FAQs

General Questions

Q: What does HCM stand for? Is that different than QHCM? 

A: The acronym stands for Human Capital Management. QHCM is Quantum Human Capital Management. You will hear this term a lot as it is the name for the new Human Resources and Payroll system! 

Q: What does the testing phase look like and who will be identified as testers/users prior to full system implementation? 

A: SMEs (subject matter experts) have been identified from various departments across UMB and will be included in the testing plan. 

Absence—Requesting Absences

Q: Will absences apply to non-exempt staff or will they enter their time off on a timecard? 

A: Absences (currently known as Leave) will be entered through Absence for non-exempt employees not on the timecard. 

Q: Are other employees able to see who else has been approved for absence? 

A: Other employees do not have access to see approved absences; only the employee's line manager can see approved absences. 

Q: Can employees submit comments with absence requests? 

A: This will be addressed during system training. 

Q: Is there a time limit for retroactive leave requests? 
(ex: Out of office on the last day of a pay period and return to work after the submission deadline)

A: This will be addressed during system training. 

Q: Can I submit a combination of absence hours for a requested absence? 
(ex: 4 hours of personal + 4 hours of annual)

A: Yes! 

Absence—Workflows & Manager Responsibilities

Q: Do managers have to approve time and absences directly in Quantum HCM? 

A: Time and Absences will be directly in Quantum HCM. Approvals will also happen in the system and can be delegated if necessary.

Q: When I submit a leave request for the upcoming week, but my manager is away on vacation, who will approve the request? 

A: Line managers can delegate approvals to another system user when they are out.

Q: Will the absence calendar be integrated with the manager’s Outlook calendar? 

A: There is not currently an integration between Oracle Cloud and Outlook.

Q: Can managers add notes? 
(ex: “Schedule to work in office but approved to WFH”)

A: This will be addressed during system training.

Q: Does the department chair have to approve absences for all faculty? 

A: New business processes will be worked out within the department.

Q: What types of leave can a line manager see? Personal, parental extended, etc. 

A: Line Managers will be able to see all leave types that an employee can take.

Q: When your need for time off changes, how is that adjustment made? 

A: You will have the ability to correct any absence you've submitted directly in Quantum HCM. If the absence is currently awaiting approval, you may edit or withdraw the reported hours. However, if the absence has been approved and is in a 'completed status', you can still edit or withdraw the reported hours, but the request must be resubmitted for approval from your line manager.

Absence Management

Q: What does the approval process look like for absence requests? 

A: Employees submit absence requests using the “Add Absence” tab within the “Time and Labor” tile in Quantum. The request will be sent to their line manager for approval. Notification of approval will be sent to the employee once approval is completed.

Q: Can a Line Manager designate absence approval to someone else? 

A: Yes, designations for approvals can be done manually by line managers for instances such as when a line manager is on vacation.

Q: What happens if an employee doesn't submit their timesheet or report their leave? 

A: The new system will allow the employee's Line Manager to submit the time card on the employee's behalf. It will automatically process the time entry and absence taken without needing a payroll adjustment form. Absences will no longer be reported via time card. The absence must be requested in the Absence Module.

Q: Will the ETS approver have to be involved in any of the time off requests, and will there be a report to see if there is leave that managers are not approving? 

A: No, the ETS approver won't have to be involved in time off requests. However, there will be reports through the absence module to monitor absences, and notifications can be sent to ETS approvers to help monitor the process.

Q: Will supervisors still be able to approve absence requests in advance? 

A: Yes, advance absence requests can be submitted and approved, but the employee leave buckets will not be charged until the absence's effective date. Absences can be submitted the day of or for past dates (retroactively). Line Managers will approve all absences.

Absences—General Questions

Q: Can I move an absence/part of an absence to another day? 

A: This will be addressed during system training.

Q: Do we have to request absences in advance? How will day-of requests be made (i.e., sick day)? 

A: Employees can submit absence requests in advance for approval. The employee's absence balance will not be affected until the effective date of the absence. You can also submit absences on the day they occur or retroactively for past dates.

Q: How will FMLA be handled in the new system? 

A: Once the employee has been approved for FMLA by HR-ELR, they will submit an FMLA absence request through Me>Time and Absence>Add Absence.  Employees will also submit another absence type request (using available accrued paid leave) for the same FMLAs period.  The requests will go to the Line Manager for approval. 

Access & Security

Q: Will there be levels of access and/or approvals? 

A: Yes, there will be levels of access and approvals.

Integrations with Current Systems

Q: How will the system integrate with FPI for SOM departments? 

A: As of now, there are no plans for Quantum HCM to integrate with external entities, specifically FPI.

Organization Charts

Q: Will QHCM have an in-house automated organization chart feature? 

A: We plan to have an organization chart feature available to all employees that depicts the structure of the department where the employee works.

Q: If someone leaves and is replaced, will the new employee be reflected and automatically updated in the system? 

A: The employee's replacement will be in the system as soon as they go through the entire hire process.

Time Entry & Payroll

Q: If a department wants to have different supervisors vs timesheet supervisors, is this possible? 

A: New business processes will be worked out within the department. 

Q: Is there a calendar component so supervisors and coworkers know when employees are off? 

A: There is no calendar component. However, Line Managers will have access to Absence Planning tools where they will have full visibility of their direct reports' planned absences. More details to come during system training.

Q: Will student employees, particularly work study, still submit time cards? 

A: Yes, student employees will report time in/time out via time cards in QHCM.

Q: When will this information about time entry & absence planning be presented to all staff and managers?  

A: This presentation is being shared across multiple campus groups and will continue to be a topic shared at future meetings. Training for this topic, as well as many other topics, will be provided before QHCM goes live in 2025.

Q: Who needs to submit timecards in the new system? 

A: Only non-exempt employees (hourly and salaried non-exempts) will be required to submit a time card in the new system. Exempt employees will no longer be required to submit a time card.

Employee Self Service (ESS)

Q: Can I see my benefit elections and make changes? 

A: Only retirements benefits elections will be visible in the new system. All benefits elections will continue to be maintained in SPS state system.

Q: Is my personal data protected? 

A: Yes, all employee information is secure in the new system.

Q: If I make updates to my personal information in the new system, does it update everywhere? 

A: Yes, we are integrating the new system with other downstream systems. The training material combined with help tools (Sara and Lexi) in the new system will help users with personal information updates.

Onboarding/Offboarding

Q: What kind of tasks are included in the Onboarding Journey? 

A: The Onboarding Journey will include the information currently provided in the UMB New Hire Welcome Letter such as I-9 requirements, payroll forms, Benefit and Retirement information and how to obtain a One Card. A few new items included will be the USM/State of MD Agency which will allow transferring employees to submit transferrable leave time memos and the U.S Disclosure to determine if an employee on a work authorization will need to complete the Glacier Tax forms.

Q: Can employees initiate their resignation/retirement in the new system? 

A: Yes, the Self-Resignation Journey will be available to employees.

Reporting & Analytics - General Reporting

Q: What is the difference between operational and analytical reports? 

A: Operational reports use live/real time data. Analytics reports use yesterday’s data. The data for analytics reports is transferred from HCM to the HCM Data Warehouse on a nightly schedule. Operational reports tend to show more transactional information whereas Analytics reports show summarized information including metric and visualizations.

Q: Will there be training for Operational and Analytics reports? 

A: Yes. Training materials will be provided, and live training sessions will be offered prior to Go-Live.

Q: How do I request a new report? 

A: After Go-Live, the same standard process for requesting financial reports will be utilized. You can submit a request via a help desk ticket or meet with a HCM functional team to discuss your requests. The HCM functional team will prioritize your request for completion.

Reporting & Analytics—Operational Reporting

Q: Will my current state report be accessible in the future state? 

A: Yes and No – We are not “lifting and shifting” all PeopleSoft reports to the new system. However, we have spent the last two years working with key business users (Central and Campus) to identify any key reports for go-live. We have consolidated reports to provide a more unified reporting environment.

Q: Who can access reports? 

A: Access to reports will be tailored to your role at UMB. If you are a user who has access to view and transact on HCM data, you will likely have access to review reports.

Q: What will reports look like in the future state? 

A: If you are familiar with Quantum Analytics or any of the financial system reports (Oracle Cloud) these reports will look, feel and function the exact same.

Q: How will we track and maintain effort reporting in the future? 

A: UMB’s Effort Reporting System “ERS” will remain as the university’s effort certification tool.

Q: What reports will we have in the future? 

A: Not all reports from the current state PeopleSoft will be transferred to the new system. Each System module (Absence, Benefits, Compensation, Payroll, etc.) will have a curated list of reports based on current and future state business processes. All reports provided have been reviewed and vetted by the UMB project functional team members. Please note any reporting out of Quantum Analytics will still be in place and will not go away.

Q: When will data be extended/localized? 

A: Within Quantum HCM the data will be localized within the environment. Within the Quantum Analytics Environment the data will be extended.

Q: What are AORs? 

A: Areas of Responsibility (AORs) are granted to users individually, which allow that user to access worker data for the requested department(s). For example, John Doe can have an HR Rep responsibility for the entire School of Law, thereby allowing John Doe to view worker information for all School of Law Employees & Affiliates.

Recruiting

Q: What is the Opportunity Marketplace? 

A: The Opportunity Marketplace is a functionality in the new system where all employees can browse and apply for new opportunities across UMB. They may choose to refer any candidate.  The Opportunity Marketplace is available to internal candidates (employees) only and allows for an easier application process.

Q: Will I be able to see all Faculty & Staff postings? 

A: Yes, users will be able to see all faculty and staff postings and will be able to filter by each school.

Q: Will I be able to filter by function? 

A: Yes, opportunity marketplace allows users to filter by function.

In-System Support

Q: What are Sara and Lexi? 

A: Sara is an AI-powered interface, often referred to as a chatbot, that assists users in completing various tasks through natural language conversations. 

Lexi is an in-application, step-by-step walkthrough of a task or business process. Lexi will act as a reinforcement, separate from the other training materials for end users.

Q: Where will I find Sara and Lexi in the system? 

A: Sara can be accessed from the bottom-right corner of the application window using this icon: 

Sara AI

Lexi can be accessed from the middle-right side of the application window by clicking the i on this icon:

Lexi AI

Q: Where does Sara get data from? 

A: Sara gets data from the Application database and UMB websites.