When the System Administrator who managed Sue Ryder Care's payroll system left, they realised it would be more cost effective for the charity to outsource Payroll Management.
Phase 3 stepped in to provide a dedicated consultant who worked with them to managed day-to-day payroll tasks, while also implementing longer term improvements.
Sue Ryder Care is a national charity that supports people living with neurological conditions, terminal illness, and bereavement. They provide expert medical, practical, and emotional support in their hospices and neurological care centres, in people’s homes and in the community. As a non-profit organisation, they have over 400 retail shops in the UK. Across the care hubs and community support, charity shops and offices, 3,000 staff including doctors, nurses, and neurological specialists and 12,000 volunteers work in the organisation.
They realised it would be more cost-effective to outsource
Phase 3 stepped in and managed the day-to-day payroll requirements
We improved the system configuration creating long-term gains
The inhouse team’s admin was reduced, saving the charity time and money
The System Administrator had announced they were leaving the organisation. As the main contact for managing the iTrent system, there was no one else in-house who had the capabilities or system knowledge. The software contract was due for renewal and the customer experience from the supplier had been poor and the consultancy was not cost-effective for the charity. The organisation considered the option of hiring a new system administrator and outsourcing the service. It was agreed that to outsource the role would reduce the risk and costs for the charity. It was important to ensure the consultancy firm aligned with the organisation’s values and that they would be committed to the business. Having previously worked with Phase 3 to carry out a system review, the IT Director had turned to Phase 3 for support during this critical time.
The system review had highlighted several problems with the current setup of the iTrent system. Due to the complexities of the business, there were challenges with hourly paid workers and payroll issues with pro-rata calculations, absences, and pension auto-enrolment. The HR and Payroll team were constantly having to check the data for errors and there was a lack of trust in the system.
Phase 3 met with the leadership team to discuss the requirements and potential options. The team of consultants worked with the Director of IT, IT database analysts and HR & Payroll Managers to understand the operations of the organisation.
A dedicated Phase 3 consultant became part of the in-house team to manage the day-to-day payroll requirements and reduce the manual work and administration time for the HR team.
Through a phased approach across 18 months, Phase 3 implemented a series of improvements to correct the system configuration and ensure the system was usable and sustainable in the long-term.
The team supported the IT department with upgrades to the iTrent system. HR Management reports were provided to help the organisation understand and make the most of their people data.
Over the next 3 years, Phase 3 consultants continued to work with Sue Ryder Care to identify other areas of development.
Provided a dedicated consultant
Improved the system configuration
Ensured the system was sustainable for the long-term
Supported the IT department with softeware upgrades
Provided HR Management reports
Continued to work with Sue Ryder Care to identify other areas of development over the next 3 years
A system selection project was conducted to identify a new HR system that was a better fit for the business. The key objectives were to improve the flow of information between the HR system and the rest of the organisation and to install time modules that would allow them to track the time worked in the healthcare and retail directorates and ensure compliance in audits.
The Phase 3 team guided them through the system selection process from building the business case, requirements analysis, supplier shortlisting to project planning. Having selected the CoreHR system, the Phase 3 team provided support migrating from the existing iTrent system to CoreHR to ensure a smooth transition. Working client-side, they provided implementation support on CoreHR with the new vendors and helped make sure the in-house Project team asked the right questions.
A self-service was launched in the organisation, which allowed employees to access and manage their personal information and view annual leave entitlement or leave requests and absences. This helped to increase efficiencies and improve the employee experience.
The Phase 3 team continue to work collaboratively with the Sue Ryder team to provide payroll services combined with bite-sized consultancy, and system administration to support the organisation on a day-to-day basis.
