interfaces and move all the data into Query Manager, giving them greater control. Also, the added security gives them reassurance with GDPR laws coming into effect.


Outcome and benefits to Amey

Amey is finding Query Manager an invaluable tool; every day they find more ways that the tool can help them to provide the information that the business requires.

Their experience shows that Query Manager is a reporting solution that:

  • is flexible (able to handle a variety of custom tables)
  • is easy to use and learn internally
  • has automation built in
  • is security and governance compliant,

“The benefits Query Manager brings to our business is being able to react in real-time; so for example rather than having to wait for payroll to run to get payroll statistics, we actually report out hourly rates that we can charge week-on-week, without having to wait for payroll to run.”

Ian Thomas, Management Information and Systems team, Amey

“The best part of Query Manager is that it is so easy to learn...What I really like about it is the flexibility and the way that you can enable business users. Query Manager has removed the need for technical people to do bits of work, so it empowers users to run reports, create reports and interact with external companies.”

Michael Gleeson, Head of Shared Services Systems and Management Information, Amey

I don’t know why anyone would not have Query Manager; the benefits and the value-add far outweigh the costs. It pays for itself in a couple of months and empowers the HR team.

Michael Gleeson, Head of Shared Services Systems and Management Information, Amey
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Industry: Infrastructure and engineering services

Solution: Query Manager

About Amey

Headquartered in Oxford, United Kingdom, Amey is a leading supplier of consulting and infrastructure support services both in the UK and internationally, with a team of 12,000 working across four continents. Having been in business for over 100 years, Amey creates safer, smarter, and sustainable places to live, work and travel. By designing, building, maintaining and investing in our country’s services and infrastructure, Amey makes a difference. Services include engineering, facilities management, utilities, transport, environmental services, defence and justice.

Owned by Ferrovial, one of the world's leading infrastructure operators and municipal services companies with a workforce of more than 69,000, Amey works with more than 15 UK local authorities to help keep towns and cities running smoothly.