Making processes paper free and enjoying superior support: YMCA Derbyshire’s journey with Cezanne
TLWR? Here’s a summary:
• YMCA Derbyshire are a non-profit organisation that, since 1847, have been supporting young people and communities in Derby and Derbyshire.
• The Cezanne HRIS has helped enhance every aspect of their workforce management, with the Onboarding module being perfect for their unique requirements
• YMCA Derbyshire have also enjoyed an exceptional level of service from Cezanne: from initial implementation all the way through to ongoing training and development.
YMCA Derbyshire is all about empowering people and supporting communities across Derbyshire.
The organisation provides housing, training, and personal development opportunities to help individuals overcome challenges and achieve their potential. From offering safe accommodation for vulnerable young people, to running education and employability programmes, their work focuses on creating brighter futures. And, at the heart of everything they do is a commitment to building stronger, more inclusive communities where everyone has the chance to thrive.
In this case study, we sat down for a chat with Kira Horvath and Claire Morgan from the organisation’s People Services department, to discover how the implementation of Cezanne’s HR software has made the day-to-day business of people operations much more efficient for everyone.
Thank you both for joining us today. It would be great to know a little more about you, and what you do at YMCA Derbyshire.
Kira Horvath: I’m Assistant Director of Corporate Services & Governance, and I lead on the day-to-day operational activities, as well a strategic activity. I tend to oversee the operational side of people services and Claire handles the internal implementations. This means I do a lot of analytics and report writing, which feeds into our board.
I do a lot of the senior leadership work, which includes workforce engagement surveys. The analysis of the results also comes under my role, and the subsequent planning to develop the right strategies from the information we receive. So, that’s my role in a nutshell!
Claire Morgan: My main role is looking after a lot of the recruitment for the organisation – so I’m on Cezanne pretty much daily! I use it for all the onboarding activities, checking references and background checks, pretty much the whole process, from the interview to induction of new employees.
I also play a big role in staff training, making sure that our people are compliant with all our regulations and updating people policies – alongside day-to-day changes with people’s contracts. If they’ve got an amendment, salary increase or new title, it’s me that will generally do the letters and contracts. It’s quite a varied role as you can imagine!
Do you face any unique challenges thanks to the business or industry you work in?
Kira: Definitely, the fact we’re heavily regulated. We’re both a charity and a college, so we’re regulated by Ofsted and a lot of our work is contractual. I would say that probably sets us apart from other organisations, which brings with it some unique challenges, particularly with recruitment.
How was the initial implementation of Cezanne?
Kira: I think we were quite nervous initially because implementing a new HRIS can be quite scary. But once we started going through the process and we started to understand a little bit more we began to feel more comfortable.
Each session we had [with Cezanne’s Implementation Team], we went away and thought “We know exactly what we’re doing”. It was never sort of like ‘Oh gosh, we’ve still got loads and loads of questions, they’ve not been answered!’
Claire: Yes, a lot of people were quite nervous about the new system. Having a new HRIS can be scary, but we put their minds at ease because of the customer service support and training we’d had from Cezanne. We felt comfortable using it, and that helped the roll-out go very well.
And how was your training with Cezanne?
Kira: My standout experience came from the lady that trained us as she was just so good and so patient, and always on hand to answer any questions! Nothing was ever too much for her and she just made the whole process feel really comfortable.
Claire: Yes, definitely. Although I’ll be honest, when we came to then implement Cezanne, we sort of forgot a lot of what she said! But she was happy to rerun and to go through what she’d taught us. For me personally, what made it enjoyable was how she made it so comfortable, never rushed and just so easy to learn.
You have quite a few HR Software modules with Cezanne. Which one do you think has had the biggest impact on your operations at YMCA Derbyshire?
Kira: I’d say the Onboarding module, mainly because it’s allowed us to go pretty much 90% paperless and it’s so easy to use. From the minute you put a new starter on the system, it helps you remember all the things that you need to do. For example, collecting new starter documents, and having them complete their tasks, having a task list makes it all really simple. When you’re working in a busy department, it really makes a difference.
You also have the Cezanne Performance module. How’s it helped support your performance processes?
Claire: Well, we didn’t really have any sort of performance management, recognition or any sort of process to identify skills within the organisation before Cezanne! Now however, we have all our performance actions in the one place which is great. We’re still only in our first appraisal year and people are still getting used to it, but the early signs are promising.
It’s important for us for our employees to see that we do care about their development, and I think the performance management software in the Cezanne system has helped that along nicely.
Aside from using the Cezanne system, how have you found the support from Cezanne?
Kira: Brilliant! Even if you put a ticket in that’s not urgent, I’ve never waited more than a few hours for somebody to get back to me, ever.
I’ve also had a couple of occasions where I’ve not understood something, and I’ve asked if we could pick it up on a Teams. There’s never been a problem doing that, and having a service like this really helps.
Also, I’ve noticed the [Account Management] team are so polite! I never feel as if I’m just sending my request through to a robot or something automated. I always get an individual e-mail saying ‘Hello Kira. How’s your day?’, or seeing how things are going for us here. And Emma [YMCA Derbyshire’s Account Manager] is lovely! She really puts us at ease and nothing’s ever too much for her. And if she doesn’t know, she will find out and always get back to us.
And our last question, what advice would you give to someone who’s maybe just started out looking for a new HR system: is there anything one bit of advice you’d give them?
Kira: Oh, now you’ve put me on the spot! I think one important bit of advice I’d give somebody is that implementing a new HR system can be overwhelming, especially if it’s the first time you’ve done it. You’ve just got to try and not over-think things because honestly, it can be really, really simple, it’s just at the start, there’s a lot to take in!
Also, trust in Cezanne! We’re living proof that you can go from researching a new system and having those feelings of being overwhelmed, having second thoughts about who you’ve picked and everything you need to do. But the team at Cezanne have been nothing but helpful. They’ve really helped us grow our system and get the best out of it. We’re really happy.
