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Oracle is adding a new platform to its Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management software suite designed around helping organizations “improve the employee experience by enabling HR teams to create, tailor, and deliver personalized digital workflows that guide employees through personal and professional events.”

Oracle HCM’s SVP of development, Chris Leone, cites the growing importance of employee experience as the reason for the release of the new platform, called Oracle Journeys.

“The employee experience is more important than ever. Over the past year, with our homes doubling as offices, we’ve grown accustomed to the seamless way technology improves our lives as consumers, and employees want that same experience at work as well,” Leone said.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has made working from home the standard experience for many people for over a year, and more than one study performed in early 2021 has indicated that a considerable number of employees would rather quit than return to the office.

“As offices reopen, providing consistent and positive experiences across physical and virtual environments will be critical,” Leone said. It’s Oracle Journeys that the company hopes will be a fundamental part of making the return to offices—which will undoubtedly happen for many people—a positive experience.

Journeys isn’t just about making the return to the office better, though: Oracle pictures it as a platform that will be there to assist employees throughout their entire careers with companies using Oracle HCM.

“Organizations need to provide guidance throughout the entire work life cycle from career development to finding a mentor, returning to the workplace and eventually traveling safely. Oracle Journeys will help HR teams provide value beyond traditional HR processes to uniquely tailor the experiences for their workforce,” Leone said.

Oracle Journeys is, in essence, a workflow platform turned away from projects or business applications toward HR and employee experiences. HR teams are able to build custom workflows designed for roles and employees, career milestones, administrative tasks and other human resource needs, and can even use AI-recommended processes to further tailor workflows to individuals.

Oracle mentioned three elements to Journeys in a press release: LaunchPad, Creator and Booster.

Journeys LaunchPad is the employee portal that “can host any Journey applicable to an employee, assigned by their manager, or recommended by AI based on previous actions, events, or career progressions,” Oracle said. Employees can access Journeys LaunchPad from desktops, mobile devices, chat apps and with Oracle Digital Assistant.

Journeys Creator is the HR side of the platform, where “HR leaders can access a library of pre-built Journeys templates, which can be tailored to the unique needs of the organization, workforce, and individual teams.” A number of templates are also included, like Journeys for onboarding, returning to the office post-COVID, parental leave and relocation.

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Journeys Booster is the process integration element of Journeys that allows HR to interface with finance, operations, and other departments, as well as third-party and external software. Booster “automates requests and services across HR, IT, and other work systems and can also be expanded via HR Helpdesk when additional support is needed within workflows,” Oracle said.

Oracle Journeys will be available beginning Monday, April 12, and will be free for existing Oracle HCM customers.