TEA Winner: Optimizing the Onboarding Experience

  • Industry: Special district
  • Location: Renton, Washington
  • Employees: 171
  • Population: 138,035
  • Tyler Client Since: 2017
  • Tyler Products Used: ERP Pro

Challenges

Tight timelines for hiring and training are a standard experience for fire departments nationwide. The Renton Regional Fire Authority (Renton RFA) knows this all too well. “Our newly hired firefighters must attend fire academy training before they can serve our community,” explained LaQuanza Flowers, finance manager for Renton RFA. “The class takes approximately five months to complete and is conducted only twice a year as part of a regional training program. Therefore, our hiring timelines are not only constrained to our internal deadlines but must also meet the external deadlines of our training partners. Otherwise, we risk missing critical training opportunities.”

At Renton RFA, the team found that their paper-based systems for hiring and onboarding were adding complication to this already time-restricted process. “Historically, our onboarding process involved paper forms that exchanged hands several times between new hires, human resources, and accounting,” Flowers said. “This manual process consumed an exceptional amount of time and onboarding often needed to be completed within a short period, causing stress for both our internal teams and our new hires.”

Paper documentation also increased the chance of human error, resulting in additional, unnecessary work. “Illegible form entries made it difficult for the payroll team to enter data accurately,” said Flowers. She and her team knew it was time for a change. “These challenges led our organization to seek a solution that would improve the timeliness and efficiency of our onboarding process, while improving the ease of entry and accuracy of our onboarding paperwork.”

Solution

Renton RFA had already been a Tyler Technologies client for more than five years, using ERP Pro for financial management. With an existing relationship in place, they prioritized solutions that would allow them to work with a trusted vendor. “We are always looking at what options we can implement with ERP Pro,” Flowers explained. “We’re trying to make things easier, so if it’s already integrated, it helps us reach our mission.”

The fire authority first heard about the newly developed Onboarding module for ERP Pro during Tyler’s annual Connect Conference in 2022. “We couldn’t wait to hear more. We became one of Tyler’s early adopters of the module, and while we had only scratched the surface of its capabilities, we knew its impact on our onboarding process would be huge,” explained Flowers.

Becoming an early adopter of the Onboarding module appealed to Flowers and her team not only because it gave them early access to much-needed technology, but because it meant they were helping build a solution tailored to the needs of organizations like theirs. “After we found out we could help with the program, we were like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re definitely in,’” said Flowers. “We had weekly meetings to set everything up, and Tyler heard our needs. We were able to give our feedback on what worked and what wasn’t working well.”

Making a forward investment in technology that reduces work hours spent and improves the efficiency and accuracy of the onboarding process empowers our team’s success.

LaQuanza Flowers

Renton Regional Fire Authority, Washington

Results

As the Renton RFA team saw their feedback implemented in the Onboarding module, they soon began to realize the benefits of their new streamlined processes. They first felt a difference as they left paper-based documentation behind. “It has made our previously manual and disconnected onboarding process almost entirely electronic,” Flowers said. “Forms can be shared and completed online, and smart, pre-filled form fields eliminate the redundancy of common data entry for new hires and our internal team.”

But the team’s true goal was not only to save time with hiring, but also to use the saved time to offer a stronger onboarding experience. Flowers said the solution “allowed our new hires to spend more time getting to know the organization and begin training sooner.” Offering an improved onboarding experience may also draw in the new recruits Renton RFA hopes to attract. “Appealing to the best and brightest people in our industry starts by putting our best foot forward as an organization,” Flowers explained. “To show them that we not only adopt new and innovative tools that make their lives easier, but also deeply care about the security and accuracy of their personal information and time.”

Flowers elaborated on why she believes this software could help others improve their onboarding processes. “Any organization that would like to advance the perception of their agency, provide innovative tools to their team members, reduce the number of hours spent on paperwork, and improve the overall integration and automation of their employee management system, would greatly benefit from a relationship with Tyler Technologies, and an investment in ERP Pro and the Onboarding module.”

Case Study Highlights

  • Accelerated onboarding processes to ensure groups of newly hired firefighters can attend critical training offered only twice a year
  • Reduced manual data entry and errors caused by illegible handwriting by switching to paperless processes
  • Connected and automated document transfers between new hires, human resources, and payroll personnel
  • Demonstrated their commitment to supporting both new and existing personnel through technology

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