technologies for personal and business computing. Business Situation Microsoft International’s Human Resources (HR) team lacked standardized business processes and business process documentation across its subsidiaries, decreasing process efficiency and effectiveness. Solution The HR team created a custom HR template based on Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) in Visio Premium 2010 to develop comprehensive process documentation across all of the sales, marketing and services locations in Microsoft International, covering more than 100 countries. Benefits Significant anticipated savings in labor hours through increased process efficiency Anticipated decrease in new hire onboarding time Improved decision making through visual process analysis Overview Microsoft International’s Human Resources (HR) team is made up of approximately 600 employees and provides HR management support in more than 100 countries. The group uses many global systems and tools across each of the international Microsoft subsidiaries. However, each subsidiary uses different tools and notation to document its HR business processes. As each subsidiary developed its own unique business processes, there was no standardized way to manage processes or measure efficiency. The HR team deployed Microsoft® Visio® Premium 2010 with a customized Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) process template to develop comprehensive and standardized HR process documentation across each of its subsidiaries, significantly reducing time required to execute HR business processes.
With the process documentation in hand, it will be much easier to onboard HR resources in each of the Microsoft International subsidiaries. No longer will the quality of training depend solely on the trainer’s recollection of processes. According to O’Connor, “The nature of our HR training will improve. We can take our training to a new level by focusing more on HR operations as a whole.” As common HR processes are standardized from one subsidiary to the next, it also becomes easier for an HR member from one country to move to another with relative ease, as the roles, responsibilities, and process steps will be more similar in all locations. This further reduces the time and cost associated with training. Increased Adoption In the past, had been a tool that few people within Microsoft International’s HR team would have used. In many cases this was because the HR staff members did not have a formal process management background. One of the key benefits of Visio Premium 2010 is its simplified ease of use. According to O’Connor, “One of the things about previous versions of Visio is that it wasn't as intuitive to use as other Microsoft Office products. The new Office Fluent User Interface in Visio Premium 2010 is great for finding features by graphical icon in the tab menu, which will help HR teams to use the software more effectively.” Microsoft Visio 2010 The advanced diagramming of Microsoft® Visio® 2010 help you simplify complexity with dynamic, data-driven visuals and new ways to share on the Web in real-time. Start by building your diagram with a diverse set of professional-looking templates and modern, pre-drawn shapes. Then, easily link your diagram to popular data sources (such as Microsoft® Office Excel®). You’ll see data automatically refresh right within your diagram, reflected in vibrant visuals such as icons, symbols, colors, and bar graphs. Finally, with just a few clicks, publish your data-linked diagram to Microsoft® SharePoint® Server 2010, and provide access to others on the Web, even if they don’t have Visio. Together, simplicity, shapes, and Web sharing make Visio one of the most powerful ways to see and understand important information. For more information about Microsoft Visio 2010, go to: