Medical diagnostics company Oxford Immunotec is using on-line HR software solution Cezanne HR to streamline its people management processes and support rapid growth.
The business, which employs around 200 people worldwide, specialises in developing novel new tests for various diseases based on its innovative, patented T cell measurement technology. Its workforce is spread across three key sites in the UK and US and Japan with a number of staff also based in mainland Europe.
HR manager Hayley Mackenzie recognised that the business had outgrown its previous HR system and began to look around for a cost-effective, flexible solution that could support the needs of a small but truly international business.
“We needed something that was flexible enough to accommodate five different currencies as well as five sets of employment conditions and tax and social security requirements,” she explained. “Self service was also a given as a dynamic business like ours line managers require people information on demand, which isn’t always possible at present due to time zone differences and working hours.”
Cezanne HR was Oxford Immunotec’s final choice because of its intuitive, easy to use format, wide range of features and rich functionality. The product also particularly appealed because of its pay-as-you-go fee structure, which sees monthly subscriptions being adjusted up – or down – to reflect the number of employees being managed at any given time. “There are not many HR solutions on the market that are flexible enough to meet our international needs as well as being cost effective,” said Hayley.
Oxford Immunotec was able to get up and running with the system quickly and is now ready to use it to support HR processes in the UK, mainland Europe and Japan. All the key employee data has now been loaded, with the help of the team at Cezanne HR, and Hayley is about to start rolling holiday and absence management out, team by team.
The performance management module is planned to come on stream later this year – and the business is also keen to take advantage of the HR portal and social platform that are an integral part of the system.
“Being able to house all our HR documents and policies on the HR portal within the HR database is really useful as I don’t have to keep switching between two computer systems” says Hayley. The social portal, which gives employees a virtual space where they can share work and social information and collaborate on projects, will also be introduced gradually with a view to it eventually replacing the company’s current intranet.
Hayley anticipates that the system will lead to a significant reduction in admin, leaving her free to concentrate on more strategic priorities. She has also particularly appreciated the support she has had from the Cezanne HR team throughout the decision making and set up process.
“We chose Cezanne HR because the product was very good, but also because I was really impressed with the people I was dealing with,” said Hayley. “They were not ‘hard sell’ and spent a lot of time helping us before we had even signed the contract. Cezanne and Oxford Immunotec are similar sized companies and both understand the importance of customer focus, this enabled Cezanne to instinctively understand our business need.
For more information about Oxford Immunotec please visit: www.oxfordimmunotec.com