Lambeth College
Lambeth College is based on Clapham Common with
additional sites at Vauxhall and Brixton, Lambeth College covers
the whole of Lambeth. A large, well established college with an
excellent Ofsted report, Lambeth launched a new state-of-the-art
sixth form centre in June 2009 and is continuing to offer students
in South West London the very best education facilities
available.
Based on Clapham Common with additional sites at Vauxhall,
Brixton and Streatham, the college covers the whole of Lambeth. It
prides itself on offering educational facilities to all age groups
from school leavers to mature students and people wishing to learn
new skills to change their careers. With their Special Interest
courses in the mix, Lambeth can offer something for everybody.
Samantha Horler, HR Manager, Workforce Information, joined
Lambeth College in February 2005. As Lambeth did not have a
computerised HR system, Sam's remit was to research, invite to
tender, evaluate and select an HR system to implement. "The use of spreadsheets
and other documents to process and track information was not an
effective use of time," explains Sam. "We needed a faster,
accessible HR system that could produce meaningful management data
and also handle production of the Annual SIR report which was
always time consuming."
The purchasing process
"Critical factors for us at Lambeth were that the HR software
was able to match with our current offline processes where
possible. Production of the SIR report was also key, along with
user defined fields, reporting capabilities, future development,
helpdesk service, consultancy costs and, of course, the
product's look and feel. Select Software had developed a 'College
Version' of their product which demonstrated to me a strong
commitment to FE and their client base. And I particularly liked
the general look and feel."
"Select Software has developed a College Version of
their product which demonstrates to me a strong commitment to FE
and their client base compared with other systems." Sam Horler, HR Manager
Workforce Information
Representatives from Finance, IT, Training and all the HR team
were involved in the decision making process," says Sam. "SelectHR
offered the best match to our set criteria and the demonstration
was comprehensive and very thorough. It was a very positive
experience."
The implementation process
"Initial installation was completed in a day," Sam recalls. "I
was then able to define the reporting structure and cleanse some of
the data. We planned some training and navigation of the system and
after just a week users were up and running."
Absence monitoring
"We transferred 2 years' worth of absence data into the system
and then started entering absences immediately. This was a huge
bonus as we were then able to write reports, identify staff that
had triggered absence review meetings and see patterns of absence
at the click of a button," says Sam. "Over time, we have used
notifications to record absence targets for staff and remind
managers when the review period is ending. This kind of facility
was just not available before we installed SelectHR and it has
proved invaluable."
Some of the benefits to the FE Sector
"It goes without saying that production of the SIR annual report
on SelectHR saves lots of time and effort," Sam comments. "Mail
merges of all types are also very useful to a large
organisation."
"Notification emails to Managers save a lot of time and effort
as they are driven by date fields of your choice. Life is less
paper based, which is a good thing and allows time to improve other
areas of our service."
Regional User Workshops
Sam has been a regular attendee at the Select Software Regional
User Workshops. "User workshops have become better developed during
the time that I have been attending and they continue to be
improved based on the attendees' feedback," she explains. "Seeing
and hearing useful hints and tips is always refreshing, and it's
useful to hear other clients' issues and how they have overcome
them."
Service and helpdesk at Select Software
"All of the staff at Select have always been very helpful and I
have had dealings with people across all areas. The use of
Helpdesk's Go-To-Assist to take control of your PC remotely to
resolve technical issues or user difficulties is extremely helpful
and enables you to learn as you watch - much easier than just an
explanation over the phone."
In general
"As you learn the capabilities of SelectHR, you begin to find new ways of
working, recording and reporting on data. The reports and business
information you can produce will help you better manage many HR
processes."
"I have demonstrated SelectHR to a few Colleges who have been
researching new HR systems and they have all been impressed with my
positivity about it, its continued development over the years, the
user groups, helpdesk support, its look and feel, the quick
reaction to SIR changes and more!"
Globalisation, graduates, the abolition of the DRA, not to mention the recession... all these factors have created an increasingly competitive job market with the corresponding applications, admin and processing costs. This handy guide explains how HR systems can streamline the entire recruitment process and provides ten key ways you can save time and money getting the right people into the right roles.
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