Technology business DA Systems is using HR software solution Cezanne OnDemand to reduce admin and streamline its people management processes.
DA Systems specialises in providing mobile data solutions for the transport, retail, and healthcare sectors. The company is growing fast, and Managing Director David Upton needed to find a system that would help free up the time he was spending on routine HR management.
“We are not a big enough company to warrant a full-time HR person but as the business has grown, repetitive HR tasks were becoming very time-consuming, and really my time is better spent developing and building the business,” he said.
David considered a number of different systems but opted for Cezanne OnDemand because of its flexibility and extensive functionality. “I looked at several systems, and while they all did certain things quite well, none of them seemed to do everything that was on my wish list,” he said.
“If I am going to put time and investment into a system I don’t want to compromise and not get everything I need. Cezanne OnDemand was the only one that ticked all the boxes. It does everything I need now and has plenty of room for growth too.”
The modern, fresh feel of the system also appealed. “It is very user-friendly and well designed, and as a technology company ourselves, we look at those details – it’s not just about functionality, it’s about usability as well.”
The business had previously been managing its HR processes across a series of spreadsheets and word documents. Managing annual leave was a particularly admin-heavy process, with numerous enquiries from staff about how much holiday they had left and when they could take it.
Thanks to the self-service element of Cezanne OnDemand, this task will now be much quicker and more efficient. Staff will be able to simply log in, see how much annual leave they have left, and submit a request for authorisation to their manager on-line. A significant strength of the absence management functionality is that customers can set it up to reflect their own rules. For example, for DA Systems this means it will automatically update employees’ holiday entitlement, which increases annually during the first five years of their employment.
Another task that will become much more streamlined is the process around Right to Work in the UK. Cezanne OnDemand will generate automatic reminders when people’s visas are due to expire, for example, ensuring that nothing slips through the net and all the relevant legislation is adhered to.
Monthly adjustments to payroll will also become a much smoother process. “Previously I had to chase around at the end of the month collecting information about overtime and adjustments to pay from individual managers so that I could send it off to our payroll provider,” David explained. “Now managers can enter information into the system as it happens. There’s much less chance of information getting forgotten or mislaid, and we will have a full audit trail going back of every change and adjustment that has been made.”
The business has only just gone live with Cezanne OnDemand, but going forward, DA Systems plans to use it to monitor sickness absence and support its performance management process.
“The power of this system is that it will give line managers the ability to monitor and manage what it is going on, and will provide them with a level of visibility they just don’t have at the moment,” says David. “They will be able to see sickness rates for example, so they can pick up on any issues early on. As we grow, it will also help us become more dynamic in the way we manage performance and move towards a process where we are getting and giving feedback on an ongoing basis rather than just having the historic once a year appraisal.”
David has also been impressed by the support he has received from the Cezanne OnDemand team, including during the pre-sale period.
“Several of the companies I contacted just sent me a series of automated follow up emails and you could tell there was no-one behind it. I look to be more than just a number, and the personal support I’ve received from the team at Cezanne has been faultless.”