The PeopleSoft Tipster Blog

I’m Jiju Vengal and this is how I work January 15, 2013

Next up in the ‘How I Work’ series is Jiju Vengal of HRoi Consulting. You’ll probably recognise Jiju’s name from his popular PeopleSoft HCM for You blog where he focuses mostly on Time and Labor and Absence Management. He’s probably the most prolific PeopleSoft blogger, averaging almost a post a week in 2012. On top of the blog posts Jiju often experiments with other mediums, most recently podcasts and ERP movies.

Name: Jiju Vengal

Occupation: PeopleSoft HCM Functional Consultant/Chief Consultant at HRoi Consulting
Location: Singapore
Current computer: HP Pavillion (Win7, 8GB RAM)
Current mobile devices: iPhone4, Samsung Galaxy Tab2
I work: better and more productively after regular office hours (when the office is quiet!)

What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?
Internet connection is a definite life line for me. Other than the ever dependable google search and e-mail, I use blogger.com, wikipedia and the RSS aggregator on Outlook frequently. Having access to a sandbox PeopleSoft instance will also be high on the must have list!

Besides your phone and computer, what gadget can’t you live without?
I am not a gadget person. Besides work, I read quite a lot, but prefer to have a physical book in hand rather than an e-reader!

What’s your workspace like?
This is a tricky question as I have been primarily working from different customer sites away from Singapore for some time now – so it really depends on where I am working. But, my work desk in Singapore would have my laptop, a fixed line phone, photos of family and the books in my personal library decked up.

What do you listen to while you work?
I do not listen to music when I work. Unfortunately I need a quiet environment when I am working on important things!

What PeopleSoft-related productivity apps do you use?
I find UPK (User Productivity Kit) to be an extremely useful tool for business process documentation and user training (including documentation of customisations). We have also been using Firebug quite a lot these days.

Do you have a 2-line tip that some others might not know?
The Time and Labor rule set provides the functionality to write and execute SQL statements from PIA (including updates and deletes) – without the need to have access to app designer or even a database editor like SQL Navigator or TOAD.  If used judiciously, this can be a powerful tool to implement certain requirements without heavy customisations – a simple example is the need to have a process to create user defaults in T&L for new hires.

What SQL/Code do you find yourself writing most often?
I do not do a lot of dedicated coding these days, but when I have to – they are mostly SQLs on Time and Labor/Absence Management tables for reporting purposes and T&L rule writing.

What would be the one item you’d add to PeopleSoft if you could?
Improvements to the Time and Attendance product line like native mobile apps for T&A (I know companies like Succeed have worked on this!), country extensions for Time and Labor, better self-service experience in Absence Management etc. I have been trying to advocate this in my blog for some time and I hope the Oracle product team get to hear it.

What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else?
There are many consultants who have more experience in PeopleSoft than me, but what has helped me in my career are – a) Ability to see the forest instead of the trees b) Empathise with the customer – provide business oriented solutions rather than purely IT oriented solutions and c) Working harder than the rest.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
It’s foolish competing against others, the only way to move up is to compete against yourself and keep improving yourself.