Signs your HR processes are a horror story (an HR Halloween tale)

Signs your HR processes are a horror story (an HR Halloween tale) in summary:

If new starters turn up unexpected, nobody knows who’s off today and a year of check-in notes has vanished, your HR processes have outgrown the tools behind them. Each of these problems usually traces back to the same root. People data lives in spreadsheets, inboxes and memory rather than one connected HR system. Below, we look at the most common warning signs, what each one costs you, and where to start fixing it.

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Friday the 30th October started like any other for Jan, HR Manager at Crow and Bat Enterprises.

She got the children out of the door, dropped them at school and reached her desk just before nine. That’s when she noticed something wasn’t quite wasn’t right…

On the way in, she’d passed four nervous-looking people sitting in reception, clutching rucksacks. They were the new marketing hires, and nobody had told Jan they were starting today. There were no laptops ready and no logins set up. The offer letters were buried in a shared inbox. The start dates lived in a recruiter’s spreadsheet that Jan had never seen. Jan shivered a cold sweat…

She went looking for the marketing team so they could meet their new colleagues. Their desks were empty. Barry from finance had heard they were on an away day, though nobody could find it in a calendar. Jan checked the holiday spreadsheet, “Leave_2026_FINAL_v3”, which hadn’t been updated since August.

In the end, she bought the new starters brunch at the café across the road and asked them to come back on Monday. She tried not to think about what they’d tell their friends…

Back at her desk, Jan had ten minutes before her HR assistant’s annual review. She’d been looking forward to it. They’d had good check-ins all year, and she wanted to recognise the goals her assistant had hit. But the notes were spread across a notebook, a few emails and a Word document she couldn’t find. She couldn’t remember which goals they’d agreed in March, let alone how they’d changed since.

Jan postponed the review, and then the questions started. A line manager needed to know how many sick days someone had taken this year. Finance wanted a headcount figure for the board pack by lunchtime. IT asked whether anyone had told them to switch off a leaver’s access last week. Every answer meant opening another spreadsheet or chasing someone who was on that away day.

Jan rushed to the washroom to splash some water on her face. She freezes with fear…. somewhere, a beeping noise started. It got louder. And louder. The room began to spin….

… And then she woke up.

It really was 7am on Friday 30th October, and her alarm was going off. It had all been a bad dream. And thankfully, Jan’s HR system was right where she’d left it. Her new starters’ tasks were lined up, and a year of check-in notes was safely saved.

Jan’s own nightmare is of course just fiction, but most HR teams will recognise at least one scene from it.

So what’s really going on when HR runs like this?

What are the signs you’ve outgrown your HR processes?

You’ve probably outgrown your current set-up if several of these sound familiar. None of them is a disaster on its own. Together, they mean HR spends its time hunting for information rather than using it. They also tend to get worse as you grow, open new sites or take on more hybrid staff.

• New starters arrive before their equipment, logins or welcome plan.
• Holiday and sickness records sit in a spreadsheet that only one person updates.
• Managers can’t see who’s off without asking HR.
• Check-in and review notes live in notebooks, emails and personal drives.
• Leavers keep system access because nobody told IT.
• A simple headcount or absence report takes hours to pull together.
• There’s more than one version of the same employee record, and nobody’s sure which is right.
• Right to work and other compliance documents are hard to find when you need them.

Still relying on spreadsheets to manage key HR processes? This article looks at why they’re a GDPR nightmare just waiting to happen….

Why do new starters fall through the cracks?

New starters fall through the cracks when onboarding depends on emails between HR, IT, recruiters and line managers. Each person holds part of the picture, but nobody holds all of it. If a start date changes in one place and not another, the laptop isn’t ordered and the manager books leave. The result is a first day like the one Jan’s new hires had. Our own research with 1,000 employees in the UK and Ireland found that one in five felt isolated or left alone during onboarding! You can read the full report Onboarding New Employees: The Facts HR Should Know here.

An HR system fixes this by turning onboarding into a shared task list rather than a chain of emails. When HR adds a new starter, tasks go to everyone involved, from IT to the line manager, with deadlines and automatic reminders. In Cezanne, new starters can also see a welcome portal before day one, showing who to ask for and where to go. HR tracks progress from one dashboard instead of chasing updates. If you’re weighing up tools, our guide to what onboarding software is and the features to look for is a good place to start.

How can managers see who’s off without asking HR?

Managers can see who’s off when absence records live in a shared system rather than a spreadsheet only HR can edit. A spreadsheet is only as current as the last person who updated it. That’s why Jan’s holiday tracker was two months out of date. It also means managers ring or email HR for answers they could find themselves, which eats into everyone’s day.

With absence managed in an HR system, employees request time off from their phone and managers approve it in a couple of clicks. Entitlements are calculated automatically from your own rules, including carry-over and part-time hours. Managers get team calendars and are alerted to overlapping absences before they approve a request. In Cezanne, approved leave can also be saved to Outlook or Google calendars, so the whole team can see who’s around.

Why do performance conversations get lost?

Performance conversations get lost when there’s nowhere consistent to record them. Managers keep notes in notebooks, emails or their own files, and those disappear when people change roles or leave. By review time, nobody can remember what was agreed in March. The review then rests on recent memory rather than a year of evidence. That’s unfair on the employee and frustrating for the manager.

A performance module gives every check-in a home. Managers and employees record what they discussed, the outcomes and the next steps, and update goals as priorities shift. HR can see how long it’s been since each employee’s last check-in, so nobody drifts for months without a conversation. When review time comes, the full history is there in one place. For ideas on what to cover, read our guide to performance check-ins and the questions to ask.

Why does every simple question take so long to answer?

Simple questions take a long time when the answer is spread across files that don’t talk to each other. How many sick days has someone taken? What’s our headcount this month? Has IT removed last week’s leaver? Each one means opening another file, comparing versions and hoping the data’s current. Multiply that by every question HR fields in a week, and the hours soon add up.

A connected HR system holds one record per employee, so absence, role history and documents sit together. Reports and dashboards draw on live data, so a headcount for the board pack takes minutes rather than a morning. Leaver processes can send tasks to IT and payroll automatically, so access doesn’t linger. Aviation specialist PRO SKY, for example, moved away from scattered spreadsheets and can now run reports such as salary history in literally seconds! You can read the full story here.

Where should you start?

Start with the process that causes the most stress, rather than trying to fix all of HR at once. For most teams, that’s onboarding, absence or performance reviews, because they involve the most people. Map how it works today, including every spreadsheet and inbox it touches. Then work out what it’s costing you, both in hours lost and in how it feels for employees. That gives you a clear, practical case to take to your leadership team.

If you need help making that case, our free e-book on how to build a compelling business case for HR software walks you through it step by step. You might also find 10 reasons why HR should stop using spreadsheets useful. And if you’re planning ahead for year end, our post on avoiding an HR horror show this Halloween covers the seasonal checks worth doing now.

Keeping Jan’s Friday a bad dream

Jan woke up to a working HR system, but plenty of HR teams live a version of her Friday more often than they’d like. The good news is that you don’t have to fix everything at once. Pick the scene that felt most familiar and start there. Sorting out one process usually shows quickly how much time the others could give back. And next Halloween, the scariest thing in the office can be the costumes.

Not sure which HR system would be the best fit for your organisation? Our HR software and payroll buyer’s guide can help to make identifying the right solution much easier.

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Frequently asked questions

What is an HR system?

An HR system, often called an HRIS, is software that holds your employee records and runs HR processes in one place. That usually covers core records, onboarding, absence, performance and reporting. Employees and managers can usually update details and make requests themselves, which takes routine admin off HR.

When should an organisation move from spreadsheets to an HR system?

There’s no fixed headcount that triggers the move. The better test is how much time HR spends finding, checking and re-keying information. If managers can’t answer basic questions without asking HR, or you run more than one site, it’s usually time to look seriously.

Is an HR system worth it for an organisation with around 50 employees?

It often is, especially if you’re growing or hiring regularly. At that size, HR is usually one or two people, so every hour spent on manual admin matters. A modular system lets you start with the areas causing most pain and add more later.

Which HR processes should you move into a system first?

Start with the processes that involve the most people and cause the most errors. For most teams, that’s core employee records, then absence, onboarding or performance. Getting core records right first means everything else builds on accurate data.

How long does it take to set up an HR system?

It depends on how many modules you start with and how clean your existing data is – although most new implementations generally We’ll work alongside you to plan the rollout around your team’s capacity.

Is employee data safer in an HR system than in spreadsheets?

Generally, yes. Spreadsheets get emailed around, saved locally and copied, so it’s hard to control who sees what. An HR system lets you set permissions by role and keep a record of changes. Cezanne is certified to ISO 27001 and designed to support GDPR compliance.

Can an HR system help with UK compliance?

It can make compliance much easier to manage and evidence. You can store right to work documents, track expiry dates, set data retention rules and keep accurate absence records. It won’t replace your own policies or legal advice, though, so it’s worth reviewing processes as the law changes.

Will line managers actually use an HR system?

They’re far more likely to if it’s quick and works on their phone. Self-service lets managers approve leave, record check-ins and see their team’s details without contacting HR. Automatic reminders help too, because nobody has to remember what’s due.

What’s the difference between HR software and payroll software?

HR software manages people data and processes, while payroll software calculates and processes pay. When the two are connected, changes such as new starters, leavers and absence flow straight through to payroll. That cuts down on re-keying and the errors that come with it.

How do I make the case for HR software to my leadership team?

Focus on the time and risk your current processes create, in terms your leadership cares about. Show how many hours go on manual tasks and where errors have caused problems. Our e-book on building a compelling business case for HR software takes you through it, and 6 ways Cezanne HR can improve your bottom line shows where the savings tend to come from.

This blog was last updated in October 2026.