Agenda

Return

C. 35

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Ann Elliott, Human Resources Director
Date:	May 18, 2021

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Contract with Smart ERP Solutions, Inc. to provide County with consulting services for HR Automation functionality

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 05/18/2021

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Ann Elliott 925-655-2176

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: May 18, 2021
Monica Nino, County Administrator

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Human Resources Director, or designee, to execute a contract with Smart ERP Solutions, Inc., effective May 18, 2021 through April 30, 2022, for the implementation, license and support of employee onboarding software, in an amount not to exceed $360,000.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The administrative cost of this contract is funded through:

FISCAL IMPACT: (CONT'D)

The Benefits Administrative Fee which is charged out to departments.

Venture Capital Funds available to the Human Resources Department for special contracts (General Fund).

The Human Resources Department Budget (General Fund).

BACKGROUND:

The Human Resources Department is continually looking for ways to make processes and procedures more efficient and effective for County departments and employees. One of these priorities is the creation of a centralized onboarding experience with foundational information pertinent to all new hires as they begin working for Contra Costa County. In addition to these core materials, departments with specific requirements will be able to add customized content. This will allow departments to provide a convenient and consistent process for new hire onboarding.

In addition, improvement is needed in the merit step review process. Currently, each department runs a report to obtain a list of employees scheduled for merit step review, which is then forwarded to the appropriate supervisor or manager to approve for each eligible employee. The goal is to create an automated monthly process where managers/supervisors will receive an email listing all employees eligible for merit step review which will be processed as a batch rather than individually. This will allow timely merit reviews and mitigate payroll errors due to late review and approval.

Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) staff will work with SmartERP Solutions on these two improvement projects as well as gaining the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue future projects independently. SmartERP Solutions will provide professional services to the County for implementation of the Smart Toolkits solution software which includes HR Automation functionality for Smart Onboarding and the ability to build a workflow and approval path for merit increases. SmartERP Solutions will add software into the County’s PeopleSoft Development environment in order to automate HR forms for Smart Onboarding and merit increases including:

Smart Toolkit solutions definition, design, mockup and review;
Configuration, development and system testing;
Final Migration and Deployment support;
Technical Training; and
SmartERP post production support as needed

SmartERP will work with the County HRIS staff to implement and enhance the performance of the PeopleSoft system to enable this HR Automation functionality for increased efficiency countywide.

The proposed contract with SmartERP includes a limitation of liability provision that limits Contractor's liability to the County to the amount paid under the contract unless the liability is a result of SmartERP's gross negligence or willful misconduct.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

If this contract is not approved, the County will be unable to access the expertise and support of SmartERP Solutions to assist the County in implementing automated solutions to improve Human Resources processes for Onboarding and Merit increases.