AU2009230769B1 - An Integrated Personnel Logistics Management Tool - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Invention Title: AN INTEGRATED PERSONNEL LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT TOOL Applicant: Osmotion Pty Ltd The invention is described in the following statement: 2 AN INTEGRATED PERSONNEL LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT TOOL Field of the Invention. The present invention relates generally to project management tools and particularly to an integrated tool to managing people and positions in projects. 5 Background Art. On any project, management of the staff/employees and their respective positions and duties is as important as management of raw materials and the like. One difference between management of employees and other production parameters, is that a single project can involve many different employers that directly manage their 10 own employee relations in the respect of the project. Coordinating the personnel logistics in relation to the project can therefore require special need for integration and management between different employers. It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part 15 of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country. Summary of the Invention. The present invention is directed to an integrated personnel logistics management tool, which may at least partially overcome at least one of the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the consumer with a useful or commercial 20 choice. With the foregoing in view, the present invention in one form, resides broadly in an integrated personnel logistics management tool including a. a workforce planning and recruitment management module containing a plurality of position descriptions with associated skills definition, 25 b. a roster driven logistics planning and management module to record and manage the logistics of employee movements to and from a worksite and activities whilst on site, c. a workflow approval module for supporting the employee approval, induction, pass out and site administration processes across the project, and 30 d. a project wide training management module to record and manage training requirements of employees. The tool of the present invention will typically be computer implemented and will normally be provided on at least one, preferably a network of 3 computers. Normally, the tool of the invention will be configured as a software program executable on the one or more computers. As such, the tool will normally be associated with data-processing means, data storage means and communications links with other computers or networks such as through the Internet, intranet, ethernet or the 5 like. The tool of the present invention will typically find application managing contract employees at a remote worksite. It is particularly well adapted to the management of employees at a worksite where employees are required to travel extensively to reach the worksite such as mines and other remote projects. 10 The tool of the present invention is typically specifically directed to managing positions and the staff or employee within those positions. The tool will typically be provided in a generic form with customisation possible making the tool site-specific although one tool may coordinate logistics over more than one site. 15 Similarly, the tool may span one project or many projects over time. The focus of the tool of the present invention is twofold; namely, managing the position is required for the project and management of the staff/employees in those positions. The positions will typically be the jobs or roles created to deliver a set of skills and competencies at the required level and over the 20 appropriate time periods in order to achieve the desired work outcomes of the project. The staff/employees are initially candidates for employment and subsequently a portion of these will become employees after recruitment and selection, for employment in positions which they are capable of performing and then the staff/employee will work on the project over a period of time. 25 The tool of the present invention provides a unified medium for managing individual candidates from the point of registering an interest in a particular position, through to appointment and mobilisation to a project and then coordinate the logistics involved in continuing employment including transport, bookings, security, accommodation, other services and training until the employee is terminated or 30 otherwise demobilised from the project. The tool of the present invention will also enable employers to source individual staff/employees already on a project for other positions required elsewhere on the project as they become available or redeployment.

4 The tool of the present invention will typically be accessible using a computer implemented interface. Access privileges to the tool and the modules may typically be defined by login details provided by a system administrator. Normally, login details will be provided to employer members, employee and those and site 5 management members which may or may not be employers. Each general class of member will typically have different access privileges enabling them to access different parts of the tool, and have different rights within the different modules. For example, in some modules employers will have the ability to update whereas employees will only have the ability to view material. 10 The tool of the present invention includes a workforce planning and recruitment management module containing a plurality of position descriptions each with an associated skills definition. This module will typically be the module used until a candidate for employment reaches the stage of initial mobilisation to the worksite. 15 The module will typically contain specifications on available positions at the worksite. Potential candidates will typically view the available positions and then either apply, or registered interest for one or more particular positions. Upon an indication of interest, application forms will typically be produced by the module and provided to the employee candidate for completion only 20 after the prospective employee has registered their interest in a position. The forms may allow for data entry and therefore may be electronically fillable forms. Alternatively, upon an indication of interest by an employee candidate, the employee candidate may be able to provide an identifier which accesses an employee candidate record and forwards this to the potential employer as or as a part of a job application. 25 Typically, the available positions stored in the module will be searchable and any search mechanism may be provided. Normally, a keyword searchable database is provided. Typically, an employee candidate will search for available positions. Upon finding an available position for which they wish to apply, the candidate 30 employee may "apply" if they are already registered as an employee member of the tool or alternatively, they may be prompted to request membership in order to make an application.

5 The module will typically allow uploading of additional material to an application as well as the candidate employees registered details. These additional materials may include application letters or curriculum vitae for example. Alternatively, the module may allow employee members to store these additional 5 materials and automatically attach these materials to an application. Normally, upon requesting membership as an employee, each employee will create an employee record or profile. These employee records or profiles will typically be stored in a database which is a part of this module. The employee record or profile will normally include identifying material such as the employee's full name, 10 address, contact details, past employment history, education history, experience and also other information such as information on employee referees or any other information which may be pertinent to obtaining employment, for example the desired target salary or the like. Typically the workforce planning and recruitment management module 15 includes a database of position descriptions with associated skills definitions. This portion of the module will typically specify the conditions of employment for a particular position. Normally, the module will contain a database of position descriptions and skills definitions and also a database of employee records or profiles. The module will also provide the ability to mark employee records as 20 "available" or "not available". This ability may be provided to the employee and/or be automatically updated upon successful employment. Therefore, potential employers maybe able to search the candidate database particularly in terms of available candidates having a particular skill set. The module will also typically provide the ability to mark position 25 records as "filled" or "vacant". Again, this ability may be provided to employers and/or be automatically updated upon successful employment in a position. The module will also preferably allow searching of and vetting of employee profiles or records by interested potential employers. The module will typically have a skills assessment database with a list 30 of skills necessary for each position and the ability for a potential employee to update their profile with skills obtained either through employment or through training. The module will also typically contain parameters for labour and employment standards. Employee relations quality control over competitive and 6 legislative compliance conditions of employment will also normally be a part of the module as will governance of the employment tenure. Where a candidate indicates interest in a position, the module will typically provide a recruitment document to the candidate employee. The module will 5 normally manage candidate screening for employment, provide reference checking and control, will be the central interface for shortlisting potential employees for interview including scheduling and travel/accommodation details if required, provide interview details and confirmation of the outcome of the interview, manage pre employment testing and also cover contractual matters such as the offer of 10 employment, and the candidate acceptance. The module will typically perform this management by setting tasks and deadlines for activities, communicating these tasks and the appropriate timing to all parties involved in policing compliance with the deadlines and progress of the tasks through a computer implemented reminder system in association with a 15 communications pathway which allows issue of reminders to remote communications devices such as mobile telephones, PDAs and computers. The module will typically allow data entry, updating and storage of information in order to maintain records for each of the above including implementation and policing of the above. Typically, this module will overlap with 20 the other modules and provide information to other modules as well as receiving information from other modules. The tool of the present invention also includes a roster driven logistics planning and management module to record and manage the logistics of employee movements to and from a worksite and activities whilst on site. 25 This module may also be known as a site administration management module. Typically, once the candidate with the correct skill set has been employed, the employee will require mobilisation to worksite together with an ability to access the worksite. The logistics and management module will normally interact with the recruitment module once the mobilisation stage is reached. 30 This module will normally allow data entry, updating and storage of information in order to manage the movement of the new employee to the worksite, as well as management of all salient aspects of the employment whilst on the worksite.

7 The logistics and management module will normally be a portal through which transit and accommodation arrangements for each employee will be booked, the parties notified of the arrangements and reminded of the deadlines for the arrangements. The information present in this module may be viewed by the employee 5 using their employee access and the employers are using their employer access. Typically, this module will be used to book transit and accommodation according to a roster system upon which the employee is engaged to work. The preferred embodiment of the invention is particularly adapted for logistics management of staff on a roster system. 10 Normally, the roster system will be an electronic system and be accessible by employees and employers. Normally, the employers will prepare the rosters and therefore have "edit" rights whereas the employees will normally have viewing rights only. Any edits that an employee wishes to make will typically have to be submitted to the employer for authorisation before uploading into the roster system. 15 Normally, once the roster is fixed, the site administration management module will then be used to book and communicate the details of transit and accommodation with the employees and/or employers. Once the employee arrives on the worksite, this module will continue to be used as the portal to manage on site logistics such as duties performed, time 20 recorded, time/roster completion or any other employment related activities. Typically, this module will interact with an accounting or payroll system or module in order to pay the employees and to monitor other entitlements such as leave or sick days. Employees will typically have access and data entry privileges to this 25 module in order to enter the time worked etc. Leave requests which have been approved by the employer will normally be uploaded. This module will typically also interact with a site security module which will typically govern access to the sites or particular parts thereof. In particular, the site security module will typically read the rosters stored in the logistics module 30 and enable security devices carried by employees who are rostered on to work and disable the security devices at all other times. Typically, this security enabling and disabling will be automatic and will be according to the information stored in the particular roster.

8 The logistics module will typically manage the logistics relating to an employee at all times until the employment contract ends. This will normally include repetitive access, transport to/from the worksite and accommodation where required. The logistics module may also manage the initial travel to the site and 5 travel from the site/demobilisation. However, this functionality may be accomplished by the workforce planning and recruitment management module. Typically, the site administration management module will interact with a training module in order to ensure that an employee undergoes induction training. The tool of the present invention includes a workflow approval module 10 for supporting the employee approval, induction, pass out and site administration processes across the project. This module will typically allow data entry, updating and storage of information in order to manage the recruitment of suitably qualified employees and initial mobilisation of the successful employee to the worksite. This module will also 15 preferably cover pass out, once employment has been completed. The function of this module may be contrasted with the site administration management module which has a similar function but is for continuing employment rather than for initial mobilisation and pass out. This module will typically interact heavily with the planning and 20 recruitment module as it will typically update the employee records or profiles with details of the position held, duties performed in any other salient material when the employment contract for a particular employee ends. Typically, this update will be automatic and based on information gathered during the employment by the site administration management module. 25 Normally, this module will mine one or more of the databases of positions and associated skills descriptions to which candidates from the planning and recruitment module have applied. Once the candidate has accepted an offer of employment and mobilisation has been approved, the workflow approval system will typically schedule mobilisation, notify the employee of these details as well as 30 notifying the employer or agent of these details in order that the employer be aware of the arrival of the employee, their position, skills and any other requirements which will enable the employee to begin work as soon as possible.

9 Typically, this module will also interact with a training module in order to organise and police compliance with the site induction and safety training such that an employee is ready to begin work on a site as soon as possible after arrival. The tool of the present invention also includes a project wide training 5 management module to record and manage training requirements of employees. This module will typically manage induction training as well as any ongoing training. This module will typically interact with other modules such as the recruitment module in order to update employee records or profiles with training undertaken. It will typically do this when the training is complete and the training has 10 been verified. Verification may be by a system administrator typically through an employer of the particular employee. The training module will also typically interact with the recruitment module in order to compare employee records or profiles to ascertain if an employee has particular training or where training is required in order to fulfil the position 15 description. If training is required, this module will be used to schedule the provision of the training including timing, availability of the employee and trainer and also polices attendance and completion of the training. The tool of the present invention may include a security module to 20 govern access to a site at authorised times and to deactivate access at other times including after pass out and when the employee is not rostered on to work. The tool may also include a locker management module in order to manage provision of storage space to each employee and control the access to. The tool will also typically include a medical module in order to 25 maintain medical records and any special requirements for each employee and where appropriate candidate employees. The tool of the present invention will typically manage the personnel logistics of the site by maintaining records, sitting tasks and deadlines communicating to employees and other interested parties and policing compliance with the deadlines 30 and the progress of tasks through a reminder system provided as part of the tool. Typically therefore, the tool will be associated with a data processor which will have an association with a communications link allowing the issue of alerts to members of the system reminding them of the existence of tasks and the deadlines for completion 10 of the tasks. Typically, these reminders will continue to issue until data is entered into the tool which satisfies a reminder flag which will mark the task as complete and therefore ceased the reminders. It is preferred that the tool is provided as an electronic tool with generic 5 interface accessible using login details. The interface will typically update once access is granted and allow the member of the system to perform tasks, download and upload information to and from the tool in order to manage the personnel logistics. The scope of the functional integration enables accurate monitoring of employee status from the beginning of the recruitment process, through the 10 employment process to pass out, across multiple employers within a project and across multiple projects. The tool will also allow projections of personnel status and/or logistical requirements into the future allowing fluctuations in labour supply and demand arising from "project churn" to be anticipated. This predictive ability will preferably enable the tenure of current project personnel to be maximised through the 15 planned and systematic redeployment of employees and prospective employees elsewhere on the project. The employee record or profile database will typically not be limited to a single project. It will normally be at no cost for candidates to register their interest in available vacancies, by position, employer or even the job family. The databases and 20 tool will be accessible online for candidates in any location. Candidates can update their employee records or profiles at any time and use the database as a warehouse for reference purposes. Database access by employers is not limited to any one project. You will typically be an open source or obtaining potential employees expressing an 25 interest in employment in any project position. Employers may also add their own employee databases to allow full project integration. Of course, privacy controls will be embedded into the tool. For example, employers will typically be subject to registration and privacy legislation to protect candidates. Normally, other than candidate registration data, employers will only have access to the employee part of 30 their own current previous employees. An employer may be capable of obtaining full access to employee records but this will typically only occur upon authorisation from the employee or alternatively, as a part of the application process.

1 According to the invention, any of the above features may be combined with any other feature in any combination. Brief Description of the Drawings. Various embodiments of the invention will be described with reference 5 to the following drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a system overview of a process according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic representation of process detail of the preferred embodiment illustrated in Figure 1. 10 Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment. According to a particularly preferred embodiment as described below, an integrated personnel logistics management tool is provided. The integrated personnel logistics management tool 10 as illustrated in the Figures, includes a workforce planning and recruitment management module 11 15 containing a plurality of position descriptions with associated skills definition, a roster driven logistics planning and management module 12 to record and manage the logistics of employee movements to and from a worksite and activities whilst on site, a workflow approval module 13 for supporting the employee approval, induction, pass out and site administration processes across the project, and a project wide training 20 management module 14 to record and manage training requirements of employees. The tool of the preferred embodiment is illustrated schematically and is a computer implemented software program executable on a network of computers. As such, the tool is associated with the data-processing means, datastorage means and communications links with other computers or networks such as through the Internet, 25 intranet, ethernet or the like. The tool of the preferred embodiment finds particular application managing contract employees at a remote worksite where employees are required to travel extensively to reach the worksite such as mines and other remote projects. Specifically, the tool is directed to managing positions at the worksite 30 and through the positions, the staff or employee within those positions. The tool will normally be provided in a generic form with customisation possible making the tool site-specific.

12 The tool will assist in managing the positions required for the project and management of the staff/employees in those positions. The positions are the jobs or roles created to deliver a set of skills and competencies in the required amount and over the appropriate time periods in order to achieve the desired work outcomes of the 5 project. The staff/employees are initially candidates for employment and subsequently a portion of these will become employees after recruitment and selection for employment in positions which they are capable of performing and then the staff/employee will work on the project over a period of time. The tool of the preferred embodiment provides a unified medium for 10 managing individual candidates from the point of a candidate registering an interest in a particular position, through the application process, appointment and mobilisation of the new employee to a project and then coordinate the logistics involved in continuing employment including transport, bookings, security, accommodation, other services and training until the employee is terminated or otherwise demobilised from the 15 project. The tool will also enable employers to source individual staff/employees already on a project for other positions required elsewhere on the project as they become available. The tool of the preferred embodiment is accessible to staff/employees 20 and others using a computer implemented interface. Access privileges to the tool and the modules are defined by login details provided by a system administrator. Normally, login details are provided to employer members, employee or candidate members and site management members which may or may not be employers. Each general class of member has different access privileges enabling them to access 25 different parts of the tool, and have different rights within the different modules. For example, in some modules employers will have the ability to update whereas employees will only have the ability to view material. The workforce planning and recruitment management module I1 contains a plurality of position descriptions with associated skills definition is the 30 module used until a candidate for employment reaches the stage of initial mobilisation to the worksite. As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the module contains specifications on available positions at the worksite. Potential candidates will normally view the 13 available positions and then either apply, or register their interest for one or more particular positions. Upon an indication of interest, application forms will be produced by the module and provided to the employee candidate for completion. The forms will 5 normally be electronically fillable forms allowing data entry directly into the form. Upon an indication of interest by an employee candidate, the employee candidate may provide an identifier which accesses an employee candidate record and forwards this to the potential employer as, or as a part of, a job application. Typically, the available positions stored in the module are searchable 10 and any search mechanism may be provided. Normally, a keyword searchable database is provided. Typically, an employee candidate will search for available positions. Upon finding an available position for which they wish to apply, the candidate employee may "apply" if they are already registered as an employee member of the 15 tool or alternatively, they will be prompted to request membership in order to make an application. The module may allow uploading of additional material to an application as well as the candidate employee's registered details. These additional materials may include application letters or curriculum vitae for example. 20 Alternatively, the module may allow employee members to store these additional materials and automatically attach these materials to an application. Normally, upon requesting membership as an employee or registration as a potential employee or candidate, each employee is prompted to create an employee record or profile. These employee records or profiles are stored in a 25 database which is a part of this module. The employee record or profile includes identifying material such as the employee's full name, address, contact details, past employment history, education history, experience and also other information such as information on employee referees or any other information which may be pertinent to obtaining employment for example the desired target salary or the like. 30 Typically, the workforce planning and recruitment management module 11 includes a database of position descriptions with associated skills definitions. This portion of the module will typically specify the conditions of employment for a particular position. Normally, the module will contain at least two databases including 14 a database of position descriptions and skills definitions and also a database of employee records or profiles. The module also provides the ability to mark employee records as "available" or "not available". This ability may be provided to the employee and/or be 5 automatically updated upon successful employment. The module provides the ability to mark position records as "filled" or "vacant". Again, this ability may be provided to employers and/or be automatically updated upon successful employment in a position. The module has a skills assessment database with a list of skills 10 necessary for each position and the ability for a potential employee to update their profile with skills obtained either through employment or through training. The module has parameters for labour and employment standards. Employee relations quality control over competitive and legislative compliance conditions of employment will also normally be a part of the module as will 15 governance of the employment tenure. Where a candidate indicates interest in a position, the module provides a recruitment document to the candidate employee. The module is then used to manage candidate screening for employment, provide reference checking and control, will be the central interface for shortlisting potential employees for interview 20 including scheduling and travel/accommodation details if required, provide interview details and confirmation of the outcome of the interview, manage pre-employment testing and also cover contractual matters such as the offer of employment, and the candidate acceptance. The module is used to perform this management by setting tasks and 25 deadlines for activities, communicating these tasks and the appropriate timing to all parties involved in policing compliance with the deadlines and progress of the tasks through a computer implemented reminder system in association with a communications pathway which allows issue of reminders to remote communications devices such as mobile telephones, PDAs and computers. 30 The module will typically allow data entry, updating and storage of information in order to maintain records for each of the above including implementation and policing of the above. Typically, this module will overlap with 15 the other modules and provide information to other modules as well as receiving information from other modules. The roster driven logistics planning and management module 12 to record and manage the logistics of employee movements to and from a worksite and 5 activities whilst on site is also known as a site administration management module. Typically, once the candidate with the correct skill set has been employed, the employee will require mobilisation to worksite together with an ability to access the worksite. The logistics and management module 12 will normally interact with the recruitment module once the mobilisation stage is reached. 10 This module allows data entry, updating and storage of information in order to manage the movement of the now employee to the worksite, as well as management of all salient aspects of the employment whilst on the worksite. The logistics and management module 12 is an electronic portal through which transit and accommodation arrangements for each employee are 15 booked, the parties notified of the arrangements and reminded of the deadlines for the arrangements. The information present in this module may be viewed by the employee using their employee access and the employers are using their employer access. Typically, this module will be used to book transit and accommodation according to a roster system upon which the employee is engaged to work. The 20 preferred embodiment of the invention is particularly adapted for logistics management of staff on a roster system. Normally, the roster system is an electronic system provided through the same interface as the remainder of the tool and be accessible by employees and employers. Normally, the employers prepare the rosters and therefore have "edit" 25 rights whereas the employees will normally have viewing rights only. Any edits that an employee wishes to make will normally have to be submitted to the employer for authorisation before uploading into the roster system. Normally, once the roster is fixed, the site administration management module is then used to book and communicate the details of transit and 30 accommodation with the employees and/or employers. Once the employee arrives on the worksite, this module will continue to be used as the portal to manage on site logistics such as duties performed, time recorded or any other employment related activities.

16 This module will also normally interact with an accounting or payroll system or module in order to pay the employees and to monitor other entitlements such as leave or sick days. Employees will typically have access and data entry privileges to this 5 module in order to enter the time worked and the like and to request leave which will have to be authorised by the employer. This module interacts with a site security module 15 which controls access to the sites or particular parts thereof. In particular, the site security module 15 reads the rosters stored in the logistics module and enables security devices carried by 10 employees who are rostered on to work and disable the security devices at all other times. Typically, this security enabling and disabling is automatic and will be according to the information stored in the particular roster. The logistics module 12 is used to manage the logistics relating to an employee at all times until the employment contract ends. This will normally include 15 repetitive access, transport to/from the worksite and accommodation where required. The logistics module 12 may also manage the initial travel to the site and travel from the site/demobilisation, however, this functionality may alternatively be accomplished by the workforce planning and recruitment management module 11. Typically, the site administration management module 12 will interact with a training 20 module 14 in order to ensure that an employee undergoes induction training. The workflow approval module 13 for supporting the employee approval, induction, pass out and site administration processes across the project allows data entry, updating and storage of information in order to manage the recruitment of suitably qualified employees and initial mobilisation of the successful 25 employee to the worksite. This module will also preferably cover pass out, once employment has been completed. The function of this module may be contrasted with the site administration management module which has a similar function but is for continuing employment rather than for initial mobilisation and pass out. This module will typically interact heavily with the planning and 30 recruitment module as it will typically update the employee records or profiles with details of the position held, duties performed in any other salient material when the employment contract for a particular employee ends. Typically, this updating will be 17 automatic and based on information gathered during the employment by the site administration management module. Normally, this module will mine one or more of the databases of positions and associated skills descriptions to which candidates from the planning and 5 recruitment module have applied. Once the candidate has accepted an offer of employment and mobilisation has been approved, the workflow approval system will typically schedule mobilisation, notify the employee of these details as well as notifying the employer or agent of these details in order that the employer be aware of the arrival of the employee, their position, skills and any other requirements which 10 will enable the employee to begin work as soon as possible. Typically, this module will also interact with a training module in order to organise and police compliance with the site induction and safety training such that an employee is ready to begin work on a site as soon as possible after arrival. The project wide training management module 14 to record and 15 manage training requirements of employees will be used to manage induction training as well as any ongoing training. This module interacts with other modules such as the recruitment module in order to update employee records or profiles with training undertaken. It will typically do this once the training is complete and the training has been verified. Verification may be by a system administrator typically through an 20 employer of the particular employee. The training module 14 will also typically interact with the recruitment module in order to compare employee records or profiles to ascertain if an employee has particular training or where training is required in order to fulfil the position description. 25 If training is required, this module will be used to schedule the provision of the training including timing, availability of the employee and trainer and also polices attendance and completion of the training. The tool of the present invention may include a security module 15 to govern access to a site at authorised times and to deactivate access at other times 30 including after pass out and when the employee is not rostered on to work, a locker management module 16 in order to manage provision of storage space to each employee and control the access thereto, and a medical module 17 in order to maintain 18 medical records and any special requirements for each employee and where appropriate candidate employees. The tool of the present invention will typically manage the personnel logistics of the site by maintaining records, sitting tasks and deadlines communicating 5 to employees and other interested parties and policing compliance with the deadlines and the progress of tasks through a reminder system provided as part of the tool. Typically therefore, the tool will be associated with a data processor which will have an association with a communications link allowing the issue of alerts to members of the system reminding them of the existence of tasks and the deadlines for completion 10 of the tasks. Typically, these reminders will continue to issue until data is entered into the tool which satisfies a reminder flag which will mark the task as complete and therefore ceased the reminders. It is preferred that the tool is provided as an electronic tool with generic interface accessible using login details. The interface will typically update once access 15 is granted and allow the member of the system to perform tasks, download and upload information to and from the tool in order to manage the personnel logistics. The scope of the functional integration enables accurate monitoring of employee status from the beginning of the recruitment process, through the employment process to pass out, across multiple employers within a project and 20 across multiple projects. The tool will also allow projections of personnel status into the future allowing fluctuations in labour supply and demand arising from "project churn" to be anticipated. This predictive ability will preferably enable the tenure of current project personnel to be maximised through the planned and systematic redeployment of employees and prospective employees elsewhere on the project. 25 The employee record or profile database will typically not be limited to a single project. It will normally be at no cost for candidates to register their interest in available vacancies, by position, employer or even the job family. The databases and tool will be accessible online for candidates in any location. Candidates can update their employee records or profiles at any time 30 and use the database as a warehouse for reference purposes. Database access by employers is not limited to any one project. The tool will typically be an open source or obtaining potential employees expressing an interest in employment in any project position. Employers may also add their own 19 employee databases to allow full project integration. Employers that have employed candidates from the tool or uploaded their own employee after will typically have a data warehouse for future use. Of course, privacy controls will be embedded into the tool. For example, employers will typically be subject to registration and privacy 5 legislation to protect candidates. Normally, other than candidate registration data, employers will only have access to the employee part of their own current previous employees. An employer may be capable of obtaining full access to employee records but this will typically only occur upon authorisation from the employee or alternatively, as a part of the application process. 10 In the present specification and claims (if any), the word "comprising" and its derivatives including "comprises" and "comprise" include each of the stated integers but does not exclude the inclusion of one or more further integers. Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in 15 connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearance of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more combinations. 20 In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications 25 within the proper scope of the appended claims (if any) appropriately interpreted by those skilled in the art.

Claims (23)

1. 2. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to claim 1 further including a database of employee member or candidate employee member records.
2. 3. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to claim 1 or claims 2 wherein one or more modules are accessible using a computer implemented interface with access privileges to the modules defined by login details.
3. 4. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the workforce planning and recruitment management module is used until a candidate employee reaches a stage of initial mobilisation to a worksite.
4. 5. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to claim 4 wherein workforce planning and recruitment management module contains specifications on available positions at the worksite and potential candidate employees view the available positions and apply for a position or register interest for one or more particular positions whereupon one or more application forms are produced by the module and provided to the candidate employee for completion. 21
5. 6. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to claim 5 wherein the one or more application forms are electronically fillable allowing for data entry.
6. 7. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to claim 5 wherein the candidate employee is able access a corresponding existing candidate employee record stored within the at least one data storage means and forwards this to the potential employer as or as a part of a job application.
7. 8. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to any one of the preceding claims wherein workforce planning and recruitment management module allows uploading of additional material to an application as well as candidate employee details.
8. 9. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to any one of preceding claims wherein workforce planning and recruitment management module provides the ability to mark employee member or candidate employee member records status.
9. 10. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to any one of the preceding claims wherein workforce planning and recruitment management module sets tasks and deadlines for activities, communicates these tasks and the appropriate timing to all parties involved in policing compliance with the deadlines and progress of the tasks through a computer implemented reminder system in association with a communications pathway which allows issue of reminders to remote communications devices such as mobile telephones, PDA's and computers.
10. 11. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the roster driven logistics planning and management module interacts with the workforce planning and recruitment management module once an employee or candidate employee is engaged and the employee requires mobilisation to a worksite together with an ability to access the worksite.
11. 12. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to claim 11 wherein the roster driven logistics planning and management module allows data entry, updating and storage of information in order to manage the movement of the employee to the worksite, as well as management of all salient aspects of employment whilst on the worksite. 22
12. 13. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to claim 11 or claim 12 wherein the roster driven logistics planning and management module includes an interface through which transit and accommodation arrangements for each employee are booked, all parties notified of the arrangements and reminded of the deadlines for the arrangements according to a roster system upon which the employee is engaged to work.
13. 14. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to claim 13 wherein once the employee arrives on the worksite, the roster driven logistics planning and management module continues to be used to manage on-site logistics such as duties performed, time recorded, time/roster completion or any other employment related activities.
14. 15. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the roster driven logistics planning and management module interacts with an accounting or payroll system or module in order to pay employees and to monitor other entitlements such as leave or sick days.
15. 16. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the roster driven logistics planning and management module interacts with a site security module governing access to a worksite or particular parts thereof the site security module reading rosters stored in the roster driven logistics planning and management module and enables security devices carried by employees who are rostered on to work and disables security devices at all other times.
16. 17. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the workflow approval module interacts with project wide training management module in order to organise and police compliance with worksite induction and training such that an employee is ready to begin work on a worksite as soon as possible after arrival.
17. 18. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to claim 17 wherein the project wide training management module interacts with other modules including the workforce planning and recruitment management module in order to update employee records with training undertaken once training is complete and completion has been verified. 23
18. 19. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to claim 17 or claim 18 wherein the project wide training management module interacts with the workforce planning and recruitment management module in order to compare employee or candidate employee records to ascertain if an employee has particular training or where training is required in order to fulfil a position description.
19. 20. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to claim 19 wherein if training is required, the project wide training management module is used to schedule the training including timing, availability of the employee and trainer and also polices attendance and completion of the training.
20. 21. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to any one of the preceding claims further including a medical module in order to maintain medical records and any special requirements for each employee and where appropriate candidate employees.
21. 22. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the tool manages the personnel logistics of a worksite by maintaining records, setting tasks and deadlines, communicating the tasks and deadlines to employees and other interested parties and policing compliance with the deadlines and the progress of tasks through a reminder system associated with a data processor and a communications link allowing the issue of alerts to employees and other interested parties reminding them of the existence of tasks and the deadlines for completion of the tasks and wherein the reminders continue to issue until data is entered into the tool which satisfies a reminder flag which marks the task as complete and therefore cease the reminders.
22. 23. A computer implemented integrated personnel logistics management tool according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the tool is provided as an electronic tool with generic interface accessible using login details which once granted, allows the employees, candidate employees and other interested parties to perform tasks, download and upload information to and from the tool in order to manage the personnel logistics.
23. 24. A integrated personnel logistics management computer software product including: a. a workforce planning and recruitment management module containing a plurality of position descriptions with associated skills definition; 24 b. a roster driven logistics planning and management module to record and manage the logistics of employee movements to and from a worksite and activities whilst on site; c. a workflow approval module for supporting the employee approval, induction, pass out and site administration processes across the project; and d. a project wide training management module to record and manage training requirements of employees; wherein information relating to employees in relation to each of the modules described in a. to d. is stored in at least one data storage means on a computer network, accessible by employees and employers and updateable by at least one of employees and employers through an interface provided in association with the network of computers.