Providing multicultural support for Sage People
With many companies now operating globally, it is vital to be able to support employees in varied geographic locations, with consideration for different cultures, languages, and time zones. Indeed, it’s one of the strengths of the service Tugela People provide for the Sage People HRIS, which is ideally suited to this environment.
Our Managed Services team strives to embrace cultural diversity when working with cross-cultural teams, and endeavours to go that extra mile so individuals feel valued, understood and supported.
This is further strengthened by the team's diverse language capabilities, including Portuguese, German, Spanish, French, and Hindi; enabling Tugela People to offer a varied service (contract, dedicated, temporary or ad hoc support) depending on the client’s needs. Several of our customers are international, with multiple locations across the globe.
One of our customers has a diverse organisation that is spread across 6 countries in Europe and South America with more than 20 HR professionals, ranging from Senior Management to Payroll, System admins, Talent Acquisition and HR Admins. The rapid growth of this company required the Sage People system to be expanded with rollouts at different times, for different entities and regions. They continue to grow their use of the system, adjusting to meet the new business area specifications and priorities. For this client, we provide ongoing training, functionality support, system enhancements and customised solutions to ensure that the Sage People HR System continues to meet their needs.
The Managed Services team are proud to be able to tailor the level of training and understanding of Sage People according to the client’s needs, with flexibility in their delivery. This ensures that the client’s system is thoroughly managed by a team that understands the client business cultures and system structure that needs to be adhered to when considering improvements and areas to be developed.
The Tugela People Managed Services team can:
- Offer on-site or online/virtual training, depending on the client’s needs.
- Adapt to the customer’s preferred software of communication and ticketing system.
- Host, attend, or participate in meetings and provide both the training and associated documentation in the local language.
- Assist with translating action events/emails into local languages.
- Support mass uploads for salaries to local/preferred currencies.
- Customise user profiles –ensuring that users have the appropriate level of access and visibility of records, according to their roles.
- Customise self-service screen layout to enhance employee engagement, whilst meeting culture needs and GDPR.
- Managing absences:
- Both by Day or Hours dependent on countries work management practices and reporting demands.
- Introduction to Timesheets for specific defined teams.
- Specific workday patterns due to different country public holidays.
- Different annual entitlement, carry-over period and seniority rules for each country, location, or entity.
- Tailor absences so that different entities within the organisation are compliant with local employment law.
This level of personalisation enables both the HR management and the employees to feel more comfortable asking questions and making suggestions. And this has real value: we’ve seen that during training, in the Q & A after sessions or meetings, there’s increased participation and positive feedback.
This demonstrates how local language delivery learning provides immediate relevance. Managed Services have also noticed how much more responsive customers are when they don’t have to translate their emails, so the team uses the relevant local language and the client’s preferred company terminology wherever they can. This provides clients with the confidence that their requirements are understood and will be actioned; engaging, empowering and developing their business and their employee users to receive the same positive (system) experience, which is vital for any business when launching into new countries.
Let Tugela People Managed Services support you
The Tugela People Managed Services team has the expertise and experience to ensure the support of cross-cultural teams and work environments while helping you to make the most of your Sage People HR System.
For more information or to discuss your potential support requirements, you can reach us on tel +44(0)1908 030368 or email: info@tugelapeople.com. Alternatively, complete the ‘Get in touch’ form and a member of our Managed Services team will contact you directly.
This article has been jointly authored by Renata Tenorio Boesche and Susan Martin.
Renata Tenorio Boesche, HRIS Technical Support Consultant for the Tugela People Managed Services team. A qualified Prince 2 practitioner who speaks 3 languages and is currently working as a dedicated resource for one of our biggest international clients. Renata is responsible for providing a full service, from first-line support to planned enhancements and onboarding projects, helping them with their Sage People queries, Time Off migrations, troubleshooting, enhancements, coaching and ongoing support.
Susan Martin, HRIS Technical Support Consultant for the Tugela People Managed Services team. With over 15 years’ experience in HR and previous experience in implementing and using Sage People, Susan is responsible for supporting the growth of our Managed Services division, as we take on new clients and offer additional services.