Androulla Andrews, Head of HR and Benefits at travel industry software specialist, ATCORE.
Travel industry software specialist ATCORE Technologies is streamlining its people processes with the help of online HR software from Cezanne HR.
The market leader develops and manages sales and reservations systems for the tour operator and travel industry, and has a team of 160 staff supporting household names such as TUI,Thomas Cook, and Center Parcs.
Head of HR and Benefits, Androulla Andrews, began looking for an HR software solution when the business was sold by its parent company and no longer had access to its previous HR system.
A flexible, cost-effective, Cloud-based system was on her shopping list – and after narrowing contenders down, she decided that Cezanne HR’s system fitted the bill.
“I looked at a number of other providers but they were all either too complex or too expensive,” she said. “Cezanne HR was everything I wanted. The pay-as-you-go pricing model made it an attractive option from a cost point of view, and I also liked the fact you could just buy the modules you needed rather than paying for a system you were only going to use half of.”
ATCORE was able to get up and running with the people and absence modules of the system in just over a month after deciding to go ahead. The Cezanne team supported the company with the data transfer and have helped them set the system up in a way that meets their specific needs.
“We like the fact we can manipulate the system so that managers can have sight of certain things but not others, depending on their responsibilities,” said Androulla. “So they might be able to see absence records for some people, for example, but would not be able to access their salary details.”
The self-service element has been welcomed by staff, who have appreciated being able to access their HR details on line. “They can log in and look at their contract, check their working hours or see their length of service – without having to contact HR and wait for us to pull out a file,” says Androulla.
Information about the company’s flexible benefits scheme is also housed on the system, allowing employees to see what core benefits they receive, as well as the range of voluntary benefits that are on offer.
Androulla believes the system will also make absence easier to manage as well as more transparent. “Managers are also able to log employee absence as soon as a member of staff phones in sick, rather than having to wait until the person returns, making it less likely the absence will get forgotten or be recorded inaccurately.
“The fact that people can see their own sickness record also has the effect of making them realise just how much time they may be taking off,” she says. “No-one likes having a high absence record, and of course everything is much more visible to their manager and to the business.”
The company has also made use of Cezanne’s API to automatically pull data from the HR system into an existing time management tool, avoiding duplicate data entry, and helping ensure the accuracy of information about who is in and out of the office across the different departments.
Initial feedback on the system from staff has been positive – high praise indeed from a workforce made up largely of people who develop and manage software solutions themselves.
Androulla also believes that she will benefit from the reduced HR admin and easy access to more complete and up-to-date information. “The implementation has been pretty straight forward and we have gone from a clunky and partly-manual HR system to something that is much smoother and more efficient in just a few weeks,” she says.
About ATCORE
ATCORE provides reservation and e-commerce solutions to enable travel companies to operate more efficiently. It has been developing software solutions for tour, cruise and ferry operators for over 30 years. Based in Slough, UK, with offices in North London and Sussex, ATCORE employs around 160 people.