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Chapter 83 — Portal tour and dashboard

Most of what HR sets up reaches employees through the portal: their payslips, leave, contract, letters, tasks and announcements. HR answers questions about it every day ("where do I find my tax certificate?", "why can't I see Team Expenses?"), so HR needs to know it as employees see it. Part 14 walks the portal menu by menu; this chapter is the map and the home page.

What this chapter covers​

  • 83.1 Sidebar groups; why some items are hidden
  • 83.2 Dashboard: alerts, stat cards, journey cards, badges, upcoming interviews, pending requests

The concept​

Self-service works when employees can find their own answers: their balance, their payslip, their document, the status of their request, without asking HR. A good portal shows each person only what applies to them, puts what needs action first, and makes the rest a click away. Every question HR does not have to answer is time back for work only HR can do.

How Operentra handles it​

  • The portal opens at sign-in for employees; people with an admin role can open it too, for their own records.
  • The menu has a Dashboard and five groups: Me, Time, Money, Work and Company.
  • Items appear only when they apply: by the workspace's plan, by the country, by the person's role, and by their circumstances.
  • The dashboard puts actions first (banners for what is pending), then the person's figures for the month, their journey with the company, badges, requests, holidays, announcements and interviews.
  • Who: every employee with a login linked to their employee record.

Walkthrough​

The examples are Imani Castellanos's portal (NWL-0007), a Senior Software Engineer at Northwind with no direct reports.

83.1 Sidebar groups; why some items are hidden​

GroupItems
MeMy Profile, Letters, My Contract
TimeMy Attendance, Field Visits, My Leaves, Apply Leave, Holidays
MoneyMy Salary, Tax Certificates, My Loans, My Expenses, Team Expenses
WorkMy Tasks, Daily Report, Sales Report, My Performance, My Appraisals, Reviews
CompanyAnnouncements, My Assets, My Interviews

An item is hidden when it does not apply:

  • Plan: items of a feature the workspace's plan does not include (payroll, performance, geo attendance) disappear; employees cannot upgrade, so they are hidden rather than locked.
  • Country: Tax Certificates appears only where the country levies income tax through payroll (Chapter 63).
  • Role: Team Expenses and Reviews need a role that approves team claims or reviews appraisals; Letters and My Appraisals need a role that can see them.
  • Circumstances: Field Visits appears for staff enrolled in field visits (Chapter 42); Sales Report for staff in a sales department (Chapter 73).

So when an employee cannot find an item, check in that order: the plan, the country, their role, and their enrolment.

83.2 Dashboard: alerts, stat cards, journey cards, badges, upcoming interviews, pending requests​

The dashboard opens with a greeting and, when something needs doing, banners: Employment Agreement Pending ("Your employment agreement requires your signature…", Chapter 18), Address Verification Required with the days remaining (Chapter 23), and Required Documents Missing with the list (Chapter 22). These are the first things to clear.

Four stat cards follow: Attendance This Month (present, absent and late days), Leave Balance for the main leave types, Latest Payslip (or "Not processed"), and Active Loans with the outstanding amount. The journey cards show Member Since with the tenure, Total Earned over the payslips processed, the Attendance Rate this month, and Quick Facts: the next payday, the next holiday and the next work anniversary.

Below them: Badges & Achievements (Chapter 70), each with what it was earned for or "Not yet earned"; Pending Requests, the person's leave requests, regularisations and loan requests still awaiting a decision, with Apply for Leave; Upcoming Holidays; Recent Announcements, the five newest meant for them (Chapter 78); and, for interview panel members, Upcoming Interviews (Chapter 29).

What happens next​

  • Chapter 84 opens the Me group: profile, documents, contract and letters.

What the employee sees​

This chapter is what the employee sees.

Common mistakes​

  1. Telling an employee to look for an item their role does not show. Check the four reasons above first.
  2. Ignoring the banners. They are the dashboard's action list.
  3. Expecting the admin panel's names in the portal. The portal uses its own (My Salary, not Payroll).
  4. Assuming a missing figure is a fault. "Not processed" means the month's payroll has not run yet.

Practice​

Use your own trial workspace, not a customer's.

  1. Sign in to the portal as a test employee and list the items in each group.
  2. Give the same person a role that approves team claims, sign in again, and find Team Expenses.
  3. Read each dashboard card and say where its figure comes from.

Quiz​

1. Name the five menu groups.

Me, Time, Money, Work and Company.

2. Give four reasons an item can be hidden.

The plan, the country, the person's role, and their circumstances (field-visit enrolment, a sales department).

3. Which banners can appear on the dashboard?

Employment Agreement Pending, Address Verification Required and Required Documents Missing.

4. What do the four stat cards show?

Attendance this month, leave balance, the latest payslip and active loans.

5. Which announcements appear on the dashboard?

The five newest live announcements meant for the person.